His thumb rubbed lightly against her wrist. The beating of her pulse seemed to steady him.
“I had an attack. They were worse back then. I used to get them more frequently.” Her breath eased out slowly. “My dad always carried medicine for me. He was reaching for it, but the robbers thought he was reaching for his gun.”
Hell.
“They shot him. My mother ran at them and they shot her, too.” Tears glimmered in her eyes. “My mother died instantly, but my father didn’t. His blood was all over me, and there wasn’t anything I could do. I was trying to pull in air, begging them to help my dad, and when I looked up—” She blinked and finally seemed to see Drew once more. “The shooter had his gun pointed right at my head.”
Drew didn’t speak. He found that, for once, he couldn’t.
“Sirens were screaming. Help was coming, but it wasn’t going to get there fast enough. I knew I’d die. Just like my mom. I didn’t want to die.”
Every muscle in his body had locked.
“I had been trying to stop the blood from flowing out of my dad. My hand was just inches from his holster—from the gun that he had never grabbed.” A tear slipped from her eye. He carefully wiped it away. “I lifted it and I fired, right before the shooter did. I killed him.”
“You saved yourself.” Eighteen. He’d never imagined that her life had been so dark. No, he hadn’t wanted it to be dark. He’d always liked to think that only good things happened to the doc. She’s my good thing.
But it seemed danger had stalked her for far longer than he’d realized.
“What happened to your dad?” he forced himself to ask.
“He died right after the police stormed inside.”
Hell.
“Mercer was there.”
So this was how Mercer fit into the puzzle of her life.
“He and my dad...they were friends. He was at the funeral. He stayed with me, made sure that I was set for college. Med school.”
Med school. He understood. “You wanted to be able to save lives.”
“I did but...I still couldn’t save that man at Lightning. No matter what, you can’t save everyone.”
She pulled away from him; headed for the connecting door. The room immediately seemed colder without her near.
Tina paused and glanced back at him. “I didn’t tell you that story so that you’d feel sorry for me.”
“Sorry isn’t what I feel.” She was even stronger than he’d thought.
And I always thought she was damn tough.
“You can’t save everyone,” she said again as she gazed back at him. “You should have realized that by now.”
He had. He wasn’t interested in saving everyone.
Just her.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen next. You don’t know if you can save me. Whether I agree to the plan or not, Devast is hunting me.”
You don’t know if you can save me.
She was right. He didn’t know. He had no idea how this case would end.
Tina slipped into her room then quietly shut the door.
He stood there, far too aware of the silence around him.
After a few moments Drew found himself staring down at his own hands. Tina had killed one man. He didn’t want to remember all of the lives he’d taken.
She’s my one good thing.
His head lifted. He looked toward that connecting door. Then Drew took a breath and a step. He kept walking until he was in front of that door.
He didn’t knock. Didn’t hesitate. He just swung that door right open.
If it hadn’t been unlocked, he probably would have broken the damn thing down.
Tina stood near the bed. When the door bounced against the wall, she spun toward Drew and her eyes flared wide with surprise.
“I know that I have to try to save you.” He felt as if a force was pulling him toward her. A moth to the burning flame. She was the fire he craved. “Because I need you.” Then he kissed her.
With the press of his mouth to hers, Drew got that fire.
The desire seemed to ignite in his blood. Her mouth was soft and warm, and she kissed him back eagerly.
This wasn’t a time for fear. Not a time for death.
This was their time.
“I made you a promise,” he growled against her mouth. “There’s something you should know. I always keep my promises.”
“So do I,” she whispered back. Her hands were between them, seeming to singe him right through the thin fabric of his T-shirt. Then she was shoving up that T-shirt.
He tossed the thing across the room. “No going back,” Drew told her, voice rough. He was rough.
She was silk.
“I don’t want to go back.”
With those words, Tina sealed both their fates.
He lifted her and put her in the middle of that big bed with its clean, white sheets. Her hair spread out behind her.
She reached up for him.
She was the most perfect thing he’d ever seen. And this time, for her, because it was her, he was going to show her that he could be more than the wild lover who consumed.
Though he sure as hell wanted to consume her.
He stripped the hotel robe off her. Let it drop to the floor. Her br**sts were round and perfect, with light pink ni**les. He put his mouth on her and tasted. “Strawberries...” he whispered. His arousal shoved hard against his jeans.
She arched her hips toward him. “That’s my...ah...lotion. I found some in the gift...ah—shop!”
He made a mental note to buy her a case of strawberry lotion. “Love that scent on you.” He loved touching her, kissing her. His lips feathered over her flesh. He licked her nipple, caressed her and held tight to the reins of his control.
He was trying to be gentle and easy.
Tina wasn’t.
Her nails raked over his back. Her fingers pushed between them and fumbled with the zipper of his jeans.
“I don’t want to wait,” she told him. “All I want is you.”
Her voice was the best sin he’d ever heard. She was every thought he had right then.
He ditched his jeans, but made sure to keep the protection he’d shoved into his back pocket. Yeah, he’d visited that gift shop, too. Because I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off her.
And protecting her, always, was his priority.
His hands pushed her thighs farther apart. Drew nearly lost his mind when he touched her and found her so ready for him. He took care of the small foil packet in a flash.
He heaved in a deep breath—hold on to your control, hold on to it!—and positioned himself at the entrance to her body.