Danger Calls (20 page)

The intruder hadn't noticed him. Slowly Sebastian rose from the chair and looked around for something he could use as a weapon. Nothing except the chair, which was too noisy to be moved slowly.

The man waved the knife about in the air. “Get the fuck out of the way, bitch.”

Melissa stayed in place, staring straight at the young man. Her gaze wasn't fearful, but calculating, as if assessing the risks and what she could do.

The man lunged at her.

Sebastian experienced a weird sense of déjà vu.

To this day, he remembered vividly the seconds before his father had been killed. The car had driven by in front of his sister, his father and assorted others. He remembered shouting at them, although not what he'd said. He'd run toward his sister and father, intent on getting them out of harm's way.

Only he hadn't been fast enough.

He wouldn't be too slow this time.

His senses slipped into hypermode as everything seemed to slow down around him.

His heart pounded, loud and fast, urging him on. The metal chair was cold and slick beneath his hands. His mouth dry, lungs almost painful when he took a deep breath, he sprung into action. The floor beneath his feet seemed unsteady as he grabbed the chair and, half running, swung it into the path of Melissa's would-be attacker, catching him across the legs.

The man went down in a sprawling heap.

Sebastian placed himself between Melissa and the intruder, keeping her trapped behind him with one arm.

The man recovered and awkwardly lumbered to his feet, knife still in his hand. With a ruthless leer, he lunged.

Sebastian blocked the thrust, but his attacker quickly recovered and wildly lashed out at him again.

Fire erupted across Sebastian's arm as the sharp blade bit through the leather of his duster and across his skin. That didn't keep him from landing a sharp punishing jab to the man's nose.

Blood erupted in a spray as Sebastian's blow connected soundly. The man grabbed his nose with one hand, but continued to threaten them with the knife.

Sebastian was about to strike out at the man again when Melissa grabbed a beaker from the table and threw it at the man's head. Their attacker ducked the missile and Sebastian seized the momentary distraction by lashing out a drop-kick to the man's upper chest.

Their attacker crumpled to the ground in a heap. Sebastian kicked away the knife, which the man had finally dropped. “Call Security.”

Their intruder gave an odd groan and went into spasms. “What the hell—” Sebastian cursed.

Melissa hesitated on her way to the phone, but when the convulsions continued, she dropped to the ground beside the man and cradled his head in her lap. Forcing his jaw open, she pulled a depressor from her jacket pocket and used it to keep him from swallowing his tongue. She tried to hold him down as best she could. “Phone's by the door. Call for help,” she instructed.

Sebastian rushed to the phone. After giving Security the details, he received a promise that assistance would be on its way quickly.

The man's seizures had almost completely stopped, but judging from Melissa's face, that wasn't a good thing. “What's up?”

“He's high as a kite on something. His pulse is too rapid and shallow. Breathing's very labored. He's not looking good.”

She had no sooner said that when his breathing stopped entirely. “We've got to do CPR.”

With Melissa instructing him, he helped her until Security arrived with the EMTs in tow. He and Melissa stepped away. It was then that she noticed Sebastian was hurt as blood dripped from beneath the cuff of his jacket and onto his hand.

“Let me see that.” Sebastian eased off his duster to reveal the long, ugly gash along his forearm. Blood oozed freely from the wound and onto the white speckled tiles of the floor.

Melissa went into action, helping herself to some gauze and bandages from the EMT's tray. She bound his wound, but said, “I need to take you to the E.R. for some stitches and a tetanus shot. I'm so sorry, Sebastian.”

Distress was clear on her face. She felt responsible and he worried how that might affect things between them. Striving to downplay the injury, he said, “I'm sorry, too. That was my favorite jacket.”

But that didn't help the situation as one of the EMTs called out to Melissa, “Doc, we need you here. We're losing this guy.”

Melissa stepped into the fray of trying to save the life of the man who might have taken hers without a second thought. Sebastian had only seen her in action once before—the night Ryder had been injured by the serial killer Diana had been tracking. He remembered her intensity that night and her perseverance. The cool competence that had impressed him so.

Melissa was no different tonight with this total stranger. She worked with the paramedics to stabilize her attacker, but to no avail. Whatever the man had taken was too potent for his body to handle. Nearly half an hour later, they pronounced him dead and called for NYPD and a coroner.

Melissa rose, defeat etched into the lines of her face. He held his arms open and she stepped into them, hugging him tightly. He returned the embrace, wincing slightly from the cut on his arm. She must have sensed his discomfort for she reacted immediately, advising Security that if she was needed they could call down to the E.R.

He reached for her hand, but she shied away from his touch, much as she had when they had first met. He knew then that her earlier look of defeat wasn't just about the dead man on the lab floor.

It was about them, as well.

D
etective Peter Daly arrived with his partner and Diana in tow. When the call came in about the attack and possible homicide, he'd grabbed the case and phoned her.

Melissa watched as both he and Diana patiently went over the crime scene, searching for clues. Sebastian stood by her side, ever vigilant and protective. A little jolt of fear went through her again as she realized how he had risked himself. All for her. He must have sensed her discomfort for he placed his hand on her shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze, but she couldn't bear his touch.

She'd put him in great danger. He'd risen to the call, but she couldn't deal with putting him at risk again. Taking another step away from him, she wrapped her arms around herself tightly and gave her concentration back to the police work going on in her lab.

Diana and Peter got to the body after examining the surrounding area. They searched the man's pockets and seemed pleased with what they discovered. From one pocket, Diana extracted a bag and what looked like a key card for the building. When Diana opened the bag, she discovered that it contained a needle, syringe and rubber tie. Peter extracted a small vial of clear liquid from another pocket. Holding it up to the light carefully, he smiled and called out for one of the crime-scene staff to come over. “I think we've got a print.”

“Probably not the perp's,” Diana said quickly, motioning to the gloves the young man was wearing. The CSU tech dusted the vial and lifted a partial print.

“My money says it's similar to the batch that killed the other two,” Daly said, rising.

“Easy money, Daly. Let's hope the print gives us something we can use.” Diana came to stand beside her brother. “You okay?” She laid a hand on the white bandage wrapped around his forearm.

“Fine. The cut wasn't too deep—”

“You needed twenty stitches,” Melissa said, and was surprised by the anger in her voice.

“I'm okay.” Sebastian laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her.

Melissa took a step away from him and wished
she
was fine. She tightened her arms around herself, suddenly feeling cold now that the adrenaline coursing through her body was starting to wear off. Diana must have noticed she wasn't okay, for she said, “Maybe it's time you and Sebastian went home. Detective Daly and I will probably go to the M.E.'s to wait for a fingerprint match and the toxicology reports. Don't wait up.”

“Call us when you have some kind of info.” Sebastian placed his uninjured arm around Melissa's waist. As before, she shifted away as if uneasy with his touch.

Sebastian didn't know how to reach her. When she grabbed her coat from a peg by the door, he just stood there.

Melissa turned and said, “I'll meet you by the elevator.”

She didn't wait for his reply to leave the room.

Sebastian stared after her, both confused and hurt. He grabbed his duster off a chair where somebody had placed it. Diana laid a hand on his arm.

“Give her some space or you might scare her away.”

Leave it to his sister to cut past all the bullshit to what was important. “I'll try. I don't want to lose her.”

“I don't think you could.”

Still unconvinced by her statement, he took a step toward the door. He stopped when Diana called to him in soft tones, “
Hermanito.
”

She smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I'm proud of what you did today. The way you protected Melissa.”

“You don't think I could watch you all these years and not learn anything, did you?” he said, trying to dispel not only his sister's concerns, but his own. What would it be like to live every day like this—the way Diana lived her life? The way Melissa did?

Diana hugged him hard and he returned the embrace, having a new appreciation for all that she did and all that she was. “I love you,
hermanita.
”

“I love you, too,” she responded and before it got any worse, he walked out to meet Melissa.

 

Ryder was about.

Sebastian didn't know how he knew it, but he did.

He sensed the vampire's presence as he and Melissa left the hospital. Even though he searched as best he could, he saw no sign of the vampire. He wondered if Ryder was waiting for Diana or if he'd follow them home.

After a block or so of walking in silence beside Melissa, Sebastian realized Ryder had stayed behind to wait.

He pressed on, feeling strangely like a man walking to the gallows. Once inside the apartment, there was an awkward moment at the door, as if Melissa wasn't quite sure she wanted him to come in.

Cradling her cheek, he said, “Don't shut me out, Melissa.”

When she looked up at him, her eyes were dark with emotion, almost glimmering with unshed tears. “Don't,” he said, fearful of where she was going. Unwilling to accept that she wanted him gone.

“Sebastian—”

He cut her short with his lips, taking her mouth in an almost-bruising kiss. “We're okay,” he said between kisses as he kicked the door closed behind him.

“You could have been—”

“So could you.” At that, she broke away from him, her breathing rough and the tears finally spilling down her face.

“Sebastian, don't do this,” she said, fists clenched at her sides and her body tight.

“Do what?” he challenged, walking toward her, his arms spread wide.

Melissa retreated until she could go no farther. “Save me. I don't need to be saved.”

Sebastian stopped short of trapping her against the wall. He laid a hand over the middle of his chest and said, “So what if somewhere in this geek's heart there was a man who needed to be a hero? Is that so bad?”

Her tears had stopped, but her tone was hard enough to cut glass. “I should have handled it.”

Sebastian smiled. “I suspect you could have kicked his ass. But what you're upset about has nothing to do with that and everything to do with the head trip your parents laid on you.”

“This isn't about them.” She slipped through the opening he'd left for her, striding quickly through the door to her room.

Sebastian grabbed the door, keeping her from shutting it. “But it is, Melissa. You're afraid of being saved from yourself. Of admitting that maybe, just maybe, you're someone that I truly care about. That scares the shit out of you.”

Melissa battled with the door, but Sebastian's grip was too firm. The door was going nowhere. So she gave up the battle and stalked into her room. “Thank you, Dr. Laura. And what about you?”

Sebastian followed her in, closing the door just in case Ryder or Diana came home. He wanted privacy for this little discussion. “Me? What about me?”

Facing him, Melissa tucked her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. “When I asked you that night if you needed to be saved, don't you think I saw what you thought?”

Shrugging, he had to admit she had likely read him right. “You probably did, only things have changed,
amor
.”

She slashed a hand through the air to silence him. “And this miraculous thing—”

“Is that you made it possible for me to believe in me. To believe that someone as special as you could actually care about someone like me,” he said earnestly, laying himself open to her.

His honesty was enough to defuse the situation. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she laid a hand on the middle of his chest. In a tone that bordered on disbelieving, she said, “Someone like you? Don't you see what you are? How caring and loving and brave? I know you probably don't want to hear that last part—”

Covering her hand with his, he smiled and said, “Actually I do. Especially coming from you.”

Melissa couldn't stop the grin that came to her face. He made it so hard to stay angry. So hard to stop wanting him in her life. But doubt lingered still. “Why?”

This time, his smile was tender. He cradled her cheek, his palm rough against her skin. “Because you're the world to me, Melissa. You've made me whole and without you…”

“This is just too difficult, Sebastian.” Her voice was rough with the emotion she was holding back.

“Funny thing to hear from you. I've watched you deal with a sliced-up Ryder and a knife-wielding junkie who's OD'd.”

She shook her head. “Easy to deal with because…” She stopped, afraid for a moment of revealing too much.

“Because what?” he asked. There was no avoiding him or the love that was so plainly obvious in his gaze.

“They don't reach me in here,” she replied, motioning with her hand to the spot right above her heart. “Deep in here where the hurt is. Where I'm afraid of so many things.”

“Of me?” he asked.

Surprisingly, she knew at that moment that it wasn't him she feared, but everything else around her. He had become her stability. Her rock in a sea of the surreal madness that was her life since she'd learned she'd been called to be Ryder's companion.

“Never you,” she replied.

He pulled her into his arms and held her tight. She wrapped her arms around him and held him just as fiercely.

When they finally broke apart, he tentatively met her lips with his, as if uncertain of this new place in their relationship.

She returned the kiss, but couldn't hold back. He meant too much to her and she wanted him to know it.

Opening her mouth, she became the aggressor, empowered by his belief in her. He responded, meeting every kiss and caress. Undressing her with a haste that matched her own.

This time, it was she who backed him to the bed until he could go no farther, urged him onto its surface where she became his lover in ways she hadn't been before, emboldened by his passion for her.

As she took him inside her, she watched his face. Marvelled at the love that shone there and the happiness. He was grinning that devilishly boyish grin when he wasn't busy elsewhere with that wonderful mouth. And she was grinning back when she wasn't urging him on with soft cries as she reached her climax.

She was shaking, almost weak, when he reversed their positions and paused for a moment, gazing down at her, totally serious. “I love you. Forever, Melissa.”

Melissa cradled his face in her hands and lifted herself up to kiss him. After, she braced her forehead against his and said, “I love you, too, Sebastian. And I won't let anything get in the way of us.”

His answer was a rough groan and the powerful surge of his body as he drove into her. She slipped her hands to his shoulders, gripped them as she answered the call of his body and of his heart.

When it was over, she lay cradled in his arms, secure for the first time in her life that she was totally loved for who she was.

That she was finally happy.