Silas (42 page)

Okay. This was starting to
make me feel uncomfortable. I wasn’t a stranger to men ogling me,
but I’d never experienced it in a situation like this, where there
weren’t any rules, where the man could do anything he wanted to
me.

I tried a smile. “I’m
flattered. But, you know, I have a boyfriend. And he’s just around
the corner.”

The man chortled. “Is
he?”

“
Oh yeah,” I
said.

“
He the one you were running
from?”

Damn it.

The man grabbed me by the
arm and pulled me against him. His hot breath spilled out over my
skin, smelling of cigar smoke and liquor. “I’ll protect you, baby.
Just buy me a drink, okay?”

My heart exploded, going at
breakneck speed. “Let go of me.”

“
Oh, don’t be like that,
baby.” His hands were moving over me, exploring the dip of my
waist.

I shoved him.

He just laughed. “Calm
down.”

I was the complete opposite
of calm. I was panicking. What was this guy going to do to me?
Would it be better if I stopped struggling and played along? If I
did go into that club and have a drink with him, would that pacify
him?

No. No way. I couldn’t do
it. I couldn’t pretend that what this guy was doing was
okay.

“
You’re going to want to let
me go,” I said through clenched teeth.

“
Because of your boyfriend?”
The thought clearly amused him.

“
Because—”

But I never finished what I
was saying, not that I knew what I was going to say anyway, because
the man was ripped away from me.

At first I couldn’t see how
it had happened. But then the masked man from earlier became clear
to me. He moved quickly, like some kind of lithe animal taking down
its prey.

He yanked the man with the
purple tie away from me, and then let go of him.

Purple Tie was confused. He
looked around, trying to figure out who’d touched him.

The masked man darted in
front of Purple Tie, landing two quick punches on the man’s
chin.

Purple Tie lashed out,
trying to hit back. But his fists only struck air.

Because the masked man had danced out
of the way again. Now, he was behind Purple Tie. He propelled him
face first into the side of the building.

He drove Purple Tie’s
forehead into the concrete wall.

Purple Tie grunted.

The masked man smashed
Purple Tie’s forehead against the building again.

Purple Tie slumped to the sidewalk,
lifeless.

The masked man glared at me.
“I told you it wasn’t safe out here.”

* * *

The masked man shoved a
helmet at me.
“Put this on.”

“
What kind of motorcycle is
this?” I’d never seen anything like it before. It was black and
sleek and stylized. Not as big as I might expect but obviously
powerful and rugged.

“
You could say it’s unique,”
he said.

I narrowed my eyes. “How do
I know that you won’t be taking me to your secret lair where you
keep your collection of women’s legs?”

He looked startled. “You
think I’m the one killing these women?”

I fingered the helmet.
“Well, let’s see. You’re running around in the dark wearing a mask
and driving a unique motorcycle. To say that anything about you is
typical would be a big exaggeration.”

He moved closer, his deep
voice flowing over me. “I would never do something like that. I’m
here to find the killer and stop him.”

Was he? I wasn’t sure if I
believed him. “Prove it.”

“
I just saved you from that
man on the street.”

“
Maybe you did that because
you want me all to yourself. Maybe you had to get me away from him
so that you could kill me.”

He let out a frustrated
sigh. “All I want to do is get you home and safe. That’s it. I have
no desire to hurt you.”

Wow. He was so… big and
powerful. I wasn’t exactly the shortest girl on earth. I was a
little taller than average at five feet, seven inches. There were
lots of guys who were taller and bigger than me, but he was like… a
giant. A huge, sturdy, sensuous giant.

Sensuous?

I must be nervous again. My thoughts
were getting scattered.

There was no reason to think
he was sensuous. Sure, I could see every curve and outline of his
body, from his rippling, hard chest to his impressively muscled
thighs. And sure, he was kind of close right now, and I could look
up at his masked face. I could stare at his lips, the only feature
I could see. They were nice lips. Kissable lips.

I gulped, looking down at the
ground.

“
Put on the helmet,” he told
me. “I’m taking you home. It isn’t safe out here.”

Maybe not. But I didn’t know
that it would be safe with him either. I seemed to find him
inexplicably attractive, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t
dangerous. After all, Ted Bundy looked pretty hot in pictures. I
could understand why girls let him into their cars. I turned the
helmet over in my hands. “How do I know I can trust
you?”

He sighed again. “If I
wanted to hurt you, I would have already done it, wouldn’t
I?”

“
I don’t think so, no,” I
said. “I think you’d want to lure me into a false sense of security
so that you could get me someplace out of the way. Someplace where
no one would hear me scream.”

He snatched the helmet from
me and slammed it onto my head. “Well, I guess you’ll just have to
take the chance, then. I’m
not
going to hurt you.”

I fastened the straps under the helmet
below my chin.

“
Get on the bike.” He
gestured.

I hesitated.

He took me by the shoulders and turned
me toward the motorcycle. Then he gave me a little
shove.

I looked over my shoulder at
him. “You’re very pushy, you know that?”

His hand rested on the small
of my back, and he guided me over to the bike. “Why did you say
what you did about Hayden Barclay?”

I gasped at his touch. It
seemed like such an intimate place to touch me. His hand was large
and warm, even through his gloves. My legs felt weak. “Why do you
care?”

His voice rumbled in my ear.
“What were you doing out there tonight?”

“
I…” What could I tell him?
Should I tell him the truth? How much of it? “I know that Hayden
Barclay is the killer.”

“
You do?” he said. “But
according to the authorities, he’s got an alibi.”

I raised my gaze to meet
his. “Bullshit. He’s the heir to the biggest organized crime family
in the city. He could have paid off any number of people to swear
that they were with him on the evenings in question. Besides, the
fact that the bodies are found in the bay makes it tough to
pinpoint the time of death with precision. He could capture the
girls and keep them somewhere until he’s ready to kill
them.”

It was hard to read the
expression on the masked man’s face, but he seemed almost
impressed. “You’re right. I’ve had similar thoughts.”

“
You have?”

“
The entire police system in
the city is corrupt. The gangs pay off everyone. Three fourths of
our fine boys in blue are taking bribes and looking the other way.
They aren’t going to stop Barclay. Someone has to.”

“
Exactly,” I
said.

His gaze caught mine. I
looked deep into his eyes. They were blue, I realized. Light blue
like the sky in the early morning.

He gestured to the motorcycle. I swung
a leg over it and sat down.

I felt him settle in behind
me. His body wrapped around mine, taut and massive. I could feel
his chest against my back, his thighs against my backside, against
my thighs. Suddenly, the masked man was touching me in so many
places. I felt light headed. It was hard to stay sitting up. I
collapsed into him, and he was pressing against me even
more.

He grasped my hips, positioning me on
the seat of bike. He seemed to pull me closer to him, my ass
against his crotch.

I felt hot all over. Possibly from his
closeness. Possibly because I was starting to feel inappropriately
turned on.

“
What are you?” I whispered.
“Some kind of masked vigilante, here to clean up corruption in our
fair city?”

He didn’t deny it. He didn’t
say anything at all. Instead, he turned the key in the motorcycle
and pumped the throttle.

It came to life between my
legs, roaring and purring, vibrating through me.

And the experience was suddenly
violently sexual.

I made a little sound in the
back of my throat, but he couldn’t have heard it over the
motor.

He squeezed his powerful thighs around
me, holding me tightly in place.

And the bike took off.

We sped down the street, the
city streaming by us—only brightly colored lights and gleaming
pavement.

My heart raced, pounding in
my throat. The speed, the wind in my face, the hard male body at my
back… it was an intoxicating combination.

We careened around corners,
past tall buildings and parked cars. We blasted through the city,
so fast that my breath couldn’t catch up.

But then, abruptly, he pulled to a
stop.

“
I forgot to ask where you
lived,” he said.

I unfastened my helmet, took
it off, and set it down. I turned to look at him. He wasn’t wearing
a helmet on his head. Daredevil. I looked into his blue eyes, my
heart still stuttering in my chest. I felt out of control of my own
body.

“
What are you?” His voice
seemed harsher, like it had come down a few more
octaves.

“
I’m an intern.” I was still
staring into his eyes.

“
An intern?”

“
For
The Sun-Times
,” I
said.

“
A reporter.” He touched my
face. His gloved finger traced the outline of my jaw.

“
Yes.”

“
Are you going to write
about Barclay?”

“
As soon as I get proof, I
will.”

He shook his head. “That’s
very dangerous.”

I focused on his lips again, the way
they pronounced his words. His voice was as dark as the summer
night, and he was so close now. And his lips…

He grasped me behind my neck, holding
me in place.

His lips came for mine.

I opened my mouth to him.

His tongue invaded my
mouth—sweet warmth and sensation filling me. His strong arms
wrapped around me, pinning me to his body, crushing me against
him.

A whirlwind whipped up
inside me, sweeping through my limbs and my head, robbing me of
thoughts, swirling pleasure through me. His kiss was
intense.

My heart hammered away, pulsing thrills
over me, into me, around me.

Slowly, he stopped moving.
His grip on me loosened.

He pulled away, clearing his
throat.

I felt dizzy and
disoriented.

And embarrassed.

What had possessed me? Was it nerves?
Were more than my thoughts beginning to scatter? Were my actions
becoming erratic as well?

I looked up at him.

His gaze darted away. He
reached for the helmet that I’d set down and offered it to
me.

I didn’t take it. I only
looked at it. What had just happened?

“
Let me give you a ride
home,” he said.

“
I can get there myself.” My
voice was at least three octaves too high.

“
It isn’t safe.”

“
I’ll call a cab.” I
jumped off the bike. “I’m sorry that I…”
Kissed you? Let you kiss me? Enjoyed being kissed?
“I don’t know what came over
me.”

He set the helmet down. He
hesitated. “All right. Call a cab then.”

I pulled out my
phone.

He watched while I dialed. While I
spoke with the cab company. While I gave my address.

His blue eyes were cold and
emotionless, and he gave me a wide berth, never allowing us to get
close again.

I wanted to die inside. What
had just happened? This wasn’t like me. I didn’t go around letting
strange masked men kiss me in the middle of the night. I was very
careful about the kind of men I let into my life. I’d seen too much
of the dark underbelly of male and female interaction not to be
cautious.

But here I was, throwing all
caution to the wind.

He still looked so good to
me. And the way he’d kissed me… He’d been eager, even thorough. I
remembered the iron weight of his arms as they held me in
place.