01 A Cold Dark Place (26 page)

His fingers clenched but he didn
’t reach for her. “Let me know if I can help.” He eyed her breasts.

“
I think I’ve got everything under control.” She pressed herself against his zipper and his eyes crossed. She loved the feel of his skin, smooth and taut. Jesus, he was ripped and beautiful. Not bulky, just honed like the blade of a knife.

“
You’ve got a hell of a body for a desk jockey.”

“
You’ve got a hell of a body for a government employee.” He smoothed his hands up her ribcage to cup her aching breasts and leaned up to take a nipple into his mouth. The rough edge of lace against such delicate flesh made her toes curl; sensations shooting though her body that had her clinging to him. His hands were big and molded every curve. She was supposed to be in charge but somehow having Alex make love to her felt like she’d gotten everything she’d ever wanted.

She shimmied backwards, just enough to break contact and he groaned and lay back with a thump. She eased his jeans down his thighs and he kicked them off. He pulled off his holster and placed his weapon next to hers
on the coffee table. His and hers. Lastly he removed his shirt and threw it behind him with a glint in his eye.

His
gaze ate her up. She’d worn yoga pants because she’d planned on working tonight, going back over the files she’d been over a million times before. But she needed a break. She needed a life. She needed this. She stood and eased the pants down her legs. Watching his eyes dilate as they took in black lace panties. She’d worn them for him. She wanted to thank him. Not for saving her life last night. But for reminding her she had a life and might one day have a future.

Lust curled through her as she took in his
delicious body. God, she wanted him. A red hot fiery want. Damp panties, shaking knees, where’s-the-condom want.

He rolled to his feet.
“Bedroom.”

She blinked.
Really
?

He grabbed his pistol and then lifted her in his arms and carried her through to the other room and dumped her on the bed,
placing his weapon on the bedside table before following her down to rest heavily between her thighs. The blunt tip of him throbbed against damp lace and the temptation to just take him without any protection was almost overwhelming. He slipped down her body taking the bad decision with him.

His lips touched every inch of skin as he kissed his way back to her breasts, la
ving her nipples until she was writhing on the bed, damn near coming apart from that alone. Strong arms held her wrists down by her sides. She loved the dominant strength of him but that’s not what she needed tonight. She needed to be in control, to know that she could do anything she wanted.

He was about to go
lower and god she wanted him to, but... “Alex.”

That one word was enough to bring his head up.
“What?”

She pushed
with her body and he rolled onto his back. “My rules tonight.” She took him in her mouth and cupped his balls and worked him until his heels were pressing hard against the mattress. Then she licked her way up his body all the way to his sexy mouth. She leaned over to grab a condom out of the drawer and he took advantage to slip a finger inside the edge of her panties to find her wet and ready for him.

“
You’re driving me insane.”

“
Years without sex does that to a girl—and near-death experiences.”

“
I won’t let him get you, Mallory.”

She nodded.
“I won’t let him get me either.”

She went to
shimmy out of her lingerie, but he stopped her. “Leave it on.”

L
ingerie fetish.
She left it on.

He took the condom from her fingers and covered himself. Eased her slowly over him and
shifted her panties aside. He was big, aroused. She sank down just a little bit and he gritted his teeth. She looked down, the vision of him inside her, of the lace against pale skin, was such a turn on she came with a surprised shudder. He held perfectly still as if afraid to move. Squeezing her eyes shut, she sank just a little bit further.

“
I know this is your show, sweetheart, and trust me I am not complaining,” his voice was low and guttural, “but if you don’t start moving soon I’m probably going to start crying.” The tendons in his neck stood out. He didn’t touch her, except for where they were joined and the thrum of his pulse against her inner thigh.

She leaned forward to kiss his lips. She clenched her muscles around him and he swore. She liked that. Loved that he was doing what she wanted even though he
’d do things differently. She started to reward him, moving on him with slow sensuous strokes of her body over the rigid hardness of his. Sweat glistened on his skin, a faint sheen that tasted of salt. He was beautiful, sweaty and hers.

“
You’re really killing me,” he whispered as she lowered her nipple within reach of his mouth. He obliged her, tongue rasping against lace. Pleasure arrowed through her, from her nipple to her core. The need for more, for everything, was building and she reared back, twisting her hips and riding him faster, harder. He held onto her, driving deeper, bucking, every tendon in his body taut with that need for release. “I can’t wait any longer, Mallory...” He threw back his head and she felt him come inside her. Her own body reacted, clutching, spiraling into orgasm as a whirlwind of ecstasy exploded through her body. Shuddering, she rested her face in the crook of his neck and he gathered her to him.

Slowly their breathing eased. After a few moments of enjoying the comfort of him against her, she asked,
“What are you doing for Christmas?”

He stiffened beneath her.
“I usually work.”

She reared back and sifted her fingers through his
short silky hair. “Spend it with me.”

Those eyes of his held a funny expression.
“Does it involve your parents?”

Despite everything going on
in her life there was this weird feeling of joy she shouldn’t be experiencing right now. “I can cancel my parents.” He was more important.

He grunted.
“Does it involve food?”

She
still needed to go shopping. “Hopefully.”

He took her mouth and rolled her beneath him, pressed deep into the mattress, him deep inside her.

“Is that a ‘yes’?” She laughed, feeling him become aroused again.

His nostrils flared.
“We’ll see.”

She cocked a brow
. “It could be our first date.”

“We’r
e not dating, remember.” He thrust inside her and she sucked in a moan. “You didn’t go and do anything foolish like fall for me, did you, Mallory?” he asked.

Emotion welled up inside her. She shook her head and wrapped her legs around his hips. Watched his
pupils dilate. “No, sir.”

“Good.”
He swallowed. “Me either.”

But as she looked into his eyes she knew they were both lying and
it felt dark and dangerous and wonderful.

***

Early next morning, Mallory sat opposite Hanrahan in his cluttered office. Alex had dropped her at Quantico, telling her he’d pick her up to drive her home. The weird ache in her chest at his absence meant she was in way deeper than she’d ever thought possible. She was in love.

“
It’s a good idea,” Hanrahan said hesitantly.

“
So why don’t you look happy about it?”

He grunted and
shifted in his seat. “Maybe I don’t want to find out for sure that I have someone on my team who is feeding information to a killer.”

Mallory sat very still and didn
’t fidget even though her stomach felt decidedly wobbly. Obviously being targeted by a serial killer was affecting her more than she’d realized. But every time she fidgeted she figured she gave something about herself away to this man. Over the last few weeks she’d wanted to share less and less with the people she worked with. Trust had never been an issue for her before, the Bureau represented all that was good about the American justice system, but she’d never felt as betrayed as she had by Frazer sticking her on that hook and dangling her in front of the UNSUB the other night.

He’d almost gotten her killed.

“You can’t tell anyone, this has to remain a secret.” Mallory told this man with decades more experience than she had. “Have the IT tech monitor the cell phones. Don’t tell them why. You’ll have to tell them when they arrive that it’s just a training exercise.”

F
inally he spoke. “There’s a cabin we can use...my brother-in-law has a place about an hour’s drive northwest of here. It’s on federal land so we have jurisdiction.” He moved his jaw from side to side. “He and my sister are in Egypt and I’m supposed to be going up there for Christmas anyway.”

“
Can anyone trace it to you?”

He stared at her with those
seen-it-all eyes. Shook his head. “I don’t think so. It would take a lot of digging. My sister was a widow when she married again so her last name wasn’t even Hanrahan. I certainly haven’t mentioned the place to anyone.”

“
How are we going to do it?”

“
You’re
not going to do anything except observe.” He sat deep in thought for a moment. “It has to seem real, but we can’t involve any other law enforcement officers. I want this kept within the unit. If the media gets a sniff of scandal the whole thing will blow up out of control and we’ll never find these people. I’ll drive up there now and use the phone in the local store.” He pulled a digital voice changer out of his drawer. It reminded her she still needed to return Lucas’s call from the other day, see where he was on the Meacher investigation. “I’ll ask to be put through to Frazer—he’s been on the news about the PR-killer so it makes sense someone might approach him for a reward. Frazer will then call me and I’ll tell him to assemble the team and meet me at the store so we can check out the suspect. He’ll bitch and moan but I know him, he won’t be adverse to the idea of us leading the charge on this arrest.”

Her plan had been to report a sighting of the car that
had been stolen during the double homicide in Colby. The IT guy would then monitor all cell calls from BAU agents and if someone was in league with the vigilante they’d know—or at least have a good idea who it might be. They could then work backward to collect evidence.

Hanrahan looked at his watch and all the paperwork on his desk.
“If the assassin turns up at the cottage he’ll find an empty house.”

“
You don’t want a SWAT team sitting on the place?”

Tired eyes met hers.
“The most important thing to me is protecting the integrity of the BAU. Once we know who’s involved they’ll give us the assassin.”
To avoid the death penalty
. He rubbed both temples.

His phone rang and he indicated she wait while he took the call. When he hung up Hanrahan
’s smile faded.

“
One of the Greenville deputy sheriffs went AWOL.”

She sat forward.
“Which one?”

Hanrahan checked his notes.
“Deputy Sean Kennedy. Officers found Kari Regent’s backpack in his house and are testing a hairbrush for DNA.”

“
A hairbrush? The guy was bald as a coot, why would he need a hairbrush?” asked Mallory.

“
Their thoughts exactly.”

Mallory frowned. It didn
’t make sense. “I knew him as a kid, but he’s only about my age, not old enough to have kidnapped Payton. And there’s no way he’s the guy who attacked me at Eastborne.”

Hanrahan shrugged.
“He disappeared, so it’s suspicious. These attacks have been pretty sophisticated so maybe there’s more than one person involved.”

She was pretty sure more than one person had been involved in Payton’s abduction, but i
t still didn’t sit right. “Any news on Kari Regent?” Her parents were at her bedside, grief-stricken but with that rare commodity of hope.

Hanrahan sighed.
“She’s still unconscious. The Bureau has a sketch artist on standby at the hospital for just as soon as she wakes up and is able to talk.”

“
He made his first real mistake with her.” She wanted five minutes alone with the killer. Five minutes to try and find out the truth before the lawyers got to him.

“
If
she wakes up.
If
she remembers.”

Damn.
“True. If we are going to use this ruse we need to do it fast, before they go and catch the guy.” Which she prayed was as soon as possible.

Hanrahan smiled.
“So let’s get on with it. Watch your back, Rooney. Until we catch him remember this killer is gunning for you.”

And half her teammates too.
“Thanks for the reminder, sir.”