No One Left to Tell (43 page)

‘He snipes really well when it counts,’ Stevie said. ‘He hit Elena Muñoz and not you, Paige. Why didn’t he shoot you?’

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘I’ve wondered about that a lot. He could have taken me out and pumped a second bullet into Elena before anyone even knew what happened.’

Grayson made a low sound of rage and Paige patted his knee comfortingly, meeting his eyes. ‘But he didn’t,’ Paige whispered. ‘He didn’t kill me and he deliberately missed you today. He saved our lives with that call, Grayson. We need to know why.’

The temperature in the car seemed to climb a few degrees. Stevie cleared her throat and the two stopped staring at each other and looked back at her.

‘Thank you,’ Stevie said dryly. ‘Elena connects to Sandoval and to Delgado. Logan and his mother connect to the sniper through the video. How does Brittany connect?’

‘She may have taken money from the same person who paid Sandoval,’ Paige said. ‘He’s a connection. We told Brittany that people who’d been involved in the case were being killed. Maybe she offered up Grayson and me to keep the payer of fifty Gs happy and not killing her.’

‘Or her child,’ Grayson added. ‘Her child is important to her.’

‘I’ll put out a BOLO on Brittany and her kid. Hopefully she’ll turn up.’

‘Alive,’ Paige muttered.

‘That would be ideal,’ Stevie said. ‘You guys look pretty bedraggled. You’re staying at the Peabody, Paige?’

‘That’s where my overnight bag is. Shit. My backpack was in the car.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Grayson murmured. ‘Your laptop, too.’

‘I know. At least I back up nightly so I didn’t lose much data. But my makeup bag was in there too. I know that sounds dumb to worry over, but damn, I had a lot of time invested in buying all that makeup.’

‘We’ll get you some more,’ Stevie said. ‘My sister Izzy collects makeup samples every time they have one of those promotions at the department store.’

For a moment Paige looked like she’d refuse. Then she inclined her head. ‘That would be very kind of your sister to do. Thank you.’

‘You guys go clean up. I’ll have one of these officers drive you back to the city.’

‘You’ll call when you know anything about the shooter or the bomber?’ Grayson asked.

‘Absolutely. We’ll get to the bottom of this, Grayson.’

His lips thinned. ‘I’m going to hold you to that.’

Chapter Sixteen

Thursday, April 7, 1.45
A.M
.

G
rayson hadn’t let her go, not once since the medics had bandaged them up. One of Paige’s stitches had ripped out when they’d rolled over the embankment.
When he covered me with his body. Protecting me once again
.

The medic told her to go to the ER, but this time Grayson hadn’t forced her to go, much to her relief. She couldn’t take several hours in a small white room.

Now they sat in the back of a cruiser on their way to Grayson’s townhouse, his arm locked around her shoulder. She lifted a trembling hand to the bandage on his forehead. She couldn’t make herself go to the ER, but he should have gone.

‘You should have let them take you,’ she murmured.

‘I wasn’t going without you.’ He pressed a hard kiss to her temple with a dark desperation she understood, because she felt it too.

Before . . . it was just me
. Now he was in danger too. She turned her face into his chest. Underneath the smell of smoke was his scent and she breathed it in. His arm tightened and they steeped in each other until the cruiser stopped outside his house.

The officer turned to look over the back seat. ‘I’ll come in, check out the place.’

‘That’s okay,’ Grayson said. ‘I have a good security system and she has a big dog.’

‘The Rottie,’ the officer said. ‘I see him through the side window. Nice-looking animal. You two take care.’

The townhouse was quiet. Peabody stood in the foyer, head cocked slightly. Alert.

‘Good boy,’ Paige said, and the dog relaxed. Grayson disarmed the alarm, flipped on the lights. Everything was how they’d left it. She went to the study door. Everything was in place, including the photos on the shelf over his desk. Including the one that he hadn’t wanted her to see. The one of a little boy and his smiling mother.

She turned to find him watching her, eyes stark. ‘I thought I could keep you safe,’ he whispered fiercely. ‘I need you safe.’

‘You did.’ She went to him. ‘You have. Every time someone or something’s come at me, you’ve protected me. It’s been a long time since anyone has done that.’

His mood abruptly changed. His gaze heated, moving down her body slowly before taking the return trip to meet her eyes. She felt scorched, her skin too taut for her bones. But she couldn’t look away, even if she’d wanted to.

‘It’s been a long time since anyone’s done a lot of things for you. And to you.’

Her breath caught. She wanted to say something. Anything. But her heart was beating like a hummingbird’s and her mind had gone blank. As he had done the night before, he ran his thumb over her lips, the promise of a kiss to come. Her lips tingled, remembering the kiss outside the restaurant before his mother had interrupted them.

There was no one to interrupt them now. The thought teased. Enticed. Tempted.

Grayson stepped back, breaking the moment before she could decide what she wanted to do. He snapped his fingers for Peabody, reaching for the dog’s leash.

‘
No
,’ she said, shocked into vehemence. ‘You can’t walk him outside. Someone could shoot you. Whoever tried to kill you tonight won’t just stop.’

‘I won’t walk him out front,’ he said. ‘I have a courtyard out back with a privacy fence. It’s a small area, but it will do for now.’

He walked around her toward the kitchen and she turned to follow him.

Then stopped dead in her tracks. ‘Grayson.’ It came out a horrified gasp.

He paused in the doorway, but didn’t turn. ‘I’m okay,’ he said. ‘Don’t worry.’

She ran to him, reaching for him, then snatched her hands away before she touched him. ‘Your back.’ She wrung her hands, staring. ‘There are holes. In your coat.
Burns
.’ Great jagged holes with charred edges. ‘You said you weren’t hit.’ She remembered them rolling, then him shielding her. ‘You’re burned.’

‘I’m okay,’ he insisted. ‘I was wearing—’

But she’d ceased listening. She grabbed at his coat, pulling it off his shoulders. The holes went all the way through. All the way through his shirt. She yanked the shirt from his pants. Her hands shook and she fumbled the buttons.

Then realized she couldn’t see anything through her tears. ‘You should have gone to the ER. Why didn’t you go to the ER?’ she demanded, her voice breaking.

He brought her hands to his lips. ‘Paige. I’m okay. I was wearing Kevlar.’

The breath shuddered out of her. ‘Kevlar? How?’

‘Sometimes I get threats from the accused or their families in court so I got a vest. I put it on when I walked Peabody earlier, when you were with my mom. It seemed . . . prudent at the time. Joseph’s getting one for you, too. You’ll wear it. Promise me.’

She blinked up at him. ‘Kevlar?’ she repeated numbly. ‘Where is it?’

‘I took it off when the medics checked me out. CSU took it. To get burn residue.’

She nodded mechanically.
Burn residue
. Hearing but not yet believing his assurances, she pulled at the buttons on his shirt, popping a few. She pushed the shirt from his shoulders, baring his chest with all that beautiful skin.

She flattened her hands on him, touching him, needing to feel him. His muscles flexed under her palms and his breathing changed. Hitched. Grew more shallow.

Her hands slowed, no longer frantic. She took her time, touching him the way she’d wanted to the night before when he’d laid beside her, not sleeping. She pressed her mouth to his powerful chest, feeling him tense beneath her lips, his breath coming out in a hiss. She reached around him, her hands tentative, searching his back.

No burns. Just smooth skin. ‘You’re okay.’ Rippling muscle. ‘You’re perfect.’

He said nothing, gripping her hips, pulling her against him. He was aroused. Very, very aroused.
For me. This is all for me
. And she wanted it all. She wanted him.

He kissed her neck, hot wet kisses that made her hotter and wetter . . . everywhere. One big hand rose to cover her breast, gently shaping and reshaping and she closed her eyes on a throaty moan. It felt so good.

‘Good,’ he said huskily and she realized she’d said it out loud. He kissed the curve of her shoulder, bit lightly, making her gasp. Then he sucked hard, marking her. ‘Stop me,’ he whispered harshly against her skin. ‘Unless you plan to finish this, stop me.’

She lifted her hands to his face, felt his stubble tickle her palms. Knew she wouldn’t be stopping him tonight. She leaned up on her toes and kissed him, a hot, open-mouthed kiss that yanked a guttural groan from his chest. He unbuttoned her jacket, pushed it off her shoulders to the floor.

‘Be sure,’ he ground out. ‘I won’t do this if you’re not sure.’

She said nothing, but unsnapped her shoulder holster with quick, economical movements and let it land on top of her jacket. He pulled her shirt off, then unhooked her bra with a practiced finesse she wouldn’t think about. Ever.

He was staring at her breasts, his eyes dark with greed. ‘You’re beautiful, Paige.’

She’d heard it before. Too many times to count. But this time . . .
Please let it be him. Let him be for me
. She closed her eyes, waiting for him to grab. To pluck and pinch. But he didn’t. Instead she felt hot breath against her skin and opened her eyes to find him bent, his dark head at her breast. It made her knees weak.

She waited for the touch of his mouth. Waited for him to suck. Instead his hands spanned her waist and she found herself lifted off her feet, whisked to the edge of his dining-room table with devastating ease.

‘I want you,’ he whispered. He planted his hands on either side of her, caging her in. Leaned forward, kissing her with an intensity that left her lungs empty and burning. ‘I fantasized having you here, on this table. All afternoon, when you were watching other people having sex in that pool. Tell me to take you. Tell me I can have you.
Tell me
.’

She opened her mouth, but no words would come. His head was close to her breast, his breath hot against her nipple. But he didn’t touch her. Anywhere.

‘Tell me, Paige. Say the words.’

She swallowed hard. ‘Do it. Please.’

He laughed, low and wicked. ‘Please is nice, but you need to say what I tell you to say.’ He brushed lightly between her legs, making her jump. ‘Tell me to take you.’

‘Please. Please.’ She whimpered it and he looked up, his gaze razor-sharp.

‘Say it.’ He increased the pressure between her legs, his thumb finding the place that made her gasp. She lifted her hips, trying to get more. More pressure. More of him.

He took his hand away and she protested. ‘Grayson.’

‘Say it.’ He delved under her waistband, finding the holster, setting the gun and knife aside. He peeled her pants to her knees, leaving only her lacy black panties. ‘Pretty.’ He bent, kissing the inside of her thigh, inches from where she needed him.

‘Grayson.’

He looked up, his gaze intense, demanding. ‘
Say it
.’

She closed her eyes, her heart pounding like a wild thing. ‘Take me. Please.’

He moved fast then, yanking at the laces on her boot, pulling one off and letting it fly. It landed somewhere in the foyer. She didn’t care where. ‘Hurry,’ she whispered.

He stripped her pants off one leg, leaving her with one boot on, throwing her bare leg over his shoulder, opening her wide. Then she cried out when his mouth closed over the black lace, sucking hard. She came in a blinding rush, her head falling back, gasping for air.
Too soon
. It was over too soon. It had been so long.
Too long
. She wanted to scream. She wanted to curse. But she didn’t have any breath.

‘Again,’ he muttered, pulling her panties down, freeing her bare leg. Finally his mouth closed over her breast and he plunged two fingers deep into her. Her body went rigid as he sucked, long draws that had her writhing and bucking on the edge of his dining-room table. ‘Come, Paige,’ he demanded. ‘Again.’

He moved to the other breast, sucking, while his thumb found her most sensitive flesh. He pressed and rubbed and sucked and she came apart again, her cry strangled in her throat. ‘Grayson.’ It was hoarse. Barely discernible as her own voice.

She could only watch as he straightened, his lips wet from sucking her breasts, his fingers glistening from her arousal. He fumbled with his belt, let his pants fall to the floor.

He cursed, bent over and pulled a condom from his back pants pocket. By the time he’d straightened, he was covered. He caged her in again, moving between her legs, leaning over her until all she could see was green, green eyes.

‘Tell me again,’ he whispered. ‘Tell me you want this.’

He’d leave her no way to blame him, she understood. ‘I want this,’ she whispered back. ‘I want you. Do this. Take what you—’ She cried out again, this time in surprised pleasure. He was big. All over. She was filled and she could feel him, deep.

‘I want you,’ he said gutturally, beginning to move. ‘You’re mine. You understand?’

‘Yes.’ She met his thrusts, watching him. Watching them. ‘I understand.’

He slid his arms under her back, hooking his hands on her shoulders, and he thrust even deeper. ‘Do you like this?’

He hit the spot that sent a jolt of current singing across her skin. ‘God yes. Don’t stop.’

‘I couldn’t.’ He closed his eyes, sweat beading on his brow. ‘You feel too damn good. I want you. I want you.’ He set a rhythm and she let herself be swept away. And when she came, her scream made no sound at all.

He found her mouth, covered it with his. Kissed her until she couldn’t breathe. And then he went rigid, throwing his head back with a grimace that was beautiful to behold.