WATCHING (15 page)

Chapter
17

****

It took a few moments but they rearranged their bodies and their supplies until he could lean against the back of the driver
’
s seat and stretch his legs out to the end of the vehicle. She was at his side, quiet and subdued.

She shivered and he grabbed the blanket and straightened it over both of them. He shifted his leather coat so it draped over her shoulders from the front. But it was still cold. He reached back and started the engine, doing his best not to jostle her.

Hell liked that it was his coat providing her warmth. He understood what that liking meant, too. He thought over it from every angle, vaguely aware of his companion losing the battle with sleep. A dark head landed on his shoulder and he jerked in her direction long enough to see that her face was relaxed, the tear tracks nearly gone.

Hell
’
s stomach tightened at how vulnerable Georgia, the princess he
’
d once thought so pampered, actually was. She
’
d been through hell in her lifetime and kept that pain so closely locked up that it would never show. He
’
d certainly only seen the outside, hadn
’
t thought to look at her too closely. Afraid of what he
’
d see. He
’
d been an idiot.

He was a master behavioral analyst and it took little time to break his own behavior into pieces for analysis, and that
’
s exactly what he did.

Objectively, Hell knew he was a man who
’
d perceived a threat to his status quo and had reacted the way men had for centuries. A threat equaled swift, forceful reaction. He
’
d reacted, punishing Georgia as a result, often unfairly. No wonder she
’
d distanced herself from him over the past six months. He pulled her closer when she sighed, surprised when she shifted onto one side. She snuggled half over his chest, draping one leg over his. He adjusted the blanket, then covered her shoulders with the coat, wrapping his arm around her waist under the familiar leather. It was his second leather coat; he
’
d replaced the first with this one after her blood had ruined it. He still remembered that Seattle rooftop with terrifying clarity.

He ghosted his hands through her hair, and then caressed her back when she stirred, when she tensed. Nightmares were the norm for his unit, some of the things they
’
d seen so horrific they haunted them all, but he suspected it was long-ago images that chased her tonight. He did his best to soothe her, and he felt good when he did. Powerful and protective. She settled tighter against him, her hand fisting in the material of his shirt, over his heart.

This was what he
’
d wanted from the first moment he
’
d met her. He wanted Georgia Dennis pressed against him, either sleeping or awake. He wanted her dependent on him for whatever she needed. Hell wanted it so damned much he would fight for it.

And Hell always won his fights.

***

Hellbrook
’
s arms were around her when Georgia woke the next morning. Her head was snuggled on a firm male chest, and if she wasn
’
t mistaken, a large male hand was cupping and kneading her ass.
“
Hellbrook...Michael..
.
”

It seemed wrong to not call him by his first name, considering what his hand was doing.

“
Hmmm
?
”
His head was thrown against the back of the driver
’
s seat, his knees were bent and she rested between them. The hand not on her ass rested on her back, beneath her shirt. His fingers were hot against her skin.

“
Hell, wake up!
”
She tried to pull out of the awkward embrace but the man beneath her resisted, locking his arms, his hands, in place. Georgia grabbed his shoulder and shook him.

“
What
?
”
He jerked beneath her and Georgia tightened both hands in the cotton over his chest. Dark blue eyes popped open and stared into hers. They cleared as his wayward hand stilled against her.
“
Georgia. Yeah
.
”

She knew her embarrassment had to be plain on her face. She felt raw and wounded, shaken after the revelations of their late night confessions. Now she wished she
’
d kept quiet, hadn
’
t pushed him into telling her what happened so long ago. The truth really did hurt, sometimes.
“
I won
’
t call it a good morning, but it is morning
.
”

“
Dammit, I didn
’
t mean to fall asleep
.
”
He didn
’
t release her. The exact opposite, he splayed his fingers, covering even more territory. He used the hand beneath her shirt to lift her until her nose was a hairsbreadth from his.

“
Hellbrook? What are you doing
?
”
It came out in an undignified squeak.

“
Testing a hypothesis, doctor
.
”
He grinned at her, the expression the most leonine and predatory she
’
d ever seen.

She swallowed when she realized who his prey was. Her fingers flexed against that incredibly hard, strong, hot, male chest.
“
And what would that be
?
”

“
That one of the reasons for the animosity between us is the heat that
’
s always been there between us. Since the very beginning
.
”
The reason in his tone warred with the lust in his words and Georgia fought a shiver.

“
Excuse me? What heat
?
”
The heat currently burning her? The scorching heat he emanated? That heat?

“
This heat
.
”
His hand pulled her closer, until his lips covered hers. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened
—
to protest, to berate him
—
she wasn
’
t quite sure. He took full advantage, angling his mouth across hers, deepening the kiss.

After her initial surprise at his actions, Georgia had to admit the man could kiss. No wonder he always had so many women fawning for his attention. If he kissed them like this
—
Georgia could understand it. Her breath sighed out, her eyes closed, she tilted her head, giving him deeper access. One hand crept up to tangle in the copper hair that was a bit too long. Lion-like. They were soon chest to chest, his legs stretched out. His hands guided her knees until she straddled him and then returned to her ass, pulling her up and closer.

One of his hands pulled her shirt up high on her back, then both hands were hot against her skin. He snaked one around to her front, teasing against her bra. Skilled fingers slipped beneath the silk. Long fingers touched her, ghosted across her nipple.

It was too much. Georgia pulled back, but only a bit.
“
What are we doing
?
”

“
An experiment
.
”
His hand ran up her spine, stopping to toy with the metal clasp holding the silk in place.

“
This is insane!
”
She was shaking her head even as she arched her spine.

“
Is it? We
’
re both behavioral analysts, shouldn
’
t we analyze our own behavior? I
’
ve been aware of you since the moment we were assigned to that damned task force of your father
’
s. That awareness has grown in the last six months. Admit it. We both know this
.
”
His hands slowed, started ghosting across her spine, leaving her bra clasp alone.

“
Do we? Who says I
’
ve been aware of you for the last six months
? You
’
re rather arrogant, Hellbrook.
”

“
The truth usually is
.
”
He brushed one more kiss over her lips before stopping.

He may kiss like a damned god
—
but he was her personal devil, and Georgia was too old to be tempted by fire. She was shaking her head as she pulled away from him.
“
No. We
’
re not doing this. I
’
m not doing this
.
”

“
Sure feels like we are doing something
.
”
His words held a touch of sarcasm and male frustration. She looked at him again. His eyes burned with a hot lust that tightened her stomach. He
’
d never looked at
her
that way before. Hellbrook was agitated and aroused. Because of her. For her. Georgia shivered. His eyes darkened.

“
No we
’
re not
.
”
Her favorite ice blue bra was fully exposed, and somehow his fingers had started on the buttons of her shirt. The green cotton hung open partially. Georgia quickly pulled her clothes back into place. Clever man, clever hands, damn him. A few more seconds of inattention and he would have had her partially naked. Georgia shivered, his eyes darkened even further. What would have happened if he had had those seconds?
“
We are both going to forget this ever happened. We do our jobs, and maybe we do them a little better since we aren
’
t going to be at each other
’
s throats all the time. That
’
s it. End of story
.
”

“
Is it
?
”
His eyes followed her hands as they straightened and tucked her shirt into her pants. He smirked, apparently happy that he
’
d been the one to muss her clothing.

Arrogant male jerk. Sexy male jerk, damn him.
“
It is
.
”

He said nothing else, but Georgia was aware of him watching her for several long moments. Finally the silence broke her.
“
How long do you think we will be stuck here
?
”

“
I don
’
t know. We could be dealing with several scenarios. Our team first because they can
’
t find us. We could be found by some of the local LEOs, or someone could realize we are missing and send out the entire Search and Rescue divisions. It
’
s seven now, a couple more hours at least
.
”

“
Dammit
.
”
She couldn
’
t sit there for two more hours, not with him looking so damned smug. He knew she liked kissing him, damn him. She had kissed him back. For a minute, maybe two. Or three. She wasn
’
t exactly keeping track of the time. She grabbed her bag, withdrew her copies of the case file.
“
Let
’
s go over it again
.
”

They kept it professional for the next hour, until the sound of an approaching engine had them both tensing and grabbing their weapons. Neither had forgotten how they
’
d ended up stranded in the first place.

Georgia relaxed, seeing a familiar governmental issue SUV pull up behind theirs. Three people jumped out. Georgia opened the rear hatch and jumped down.
“
Hallelujah! We
’
re saved!
”

“
Rough night, love
?
”
Malachi asked, brushing a kiss against her forehead after giving her a quick hug.

Georgia turned in time to catch the look of anger and envy that hit Hellbrook
’
s eyes. He was jealous. Actually jealous of Malachi. She filed that fact away for later consideration as she answered her former unit chief
’
s question. She smirked at her current unit chief.
“
You have no idea
.
”

“
What happened
?
”
Ana asked as she scanned the wooded area around the gravel road.

“
Rear tires, both slashed. Only one spare. No cell signal
.
”
Hellbrook
’
s explanation was brief.
“
We expected rescue to come a little later
.
”

“
We could leave for a couple of hours, if you like
.
”
Malachi bent to examine the SUV
’
s tire.

“
No!
”
Georgia motioned to the woods.
“
I
’
m in serious need of a real bathroom!
”

Malachi laughed.
“
Been a while since we went camping, huh, love
?
”

Hellbrook
’
s expression darkened, and Georgia sent a challenging look up at him from where she stood between the two men.

“
I think we can get this changed
.
”
Malachi popped the hatch on his SUV and lifted up the back carpet panel to reveal their spare. Since the SUV
’
s were governmental issue, they were the same make and model. Malachi
’
s spare would fit.

“
I
’
m going for a very short walk
,
”
Georgia said.
“
I will return in a moment
.
”

“
Not alone. Take Sorin and Dr. Bellows with you
.
”
Hell
was
bent to their SUV
’
s left rear tire. Malachi was rolling the other spare to the right rear.
“
And don
’
t take too long. We
’
ve wasted enough time on this case already
.
”

“
You might say that. Don
’
t worry, I
’
m as anxious to get this case solved as you
.
”
Probably more so.

She motioned to her two best friends to follow her into the woods. She was doubly anxious to get back to civilization and a hot shower.