Wild on You (17 page)

“Addie, I should let one of the other Justiss guys take over for me.”

She spun to face him, feeling panic of a different sort. “Why?”

“Don’t you think it’s a good idea? Considering?”

“You saved my life. You’re overpro—I mean protective and competent.”

“The problem is, I’m pretty sure it’s not right to want to do this with my client.” He drew his finger down below her chin and tilted it up. “Or this.” He covered her mouth with his, moving slowly back and forth. She automatically opened to his kiss, and it was the most natural thing for her tongue to touch his.

He let out a low groan, sliding his hands down her backside and cupping her behind. “Or this,” he murmured, pulling her flush against his pelvis. And his rock-hard erection. He buried his face in her neck, making her shiver. “I want to make you gasp and pant when you can enjoy yourself and not have to make conversation about vegetables.” His mouth found her ear, sucking on the lobe. “I want to taste you this time.” His tongue traced the edge of her ear, making her gasp as she imagined it on other parts of her body.

She felt a flutter at her diaphragm, in her heartbeat. “Risk, I—”

“Don’t want this, I know, don’t want a guy muddling your mind. And oh, do I want to muddle your mind. I can’t stop, Addie, so you have to say the word.”

Which was damned hard to do when he was sucking down the side of her neck. She pushed out, “You keep interrupting me.”

“See how rude I am. Obnoxious, even.” He reached the crook of her neck. “Here I am, ravishing you with probably a hundred college kids watching, and I don’t care.”

The sound of conversation, punctuated by laughter, drifted from the restaurant. She cracked an eye to see for herself, but the restaurant and decks filled with people were blocked by layers of lush green maple leaves. “They can’t see us. There’s a tree in the way.”

“That’s not what you’re supposed to be telling me, doll.”

She managed a soft laugh as his gentle nip on her shoulder sent chills right through her. “You’re worried about college kids watching after what you did to me during a formal dinner?”

He chuckled, low and husky. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. See, I have no sense of propriety. If I were you, I’d shove me back and tell me what a Neanderthal I am.”

“Since you like to put words in my mouth, I don’t need to.” She shivered as his lips moved up the front of her throat.

“I’d like to put more than words in your mouth.” His fingers squeezed her butt, hoisting her even closer. “See how crude I am? I’d smack me, tell me to bug off.”

She would have if her imagination hadn’t been supplying erotic images of that hard steel rod gripped in her hand, her thumb sliding over the slick tip, her mouth making him gasp and groan the same way he’d done to her. So in the end, all she did was make murmuring noises as his mouth found hers again.

His hands slid down to her wrists, and he anchored them at her sides. “Addie, why in the name of all that’s good and proper aren’t you stopping me?” With a heavy breath, he stepped back. “Or at least invoking the name of a phallic veggie?”

Her body tingled everywhere he’d touched and kissed and even places he hadn’t. It took some effort to pull her thoughts together. She was surprised he wasn’t telling her what she was thinking. “Wait a minute. You wanted me to stop you?”

“We both know we shouldn’t be doing the tongue tango. Since I obviously can’t control myself around you, I was counting on you to be the levelheaded one. Because whatever this is between us clearly distresses you. I saw the panic in your eyes when I mentioned liking the boyfriend role. And I get it. I’m the steak you shouldn’t want, and it’s tying you up in knots. I like you, Addie, and I hate that I’m stressing you out. I also like my job. I don’t want to mess it up.”

She managed to pull back, even when she wanted to lean forward and feel all of that hard, muscular body. “You make a good point. We both have a lot to lose. But I don’t want anyone else to protect me. Sure, there’s an … attraction between us.” Small understatement, but that sounded better than
fiery lust combined with genuine affection.
“Come on, we’re adults. With discipline. You of all people should have loads of that. So we just control ourselves.” She arched an eyebrow. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

He rubbed his forehead. “That’s the problem, Addie. I don’t want to get rid of you at all.”

* * *

Discipline. Control. Risk grunted as he drove into the heart of the campus. Addie was right. He should have boo-coops of both. He’d spent hours holding one position in the dark while a group of terrorists passed within yards, waiting for the right opportunity and not taking the first one. He’d survived the grueling BUD/S training. So why was one woman making him lose his head?

Or your heart?

He blinked at those unbidden words. Yeah, it was more than lust or infatuation that he felt for Addie. He wasn’t sure how much more, though. Thinking about going further with her was like standing at the edge of a cliff. Would he feel the same as he did after a BASE jump, ready to move on to the next adventure? Which would really muddle her mind. Or would he get addicted to one slightly neurotic vegetarian animal rights activist?

Addie referred to her map as she pointed at one of the many large brick buildings. “It’s right after Mandella Hall.”

He passed the School of Medicine building as he got into the right lane. The campus was picture-perfect, with its planters of flowers, low stone walls, and precise landscaping. Students of all ages wandered down well-lit sidewalks or congregated under the shelter of bus stops.

He turned in to a near-empty parking lot of a one-story building identified as the Hallman Sciences Lab. Gil stepped out from around the corner and waved them toward a jog between that building and the next, where the van would be inconspicuous.

Especially since the security lights didn’t reach the area.

If they found the tiger in the lab, they’d call the police. Once the authorities cleared the scene, Risk and Addie would take the tiger to the refuge. Risk got out and walked around to the front, where Gil was telling Addie he’d already ascertained that the admin staff were all gone for the day. He conveyed his unhappiness at Risk’s presence with a combination sulk/sneer. More than displeasure, actually, which corroborated Risk’s suspicion that the guy had it for Addie.

They followed Gil wordlessly to the door he’d shown them on his floor plan. He pulled out a key card and tried to jam it in the slot. The guy was nervous, his hands shaking. He finally got it and, as with a hotel room lock, a green light lit up. Gil slid the card back into his pocket as he turned the doorknob. He gestured for Risk to precede him into the dimly lit hallway.

Risk assessed what he could see as he stepped up to the open doorway. Then a surge of electricity rocketed through him. He convulsed, every muscle clenching while black dots flashed in front of his eyes. What the—

Taser. Gil had Tasered him. And the son of a bitch was going to hit him again. He saw it coming, the black device clutched in Gil’s hand, but Risk couldn’t do a damned thing to stop it. Another jolt liquefied his knees and sent him to the ground. As his thoughts scattered and his body shook, he reached for his Glock.

Addie’s scream was cut short when Gil hit her with the Taser, too, and pushed her through the open doorway. Risk tried to lift the gun, but Gil stepped on his wrist with his black-and-white sneakers. Then he jammed his hand into Risk’s pocket and snagged his keys.

“Help!” Gil screamed. “Guy with a gun! Call campus security!”

Risk heard other people shoot into panic mode. Screams. Footsteps running away. He could see his hand on the gun but couldn’t move his finger on the trigger. Not that it mattered; he’d never get a good shot off while he was thrashing around like a fish out of water. Worse, he might hit an innocent person.

The door closed behind Gil. Where was Addie? She’d fallen inside the building.
Oh, hell. His body was out of control, his mind barely able to string thoughts together. It did string together one thought: Two men in uniform were aiming guns at him.

He released his gun and pushed it away from him. It took everything in him to push out the words “K-kidnapped. Woo … wooman.” He pointed to the door where that freak had taken Addie.

One of the campus cops swiped the gun while the other rolled him facedown in the grass and cuffed him. Risk couldn’t put up one iota of resistance, though his mind fought.

He heard a voice intone, “We have an inebriated male by Building F. Armed. Was armed,” he added. “Call in reinforcements.”

“I’m not nee … nebriated.” Good God, he could barely talk. Having his mouth pushed into the grass wasn’t helping. “Tasered.”

“We know you’re tired,” the other guy said. “It’s probably been a long night. Started drinking early, huh? We’re giving you a ride to someplace nice and comfy.”

Risk rolled over, rage flooding his face with heat. “A woman’s … kidnapped … you idiot. Gil Sanderson … student, just took her in there.” He jerked his head to the door. “I’m her bodyguard.” Amazing what a little anger could do. Or maybe the Taser’s effects were beginning to wear off.

In the flashing blue lights, it was hard to tell whether the guy was taking him seriously. It quickly became obvious. “Not much of a bodyguard if you’re on the ground and she’s in there, are you? Look, we’ll get this all straightened—”

“Get in that God-blasted building right now!” Risk raged, trying to get to his knees.

One of the men aimed a gun at him while the other walked to the window and peered in. “I don’t see anything.”

“Take it easy there, buddy,” the gun wielder said.

“I can’t take it easy, you knucklehead. Gil hauled her into the lab, the one that got shut down. My ID’s in my wallet. I work for The Justiss Alliance.” He tilted his hips so they could extract his wallet. “Call the number on the back. Chase Justiss will verify.”

Then Chase would no doubt fire him. But not before Risk found Addie. Fear pounded through him at the thought of her. Gil looked harmless, if a bit weaselly, but he obviously was far from it. Risk had way miscalculated the guy’s intentions. He’d thought Gil was in love with her, not in cahoots with the bad guys.

The cop pulled out Risk’s wallet and opened it. “It does say he’s an associate of The Justiss Alliance, whatever that is.”

“Private security firm,” Risk said, what he was supposed to tell anyone who had a need to know. “What are you waiting for?” he shouted to the guy peering in the window. “Get the hell in there and find her!”

The cop jumped, then used his key card to open the door.

“Be careful,” Risk called. “The guy’s armed with a Taser, and he may have two thugs helping him.” And who knew what else? Then he remembered something and turned to face the second cop, who still had the gun aimed at him. “He took my keys.” Panic suffused him. Gil was going to take her off campus. “See if there’s a white van parked behind the lab.”

Sirens pierced the air. The police.
Get here. Quick
.

The cop who’d gone inside the building came back. “The lights are on in the lab, but no one’s in there. The back door was open.”

Risk asked, “Was there a white van out back?”

“Nope.”

He’d taken her. Risk had failed, and the son of a bitch had taken her.

Two cop cars screeched into the parking lot. They were either going to help—or make matters worse.

* * *

Pain and shock seized Addie as Gil dragged her down the slick hallway. Her mouth wouldn’t work, wouldn’t utter words like “What are you doing? Are you
crazy
?” She thought she might get sick, not only from whatever that thing he’d touched her with had
done, but from the sight of Risk convulsing on the ground.

Gil must be the one behind the attack. He was breathlessly uttering something as he neared the door at the end of the hallway, though she couldn’t hear over the buzzing in her head. A sign on the door announced that the lab was closed indefinitely and to see Dean Williams for permission to enter. Obviously Gil didn’t need permission, because he slid his card into the lock and opened the door.

Fluorescent bulbs washed the lab in harsh light when Gil flicked them on. Empty cages lined the walls, but none held a sorry little tiger cub. Or any other animal. What was he going to do with her? She tried to fight him, but her muscles had turned to cooked pasta. He pulled her to a door at the far end of the lab marked
EXIT
. He pushed that open and dragged her outside … right to her van.

It took him several minutes to strap her into the passenger seat, because she kept drooping to the floor. He managed to buckle her in, sat in the driver’s seat, and started the van.

She saw blue flashing lights coming from somewhere. Gil was muttering faster. He glanced at her as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road that led out of the campus. “You’ll thank me for this later.”

Say what?
In no way could she imagine thanking him. Yes, he was crazy. She tried to gather her thoughts, but they did no good in a mouth that wouldn’t work. Her lips were two floppy things that did little more than mash together and mumble. He was still holding that little black device. A Taser, obviously. He’d used it on her and Risk. To get her away and do what with her? Was he working with Maynard? Where were the two thugs?

A few minutes later, Gil pulled up to a small house in what appeared to be a nice little neighborhood. “Sorry about this,” he said. Before she could try to ask what he was sorry about, it became glaringly apparent—he Tasered her again. Then he ran around the other side, unbuckled her, and helped her to his door. A neighbor was sweeping her porch but stopped to watch. Addie tried to say,
Help me
.

“Good evening, Mrs. Sanchez,” Gil called out pleasantly, even if his voice
sounded strained. “My girlfriend had a few too many margaritas.”

Addie tried to shake her head, imploring the woman with her eyes. The woman shook her head in disgust and went back to sweeping. Addie was escorted into the house. He ushered her to an eat-in kitchen and eased her onto one of the two chairs. The sight of the duct tape lying on the table sent her heartbeat rocketing. Especially when he took the roll, fumbled with scissors as he cut off a length of it, then wrapped her wrists together. He knelt down and attached each of her ankles to the legs of the chair with more tape. He ran into the living room and turned on the television. Loud. Where were the thugs? Or the man behind this?