Jordan Summers - [Dead World 01] (19 page)

I note the scavengers waiting for
me to finish, their
squeaks and scurries
perk my ears. I do not want to
disappoint
them, so I gorge myself, devouring Moira's
tender flesh, taking her
bones into my body. I espe
cially love the
crunch of her teeth. They remind me of
popcorn kernels. I eat until I
can't take another bite.

Come,
I urge
the creatures of the night.

The scavengers have their niche
to fill. And I have
mine.

You're next, Gina.

chapter
ten

Red awoke with a start, rocketing up in bed.
Her body burned and her nipples ached. She wiped her
sweating palms on the sheet and tried to calm her raging heartbeat as it
pounded painfully. Her gaze darted around the darkened room.

Nothing moved.

She listened, her ears straining, trying to ascertain
what had startled her out of a sound sleep. No
breath
ing. No footsteps.

Nothing to explain the sudden rush of adrenaline.
Yet it was there, burning beneath her skin like a
low-
grade fever.

Had she been dreaming? Panic slammed her as she threw
back the covers and glanced at her body. Her bedclothes were clean, free of
blood. "Oh, thank goodness," she whispered. At least that wasn't the
cause of her distress. She bent to retrieve the blanket. The small movement
brought awareness flaring to life. Had she been having an erotic dream? Red
tried to recall the seconds before waking, but no images came to mind. Yet
there was no denying her body's need.

If Morgan were here right now, she'd pounce on him.

Shaken, she stared into the darkness, waiting to
calm, but her body was too tense. There was only
one
way she'd be able to get back to sleep. Red slipped her hand under
the covers and into her underpants, while imagining Morgan naked, standing in
front of her. She groaned. Moisture met her fingertips as she began to stroke
her clit.

Morgan would be hard and erect
as he watched her
masturbate, his muscles
quivering with need. Red's body bowed as she strummed her flesh, her hips
rocking against her hand. Her fingers weren't nearly as deft as a man's mouth,
but they'd have to do.

Writhing upon the rest pad, she pictured Morgan's dark
head buried between her thighs. His golden eyes locked on her face. That was
all it took. Her orgasm hit like a Shockwave, sending ripples over her body.

"Morgan!" Red cried out his name as she
came.

Gasping for air, it took several
minutes for the room
to come back into
focus. By the time it did, she'd finally relaxed. Red fell back onto the rest
pad and closed her eyes, replete.

Morgan Hunter stood in the
cleansing room unable to
move
, his mind churning with the knowledge that Gina
had actually called out his name
while pleasuring her
self.
For a second, he'd thought she'd realized he was there, hiding like a thief in
the night. But she hadn't.

He released a breath he hadn't known he was holding as
he watched Gina drop back onto the rest pad and fall fitfully off to sleep. The
act had been excruciating to watch, when every fiber of his being demanded that
he replace her fingers with his. Mes
merized
by the rise and fall of her nipples, he tried to
ignore his body's
steady ache. It was impossible after witnessing the beauty of her release.

Soon he'd be unable to ignore the craving, even though
he had tried for the past three days. If anything, it had become worse.

The physical activity he'd forced upon his body earlier
hadn't deterred or dampened his ardor. He wanted Gina more than he wanted his
next breath.

Morgan knew he shouldn't be
here, that he'd crossed the invisible line from unprofessional to stalker behav
ior long ago. He was acting like
a fool, yet he couldn't
help himself. The need was too great and her desire for
him wasn't helping.

He scrubbed a hand over his face in disgust. What was
wrong with him? He'd never behaved this way around a woman.

He'd stolen into her room. Not sure why or what he
expected to happen once he got here. He just needed to see her.

Be near.

He'd been fighting the attraction between them and
tonight, he'd lost the battle.

Morgan wanted to feel Gina's
skin beneath him, her
breasts scraping
his chest. Hear her soft cries in his
ears as
he brought her to peak. He needed to breathe in
her scent as he spread her thighs in order to taste her feminine
essence. Brand her with his kisses, until she was oblivious to all other males.
The urge to fuck her
senseless nearly overwhelmed him.

Ashamed and more than a little
confused by the pos
sessive
feelings coursing through him, Morgan forced himself to move from his hiding
place in the cleansing
room. He needed to walk toward the door and leave,
before he did something they'd
both regret—like
act.

Morgan's muscles ached from
standing so
still
and
his cock was hard enough to bore holes through the floor.
Each step was excruciating. It took all the self-control he'd cultivated in
himself to continue.

He inhaled, taking Gina's lovely sweat-soaked fragrance
into his lungs. Morgan swayed, momentarily intoxicated. It wasn't difficult to
imagine her in the throes of passion once again.

Morgan bit the inside of his mouth to keep from
groaning aloud. He tasted the coppery tang of his own blood as he opened the
door and slipped out of the room.

There was no doubt that he'd lost it.

He turned as the door was about to close, needing to
catch one more glimpse of the woman he desired before he headed for home.

Gina's form remained still in the darkness, her modest
breasts hidden beneath a thin shirt. Morgan could just make out the hard peaks
of her nipples as
her chest rose evenly. It
wasn't difficult to imagine her
pearlescent
skin, topped with delicious nuggets of
rouge-colored
flesh. His mouth watered at the thought
of tasting her.

He took a ragged breath.

She was
perfect.

Red
listened intently, while keeping her breathing
regulated
so that it appeared she
slept. Slowly she moved her hand until she could grip her pistol beneath the
covers.

She was not alone. Someone had been watching her the
whole time.

She opened her eyes just enough to allow her to peek
out from beneath her lashes and then waited. For what, Red wasn't sure. She was
about to give up, when she caught movement in her room.

There.

Her heart nearly stopped in her
chest when Morgan
stepped out of the
cleansing room. Like a shadow
dancing in
light, he moved silently with a stealth she'd
never witnessed in a man.

How in the hell had he gotten in here? And what was he
doing?

She hated that her instincts had been right. Red
watched him, waiting for him to make a move. He
didn't. Instead, Morgan stared at her, his body covered
in sweat, muscles tense. His face contorted in
what ap
peared to be a grimace of
pain—except it wasn't. Red
recognized that expression.

It was
need.

Desire rolled in waves from his body, battering her,
demanding that she notice. And Red did, despite her orgasm earlier. Her senses
reacted instantly. The physical response to his nearness hit her like a blow,
both frightening and fascinating her.

She wanted him, almost as much
as he wanted her.
There was no denying
it.

Red had known that was the case the second she'd laid
eyes on him. She'd just chosen to ignore it. Mutual attraction aside, that
didn't change the fact that Morgan had no right to be here.

When she was ready, and only
when she was ready,
she would invite him
onto her rest pad. Not a moment beforehand. Red debated what to do. If she sat
up and confronted him, her investigation would hit a dead end, or worse—they'd
fuck.

Too bad neither option was acceptable.

Her body screamed at her in protest.

Instead, Red waited. What did Morgan plan to do? The
thought sent her senses and imagination into overdrive. What if he walked over
and climbed onto the rest pad with her? Would she kick him out? Doubtful. It
took effort to keep her breathing steady, but Red managed as her nerves
stretched to the breaking point.

If he didn't decide soon, she'd make the decision for
him.

Finally, Morgan moved, picking his way toward the
door, while his gaze remained locked on her. The panel slid open silently and
he stepped out into the hallway. He stared at her for several seconds more and
then closed the door.

Red exhaled, her body trembling with the effort it
took to remain natural. Morgan's presence posed more questions than it
answered. One thing was obvious, they couldn't continue with the investigation
any longer. Tonight he'd crossed a line and she'd let him. Red didn't know
which was more disturbing, her behavior or his. Tomorrow, like it or not, she'd
have to confront Morgan about his midnight foray.

Red did not look forward to that conversation.

The
sun splashed into the room, waking Red from her fitful
sleep
. Her eyes felt as if someone
dumped
glass in them during the night,
thanks to Morgan's un
invited visit
and the erotic dreams that had followed.
She swallowed. Her mouth tasted
gritty, like she'd been chewing on sand.

Red rose and stumbled to the cleansing room with her
eyes closed, debating whether the best course of action was to confront Morgan
or proposition him. The latter, though appealing, wasn't really her style.

She relieved herself, then stood
to peer into the mir
ror.
Red cracked an eye open and blinked. She froze,
her mind refusing to accept what she was seeing. It was like deja vu.

Not again. Please. Not again.

Dried blood covered the front of her shirt and one
cheek. The coppery odor clung to her skin, gagging her. She knew without
checking that the blood wasn't hers. Red's stomach rebelled. She threw up what
looked like raw chunks of partially digested meal into the waste retrieval
system.

Fear sliced through her, leaving her teeth chattering
as she recalled Morgan's nocturnal visit. She'd seen him leave and he hadn't
come back. Or at least she didn't think he had. What if ...

Horrified, her eyes bulged. Was
it possible she'd
harmed
him without her knowledge? She barely knew
Morgan, but the pain of that thought left her reeling.
Red did a quick search of her room, but nothing had
been disturbed. Unfortunately,
given the last incident,
that didn't
prove a thing.

She slipped off her shirt, but this time didn't incinerate
it. Instead, she bagged the cloth like it was evidence at a crime scene. Hell,
for all she knew, it was. She had to find Morgan to make sure he was okay, and
then get out of Nuria before this nightmare got any worse.

She stood under the chemical shower for what seemed
like an eternity as she waited for her mind to clear and the tears to stop
falling. Dressing slowly, Red pulled on her boots as she attempted to recall
the events of last night. Surely she'd remember if she'd hurt Morgan, wouldn't
she? It didn't bear thinking about.

She slipped Rita onto her wrist, but kept her on
standby. The last thing Red needed was for her to run
a diagnostic on her. She was scared at what she'd find.

Red swept her hair back off her face and headed out
the door. She didn't bother to stop at the instant food dispenser. She doubted
her stomach would hold anything. Instead, she walked straight to the sheriff's
office and barged in without knocking.

Morgan's assistant sat at her desk, staring at the
screen of her compunit.

"Is Morgan here? I need to
speak with him."
Please
let him be okay.
She sent up the silent prayer without
breaking the woman's gaze.

"He's unavailable at the moment. Would you like
to leave a message?" She smiled.

"You've seen him this morning?"

The woman frowned. "Yes."

Well at least he was alive. Red released a breath she
hadn't known she was holding. "I have to talk to him. It's
important." If only to see for herself that he was in one piece. Red
didn't wait for a response. She entered Morgan's office. It was empty.