The Renegade Hunter (15 page)

"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice rough with sleep.

Before Jo could answer, his hand found one breast and covered it to squeeze lightly and he began to nuzzle her neck.

She sucked in a breath, and wiggled her bottom back against him as desire stirred within her.

"Mmm," Nicholas murmured, urging his own hips closer against her so that she felt his erection even as it grew between them. He then released her breast and reached for her face, catching her by the jaw to turn her head so that he could lean over her and claim her lips.

Jo turned as he kissed her, rolling onto her back and sliding her free arm around him. With the one caught between their

bodies, she ran her fingers over what she could reach of his chest as she kissed him back.

"You taste good," Nicholas murmured against her mouth, his hand releasing her face to drift down over her body.

"I-oh," Jo moaned as his hand stopped to palm and squeeze her breast. It then slid away to smooth over her stomach before gliding down to her hip, and she moaned again as it tickled over her hip bone. But then it shifted again, sliding around to her bottom to turn her further onto her side and press her hips to his.

"I need you again," he growled, his hand dipping under her bottom and between her legs to find the center of her excitement in a roundabout route.

"I need... oh." Jo paused to gasp as he left off the caressing to slip one finger inside her. When she caught her breath again, she finished, "To pee."

Nicholas stilled and then pulled back to peer at her.

"Sorry," she muttered wryly, and then pushed herself away from him to sit up. "Nature calls."

Nicholas fell back on the bed with a groan and then sat up to watch her scamper naked across the room to the bathroom door and growled, "Hurry back."

Her answer was a chuckle as she disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door.

Sighing, Nicholas flopped back on the bed again, a smile curving his lips. Jo was... well, she was a slice of heaven was what she was; beautiful in his eyes and smart and sassy... The perfect woman for him.

It was just too damned bad he couldn't keep her, Nicholas thought bitterly, and closed his eyes as the soft, warm feelings left by their lovemaking slid away to allow reality to intrude.

He never should have touched her. It was the dream's fault, of course. There were several signs that one had met a life mate; not being able to read or control them was just one of them. Another sign of a life mate was shared dreams, usually erotic ones, and Nicholas knew he hadn't been alone in the dream he'd had of their interlude in the cells at the enforcer house. He'd woken from that with a raging need and had tried to save them both the coming heartache by fleeing for the bathroom and a cold shower, but Jo hadn't let him. Nicholas didn't blame her. She had no idea what was going on here and had no doubt been as aroused by the dream as he, but his giving in to it had been a major mistake. It was just going to make it harder to give her up when the time came, and it was coming soon. He couldn't keep her with him. In fact, his plan to make love to her again seamed incredibly stupid now that he was thinking. It would just make things even harder.

Rolling off the bed, Nicholas stood up, eyes landing on the German shepherd asleep in the cushioned chair by the desk.

He'd forgotten all about the dog and suspected he wasn't supposed to be sleeping on the furniture, but then remembered that Charlie had been sleeping on the bed with Jo when he'd entered and didn't disturb him. Instead, he moved around the room collecting his clothes and then laid them on the bed and sat down to wait when he heard the shower come on in the bathroom.

He would slip into the bathroom the moment she came out, subject himself to a cold shower to cool the raging passions just the thought of Jo caused in him, and then sit her down and explain the situation before things went too far. Nicholas had no doubt the moment Jo heard what he had to tell her, she'd be more than happy to let him take her back to the enforcer house and get him out of her life.

Jo was quick about her shower. It had been a spur-of-the-moment thing.

She'd been about to rush back out of the

bathroom after finishing her business, but when she spotted the tangled mess that was her hair in the bathroom mirror, she whirled to turn on the shower instead. Jo washed her hair, quickly lathered and rinsed her body, shut off the taps, and nearly killed herself in her rush to get out of the tub, tripping over the lip and only saving herself by grabbing for the towel rack.

Grimacing to herself, Jo straightened, taking a towel as she did. She ran it quickly over her body in the most perfunctory of drying jobs, and then wrapped the towel around herself toga style and headed back out into the bedroom with every intention of jumping on Nicholas and having her way with him again.

Instead, she was barely out of the room before he

was slipping past her, jeans in hand, saying, "My turn." Jo whirled toward the bathroom door just in time to watch it close. A smile curled her lips and she took a step toward it, thinking it would be fun to join him, only to come to a halt when she heard the lock being engaged. Her eyebrows rose slightly at the sound, but then she glanced around at a rustle from the corner of the room. She turned to see Charlie yawning as he sat up on the desk chair he'd apparently been sleeping on. The sight immediately made her scowl.

"You know better," Jo murmured, but couldn't be too angry. She'd been letting him up on the furniture all day. Besides, she wouldn't have wanted to sleep on the carpet either. Still, the mild reprimand was enough, Charlie jumped off the chair and came to sit on his haunches before Jo, eyes appearing almost apologetic as he looked up at her.

Jo smiled wryly and bent to pet him, wondering what he'd been doing while she and Nicholas had been "busy." She'd quite forgotten the poor guy, and silly as it sounded, she was hoping he was sleeping. It just felt creepy to think of him sitting there watching them during those passionate moments.

Shrugging the thought away, Jo straightened. She spotted her jeans lying outside the bathroom door, but left them and moved to the bed intending to lie down, only to pause when Charlie whined and moved to the hotel room door, came back, and then moved to the door again. Recognizing the signal that he needed a walk, Jo sighed and then went to fetch her jeans after all. She had pulled her panties and jeans on before going in search of her T-shirt. She found it on the other side of the bed, but the moment she picked it up, Jo recalled that Nicholas had shredded it.

Wrinkling her nose, she tossed it over a chair and was debating what to do when she spotted Nicholas's T-shirt on the bed. As she recalled, it had been tossed on the desk lamp earlier. He must have collected it to take in the bathroom and left it behind in his rush to get in there.

Jo shrugged and picked it up. His loss was her gain. She couldn't walk Charlie topless. Jo tugged it on over her head, smiling as she was immediately enveloped in his scent. She paused to inhale deeply before pulling it all the way on and

tucking the overlarge T-shirt into her jeans. She then glanced to the bathroom door, considering whether to tell Nicholas where she was going. Jo suspected that if she did he'd protest her taking Charlie out by herself It was probably better just to do it and get it done while he was in the shower, she decided. If she was lucky she might even get back before he finished showering, and he never need know about it.

Jo moved to the table to collect the KFC bag lying there. Her gaze dipped into the bucket as she went, noting with a small, amused smile that it was empty. Nicholas had apparently been hungry when he got back and she'd slept through the meal. She noted the licked-clean paper plate on the carpet, and supposed Charlie hadn't. Jo shook her head, grabbed the bag, a plastic fork, napkins, and one of the key cards from the packet on the table and walked to the door where Charlie waited, whining almost nonstop now. It seemed he really had to go, and Jo supposed she should just be glad he hadn't had an accident in the room while they were sleeping.

Afraid of running into problems on the elevator, Jo led Charlie to the stairwell door. He followed eagerly when she opened the door and then bounded ahead, padding quickly down the stairs at a speed that forced her to jog to keep up. All Jo could think was that she'd better let him run while they were out, because there was no way she was jogging all the way back up.

They managed to slip out of the building without encountering anyone, but it took a bit of time for Jo to find a park. Once she did, she waited patiently as Charlie, who had been whining with need the entire way, spent a good few minutes sniffing every tree before lifting his leg. He then had to find another spot worthy of his performing the more messy business. Jo cleaned up after him using the KFC bag, and then dumped his offerings in the garbage before leading him back the way they'd come. They were passing a pizza joint halfway back when the door opened and a waft of cooking pepperoni and tomato sauce struck her nose and started her stomach growling. Pausing, Jo peered in the window, her mouth salivating as she watched a worker inside slide a freshly baked pizza out of the oven. She was just debating

slipping inside to buy one to take back to the hotel when Charlie suddenly emitted the same strange growl he had in the apartment when Bad-Breath Boy had been outside the door.

Glancing down, she saw that he was stiff and still, ears back and teeth bared as he growled at something to their right. Jo peered in that direction, but couldn't see what had him on edge. Still, it was enough to remind her that Bad-Breath Boy, or Ernie, as Nicholas had called him, was still out there somewhere, possibly looking for them, and Bricker and Anders as well. Now was no time to be wandering the streets unnecessarily. She needed to find out why this Ernie guy was after her... and why Bricker and Anders were after Nicholas. She'd thought it all some grand game when she'd let him out of the cell, but the incident at her apartment had convinced her it was serious.

Charlie released another growl, and Jo cast another' glance around, but still didn't see anything. Suddenly nervous, she turned away from the pizza joint, eager to get back to the hotel.

She'd order a pizza when she got back to the room, Jo assured herself as she continued on her way, slapping her leg out of habit in a gesture for Charlie to come. As usual, the German shepherd hadn't left her side since leaving the room.

They were just approaching the hotel when Jo passed a cute little blond who reminded her of Gina. The girl brought her worries for her neighbor to the forefront of her mind. While she suspected Gina had run down to J.J.'s place or something rather than outside as she'd instructed, she would feel better if she knew for sure.

Frowning over that, Jo led Charlie around to the same fire exit door they'd used earlier. She nudged aside the stone she'd jarred there to keep the door from closing and led Charlie inside. The German shepherd immediately charged up the stairs, but Jo followed more slowly, grimacing at the climb ahead of her.

She was well out of breath by the time they reached their floor. Charlie, however, was still pretty perky, tail wagging and waiting impatiently for her to open the door. The moment she did, he rushed to their hotel room door with an unerring sense of direction that always amazed her. Jo opened that door as well, waited for him to enter, and then followed.

The shower was still running in the bathroom, but she didn't think they'd been gone more than ten minutes, possibly

fifteen. She was passing the door when the water suddenly went silent, only to start up again in the next heartbeat.

Eyebrows rising, Jo paused by the door and called out, "Nicholas? Are you all right in there?"

"Fine," came the muffled answer. "Just switching to hot water."

"Right," Jo drew the word out as she tried to sort out what he meant by switching to hot water. Had he been showering in cold before this, she wondered with a little confusion. Shaking the concern away, she crossed the room to the phone to make the calls to the pizza place and Gina. She called Gina first, relieved when her friend answered sounding perfectly fine.

"Gina? Are you all right?" Jo asked anyway.

"Jo?" Gina asked, and then said, "Yeah, sure I am. Why wouldn't I be? How was the party?"

Jo blinked at the question and then asked uncertainly, "The party?"

"Yeah, the party at your sister's place," she explained, and then added, "I fed Charlie this morning and took him for a walk, but he'll be wanting more food soon. I can go feed him again now if you aren't going to be home for a while, but surely the party's over?"

"Gina," Jo said slowly, trying to understand what she was hearing. Gina seemed to have no memory of her returning home earlier. Clearing her throat, she said, "Charlie's here with me. Don't you remember me coming home earlier?"

"What did you do, sneak past my door while I was in the bathroom?" Gina asked with a laugh. "You should have stopped in and let me know you were back."

Jo frowned. "You don't remember seeing me earlier?"

"What are you talking about?" Gina asked, and there was a frown in her tone now. "I haven't seen you since you left for Sam's yesterday."

Jo sank to sit on the desk chair by the phone, her head pounding. Gina didn't recall any of what had happened at their building that afternoon... just hours ago, in fact.

"Oh, hang on, someone's at the door," Gina said suddenly, and Jo heard a loud rustling over the phone as if she had pressed it to her chest. Gina's cheerful voice came muffled to her, and then a prolonged silence before the rustle came again and Gina said, "Anyway, where are you?"

"Who was at the door?" Jo asked suspiciously.

"The guy downstairs," Gina answered. "Now where are you? Your friend Justin came around earlier looking for you."

"Justin?" Jo echoed blankly. "Good-looking, dark hair, and hot-looking in leather." Gina paused briefly and then added, "Had a tall, really hot black guy with him."