Playing With Fire (14 page)

“He’s concealed himself very well, and I can’t pinpoint his location.”

“At least we know he’s still in Atlanta,” Rome said. His fingers ceased all movement on my back, but remained in place. He rested his chin atop my head. “You’re sure Sunny is going to be okay?” he asked, his tone stark. Filled with raw emotion. The words burst from him as if they’d been poised on his tongue all along and he couldn’t hold them back a moment more.

Genuine affection and sadness played over Lexis’s face, changing her exotic beauty to one of haunting delicacy. “She’ll be fine.”

Rome’s chest was pressed into my back, so I felt the frantic dance of his heartbeat, then the gradual slowing as he accepted her words. My stomach clenched painfully. I reached up with both hands and threaded our fingers together, offering him what little comfort I could.

“We talked about taking her into hiding,” Rome said, his voice different than before. Flatter. Like when I’d first met him.

“Yes,” Lexis replied. She stilled, gazing over at him.

“Soon,” he said. “I have a plan. Belle is going to…help.”

Was that hesitation I heard from him? “I’ll learn to control the powers,” I assured them both. “I won’t be a hindrance.”

Lexis’s eyes widened for a moment and she looked from Rome to me, from me to Rome. “That’s why you didn’t take her to John?”

He nodded.

Lexis hesitated for a moment—come on, I wasn’t
that
bad—then gave a clipped nod. “I appreciate your willingness to help my daughter,” she told me stiffly.

You’re sooo welcome,
I wanted to reply snottily. That stilted tone of hers made it clear she didn’t expect me to be much help.

“Thank you, Lex,” Rome said. “I owe you. For everything.”

“No more than I owe you.”

They shared a smile, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something dumb. Or mean. Or both. Restraint was my new best friend, it seemed.

“Go,” Lexis said, resuming her packing. Her movements were lighter, her expression happier than they’d been since I’d entered the apartment. “Eat. It’s getting late, and I need to finish up here so we’ll be ready to go in the morning.”

Class dismissed,
I thought, which meant I could drill Rome for answers about himself, his daughter and his relationship with Lexis. No excuses this time. No evasions. He would tell me everything I wanted to know, or he would suffer the wrath of the Fabulous Flame.

I cringed. Eew. No. I didn’t like that name any better than I liked the ones Rome had given me. I’d think of a better one soon. If I didn’t, I’d be stuck with Four Elements Girl or Periodic Table Chick.

A sigh seeped from me. I did not want to go down in history with a lame-ass superhero name. Not that I thought of myself as a superhero, but I could now see that there was the potential for it. I mean, I was helping Rome track down the doctor who had done this to me, and then I was going to help him hide his daughter.

Yep. Belle Jamison, superhero. I was starting to like the sound of that.

I
FOLLOWED
R
OME
into the dining room, meaning to question him about Lexis. Instead, I saw food spread out on the table, and my mind went blank. Ham, crackers, cheese—Lexis must have set it out earlier, knowing we were coming and all. By the time I came up for air, Rome had already locked himself in the shower.

I consoled myself with a bottle of red wine (don’t ask the brand, I don’t know how to pronounce it) and more of the food. It was the perfect midnight snack to top off this long—too long—day. Thirty minutes later, after I’d eaten my fill and given myself a tour of the apartment, Rome still hadn’t emerged, so I decided to shower, as well. Alone. In a bathroom that was as expensive and well-maintained as the rest of the apartment, with gold-veined facets and pink-veined marble. Sheesh. I could live in this bathroom.

Afterward, in the guest room Lexis had told me was mine for the evening, I changed into an ice-green silk pajama set she’d loaned me. I’d expected a coarse brown sack or extra-large flannel, so the silk came as a welcome surprise. The material felt ultrasoft against my skin.

I was walking out of the room when I spied a phone on the nightstand. I paused, pressed my lips together. Maybe I should call Sherridan. If she went looking for me at work, found out I’d been fired and I hadn’t called her, she’d freak. Would her cell be tapped? I didn’t see how it could be. I mean, the woman kept it on her at all times in case a client wanted to see a house in the middle of the night. But…

Should I? Shouldn’t I? In the end, I hunted down Lexis and asked her—hating that I had to rely on her for anything. “Would I cause a disaster if I called my friend Sherridan?”

Lexis looked at me for a moment, her pretty features pensive. “No. I do not sense one.”

“Thank you.” Relieved, I marched back into my room, picked up the phone and dialed Sherridan’s number.

“Hello,” she said sleepily, and I sat on the edge of the bed.

“Hey,” I said. I toyed with the damp ends of my hair. “It’s me. You alone?”

“Belle?”

“Yeah.”

I heard a crackling static, then, “Why are you calling me at…two in the morning?”

“I wanted to talk. You too tired?”

“No, no. Just give me a moment.”

Eager, I mentally counted to five. “You good now?”

“Yeah.” She yawned. “So, do you want to talk about riding crops? Or Rome? Let’s talk Rome.” She sounded more alert with every word. “His voice was sexy enough to give me an orgasm. Does he do phone sex? You should have told me about him when I asked you about the twins.”

“You’re babbling, Sher.”

“I’ll stop if you tell me about Rome.”

“Rome was sort of a…surprise.” Truth. I fell onto the mattress with a sigh. “Oh, Sherridan, I don’t know what I’m going to do about that man.”

“Have you slept with him yet?”

“No!”

She tsked. “But you want to, you naughty girl. I can tell. Do you remember how to do it or do you need Auntie Sher to remind you?”

“I remember, thank you.” I hoped. “Listen, I’m…going away with him for a while.” Again, truth. And the real reason I had called her. “I’m going to be unreachable.”

Silence. Then, “Wait a second. You’re taking time off from work. Okay, this
is
serious. Are you an alien? Did you invade my friend’s body?”

“Ha, ha.”

“I’m not kidding,” she said, deadpan.

“I’d better go,” I stated, before she could start asking questions I wasn’t prepared to answer. “Rome is probably naked and looking for me.” Well, the naked part wasn’t a lie.

“Fine. Go. But you owe me major details when you get back. Just do me one favor. Give Rome a kiss for me. With tongue.”
Click.

Little devil. I laughed and replaced the receiver in its cradle. That was done. Next up: Tanner. I tiptoed out of the room and into Tanner’s. He was sleeping peacefully, his hair mussed, features relaxed, and a soft snore gliding from his lips. I never should have gotten him involved in my mess. He was just a kid, lost, unsure about his life, and perhaps desperate to find some peace.

I’d shattered that, and I decided then and there to make it up to him. Somehow. Some way.

I left the room and once more braved the labyrinth that was the apartment. Where was Rome? Surely he’d finished his shower. If not, well, I wasn’t above storming into the bathroom and questioning him there—while secretly checking out his goods, of course.

I sneaked into the living room and stopped in a shadowed cubby that separated hall from room. My eyes narrowed. Rome sat on the couch, Lexis right next to him. Their backs were to me. The sound of their whispers drifted in the air, too light to distinguish actual words.

Lexis purred a soft chuckle.

Okay, so even her laugh was feminine and pretty. What kind of mutant was she? No one should be that perfect. My hands tightened into fists. Rome could very well be denying, even to himself, that he loved her. I mean, the woman was the mother of his only child. That kind of bond couldn’t be broken. Proof: there was an ease to their relationship, an intimacy that hadn’t been shattered by divorce. Proof: he went to her when he was in trouble.

Why had they split, then?

I hated—hated!—that the thought of them together bothered me so much. Rome had seen this perfect woman’s perfect breasts and perfect thighs. How could other women compete? What’s more, Lexis probably kissed and fucked with the exotic flair her appearance promised. No telling how I compared—and would compare. Not favorably, was my first guess.

“She’s going to be more trouble than Daniel,” Lexis said, loudly enough that I could hear.

“I remember him,” Rome replied with a husky chuckle.

“The little boy who could soul-jump, invading people’s bodies and taking over their minds. He thought it was a game until Vincent caught him and forced him to soul-jump to rob and murder.”

“Getting Daniel out of that lab earned you three bullets in the back.” She expelled a sad breath at the memory. “How did Belle survive the formula? No one else did.”

“I don’t know,” he answered. “Maybe the doctor finally got it right. I’m sure blood tests will reveal the true answer to that, but I’m not curious enough to take her in to find out.”

Silence.

Then, “Do you ever regret joining PSI?” Lexis asked.

“We’ve saved thousands of lives and averted hundreds of paranormal disasters.”

They weren’t called “parasters”? Lord, would I ever learn the lingo?

“But,” Lexis said.

“But,” Rome repeated. They looked at each other and in unison said, “Sunny.”

“That will be corrected soon enough,” he stated. He stiffened, then added, “You going to stand there all night or come sit with us?” He didn’t face me, but I knew the question was meant for me.

I frowned. “How did you know I was here?”

“I smelled you,” he said, keeping his back to me.

Color heated my cheeks, quickly spreading to my neck and collar. I bet he’d never said that to Lexis. “I just took a shower. I do
not
stink!”

“I didn’t say you stank, now did I?”

“You said I smelled, and that’s the same thing.” If he’d been within arm’s reach, I would have slapped him.

“Well, you do smell. You smell good. Really good.” Finally he twisted to face me, and our eyes locked together. Sizzled. Oxygen burned in my lungs, and a jolt of desire speared me. “C’mere.”

My embarrassment dissolved into absolute pleasure as an invisible cord tugged me forward.
I shouldn’t want him this much. I shouldn’t need him this much.
I forced my gaze from him and studied the couch. The totally safe, didn’t-take-my-breath-away couch. I didn’t know where to sit. Between Rome and Lexis? Beside Lexis? Beside Rome?

In the end, Rome took the decision away from me. The moment I was close enough, his arm whipped out, snaking around my waist and dragging me into his lap. I landed with a delighted “Hoomph.”

Instantly his strength surrounded me, inexorable and comforting and more arousing than an intimate caress. The strong heat of his thighs pressed into the silk of my pants. My mind beckoned me to rise, to fight against his seductive allure, but I allowed myself to sink into his chest, deepening the contact.

“I will leave you two alone,” Lexis said, rising.

I didn’t think to utter a token and patently untrue
please stay.

“You have much to discuss,” she added, and there was a tinge of regret in her voice. Hurt. Without another word, she padded from the room.

Rome and I were suddenly alone.

Now that the couch was free, the polite thing to do was get off him.
But I don’t want to get off him,
my body whined.
Stay, stay, stay.

I stayed.

He didn’t ask me to get up, I noticed, and with a small smile, I burrowed the back of my head into the hollow of his neck. How I yearned to wrap my arms around him, to slide my lips over his jaw and work my way down his chest. To turn and wrap my legs around his waist, then rub myself against his erection.

“You’re going to open up to me now,” I told him.

“I am, am I?” He didn’t sound upset with that fact. He sounded amused, relaxed. Happy, even. And aroused. Deliciously aroused.

“Yes.”

“Or what?”

Biting my lip, I plucked at his pants, twisting the material at his knee. It was softer than it looked and actually tore under my ministrations. Oops. Did I somehow have superhuman strength now, too? I let go. “Do you really need me to list ways to torture you?”

“Depends on what kind of torturing we’re talking about.”

“The bad kind.”

His naughty fingers dipped to the hem of my shirt and rubbed the stripe of skin visible at my belly. “Painful bad or—” his voice dropped huskily “—kinky bad?”

Instantly my nerve endings jolted to life. “Painful?” I said, though it emerged as a question rather than the statement of fact I’d meant.

He chuckled softly. However, his amusement didn’t last long. He pushed out a breath, and his fingers stopped their movement. “I figured out what’s been bothering you. You’re jealous of Lexis. Why?”

I jolted upright, sputtering, unable to form a proper response.

“Careful, baby, or you’ll torch the place like Lexis predicted.”

He was right and I knew it, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating. Truly, if I didn’t stay in a constant “happy place” I would unleash a holy terror—or two. How unfair was that? “Everyone deserves a chance to express their emotions, Rome,” I said softly.

“I know.” Gently he kissed the base of my neck. “I know.”

Exhaling, tingling, I returned to my reclining position. I would address the jealousy thing when I had a response that sounded believable.

“Maybe we should get you a stress ball,” he said pensively.

I snorted. “What kind of ball are we talking? Asbestos? Or did you have something else in mind?”

Warm breath brushed my skin, and I felt his lips stretch into a grin. “You’re a pervert at heart. I don’t think I want your hands near
my
balls right now.”

The tingling inside me intensified, spreading, growing, stretching from one corner of my body to the other. My mouth watered for a taste of him. My nipples beaded, begging for attention. I closed my eyes, only to see a picture of us in my mind. Me, head thrown back, legs open. Him, gliding his fingers down my stomach, through the fine hair at my pubis and into the wet heat of me.

Don’t forget why you’re here.
Questions first. Sex later. Lots of sex. Dirty sex. “Like I said, I, um, have some questions for you, and I want answers.” I traced a fingertip over the bumps and planes of his wrist, wanting so badly to guide him to a more intimate caress. “Let’s start with your last name. What is it?”

“Masters.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No.”

I laughed. What a perfect name for him. “Do you expect everyone to obey your every command, Mr. Masters?”

Slowly he grinned. “Always.”

Okay, now for the harder questions. “Why did you and Lexis separate?” He gripped my hips and jerked me against his erection. He moaned. I gasped. Good. So good. “And how long have things been over?”

His fingers spread over my belly again, and my muscles quivered. I bit my lip to keep from crying out in utter bliss. “Why does it matter?” he asked.

“Why are you so secretive?” I countered. Unable to stop myself, I arched my back, grinding my butt into his erection once more.

He sucked in a breath. “The less people know about me, the safer it is. For them. For me.”

“In case you’ve forgotten, I’m a superhero.” Up, down, a slow glide. I clutched his knees and continued my bold dance against him. God, he felt good. Big, hard and thick. “I can protect us both.” Or kill us both, but that didn’t bear mentioning.

“Superhero, hmm?” Reaching around me, he palmed me exactly where I needed him. I nearly shouted at the intense surge of pleasure. “Should I call you the Amazing Matchstick? Sparkie? The Blazing Saddle?”

“Do it, and I’ll go four elements on your ass.”

His thumb stroked me once, twice. Ohmygod. If I didn’t pull away I would come. I would come right then, right there. Just erupt into a thousand satisfied pieces, and that would be the end of our conversation. I’d be too sated to talk, too replete to care what he did afterward.

“I can’t do this. Not yet.” Stupid girl that I am, I leapt off him and threw myself on the other side of the couch. I was panting. Weak. Empty.
Questions first. Dirty playtime second, remember?
I didn’t look at him. A long while passed before I caught my breath, and only then did I twist toward him, careful to keep a safe distance between us.

His expression was harsh and dark and utterly captivating. Taut lines pulled at his eyes and mouth. I squashed the urge to throw myself back into his arms and offer comfort. “How long have you and Lexis been broken up?”

He watched me for a long while, then he said, “This information is important to you?”

I nodded.

“A year.” As he spoke, he crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ve been apart a year.”

“Why did you break up with her?”