Against the Fire (31 page)

“No, but we have no idea where this guy might strike next. Even the police have no idea.”

Gabe blew out a long, disgruntled breath. “I suppose you’re right. All we can do is be careful.”

“That’s the reason I came by. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“I’ve been getting phone calls, Gabe. Hang-ups. I thought you ought to know.”

His jaw tightened. “And you just decided to tell me? Christ. When did they start?”

“A couple of weeks ago. I thought maybe some kook had seen my photo in the newspaper and somehow got my phone number.”

Gabe caught her shoulders. “Dammit, you should have told me as soon as it started.”

“You had enough on your mind without adding more. Besides, I didn’t think it was anything to worry about.”

“So what changed your mind?”

“I guess watching your truck blow up last night and you nearly getting killed. I thought the calls might be important. I figured you ought to know.” She looked down at the bandage around his arm. “How’s the burn?”

“It’s healing. In a day or two I’ll be fine.”

Dev appeared just then. “Do these phone calls come at any certain time or on any specific day?”

“There haven’t been that many, and so far they seem to be totally random. But I’ve been gone a lot, so maybe he calls and I’m not there.”

“So he doesn’t call on your cell.”

“No.”

“You’re sure it’s a man,” Gabe said, “not a kid or a woman.”

“I have no idea. All I hear is the sound of music playing in the background. He listens for a while, then hangs up.”

“What kind of music?” Gabe asked.

“Nothing specific. Just soft jazz of some kind.”

“That doesn’t sound like a kid,” Dev said.

“If he calls again, I want to know,” Gabe told her.

Mattie just nodded. “Can we…ummm…talk for a minute?”

“Don’t mind me,” Dev said. “I need to get a copy of those names and socials down to the department. They’ll have to do some digging to get the addresses, but they have access, and I can’t risk them finding out about Chaz.”

“Don’t forget you’re taking me to the car rental place this afternoon,” Gabe called after him.

“I know you need transportation. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” The door shut behind him.

“What is it?” Gabe asked, wishing Mattie hadn’t come. Wishing he wasn’t so damned glad to see her.

“We were talking about my safety. Well, this morning, I…um…started thinking. If the arsonist is the guy who’s been calling me, maybe I should…um…maybe I’d be safer here with you.”

Gabe frowned. “Two days ago that was the last thing you wanted.”

“I know, I just…”

“Which is it, Mattie? You want to be with me, you don’t want to be with me. I can’t handle this back and forth.” He frowned as he thought about the night they’d made love and the condom had broken. “You aren’t pregnant, are you?”

Her cheeks colored prettily, making those appealing little freckles stand out. “No!”

Gabe sighed, surprised he wasn’t more relieved.

And yet what he’d told her was true. He was tired of playing games. Until she knew what she wanted, he was no longer willing to continue as they had been.

“I’ve done some thinking, too,” he said. “Maybe you were right. Maybe we ought to slow things down, take some time to sort things out.”

Mattie glanced away. Several heartbeats passed before she looked back at him with a forced smile. “Yes, of course. You’re right. We both need a little time. It was just the explosion last night, I guess. You always make me feel safe and—”

She gasped as he caught her shoulders and hauled her into his arms. Bending his head he kissed her. He made her feel safe? Dammit, he needed to be certain she was. He wanted her to stay more than he wanted to breathe, but he didn’t want to get in any deeper than he was already.

Mattie’s soft lips parted and his tongue slid inside, tasted, mated with hers. Her fingers tangled in his white T-shirt, slid underneath, moved over his chest, and the blood pumped through his veins. The kiss grew hotter, wetter, deeper. Her arms went around his neck and his resolve weakened. Completely dissolved. He wanted Mattie Baker and he no longer cared what game she played. All he wanted was to be inside her.

Scooping her into his arms, he carried her into the bedroom and settled her on his bed. Dev wouldn’t be back for hours. Plenty of time for what he had in mind.

If sex was all Mattie wanted, he was about to give her the kind of hot, raunchy sex she wouldn’t easily forget.

Twenty-Nine

Mattie trembled as Gabe kissed her. She hadn’t been able to sleep last night on Emily’s couch. She kept thinking of Gabe, thinking of how he had started to pull away from her, and how she knew deep down she was losing him.

She had tried to convince herself not to come here this morning, but she’d simply had to see him. She was in love with him. She knew that now without the slightest doubt. She needed more time with him, enough time to figure things out.

Gabe deepened the kiss, the hot demanding glide of his tongue into her mouth telling her what he wanted. He pulled her tank top over her head, dragged her jogging shorts down over her hips. Her panties went next, then he settled her naked body in his bed.

Mattie watched as he stripped off his jeans and T-shirt and joined her, claimed her mouth again in a hot, soul-burning kiss. He cupped her breast, molding and caressing; he bent his head and his teeth grazed her nipple. The heavy bands of muscle across his chest contracted as he worked over her, laving each peak, turning them into stiff little buds, making her stomach quiver. Hot wet kisses trailed over her rib cage, continued down until his tongue circled her navel.

Mattie swallowed at the erotic sensations. “I—I need a shower,” she whispered, but Gabe just laughed.

“Honey, I like you just the way you are. Besides, you’ll only get sweaty again.”

“But—” She bit back a cry as his head dipped and hot kisses burned across her abdomen and lower still. Gabe spread her thighs and settled himself between them, his fingers tracing a fiery path through the crisp auburn curls at the juncture of her legs.

Her heart was pounding. Heat seemed to burn through her blood. Gabe parted her sex and his mouth settled there, making her quiver and moan. Feeling the sweep of his tongue on her most sensitive spot, Mattie forgot to breathe.

She sucked in a ragged gasp and twisted her fingers in his thick, dark hair, meaning to pull his head away. But the sensations were so hot, so sweet, she found herself holding him in place, instead.

“Oh…oh, my God.”

Gabe suckled and tasted, used his hands to heighten the sensations, and Mattie’s whole body trembled. Her skin felt hot and damp, stretched too tightly over her bones. Heat flared in the pit of her stomach. She arched upward as pleasure washed through her, spread out through her limbs. Higher and higher, she climbed, the sensations unlike anything she had known before.

For an instant, she hung suspended. There was only the feel of Gabe’s silky hair beneath her hands and the sweet, burning pleasure. Then heat and need swamped her and she tumbled over the edge.

She was floating toward the surface, her body limp and sated, when she realized Gabe hadn’t stopped and her body began to respond again. Fresh sensation hit her, thick and intense, and a second powerful climax rippled through her.

She didn’t remember Gabe moving above her, only stirred to life when she felt his heavy erection sliding deeply inside.

“We’re good together, Mattie. I was hoping you’d see that.” And then that big powerful body started to move.

Deep thrusts carried her higher. Long, slow strokes filled her with pleasure. Faster, deeper, harder. She was there again, flying free, letting him take her to the place she had been before. Mattie cried out Gabe’s name as he came, his powerful muscles straining with the intensity of his release.

Mattie clung to his muscular neck, unwilling to let him go, wishing she had the courage to tell him the truth. She was wildly in love with him. The phone calls had only been an excuse to see him. She wanted to be with him so badly. And yet she was afraid.

Gabe kissed her softly, deeply, then lifted himself away and settled himself beside her. A finger traced the outline of her lips.

“You all right?”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I’ve never…I didn’t realize how good that would feel.”

“Yeah? Well, there’s more where that came from.” He flashed her a cocky grin that had her smiling through the tears she hoped he wouldn’t see.

Then his grin slid away. “I don’t want you to stay here, Mattie. Sooner or later, he’s going to come after me. I don’t want you anywhere near me when that happens.”

“But what about the phone calls…?”

Wearily he shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t like it, I can tell you. I’ll talk to Daily, see if there’s a way the police can run a trace.”

“If it’s him, he could be watching me.”

A muscle jerked in his cheek. She could see the wheels spinning in his head. “I’ll call Sam. Since he’s practically moved in with Tracy, I’ll ask if you can stay at his place.”

She didn’t want that. She wanted to stay with Gabe. After the explosion last night and how close he had come to dying, she needed to be with him. She knew the risk she was taking in loving Gabe, but it no longer seemed to matter, not the way it had before.

“Tracy’s never let a man stay at her house,” she said. “At least not for more than a night.”

“That right?”

“She says Sam’s special.”

“He’s crazy about her.”

Mattie said no more. She had no idea what the future held for Tracy and Sam.

Or what would happen between her and Gabe.

At the moment, finding the arsonist before he killed Gabe or somebody else was all that mattered.

In the end, Mattie refused to stay at Sam’s, though he firmly insisted. Gabe tried to bully her, of course, until she convinced him that since Sam was his best friend, there was no way to know whether his place would be any safer than anywhere else.

“Fine, if you refuse to stay with Sam, you might as well stay with me. At least if something happens, I’ll be here to look out for you.”

Since that was exactly the reason she had come to his house in the first place, she shrugged as if it were the only logical solution.

“The police have put a car in the area,” he said, still clearly worried. “That’s something, I guess. And I’ve got a guard on duty twenty-four-seven.” Which hadn’t prevented the fire at the Egyptian or the truck bomb last night, but the Atlas guards were now on high alert.

The owner of Atlas Security, a friend of Dev’s named Trace Rawlins, had driven down from his main branch office in Houston to meet with his men and make sure they understood the danger of the situation. Make sure they kept a close watch for the man setting fire to Gabe’s property.

Both Gabe and Dev were hopeful that if the arsonist tried again—which they were certain he would—this time the guard would spot him.

Mattie spent the night with Gabe, who made several rounds outside the building to talk to the guard and check for any sign of trouble. He carried a deadly looking pistol, she noticed, stuffed into the back of his jeans.

On Monday, she returned to work, her pseudo-vacation over. Shirley handed her a stack of messages and she headed for her office. She caught sight of Emily and gave her a little wave.

The night Gabe’s truck had exploded and Mattie had stayed with her friend, Emily had confessed that she and Aaron had been seeing each other.

“It’s strictly against company policy,” Emily had said as she had carried sheets, a blanket and pillow over to the sofa. “But Aaron was sure you wouldn’t tell.”

Mattie smiled, thrilled at the news. “They couldn’t pry it out of me with a crowbar.” Emily laughed.

“I’m really happy for both of you.”

A soft smile curved Emily’s lips as she set to work on the makeshift sofa bed. “I’ve had a crush on Aaron for years. I kept hoping he would ask me out, but he was too obsessed with you.”

“Me!”

“I think he was pretty much in love with you.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. We’ve always just been friends.”

Emily smoothed the sheet into place. “Maybe that’s how you saw it, but not Aaron. I was always a little jealous of you, even when it was obvious you didn’t return his feelings. Then you started dating someone you really seemed to care about and something changed.”

“What?”

“I think Aaron knew how you felt about Gabe even before you knew it yourself. He was angry. That’s what he told me. Then he realized he wanted a woman who felt that same way about him, and he could finally see you never would.”

Mattie stuffed the pillow into a crisp white cotton case. “So he asked you out?”

Emily nodded. “For the first time, Aaron seemed to see me as a woman, not just a coworker. He asked me to dinner and we had a terrific time. We’ve been seeing each other ever since.”

“That’s terrific, Em.” Mattie leaned over and hugged her. “I’m so happy for you. You’ve always seemed perfect for each other. For years, I hoped the two of you would get together.”

They had talked late into the night, their friendship deepening after Mattie had confessed her feelings for Gabe. It was amazing how much clearer things seemed once she had said the words out loud.

She was thinking of Gabe as she made her way toward her office that morning, messages in hand.

“Hey, Mattie, how’s it hangin’?” Mel Freeman intercepted her before she got there. His mouth curved into a lascivious smile. “Things must be going well with that new boyfriend of yours. Word is you’ve finally been getting laid.”

Anger boiled to the surface, making her cheeks burn. Mattie tamped it down. “What I do outside the office is none of your business.” She tried to walk past him, but he caught her arm.

“I was just being friendly. Isn’t that the way coworkers are supposed to act?”

“We aren’t friends, Mel. We never have been. Now, if you’ll let go of me, I have work to do.”

Freeman’s lips curled, but he let her go.

Refusing to let Mel ruin her morning, she carried the messages into her office, sat down at her desk and started returning calls. With so much catching up to do, she decided to skip lunch and work straight through the day.