Energized (20 page)

If she'd been thinking, she'd have let it hit the ground. She'd have pulled on her spare gloves. But she hadn't.

The world around her faded to gray again. Like smoke in a glass the present swirled and clouded. Unprepared to have another vision so close to the last one, Hannah could do little more than sink into someone else's consciousness. All the light in the world sucked down to a single flicker of flame.

Red candles were spread around the room. Some large, some small. Some old, some so new the wicks had trouble lighting.

The bed in the center of the room was covered in red satin. Red for passion. Satin for romance. Rose petals were strewn on the bed, the floor, the new IKEA dresser. The stench of roses clung to the thick, hot air. It nearly masked the scent of sex on the rumpled sheets.

A toilet flushed in the other room.

Her heart pounded.

With surprisingly steady hands, she poured another glass of wine. The alcohol masked the drug in his glass. He never asked. Of course he didn't. He didn't care about the drug. She was setting him free. Giving him this one weekend of indulgence, of a glimpse of the life he could never have to be who and what he truly was.

The clock in the bedroom chirped the time. Four in the afternoon.

Mercy sighed. Despair washed through her. Their time was nearly up. In a few hours, she'd suggest they go someplace exciting. A house under construction. One she planned to buy for him. They always liked knowing she wanted to give them things. They always took everything she offered.

Including their freedom.

The bathroom door opened. Brandt sauntered through in that way only a sexy man could. All prowess and power in his sleek, naked body. He rubbed his head as if it pained him.

That simply wouldn't do. No pain. Not yet.

“Here, lover,” Mercy said, handing him the wine.

He gulped it greedily.

“Thirsty?” she asked, knowing the answer. Waiting for the change.

He nodded.

She took his manicured hand in hers and led him to the bed. “What you need is a good massage.”

He lay on his stomach and Mercy climbed on top of him.

The room vanished
,
replaced by the image at the construction site.

Brandt sat bound and dead.

Blood ran in rivulets from the wound in his neck, in his chest.

Mercy climbed onto his naked lap and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Red lipstick stained his skin.

*   *   *

N
IALL AVOIDED
H
ANNAH
most of the night. Not because he didn't want her. He had a job to do. Respect to maintain. And he didn't trust himself not to haul her back to his place, forsaking his duty. He had to be crazy to even think about spending the night with her again.

This was supposed to be her last night at the Cat. Could he really take her walking out of his life again? He'd survived it the first time because they'd been virtual strangers.

Now he knew more about her. He knew her hopes and dreams. He'd seen her in high temper when she thought he'd insulted her. He'd seen her afraid at the station. He'd seen her in the throes of ecstasy and in moments when her unshakable faith in the universe made her fairy eyes sparkle.

He started to break down the portable kitchen shortly after the cake was served. The sooner they finished, the sooner he could start his night with her.

“Niall!” Ross rushed up behind him, panting for breath. “Come quick. Something's wrong with Hannah.”

The stove was half-in and half-out of the truck, he struggled to slide it in but the rubber floor mat kept snagging it. Niall shoved it, only half-caring when he heard the flooring rip. But the stove slid inside.

He followed Ross around the house. He expected to find Hannah in the kitchen tent and was stunned to find her heaving on the grass at the side of the cottage. She was surrounded by Karma, Sadie, Virgil, Paulie, and Michael.

“What happened?” Niall asked Karma, dropping to Hannah's side.

“I'm fine,” Hannah managed before retching again. Thank God, someone had the sense to put a five-gallon bucket in front of her or they'd be cleaning up more than usual tonight.

“Right, she sure looks fine,” Sadie said under her breath. She leaned her head close to Michael's and whispered, “She probably got into the champagne.”

“Everybody back to work,” Niall snapped. Sadie didn't want to start tonight. “Karma, you stay put.”

“I wasn't going anywhere.” Karma knelt beside Hannah and rubbed her back.

“For her head.” Virgil handed him a damp dishcloth before he returned to work.

Hannah shook violently but after a few minutes the retching subsided. She sat back, her face pale and shadows smudged beneath her eyes. She took the cloth from him and dabbed her face and mouth.

“What happened?” Niall asked again. “Are you sick?”

“I think she had another vision. Didn't you, Hannah?” Karma moved the bucket away and put her arm around Hannah's waist. “What does that make, two visions inside of ten minutes?”

“Yeah, it was so much worse than the last time.” Hannah started to shake. “Mercy was here tonight. She . . . she . . . Mercy was thinking about that guy she killed. God, it was awful. She kept him for days before killing him. Doing things to him.”

She clapped a hand over her mouth and lunged for the bucket again.

Karma and Niall exchanged glances over her head. Then looked around.

“I'll take her home,” Niall said, forgetting who he was talking to.

“Your place?” Karma quirked an eyebrow. “Niall, I—”

“To rest, Karma. Only rest. Unless you want her puking in your apartment all night.” When it looked like Karma might argue with him, Niall slashed a hand through the air. “I'm taking her to my place. End of discussion.”

“And if she doesn't want to go with you? You gonna make her, Boss?” Karma's accent got thick and color rose in her cheeks. “She's my friend and family. I should take care of her.”

“She's still here,” Hannah said weakly. She lifted her head. With her arms draped over the rim of the white container, she looked nearly too exhausted to move, let alone argue. But she wouldn't be ignored. “Karma, I'll be fine.”

“Yeah, but—” Karma's words cut off. She cocked her head, then swung her gaze between Hannah and Niall as if connecting something. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Hannah said, then dropped her head back on her arms again.

“That settles it,” Niall said, pushing to his feet. “Hannah, will you be okay for a few minutes while I get things squared away?”

Hannah nodded against her arms but didn't speak.

Niall left her alone long enough to ensure that Ross and Karma could handle the breakdown and cleanup back at the Boxing Cat.

“She's okay?” Ross asked. “You think she's got what Dawn has?”

Niall shared a glance with Karma. He wasn't sure what Ross knew and didn't want to lie to him, but it wasn't his place to tell the truth either. Niall was saved when Karma answered for him. “It's possible. All we know is that she's sick and needs a ride home.”

“I can take her,” Ross said, surprising him with the offer. “I promise to take her home and come right back. No stops along the way.”

It was a test. Niall knew it. He wanted to let Ross prove he could do what he promised. But not with Hannah.

“I'm driving her, but thanks for the offer.”

Ross rolled his tongue over his teeth. “Niall, she's a great employee and a sweet person. You ought to consider letting her stay. Okay, she got sick tonight, but she busted her ass all night right to the end. None of the guests had a clue anything was wrong.”

“They never saw a thing,” Karma interjected. Niall got her message. No one but the two of them knew why Hannah was really sick.

Niall nodded. “Ross, she said she was only in town for a little while.” And damn if that didn't suck. Maybe he could convince her to stay longer.

“Whatevs.” Ross shrugged but the look of disgust on his face belied his casual facade. “Look, if you're hell-bent on driving her, then do it. She shouldn't be out there all night. The guests haven't seen her yet, but someone might if she keeps doing vomit-o-rama in the yard.”

Crap. He'd failed Ross's test.

“We've got this, Boss.” Karma said, confidently. “Ross, if you can give me a ride back, I'll stay until it's all done tonight.”

Ross brightened at her offer. “Maybe we can celebrate after?”

“Definitely.” Karma grinned. “Let's see if Paulie and the others want to join us. Zig's off tonight. You name the place and we'll be there.”

“Later, Bro,” Ross said, his voice cooler than it had been only seconds before. “Better take Hannah home.”

“Right.” Niall started to walk away, then paused. “I can open tomorrow if you want to sleep in, Ross. Good job tonight.”

Ross's scowl melted into a surprised smile. “Thanks, man.”

“That was nice,” Karma said after Ross walked away. She pressed her lips together the way women did after applying lipstick, then she said quietly, so only Niall could hear, “Boss, you know I love you like family, right?”

Niall nodded, uncertain where this conversation was going.

“About Hannah . . . if you fuck with her heart, I'll kick your ass.”

N
IALL
BOLTED
UPRIGHT
on the couch. He hadn't had time to clean up his guest room since he'd discovered yesterday that hurricane Ross had trashed it. A scream pierced the silence. His heart slammed against his ribs as he stumbled down his darkened hallway to where Hannah slept in his bed.

She lay, curled in the fetal position, her hair a wild tangle of light brown curls around her damp face. Her entire body twitched. She cried out again.

Goddamn. She was still asleep.

Carefully crawling onto the bed, Niall pulled her into his arms. “Shhh . . . You're all right, Hannah. Wake up now.”

She stiffened in his embrace, then went limp but she stopped screaming. Silent tears dripped down her cheeks and onto his bare chest.

This was the fourth time in the past two hours she'd woken him with her nightmares. He hadn't pushed her to
talk about her vision or the nightmares, but this couldn't continue.

“Hannah? You awake now?” He stroked his hand up and down her back.

“If I say yes, will you let go?”

“Do you want me to?”

“No.”

He rested his cheek on the top of her head and smiled. “Then no, I won't let go.”

To emphasize the point, he pulled her onto his lap and held her closer. She still trembled from the nightmare, even as she burrowed closer to him.

“Better?”

She nodded.

The scent of honeysuckle invaded his senses. He'd assumed it was a shampoo or a perfume she wore, but it seemed to be her natural scent. She'd showered, brushed her teeth, and donned one of his T-shirts before bed. She shouldn't smell so damned sweet, but she did.

“Sorry I woke you.” Her words were muffled with her face pressed against his shoulder.

“I'm not complaining.” He rocked her gently. “It might help if you talked about it.”

He expected her to say no. To pull away. She was silent so long, he wondered if she had fallen back to sleep. Then she spoke, quietly. Slowly.

“His name was Brandt Branko.” Hannah shifted on Niall's lap, resting her head against his shoulder. Her breath warm against his skin. “Mercy didn't just kill him. She drugged and raped him first. It was awful. She has some sort of clock she goes by. She watched him. Hunted him. Stalked him. Then she picked him up at a bar. She promised him paradise. The fuck of a lifetime.”

Niall had heard her curse before but not like this. Hannah seemed unaware she'd even said the word.

“She took him back to her place and that's when she drugged him again. God, I wish I had vision bleach to erase
the memory. Even though it's faded like the others, I can still see him dead. There are some things you should never see. But her memories were all jumbled. And off, somehow. Like maybe the whole thing wasn't real?”

“What do you mean wasn't real? You think Mercy didn't kill this Branko guy?”

Hannah straightened. Her golden eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep and too much stress. “No, she definitely killed him. But just as the knife came down, there were other faces. A half dozen different men. Some blond, some brunette, one guy had a tattoo of a pentagram on his chest. It was like she was killing them all over and over again. The vision had a surreal effect that made it seem both like a nightmare and a memory smashed together. Like all the guys she killed were the same man, but not. Wait, that doesn't make sense. The only thing that tied everything together were her hands. I could see them gripping the same knife in every kill. But . . .”

“But what?”

“But her hands were wrong.”

“How?”

“I don't know. They were just wrong. It's hard to describe.” She shuddered. “And there were all of these vicious voices in Mercy's head. Two women kept calling her horrible things. Made her beg for a leniency they never gave. It was like having people screaming inside her mind all the time, except when she plunged the knife. Only then did the voices get quiet. She's really sick and twisted. And I thought I was going to go crazy with her, stuck in that vision. I thought the first time was bad. This was so much worse. I think whoever Mercy is, she needs to be locked up before anyone else gets hurt.”

Hannah's eyes brimmed with unshed tears. She worried her braid between her fingers hard enough that strands pulled free.

“You're safe, Hannah. You'll never have to see those visions again.” Niall pulled her back into his arms.

“You can't know that, Niall.” Hannah stiffened and fought against his hold. “Just because I don't work for you
anymore doesn't mean I won't be forced to face Mercy again. There's a reason the universe has put her in my path.”

The last thing he wanted was her afraid. “Maybe we should call Tommy. Get his take on it. See if he wants us to take this information to the police?”

“What ‘us'?” Hannah slid off the bed and stood several feet away. “You fired me, remember. You told me I could work the wedding and then I needed to find a different job. There's no
us
here, Marine.”

He warmed at her pet name for him.

“Yes, there is, Hannah.” Niall rose and crossed to her. “You want to have this discussion now and avoid the Mercy topic, that's fine with me.”

“I'm not avoiding anything.” She folded her arms and stared at him defiantly. “I don't work for you. We both know that's the only reason you wanted to sleep with me tonight. Because you like me. Too much. And it scares the crap out of you. You think you can screw me out of your system. Well, try. It won't work.”

“Screw you out of my system?” Niall counted to ten in his head. Still his words came out sharper than he'd have liked. “You're the one who gave me a bogus number.”

She waved away his ire. “I already explained that. It wasn't intentional. I wouldn't have written anything down if I hadn't wanted you to call. Think about it, Marine. I could have snuck out and said nothing. You'd have never known the difference. Or I could have kicked you out without anything more than,
well, that happened
but I didn't. I wanted you to call and I was pretty miserable that you didn't.”

“Why didn't you try to find me?” Niall wasn't sure what pissed him off more: her blithely dismissing his feelings or the fact that she hadn't ever sought him out. Because he'd sure as hell looked for her.

“Hello! I'm not stupid. You said, ‘Good-bye, Hannah,' not
see you around
or
catch you next time I'm in town
. Good. Bye. I do have some dignity. I left it up to you to find me. Then I left it up to the universe. I guess the universe figured I should have a second chance to get to know you. And do
you know what I learned? You
don't
want me around because I scare you. And not for the same reason I scared my last boyfriend. You actually seem okay with the whole vision thing. You are afraid because you actually like me! I freak you out because when you're with me, life doesn't suck.”

Her cheeks were red and her hands clenched. She panted her fury but her eyes were sparkling. He wasn't sure if he was pissed that she was basically calling him a coward or relieved to hear she was miserable without him too. It made him laugh.

Big mistake.

She uttered a muffled scream of frustration and threw her hands in the air. “You're enjoying this! You like arguing with me.”

“Not exactly.” But she was right, on both counts. He was enjoying being with her, even now. It sure as hell beat the alternative of not being with her. “But I'm not unhappy to be talking to you like this at this hour.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!” he shot back.

For a moment she was silent. Then she grinned and said, “I like you. I like talking to you. When I'm around you, I feel free and alive. On the right path. So yes, I am enjoying this too. Don't think I haven't noticed the fact that every time I say you want me, you move a step closer to me. Just like you did right there. If I say it a few more times, you'll be inside me.” She laughed. “Ooh, you like that idea too. Your whole body went rigid and not in the offended kind of way. You're turned on. Hard and ready and turned on. Well, guess what, Marine? So am I.” She pointed to herself. “I'm right here. If one night is all you want to share with me. Take it. Take me. I want more, but I'll settle for tonight.”

He stared in wonder at the tiny spitfire of a woman wearing only his Brown Coats Unite shirt and swallowed hard. He didn't want only one night. He wanted everything. And damn, she was right, he was afraid.

Fuck that.

He was a Marine. Marines don't run from danger. They don't run from fear.

“You gonna do it, Marine? Save me from my nightmares, if only for tonight?” Her eyes were suddenly vulnerable. She needed him. “You gonna spend the night with me?”

Niall slid his hands around her waist, brought her flush against him. Just before he closed his mouth over hers he whispered against her lips, “Yes, ma'am.”

*   *   *

N
IALL'S NAKED CHEST
was hot and smooth beneath her fingers. Hannah could feel his heart pounding against her palm. It raced in time with hers.

He'd called her ma'am again. Judging by the way his grass-green eyes were twinkling, it hadn't been a slip of the tongue.

For all her bold words about being okay with the idea of one night with him, she wanted more. Needed more. But she needed his mouth on hers. His hands on her body. In his arms, she felt safe. Something she was desperate to feel tonight.

He shifted his position, his lips brushing hers but not initiating the kiss.

“Niall, what are you waiting for?” Hannah asked, moving with him. Closer and closer but still not crossing that one line.

“For you, ma'am.”

“I'm not a domme,” Hannah said with a giggle. “But if I told you to kiss me—”

That was all she managed before he silenced her with a kiss that stole her words, her breath, her freaking mind.

God, yes! Yes!

This had been what she'd wanted. His kiss earlier at the cottage had been nothing compared to the heat and passion of now. He didn't just kiss her, his hands were on her, lifting her in the air.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and he groaned against her lips. His control was splintered. She tasted the way he was trying to rein himself in. Not gonna happen.

Driving her fingers into his hair, she pulled back enough to whisper, “The wall. Take me against the wall.”

Niall stumbled. His fingers gripped her hips and thighs hard, but it didn't hurt. “Hannah, you're going to kill me.”

“Not tonight.” Hannah bit his chin, then his earlobe. “Niall, we're closer to the wall. Take me here. Now.”

She rocked her hips against his abdomen. All of her clothes were in his washing machine. The only clothing she had on was his shirt that fell to her knees. Or fell to her knees when she wasn't wrapped around his waist.

Hannah reached between them and patted his rather large bulge. “You're ready, I'm ready.”

He made a sound deep in his throat, then kissed her again.

She would have gone on rubbing his impressive erection through his sleep pants, but he tugged her by the wrist. Then they were moving across the room. Toward the bed.

Hannah wasn't exactly disappointed, after all she was going to make love with Niall. Something she had thought she might never do again.

He managed to surprise her when he stopped at his nightstand and yanked open the drawer. Two unopened boxes of condoms were shoved inside. He grabbed one and ripped it open with his teeth.

She started to laugh. She couldn't help it. He'd mangled the box but the accordion of condoms was still inside. “Let me help.”

She reached for it and started to tear one off when he said, “Grab the lot.”

Then they were moving again. He didn't go far, but he did find some wall space.

“You like it when I tell you what I want?”

“Fuck yes!” He kissed her again with such unrestrained passion that she nearly dropped the condoms. When he pulled back from the kiss, his cheeks were mottled with color and he breathed heavily. “Um . . . excuse me. I meant, I think it's fucking outstanding. Damn.” He shook his head.

“If you're apologizing for saying
fuck
, don't.” She managed to shove his pants and boxers past his hips. His erection sprang free between them. She quickly unrolled the condom, loving the way his eyes closed and his head lolled back as she gripped him. Squeezing her legs together for leverage, she lifted her hips and held there until his eyes opened. “Just do me.”

“Yes. Ma'am,” he said, then with excruciating slowness, he slid her down onto his shaft.

Hannah wanted to go faster. To take him in but when she wriggled, the grip on her hips tightened and held her still.

“I don't want to hurt you,” he said.