Torn (3 page)

“Let's go,” Wade said. He tugged on her wrist.

Victoria sighed again but she didn't argue. They headed out of the alley and then dodged cars as they hurried across the street. His motorcycle was waiting, and he jumped on the bike and revved up the engine.

“At least you don't have to take a cab back home,” he told her as she climbed on behind him.

Her hands curled around his waist.

“You'll need to hold on tighter,” Wade told her as his hands rolled around the handlebars. “A whole lot tighter . . . and come closer.” Because she was trying to distance herself. That wasn't going to work. He intended to eliminate all the barriers between them.

Victoria wouldn't be able to hold any of herself back.

He felt her inch forward, and a hard smile curved his lips.

If Victoria was in the mood for danger, she wasn't going to be taking a walk on the wild side with a stranger. If she wanted passion, if she wanted hot sex, she didn't need to go looking for it at some club.

He shot away from the corner and they raced down the street.

If she wanted danger and passion . . .
then I'll damn well give it to her.

CHAPTER TWO

H
ER LEGS WERE
trembling when Victoria climbed off Wade's motorcycle. He'd parked underneath the streetlight at the corner of her building, and when she glanced at him—­

He looks furious.

As if he had the right to be angry. He'd totally screwed up her night. All her careful plans had gone straight down the drain because of him. And now tension was coursing through her blood. Her body was too tight and aching, and her control had never been so close to splintering.

“Thanks for the ride home,” she told him.
Not.
“I'll see you in the morning.” She turned away from him and hurried up the steps of her building.

“Not that easy . . .”

She glanced back over her shoulder. He was
following
her. Looking all tall, dark, and deadly as he strode away from his beast of a motorcycle. If he hadn't been her partner, if he hadn't been a
friend,
he would have made for a perfect lover. The kind that she usually took when the need got to be too much for her.

But he's Wade.
Not some guy that she could forget the next day. She'd see him, again and again. And Victoria had one rule when it came to her lovers—­
no ties.
No emotions.

Not ever. Wade wouldn't understand that rule.

She'd seen how dangerous love could be.
Love
had ripped apart her family. Love had sent her father into a killing fury.

She looked back up at her building. Safety was a few feet away. She nodded to her doorman and hurried inside. The marble gleamed beneath her feet and—­

Wade was behind her. The doorman had just let him come right in. Probably because he'd seen Wade before and knew they were friends. Only she didn't feel friendly at that moment.

The alcohol had lowered her inhibitions far too much. She probably should have just stopped with one drink, but a second one—­for courage—­had seemed like a great idea at the time.

She jabbed the button on the elevator. Wade came up behind her. She could practically feel the heat from his body reaching out to wrap around her. “I'm home, safe and sound,” Victoria said as the elevator doors opened. She stepped inside and turned to face him. “You can go now.”

But he shook his head. He walked into the elevator, and she had to step back. “We aren't done,” Wade told her, his voice a bit rough.

She knew he was used to getting what he wanted. She'd known that from the first week of working with him. But . . .
what does he want from me?

His gaze slid toward the control panel.

“Don't even think it,” Victoria warned him as she leaned forward and swiped her security card over that panel. The last thing she wanted was to play another round of stop-­the-­elevator with him. Very resolutely, she hit the button for her floor.

His lips curved, just the faintest bit. “I don't have to stop it this time. I'm sure we'll have plenty of privacy at your place for our little chat.” He rolled back his shoulders. “We need to clear the air. It'll be good, for both of us.”

She seriously doubted that. They didn't speak again until the elevator stopped on the top floor, and then he was the one to back away. He motioned for her to head out, and she pretty much jumped out of that elevator. She hurried past him and nearly ran down the hallway. Victoria was the only resident who lived on the top floor. A penthouse. Expensive as all hell, but totally worth it—­both for the view and the privacy. In order to get to this floor, a special key card was required in the elevator.

The lush carpeting swallowed their footsteps as they headed for her door. She fumbled a bit with the lock but seconds later they were inside. Victoria shut the door behind them and sealed them into her home.

She tossed her keys onto the small table in the foyer. She didn't bother flipping on the lights. The large, floor-­to-­ceiling windows in her den let in plenty of illumination, courtesy of the Atlanta skyline. She headed toward those windows and stared out at the city. Usually the view soothed her.

Not tonight.

She waited for him to speak first.

“You want me to apologize, don't you?” Wade said as he came to stand near her.

Victoria risked a quick glance at him. His gaze wasn't on her. It was on the city. The lights.

She followed his stare.
This view is why I sank all of my savings into this place. Because I can stand here, look out at the rest of the world and feel safe. No one is around me. I'm free up here.

Free, but not alone—­not right then. She cleared her throat. “An apology would be a good start.” She turned to face him. “Just because we're partners on this case, that doesn't give you any rights in my life. You don't get to control what I do or who I do it with.” No one did. “So if I want to go out, hook up with some hot guy and forget the rest of the world—­”

He turned toward her. “Why not me?”

Her mouth fell open a bit.

“Why not hook up with me? If it's sex you want, come to me.” He moved even closer. She stiffened her knees and refused to back up. “You know the attraction is there between us.”

Victoria wasn't going to pretend that she didn't feel that hot lick of heat when they were close. “I think you're attracted to most women.” She'd seen the way he flirted—­too many times. “You said you knew me? Well, guess what? I know you, too.”

He shook his head. “You were right before. I don't think we know each other nearly as well as we both believed.” He lifted his hand.

She tensed.

“I don't want you to do that,” he said, voice thickening. “You let
him
touch you. Why not me?”

Because the man at the club hadn't mattered.
Her
rules. Always, hers. Flynn played the game she wanted. No commitment, just fun. He was easy to deal with. Easy to understand.

She didn't think there was anything easy about Wade at all.

Wade's fingers curled around her chin and he tilted her head up.

“I'm not looking for some kind of commitment,” Victoria blurted. Commitment was the
last
thing she wanted. Ever. “I don't want ties, Wade.”

“And you think you'd have them with me?”

“We work together, we—­”

He kissed her.

She'd wondered before how he would kiss. If he'd be careful at first, if he'd try to woo her with sensual skill.

She hadn't considered that he'd just . . .
take.

There was no tentativeness in his kiss. No hesitation at all. Her lips were open, so were his, and he claimed her mouth with a hot, hungry savagery. His tongue slid over the curve of her mouth. He thrust it past her lips, and her heart slammed into her ribs.

Maybe she should have pushed him away. She didn't. Instead, her hands rose and locked around his shoulders. She pulled him closer. She opened her mouth wider. He wasn't the only one going to take.

Earlier that night, fear and sadness had twisted inside of her. She'd left LOST as fast as she could. She'd gone home. She'd read over those terrible files on Kennedy Lane.

She's dead. I know she is. Another one gone.

And it had been too much. She'd needed to escape. To put the dead behind her and feel alive again.

But Wade had stopped that plan. Wade—­handsome, sexy Wade. Wade—­the man kissing her as if he wanted to devour her right then and there. And she . . .

Maybe I want to be devoured.

His mouth slowly pulled from hers, but he didn't let her go. She didn't let him go, either. Victoria realized that she'd never just kissed a man before—­and ignited.

Not until Wade.

“Been wanting to do that for a while,” he admitted.

Then you should have done it.

“You don't have to go to some bar,” Wade said gruffly. “And find a stranger to give you what you need.”

He had no clue what she needed.

“I'm right here, Viki. I can give you everything that you want.”

Oh, but those words were tempting.

But Wade . . . Wade wasn't a onetime thrill. She wouldn't be able to walk away from him and go on with her life. She'd see him every day, and how was she supposed to handle that? Her fingers flexed on his shoulders. “I told you . . .”

“You didn't want ties. Fine with me. I'll take what you want to give.”

Those words . . . she didn't understand him, not at all. “Just what are you offering?”

“Consider me your partner, with benefits.”

Her eyes widened.
No, he had not just said—­

Wade pulled away from her. “Think about it.”

Her hands fell to her sides.

“See you in the morning.” Then he headed for the door.

Wait—­
now
he was leaving?
When she could still taste him? When her body was aching? When she just wanted to drag him into her bedroom and forget everything else?
Now?

She didn't want to think about his offer. If she thought about things, she'd change her mind. She'd see how wrong this was. How wrong
all
of it was.

Partner, with benefits.

Her breath came a bit faster. Yes, yes, this was wrong. In so many ways. It was—­ “Stay,” she said.

He turned back toward her. She saw the glint of hard lust burning in his gaze. That hot fire should have made her hesitate. It didn't.

It just made her hurry toward him. When he was just a few feet away, she stopped. Her heart was racing hard enough to shake her chest, but she tried to school her expression as she gazed up at him. “No promises. No ties.” They could just take the pleasure and walk away, right? They were both adults. Smart, capable. They could do this. He seemed to understand and actually be cool with her rules.

“I'll give you what you need,” Wade promised her.

Right then,
he
was what she needed. Even when she was kissing Flynn she'd been on edge. And when Wade called her name in the club, her first thought had been . . .

Yes. Him!
She hadn't been angry that he was in the alley. She'd been glad to see him. Even if he had screwed up her plans.

And, maybe . . . maybe he was the answer that she'd been looking for. There was no risk with him—­she knew Wade was one of the good guys. He wouldn't hurt her. So they'd take each other. They'd let their desire go, and . . .

No ties.

She offered her hand to him. Wade's gaze dropped to her fingers. His lips tightened but he took her hand. She felt the press of his calluses against her. “Then I guess we have a deal,” Victoria said. She licked her lips, nervous now and—­

He kissed her again, and the desire she felt flared even more within her. “Damn right,” Wade rasped against her mouth, “we do.”

And Victoria knew there would be no going back.

H
ER HIGH HEELS
wobbled a bit on the broken sidewalk. Melissa Hastings put her hand on the brick wall, steadying herself. She'd definitely had too much to drink.

Time to call it a night.

She sucked in a slow, deep breath and tried to fight the nausea rolling through her stomach. She didn't usually get sick when she drank, but tonight . . . tonight was different.

Tonight she'd had way too much because she'd been celebrating.

I'm free.

Finally. He wouldn't be holding her back any longer. She'd be able to do exactly what she wanted,
when
she wanted.

Freedom was heady. Freedom was hot. Freedom was . . .

Making my head swim.

Her hair slid over her face as she lowered her head. She'd go catch a cab and head back to her apartment. She'd sleep this off and be as good as new tomorrow.

Better than new.

I'm free.

After another bracing breath, she lifted her head. Her hair slid over her shoulders and—­

He was there.

Standing in the shadows, just a few feet away.

“Are you feeling all right?” His voice carried easily to her.

And, no, she wasn't feeling all right. She was actually even dizzier and her tongue had started to feel thick in her mouth. That wasn't normal. She'd been drunk before and hadn't felt this way.
What is wrong with me?

“You probably should have been more careful,” he said as he stepped forward, “with what you drank.”

“Y-­You . . .” Her breath choked out as fear snaked through her. He shouldn't be there.

“Did you think we were done?” he asked her softly as he continued to close in on her. “Just because
you
said we were through?” His deep voice seemed to wrap around her. A sexy, seductive voice.

A voice that belonged to a very dangerous man.

She glanced over her shoulder. The club wasn't so far away. There were plenty of people right there. She was perfectly safe, even if she was beginning to feel sick as all hell. She turned her stare back to him.

He'd stopped a few feet away, but with the light behind him, shadows covered his face. He had a tall, powerful form.
A great body.
She'd thought that the first time she'd seen him. And, sure, she'd been aware of his danger—­he had that sexy, bad boy edge. She'd wanted him.

He'd wanted her.

Now I want to get away from him.

“Stay away from me,” Melissa said as she backed up a step. “I told you—­”

“Are you afraid of me?”

Yes.

Something glinted in the darkness. Her heart thudded even faster. Oh, dear God, did he have a knife? No, no, surely he didn't. That was crazy.

Wasn't it?

But then he stepped forward, and that glint vanished. “I'm not here to hurt you.”