Incriminating Evidence (28 page)

Angry sex could be just the thing to calm her down. Then she could sleep again.

She threw back the covers. It was her move. Alec had insisted upon it. Anger was just the excuse she needed to squelch the guilt that was holding her back.

She eased open the door and crept into the sitting room, moving slowly so she wouldn’t wake him if she changed her mind at the last second.

She rounded the foot of the couch and stopped short at what she saw. Her cat, Gandalf, was curled in a ball and sleeping on Alec’s chest.

“Please tell me you’re here to take this damned cat off me so I can sleep.” Alec’s voice was a whisper in the quiet room, and she smiled, realizing he was trying not to wake said damned cat.

The angry haze that had driven her here faded as she took in the scene before her. Her cat. Asleep on the most gorgeous naked chest she’d ever seen.

She was a little jealous of Gandalf.

“Sorry, no. I came out to ask for angry sex. I didn’t realize Gandalf was here.”

“I sent two men from security to pick him up. I figured after what you’d been through, you needed him. You were asleep by the time they delivered him, and I didn’t want to wake you.” He grimaced. “He’s spent the last two hours kneading me and walking across me like I’m his personal sidewalk. He finally went to sleep about a half hour ago.”

She couldn’t help but grin. Alec lay pinned on the couch, clearly uncomfortable. Gandalf looked light and fluffy, but he was heavier than he appeared under all that fur, and he slept on Alec’s heart as if he owned it. “He’s a pest when you’re trying to sleep. I never let him in my bedroom at night.”

“Thanks for the warning,” he said dryly. He held her gaze in the darkened room. LED lights on various electronic devices provided just enough illumination. “What was that thing you said about angry sex?”

She set the condoms on the coffee table and scooped Gandalf from Alec’s chest. “Forget I said anything.” Gandalf made a disgruntled sound at being woken; then he must have smelled her, because he settled down and purred.

Alec took a deep breath—probably his first since Gandalf used him as a mattress—and sat up. “I don’t think I will.” He shifted his legs to the floor. “Why angry sex? Why not just sex?”

She dropped onto the end of the couch where his legs had been and settled Gandalf on her lap. “Because I’m mad. I dreamed about Vin again and woke up pissed. I’m so mad at everything that’s happened. I’m afraid of the basement now.” Her voice rose as the anger came flooding back, causing Gandalf to tense. “And elevators! I feel like a piece of my security and sanity has been stolen from me, on top of having my brother taken. I just want to punch someone.”

Alec slowly rose from the couch and paused in front of her, looming in the dark room. “Here’s the deal, Iz. We’re taking the elevator to the basement so you can shoot the shit out of some targets and get rid of some of that rage.”

He extended a hand toward her.

She hesitated but then set Gandalf aside and took his hand. He pulled her to her feet, bringing them so close she had to lean back to meet his gaze. He steadied her with an arm around her waist as he studied her face. His mouth slowly curved in a carnal smile that triggered a flutter in her belly.

“And then”—his voice deepened to a low rumble—“if you’re still feeling afraid, I’m going to strip you down and fuck the fear right out of you.”

H
e couldn’t be serious.
Isabel stepped into the elevator, thinking about Alec’s words, an effective block to what had happened in this box hours ago.

Yeah. He must’ve been kidding. A distraction.

It worked.

He stood silent at her side. Scruffy, tired, tousled, and frigging gorgeous. His T-shirt hugged his muscles as if it were painted on. She was in the same elevator that was part of one of the scariest moments of her life, and all she could think of was unbuttoning his jeans and going down on him.

She’d never had elevator sex before.

He was strong enough to lift her, pin her in the corner, and…

The doors opened. They’d arrived in the basement. The scariest place in her mind.

Alec merely grinned and raised an eyebrow.

He probably knew exactly what she was thinking. She nodded for him to lead the way, wondering all the while if he’d brought condoms. The box hadn’t been on the coffee table after she got dressed.

Motion sensors caused lights to flare as they crossed the vast, disorienting space. Nothing moved in the shadows beyond the light.

The compound was quiet.

But then, it was half past one in the morning.

Inside the firing range, Alec locked the door behind them and then punched numbers into the gun safe keypad. The buzzer sounded, reminding her of the cameras that watched this room, even now.

Yeah, he must’ve been kidding. He wouldn’t touch her in here, not with the cameras rolling. Disappointment filtered through her. They should have stayed in his suite.

He pressed at least a dozen more buttons on the keypad, then turned to her. “Punch in the same code I gave you for my quarters.”

She brushed against him as she reached for the keypad. Instead of moving back to give her space, he leaned a titch closer. She glanced askance and caught a wicked, sexy grin. White teeth surrounded by dark stubble. He hadn’t shaved since yesterday, and his square jaw was heavy with the beginning of a dark beard. He wasn’t the polished politician anymore. She was fairly certain this man was the Ranger, and she found the Ranger a decided turn-on. Somehow she managed to remember and punch in the access code. Barely.

Only one panel of the gun locker opened. Inside was an array of small pistols and racks of ammunition. “That code gives you access to the range and these weapons.”

“What, no fifty-caliber sniper rifles for me?” The bigger guns were in the other half of the gun locker.

“Hell, no. Those things have a nasty kick.” He leaned in close and said in a husky voice, “The cameras are off.”

“You didn’t.”

“Lee set up a special override code that only I have. I can turn off the cameras in any room in the compound.”

“Is that really safe? To shut off the cameras?”

“This room has been on lockdown since I decided to shut down the compound. Only Keith, you, and I have the access code.”

“What if the power goes out? Don’t all the rooms unlock?”

“Most do. But not this one. It can be unlocked manually from the inside, to prevent anyone from being trapped, but otherwise, it would take a battering ram to get in here.”

She glanced at the thick steel door and guessed that even a battering ram wouldn’t be enough. Heat flared in her belly. Maybe he did intend to screw her brains out here and now.

He grabbed the Sig she’d used during her lesson with Ethan and a box of ammo. “Put on headphones. If you hit the bull three times in a row with this, it’s yours.”

Okay. Maybe they really were here just to shoot. “You’ll give me the gun?”

“Yes.”

“All I have to do is hit the bull three times?” Hell, she’d hit the bull’s-eye a dozen times earlier. This would be a piece of cake.

“In a row.”

She cocked her head. “You have to do it too.”

“It’s already my gun. My compound.” His gaze scanned her from head to toe. “Everything in it is mine.” Clearly, his self-imposed restraint toward her was gone.

Restraintless-Alec was even hotter than his previous incarnation—and she’d found him pretty damn hot before.

“Humor me,” she said in the best challenging tone she could muster.

“Fine.” He pulled on a pair of headphones, rammed the magazine into the handle, and one breath later squeezed off three shots in rapid succession. He slapped the button to recall the target, and the human outline on paper floated toward them, a ghost on a wire pulley. When the target reached the counter, Isabel saw three overlapping holes in the red center circle over the chest.

“Your turn,” he said as he reset the target. The paper retracted down the lane but stopped at half the distance. “Twenty-five yards.”

Her first shot was good. But the second went high, and the third went low. He stood behind her and coached her on her grip. With a hand on her hip and another under her elbow, he adjusted her stance. She took another shot. Dead center.

She grinned.

Lips touched the back of her neck, and through the headphones, she heard him say, “God, that’s a turn-on.”

Feeling pumped, she took another shot. It went high. Off-the-target high. He chuckled.

She set the gun on the counter and faced him. Crossing her arms over her chest, she nodded to the lane next to her. “You’re distracting me on purpose. Go shoot in your own lane.”

He grabbed her hips and pulled her against him. His tongue traced the hollow beneath her throat. His lips trailed upward, nuzzling the sensitive skin below her ear. “How about we play a game that’s a lot like strip poker, but with shooting?”

She laughed. “Since you’re obviously an ace marksman, there is no way I could win.”

“Honey, when I get you naked, you’ll feel like the winner.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed him away. “Leave me alone. I’m trying to shoot.”

He dropped a soft kiss on her lips. “Fine.”

Her body hummed with pleasure as she emptied the magazine into the paper man. Every time she hit within the inner circles, she felt a jolt of adrenaline and a kick in the libido.

Next to her, Alec’s target had disintegrated under rapid fire.

She paused to watch, her heart rate increasing as she took in his firm profile as he gazed down the sights. The intensity of his stare as he focused on the target, well, if he wasn’t trying to kill it, she’d be jealous of the poor line drawing.

Watching him shoot was an aphrodisiac.

What was she thinking? Why was she wasting her time shooting at paper when she could be in bed with this man?

She carefully set her gun aside and moved to stand behind him. She cupped his butt with one hand and supported his elbow with the other. “You need to stand up straighter,” she said, giving his perfect ass a solid squeeze. “And lift your elbow.”

He chuckled and did as she said. The shot went high. His first shot that didn’t even hit the target, let alone the inner circles.

“That’s more like it,” she said, tracing a line along his arm, over his pecs, down the T-shirt, finally, finding the hem, she slid her hand up, underneath, and explored those rock-hard abs.

He set down the gun and twisted so fast her hand that had been exploring his abs now rested on his back, and the hand on his ass met his erection. His lips were on hers in a flash, his tongue thrust into her mouth in a deep, erotic kiss that made no secret of exactly where this would go.

She slid her hands under the sinfully tight T-shirt, marveling at the feel of hot skin over iron muscle. He lifted his mouth from hers. “It’s about damn time,” he said.

She laughed and kissed him, losing herself in the hot, knee-melting kiss. His mouth moved lower, to her neck, and a semblance of sanity returned. “Alec, the cameras.”

“They’re off.”

“But how do we
know
they’re off? What if your override code didn’t work?”

His mouth remained on her neck, but his right hand darted out and grabbed the gun from the counter. In one smooth motion, he lifted his head and raised the gun. Still holding her against him with one arm, he fired off two shots in rapid succession: one at the camera by the gun locker, and one at the camera affixed in the center of the lanes fifty yards away.

His hazed, lust-filled gaze met hers. “Good enough?”

She sucked in a sharp, shocked breath as heat flooded her system. “Yes.”

“Good.” He set the gun on the other side of the lane divider, next to her weapon, then yanked off the protective headphones and tossed them behind him. Finally, he scooped her up and set her on the counter. “Now. I’ve got another gun ready to fire.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

A
lec couldn’t help but laugh at his own words. He had a beautiful woman splayed out on the counter before him, and he’d made a crack about his
gun
. But then, from the moment he’d decided to take Isabel here to exorcise her demons, he’d felt strangely free. He wasn’t a politician right now. Or a boss. Or a Ranger. He was just a man pursuing a woman he had to have.