Luminous (9 page)

“I’ve got some leads on the truck and Jill’s possible lab,” he said.

“I’m listening.”

“Good. Because when we go on stakeout, you need to keep listening.”

“If you know where the place is, why not rush over there?”

He looked up at the ceiling, pleading for patience. “One, we can’t be sure this is the place unless we watch it. Two, if it is the place, given how you described your ordeal at their hands, they could have more than one innocent in there.”

He heard her grumble.

“Three, I don’t like people getting shot, and I sure as hell don’t like getting shot myself, which is what will happen if we rush the place.”

“What about something like a SWAT team?”

“Not yet. They’re trigger happy.” And if Jill had enough money, they could be on the take. He couldn’t discount it. There were few he could trust in the department, and the SWAT team leader wasn’t one of them.

“No one will see me if I go into the building,” she said.

“You won’t even know where you’re going.”

She stood. “I’ve survived this long by myself. Tell me where it is.”

“Hell, no. And if you keep being a pain in the ass, I won’t even let you come on stakeout.”

“Fuck you.”

He shrugged. “You want to come or not?”

He wondered if she was glaring daggers at him. Good thing he couldn’t see it.

“What if Jack attacks someone in the meantime?”

Now, that was a valid objection. “I’ve got to weigh the danger to possible hostages and to cops involved in an operation against the possibility he might strike again. We wait until full dark because it offers cover, then we stake out the place. If we can confirm what we need to confirm and it’s too big for us to handle, I call in help, the place is surrounded, and we do it right.”

Better make sure that the SWAT guys brought in the big guns too. He didn’t want any more people with their limbs pulled off.

“We have to wait until dark?”

“Given the neighborhood, yeah. We’ll be spotted too easily otherwise. I look too much like a cop.”

She paced around in a circle. The sweatpants, too big for her, slipped low on her waist, showing him the outline of her ass. Nice.

“I’m coming with you and I’ll be invisible.”

“You’re coming as Noir, you mean. With the whole black-leather getup.”

“Damn straight.”

He shrugged. She’d do it anyway. He’d do the same if he were her. Best to at least pretend he had control over that.

“So how long do we have to wait?”

“Couple of hours.”

“What do we do in the meantime?”

He stood up. “I’m going to have a drink.” He went to the fridge, pulled out a Coke and drank it down, wishing again it was alcohol. It’d been too long.

No, given what happened last time he drank, not long enough.

“That and Pepsi is
all
you have to drink?”

He grinned. “I’m not allowed to drink the hard stuff. It’s not safe.”

“Not safe? What, do you turn into Mr. Hyde or something?”

“Well, the last time I drank whiskey, I woke up with my car hanging off the edge of an old parking garage rooftop. Got out just before it tipped over the edge of the roof.” He frowned. “I still miss that car.” The department clunker was hardly a replacement.

She walked into the kitchen, pushed past him and took out her own soda. As she swallowed, the shirt fell around her in all sorts of interesting ways. His imagination filled all that in nicely.

Annoyed that he couldn’t stop thinking about how sexy she was, he grabbed the shirt and pulled the lapels together. “Button that up.”

She laughed. “Why? You can’t see anything.”

“I know what’s there. I carried you last night.”

She leaned against the counter. “Oh, c’mon. You’re not saying you’re attracted to the freak.”

He took the drink from her hand. “If you think you’re a freak, then you’ll always be a freak. I think of you as Noir with the angel light. My partner.” He paused. “My partner who should keep her shirt closed.”

“I don’t believe you.” She slipped her arms slowly out of each sleeve, teasing him, and then tossed the shirt on the floor. “You can’t possibly want this, Al.”

She was topless. He could feel a flush coming on, and he was too damn old to blush. His memory of that body pressed naked against his last night supplied a complete picture.

And they say men always need a visual.

“Yeah, well, believe me or not, that’s your choice.”

“How could you possibly want me?” she asked. “You can’t see—”

“I’ve seen all I need to see.” He reached out and touched her face, pleased that he’d guessed right about where it was. He cupped her cheek in his hand. It was warm, just like last night. And just like last night, he was on the verge of kissing her. His little finger rested on her neck. He felt her pulse racing. Idiot.
He shouldn’t do this. He dropped his hand. “But you’re under my protection. I can’t.”

“That’s bullshit,” she said. “Now you’re making excuses.”

Al had a feeling that if he could see her face, her gaze would be fixed in a scowl. He bet she had a beautiful scowl too.

“What you really are saying is that you don’t want to touch me because it would be—” Her voice broke. “Because it would be creepy.”

He took her by the waist and pulled her against him. Her naked breasts pressed against his shirt. “I have no problem wanting you.”

“But you can’t
see
me.”

“You keep saying that.” Pulling her close had been a mistake, especially with her half-naked. His resolve was weakening fast, about at the same rate that his penis was hardening.

“I see enough. I know that in just twenty-four hours, you’ve been a better partner than any I’ve had in my fifteen years on the force. You backed me up in the ER, and you didn’t make a big deal about it. Not to mention there’s the whole wanting-to-stop-Jack-from-hurting-people thing, even though you can’t remember what your life was like before.”

She took a deep breath. She must have noticed his erection pressing against her. It seemed important to her that he did want her. Now she had indisputable evidence.

“You…” She put her hands on his shoulders. He clenched his teeth and wondered how to get out of this without making her feel like a freak.

“You must be really hard up to want me.” She stepped back.

“I’d think it was the other way around.”

“What?”

“In the whole scheme of things, I’m no prize, Noir. I’m a cranky son of a bitch.”

“You’re honest,” she said, her voice low. She came closer again and pressed herself against him. Her fingers wandered along his shoulders. “You’re strong.”

“I’m tactless is what I am. And I haven’t been strong enough to clean up this city.”

“I spent years with people who treated me like I didn’t exist. One day with you, Al, and I’m alive again. Like I just woke up from a dream.”

“I’m no one’s idea of a fantasy.” He tried hard not to move. He knew he shouldn’t be doing this.

“Make me feel alive, Al.”

He felt her warm breath on his neck. He cupped her face in his hand again and kissed her.

He’d probably be damned someday for this, but that was someday. This was now, and her lips were open and inviting and soft and…

This couldn’t be right.

He tightened his grip around her waist and held her at arm’s length. “Dammit, I’m a rumpled, cynical cop. If you were normal, you wouldn’t take a second look at me.”

“I wouldn’t have, especially not with you wearing that awful overcoat that hides you.” She closed the space between them once more and ran her hands over his chest. “Good thing you’re not wearing it now.”

She kissed him this time. He closed his eyes, and he was able to see her clearly in his mind’s eye. He stroked her neck. She moaned, a sound that traveled from her mouth into his.

He broke the kiss. Dammit. She had come to him for help. She didn’t even remember who she really was. Her memory was damaged. He could be taking advantage of her.
Lousy time to have a conscience, Al.

“Didn’t like what you felt?” she asked.

He heard the hurt in her voice. If he pulled away, she’d believe it was because she was a “freak”. She wouldn’t believe the truth. “No, I just wanted to even us up.” He unknotted his tie and handed it to her. “Put this over my eyes.”

“So you don’t get freaked out at what you’re touching?”

He winced. He hadn’t expected her to take it that way. No one ever accused him of being a sweet talker. “No, the blindfold is so I can concentrate only on touching you. My hands will see everything that needs to be seen. That’s where I want my focus to be.”

And it would put her in charge. She’d control the encounter, not him. If she wanted to walk away, she could. This way, he wasn’t taking advantage. This was entirely her choice.

He didn’t think she wanted to walk away, though.

“Lean your head down a minute,” she said softly.

He swallowed and did as she asked. He felt her fingers in his hair as she put the tie over his eyes and knotted it in the back. For once, he was glad he spent real money when buying a tie. The silk felt better against his face than scratchy polyester would have.

When she was done, she took his hands in hers and set them on her face.

“Look at me now, Al.”

His hands roamed gently over her face. He was seeing her as a blind man would. He felt every contour of her cheekbones, traced her lips with his thumb, tickled her earlobe with his forefinger. Never had anything felt so alive under his touch. She trembled. He hoped that was in a good way.

Her nose was small and sharp. He traced her eye sockets and felt the brush of the fine hair of her eyebrows. His hands slid to the sides of her neck. Her pulse was hammering against her skin. He let his mouth rest against her cheek.

He took a deep breath. “You smell good.”

“Thanks.”

He entangled his hand in her hair. It was soft and fine. He imagined it was wavy, unruly to match her nature. Dark brown or black, he thought. “It barely reaches your shoulders,” he whispered.

“It’s too hard to take care of long,” she said. Her voice was thick.

“Mm…” He kissed her again.

She started unbuckling his belt.

“Easy.” He caught her hands. “This is my first time in a while. I sure as hell don’t want to do it on the kitchen floor.”

“Follow me.”

Those were two of the sexiest words he’d ever heard. He thought they were going to the bedroom but she led him to the living room and pushed him down into the armchair.

“How much time did you say we had?” She unbuttoned his shirt.

His hands gripped the armrests. “Um, about two hours.”

She spread open his shirt. “That’ll have to be enough.”

Chapter Seven

Noir pulled off Al’s shirt then let her hands slide up his chest as she pushed his T-shirt up to his shoulders. He fumbled for a second and then pulled the T-shirt over his head.

“You let me blindfold you. Now follow my lead.” She stroked his bare chest. Solid muscle. He had curly wisps of dark chest hair. Far less than a carpet but enough to play with.

She couldn’t believe he wanted her to touch him. Yet his erection proved that he did.

It’d been a while. That’s what he’d said about his sex life. That must explain this. Men were supposed to want anything with a pulse, and at least she qualified on those grounds.

So what? They both wanted this.

He groaned. She unbuckled his belt. She didn’t care why he was doing this. It felt good when he touched her. It made her feel normal, it made her feel desirable, it made her feel alive in a way she hadn’t in years. She was a real person again. Because Al had treated her like one.

She wasn’t going to waste this chance.

She discarded his shoes, socks and pants. That left only his underwear. Not tighty whities as she’d guessed but blue boxer briefs. She wondered what he did for kicks. Cops, she’d found while stumbling around trying to find her way in Charlton City, were sometimes into weird shit. What did Al like?

Well, her, apparently.

Did he know how people refused to touch her once they saw what she was? Did he know how special he was that he didn’t mind? It wasn’t just simple lust. He had never flinched from her touch. Maybe this was more than enjoying the rare chance to touch someone. After all, Leslie had touched her and she hadn’t reacted this way.

Maybe what was really turning her on was touching
Al
.

Bodies didn’t lie. Al was definitely hard for her. He was attractive when he made half an effort. If it had been a long time, she bet it was because he was picky, not that he couldn’t get any. When he’d carried her last night, he’d been so careful not to touch her inappropriately. Overcompensating because he had wanted to touch her?

She stroked him through the boxers. His grip on the chair tightened. He sucked in a breath, exposing some nice abs.