Danger Calls (16 page)

“And you know this
how?
”

Sebastian met Diana's gaze directly. “We couldn't wait anymore,
hermanita
. We were getting nowhere and every day that passed—”

“Daly's watching Sloan as we speak. All we need is one little misstep and we have sufficient probable cause.”

“For what? His little voyeur act? In the meantime, Sloan's managed to kill four people and not leave a trace.”

“Please tell me you didn't break into his files,” Diana asked, her voice tight with exasperation.

Sebastian continued as if his sister hadn't asked her question. “His handler at the NSA thought Sloan had lost it. Sloan was ranting about some kind of cells that he thought could be used to create a unit of ‘supersoldiers.' Ones with superior strength, highly developed senses and the ability to heal quickly when wounded.”

“Which was why Sloan was terminated roughly one month before the Danvers's crash,” Diana finished, surprising him. At his reaction, she went on. “You're not the only one with information,
hermanito
. The difference is, I got it legally late last night from a reliable source.”

Diana turned to Ryder. “Did you authorize this? Did you know what he was doing?”

Ryder placed his arms across his chest, clearly on the defensive. “I didn't, but I'm not sure I would have stopped him if I had known. Every day that Sloan is free is a day we're all at risk.”

“And if Sebastian's break-in was noted and traced?” she argued.

“It wasn't. Len was—”

“Another person in the loop?” Ryder asked, his tone harsh.

Melissa quickly jumped in. “Len only knew we wanted to get information. He didn't know why and we didn't say.”

Diana faced the other woman. “We? You mean you were in on this? You made yourself a knowing conspirator to a felony?”

It was clear from Diana's tone and the look she shot Sebastian just what she was thinking. He'd seen that particular look more than once on his father's face. He shot off the sofa and stood nose to nose with his sister. “Why don't you just say what you really mean? That you expected better of Melissa, but knew I'd eventually do something wrong because I'm a screwup.”

“You're not a screwup, but what you did
was
wrong,” she said calmly, although her hands were balled into fists by her side.

“It was important to get the information. I got the information.”

“So did I. And I didn't risk us all to do it.”

Ryder stepped up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “He says he wasn't detected.”

His sister whirled and directed her anger at her lover. “So what if he wasn't? It doesn't change the fact that he broke the law. A law I'm supposed to enforce. Do you expect me to turn a blind eye because it's my brother. Because it helps you?”

“Yes,” was all he said.

Sebastian expected Diana to explode. He waited for the additional censure. Instead she stalked to the door of the apartment and walked out. The door closed behind her not with a slam, but with a quiet click that was even more telling.

“I'm sorry, Ryder, but I had to do it,” Sebastian finally said.

Ryder was silent, but there was an angry tic along the side of his face. Sebastian expected him to vamp out as he had the last time he'd gotten angry, but he didn't. If anything, his calm as he spoke was unnerving. “Whatever you do affects me and mine. Don't do it again.”

Melissa jumped to his defense. “Sebastian only did it because—”

“You asked? Don't betray me the way your father did, Melissa. You and I…” He paused, clearly distressed. Looking away for a moment, he dragged a hand through his hair, then scrubbed his face with his hands before proceeding. “You're not just my companion. You're my family. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. But don't go behind my back again.”

He pointed a finger at Sebastian. “And you. Don't give me reason to dislike you.”

Ryder was gone with a speed that Sebastian wasn't sure he'd ever get used to. Which left him in the large and altogether too-quiet living room with Melissa. “Maybe it's time that I left.”

He'd been waiting…No, correction. He'd been
hoping
she'd contradict him.

“I think that would be best,” Melissa said, shattering his illusions.

“Right.” He rocked back and forth on his heels, delaying in the hopes of a reprieve, but it was not forthcoming. He paused at the door. “Will I see you later?”

She met his gaze directly, but tried to school her emotions. “Maybe.”

Sebastian had suffered so much rejection in his life that he should have been immune to Melissa's. Somehow he wasn't. It burned like a knife going into his gut because he'd wished for so much more from her. For so much more for them.

Only he'd been mistaken. Again. His father would have said that was typical of him—chasing after pipe dreams instead of reality. Melissa was a pipe dream. The sooner he accepted that, the quicker the pain in his heart would heal.

M
elissa lay in bed, staring up at the eggshell-white of the ceiling.

She was fully dressed. After Sebastian left, she couldn't muster the energy to change. And despite how tired she was, her mind was a Tilt-A-Whirl of emotions. Foremost among them, disgust at how she had behaved toward him. She'd driven him away and, in doing so, hurt him. Sebastian's face was like an open book and at her
maybe
, the only emotion there had been pain. All-consuming pain.

She of all people could understand distress of that kind. The anguish that came from being rejected by those you cared about. Those who you wanted to love you back.

For as long as she could remember, she had wanted love like that from her parents. She'd been a good little soldier and done everything they'd wanted in the hopes that they'd acknowledge her.

It had never happened. Nothing she'd ever done, including conforming to what she thought they considered the perfect little daughter, had ever been enough. Well, at least she hadn't thought it had.

Her father's memoirs had given her hope that the situation had been otherwise. That her parents had some affection for her. Sad that the crime responsible for taking them away had finally given her something she'd been lacking all her life—their affection and an understanding of why it had seemed to be absent.

Until Sebastian, who'd given her his affection and more. Knowing all that she was and all that she might not ever be, he'd trusted her. Pain of an almost physical kind rose up in her. She laid her hand on her midsection and pressed down, trying to make the ache go away, but it didn't.

She knew there was only one thing that would ease her misery.

Racing from her bedroom, she ran into Ryder as he passed by the door to her room. “Sorry.” He grabbed her to keep her from falling after the impact of their collision.

“Going somewhere?”

“Listen, I know you don't like Sebastian, but—”

“I asked him not to give me reason to dislike him. Surprisingly, I find him refreshing,” Ryder admitted.

“Refreshing? Mouthwash is refreshing. So is toothpaste and Altoids and—”

“You love him.”

Faced with that plainly worded statement, there was little to say except, “I just might.”

Ryder surprised her by smiling. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“What do you think?”

Melissa didn't wait for his response. She snagged her purse from where it rested on the table by the couch and raced out the door.

 

Sebastian walked for blocks, not really seeing or hearing anything around him. His mind was fraught with how the promise of the morning had been replaced by so many harsh words. With Diana. With Melissa.

He had no doubt Diana felt strongly about what he had done. How strongly remained to be seen, but no matter his sister's decision, he'd abide by it. Even if it meant going to jail. He was man enough to be responsible for his actions, even if his sister doubted that he was.

Just as Melissa doubted. It was hard for him to understand why she had turned from him. He'd always been up-front with her. Been totally open with his growing feelings. He'd even put his concern for her emotions and safety above his own personal freedom and his relationship with his sister.

He had hoped for more from Melissa. His disappointment was so sharp, it became corrosive, eating at him. Keeping him warm inside despite the chill of the bleak winter day.

Eventually, the long night and tension-filled morning took its toll, making his legs and feet feel leaden. At the corner he checked out the street sign and realized he was just a few blocks from home. Quickening his pace, he took the most direct route, wanting to drop into bed and let sleep erase what memories it could.

As he turned onto his block, he noticed something on the stoop of his building. Once he was closer, he recognized the back of Melissa's head and the dark blue peacoat she favored. He stopped directly in front of her, but couldn't find his voice.

It was hard to say how long he stood there before she raised her head. Her eyes were shining as if she'd been crying, and even with his anger, the sight of her tears touched him. Swallowing hard, he said, “What are you doing here?”

She laughed harshly. “Besides freezing?”

An unexpected answer. He pulled his keys from his pocket and motioned to the door of his building. “I'm going in. You're welcome to join me, or,” he said as he spread his arms wide, “you can stay here and keep freezing your ass off.”

Melissa wished she had a witty rejoinder, but she was too tired and too cold. Plus, she had to save her mental reserves for what was sure to follow their entrance into his apartment.

She followed him inside, trekking up the three flights of stairs to the walk-up he shared with Diana. His sister would hopefully be at work and not at home. Maybe she was a chicken, but Melissa couldn't deal with Diana again. Not just yet.

Once inside, he stripped off his leather duster and negligently tossed it on the couch. Without looking at her, he headed to another room and called out, “Would you like something warm to drink?”

How polite and impersonal. How ridiculous, given what had gone down between them barely a couple of hours earlier. “Tea would be fine. Chamomile if you have it.”

Melissa slipped off her peacoat, tossed it beside Sebastian's, and joined him in the kitchen. He was busy puttering around, filling a teakettle. He placed it on the gas range and lit the burner. Once the kettle was warming, he turned and faced her, his hands on the edge of the stove. “No need to wait here. I'll bring it in—”

“Somehow I didn't expect that the next time we spoke, it would be about tea.”

He brought his arms across his chest and adopted a stance that was somewhere between insolent and carefree. “Really? So sorry to disappoint you, but then again, that's par for the course.”

Melissa took the few steps necessary to stand directly before him. “Don't.”

“Don't what? Betray my sister? Piss off a vampire who could suck me dry if I annoyed him too much?” His face was hard and unyielding.

“Don't buy into what your father thought of you. You're nothing like that.” Melissa's urging only earned a bleak sigh from Sebastian.

She laid a hand on his arm, but he pulled away from her touch. “Sebastian.”

“What do you want, Melissa? What are you doing here?” He refused to meet her gaze.

“I'm here because I know that I hurt you. You deserve more. I'm sorry.”

Sebastian couldn't believe she wanted more between them. “Apology accepted. So once you're done with your tea—”

“Don't shut me out. My whole life I've been shut out and damn it, I won't let you do it.” With each word, her voice escalated not just in volume, but in distress.

Sebastian came as close to her as he could without touching her, because if he touched her…“You said that I shouldn't buy into what my father thought about me. I thought I hadn't, until this morning.”

He shook his head and took a deep breath. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he continued, “I knew I had disappointed my sister, but when I saw the same doubt in your eyes—”

“I'd be lying if I said I was sure of you right then. Of how you felt about what was going on with your sister. Whether what you felt for me was strong enough to last.”

She stopped short and bit her lower lip. In softer tones, she said, “I'm not sure about
me
, Sebastian. That you could still care for me.”

Two such wounded creatures. He finally gave into his need and cupped her cheek. It was still chilled from the cold. The hiss of the teakettle became a whistling screech. Without looking, he reached back and shut off the burner. Tea was the last thing on his mind.

“Whatever is going on between us is complex. Definitely uncertain. I'd be a liar if I said that I didn't worry.” He brushed his hand through the thick silk of her blond hair.

Meeting her gaze so that she'd have no doubts, he continued, “About me and whether I'm strong enough to handle the kind of life you lead. About whether you can believe that what's going on between us is real.”

Melissa looked away and in a voice so faint he had to strain to hear, she said, “It is, but this morning…I hate that I've complicated your life. That you've risked so much for me.”

Sebastian gently urged her to look at him. “Because you doubt yourself,
mi amor.
”

His brightness and warmth spread to her and she found herself smiling. “So can we rewind? Go back to this morning and all the plans we had?”

Sebastian wrapped his arms around her and brought her close. Laying his face alongside hers, he whispered in her ear, “Like a long nap. Waking together. Maybe sharing lunch?”

She cupped the back of his head and dropped a kiss on the side of his face. “I was actually thinking of something else first.”

“Breakfast?” he teased.

She nipped his earlobe playfully. “Are you playing hard to get?”

He pulled away, his dark eyes glittering with both merriment and desire. “Maybe.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “You enjoy this way too much.”

Sebastian laid a finger on the line of her cheekbone. “I do. I enjoy making you blush.” He trailed his finger down to her lips and traced the edges of her mouth. “The way you smile and how those lips warm next to mine.”

As if to emphasize his desire, he gave her the barest whisper of a kiss. As he pulled away, she found herself leaning toward him, wanting more. He gave it to her, but not in the way she had expected.

He ran his finger down the open neckline of her oxford shirt, then swept it to the center of one breast, where with a mere flick of that finger, he brought her nipple to a tight bud. “I enjoy the blush on your breasts when I kiss them.” He replaced his finger with his mouth.

Even with the barrier of the fabric, the heat and wet of his mouth rocked her to the core. She clasped his head to her and he urged her backward until her backside was leaning on the edge of the kitchen table. But that wasn't enough and she lay down on it and urged him into the vee formed by her legs.

Sebastian braced an arm on the kitchen table and glanced down at her. Her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes, wide and dilated with passion, followed his every move as he worked free the buttons of her shirt and opened it wide to display the delicate lace bra she wore. He touched her breasts, tugging at her nipples with his fingers until they peaked. She wrapped her legs around his hips until he was pressed tight to the center of her.

He knew then there was no stopping.