Kiss of Moonlight (19 page)

Though it frosted his ass, Kyle said, “Thanks,” and turned for the door.

“I’m relieving you of duty for the next twenty-four hours,” Cole called to him just as he stepped into the hall. “Go, make sure she’s safe. Bring her back ’cause I want to meet the woman who brought down the mighty Kyle Rossini.”

Kyle froze, biting back a snarl. “You know I’d kick your ass if you weren’t still injured, right?”

Cole snorted. “You could
try,
old man.”

Kyle left to talk to
Kaine
without responding to that jab.

He didn’t have a decent response and he didn’t want to tell his recently almost-deceased king to shut the fuck up.

* * * * *

An hour later, he sat outside the Shillington building where Tam had taken an apartment under the name Amy Jacoby.

When she’d left two weeks ago, she’d headed for the bus station in Reading and bought a ticket for Philadelphia with her credit card. But she hadn’t used the ticket. Instead, she’d disappeared for a few days before renting this apartment.

She hadn’t gone far. She hadn’t used her own name and she’d paid cash. All smart choices for someone who wanted to lose herself.

She didn’t have a job, rarely left her apartment and wouldn’t have made a blip on
Kaine’s
radar except for the fact that the tracker was extraordinarily thorough. She’d meticulously culled through apartment and hotel registrations in an ever-widening circle, checking out every single one since Tam had left and continuing to check at the beginning of every week.

Kyle owed
Kaine
big time.

Tam probably wouldn’t agree.

Which was why he was still sitting in the Jeep.
He’d already made a sweep of the area and had seen nothing and no one to set off his internal danger meter.

Her apartment was on the second floor of a building along the small town’s main street. He’d already checked out the area.
Quiet, settled and practically deserted at around seven in the evening.
Traffic on Lancaster Avenue was light and the only people he saw were a few kids riding their bikes along the sidewalk.

The entrance on the side of the building opened into a stairway leading to the second- and third-floor apartments. A small shoe shop occupied the first floor of the older building. The plaque on the outside wall said the building had formerly been a hotel.

The lock on the outside door wouldn’t take much to jimmy, which pissed him off. Anyone could walk right in.

He wanted to storm up the stairs, throw her over his shoulder and take her back to his house.

She’d want his head on a stick if he did.

So here he sat, watching her door.

After she’d left, it’d taken him two weeks, but he’d finally, grudgingly realized that Tam had had an understandable reason for running.

Just as he had his own for tracking her down.
She was meant to be his. Every sense he had tied him to her in knots.

If that gave her the power to control his wolf, he was willing to give that up to her.

Willingly.
Because he wanted her safe.

And if
Kaine
had finally found her, the woman who was after Tam would eventually find her too.

Kyle would not wait around for that to happen.

After picking the outside lock, he took the stairs two at a time. He didn’t give himself any more time to think, just knocked on the door.

He heard her approach, caught her sweet scent tinged with fear, then heard her lean in close to the door and check the peephole.

She was being careful. Good.

Still, if he was here to hurt her, it wouldn’t take much for someone to kick in the door. Hands clenched at his sides, he forced himself to keep his mouth shut, to not demand she open the door.

When he finally heard the deadbolt slide free, he released the breath he’d been holding.

And when she opened the door, her pale blue eyes filling with tears, he reached for her before he considered his options. Actually, there were no other options. He needed to hold her, feel her warmth and the rise and fall of her chest against his.

Her arms wound around his neck as he lifted her off her feet, her face pressing into the curve of his neck. Pushing through the door, he closed and locked it behind him with one hand while the other held onto her.

Tinia’s
teat, she’d lost weight. Her slight frame felt even tinier against him now, more fragile. He wanted to hold her tighter but was literally afraid to hurt her. She didn’t seem to have any qualms, though, as her arms tightened around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist.

Standing there with her clinging to him, he slid his fingers into her hair and tugged until she lifted her face from his neck.

The tears now running down her neck made him groan and he sealed their mouths together and kissed her. She tasted hot and salty, her tears slicking their lips.

He got lost in her kiss, forgot what he wanted to say, what he needed to say. Emotion roared up, hot as a solar flare, threatening to incinerate his good sense.

His mouth opened over hers, his tongue pressing past her lips. Her tongue slid along his as she started to devour him.

Her bare legs felt like a heated vise around his waist, the warmth of her sex burned through her denim shorts against his lower stomach. Wrapped tight to him, she didn’t fall when he released her waist to cup her ass, his fingers grazing the back of one smooth thigh.

She moaned at the brush of his fingers and tilted her pelvis until the seam of her shorts brushed against the tip of his hard, aching cock.

He wanted a bed, needed to have her spread out beneath him, completely covered by his body.
Safe.
His.

With a gasp, she pulled away. Her eyes wide, she shook her head, as if trying to clear her head. “Did you catch whoever’s after me?”

He shook his head and tightened his hold on her when he felt her loosen her legs. “No, we haven’t, but running isn’t the answer. You need to be with me. I can’t protect you if you’re not with me.”

She kept shaking her head, her eyes closing in denial. “I can’t be with you until you catch whoever’s after me. I don’t want you to get hurt. Don’t you understand? If you’re with me, you’re going to be shot.”

He wanted to shake her until she saw her error, until she agreed to what he wanted. Didn’t want to admire her willingness to do what she thought was right to keep him safe.
Even if she was off the mark.

Putting one hand on her chin, he forced her to look up at him. “And don’t you understand that no matter what, you’re safer with me? Gods damn it, Tam, I love you. If anything happens to you, it’ll kill me.”

Her expression went completely slack with shock, her lips parting to draw in a short gasp. Shit, not exactly the response he’d expected when he told her he loved her. Something he’d never said to a woman before. And wouldn’t again.

He didn’t know what he’d expected her to say or do.
Wasn’t sure how to interpret the renewed rush of tears in her eyes, the blush on her cheeks.

But when she started to flat-out cry and dropped her forehead to his shoulder, he panicked like a pansy-assed kid.
Vaffanculo
, he’d take it back if she’d just stop crying.

“Hey, sweetheart.
Don’t cry. It’s okay. Forget I said it—”

Her head popped back up and her expression shut him up faster than a blow to the head.

“Don’t you
dare
take it
back.
” She reared back and punched him hard on the chest. “I’m not crying because I didn’t want to hear it. I’m crying because I didn’t think I’d
ever
hear it.” Her lips curved in a wavering smile and her gaze softened. “I never thought I’d find a man who’d take me as I am. Never thought I’d find someone I’d want to spend my life with.”

Relief spilled through his body like adrenaline, making his heart pump as if he’d run a marathon. He moved to kiss her again and found her already leaning into him. This time, he didn’t devour her. He took the time to savor her, the thrill of knowing she returned his feelings making him feel like a goddamn kid.

And he didn’t fucking care.

They still had issues to sort out, her attempted kidnapping to solve,
the
fact that he was
lucani
and she was
eteri
. Those two last facts could prove more difficult than any of the others to overcome. There were some
lucani
who’d want him to let her go, to mate another
lucani
.

And he’d tell them all to fuck off. Tam was his.

Weaving his fingers into her now dark brown hair, he let the baby-fine strands slide against his skin like satin as his tongue tangled with hers. His other hand splayed over her ass, thinking again that she’d lost weight. Whether out of worry or fear, that wouldn’t happen again.

He’d keep her safe. He’d—

A noise outside the door made him freeze. His eyes opened and he stared straight into Tam’s. Just before she voiced the question he saw in her gaze, he put one finger over her lips, silencing her.

Her eyes widened but she nodded and released her legs so he could set her on her feet.

It could be nothing. It was probably nothing.
Another neighbor getting home or leaving.

But he wasn’t taking any chances. Not now.

Moving her away from the door, he turned to check the peephole.

And the door exploded inward.

Chapter Eight

Kyle managed to push Tam out of the way with one arm and get the other in front of his face as wood shrapnel flew like bullets.

His forearm burned as splinters lodged in his flesh while fear for Tam and fury at being caught off guard fueled his rage.

So when the man in the hall stepped through the pulverized door, Kyle was ready for him.

He reached for the man’s arm, the one holding the gun, and dragged him forward. Kyle wanted him to lose his footing to stumble as he entered, but the guy surprised him, using his forward momentum to shove his shoulder into Kyle’s stomach, taking them both to the floor.

Kyle fell on his back, all the air in his lungs rushing out, leaving him winded. Still, he managed to hold on to the guy, who was both heavier and not as nimble.

Using his head as a battering ram, Kyle smashed his forehead into the guy’s nose, which crunched and bled like hell.

Kyle took a split second to turn and yell at Tam. “Run! Get the hell out!”

He didn’t wait to see if she obeyed because a second man walked through the door.

Kyle’s only fear was for Tam. But he knew he couldn’t let it overpower him.

With a burst of strength, he shoved the man with the broken nose off him and toward the second guy. The second guy stumbled as the other man hit his legs and Kyle shot to his feet.

As the gun went off.

Kyle had a second to recognize the muted pop of a silencer before the bullet hit his shoulder. The quick blaze of pain made him stumble back a few steps before he regained his footing. He shook off the pain as fast as it’d hit him. Not excruciating,
which meant not silver.
That meant manageable.

He charged both men, surprising the gunman who didn’t have time to get off another shot. But Broken Nose rolled at the last second so Kyle only caught the gunman.

As he took the man down, Kyle caught sight of Tam out of the corner of his eye.

She hadn’t moved and her expression…
Fuck
. She looked stunned.

Then he saw the blood, splattered on her chest and arms.

Fear threatened to consume his sanity. It stole his breath. And hard on its heels was the urge to kill whoever had hurt her. With an inhuman snarl, he smashed the gunman’s head into the plaster wall so hard the guy lost consciousness immediately. But it had given the other man the opportunity to get closer to Tam, still frozen against the wall, hands raised in front of her chest.

She looked ready to scream but no sound emerged until the man grabbed for her.

Then she did scream.

Enraged, his wolf burst from its metaphysical cage in his chest, transforming his body with a wicked speed. His bones morphed and re-formed with blinding speed and pain that was over in seconds.

“Holy fuck!”

The guy holding Tam took one look at Kyle and turned paper-white.

Kyle had already launched himself at Tam’s attacker, ready to rip his throat out when Tam wrenched herself away from the guy and reached for the lamp on the nearest table.

Swinging it like she was going for a home run, Tam smacked the guy in the chest, nearly hitting Kyle in the process. At the last second, Kyle managed to avoid her swing by rolling to the side, banging his gun-shot shoulder on the wall and slumping to the ground as pain blasted through his body.

He fought against the blackness on the edges of his vision, fighting the yawning darkness that wanted to swallow him. He refused to leave Tam undefended. He growled and forced himself back onto his paws. Every step hurt but he made his way to her, his head butting against her leg. Her trembling hand settled on his head.

The man she’d smashed with the lamp didn’t move. Out cold.

Turning his head, he looked up at her. For a second, he thought she was in shock. He nudged her leg with his snout and she shifted her gaze to his before she dropped to her knees to throw her arms around his neck. Her fingers sank into his fur and he wanted her to stroke him. Needed to breathe her in and make sure the blood wasn’t hers.

It wasn’t. It was his.

Relief made him huff into her shoulder as she petted him, the motion soothing. Still, he needed to hold her.

As he made a move to step away from her, she clutched him tighter.

“Please don’t die, Kyle. Please. I love you too. I don’t want to live without you.”

Relief, joy and a burning lust surged through him at the emotion in her voice. He needed to be able to talk to her. To tell her he was going to be okay and get rid of the fear in her voice.