Chapter Fifteen
'I don't want you to go.' Maddox said quietly.
Iris looked up from the half-eaten omelet. 'I have to go.'
He shook his head, settling on the side of the bed beside her. 'Quinn can find someone else. Look at you.' He gestured at the fork trembling in her hand. 'You need to rest.'
Frowning, she laid the fork on her food tray and tucked her hand in her lap. 'I'm fine. The shower helped. I just shouldn't have gone so long without eating.'
His voice roughened. 'I don't want to find you washed up on the beach in a day or two.'
'Celia was a fake.' she protested. 'I'm not. I can do what they want me to do. They need me.'
'You don't know what they want.'
He touched her knee, the warmth of his touch seeping through the silk robe making her acutely aware of the fact that, other than her robe and a pair of panties, she was naked. Her sudden awareness of him almost eclipsed the anxiety pouring into her from his gentle touch.
She closed her hand over his. 'I know you're afraid for me. I appreciate it more than you know. I'd feel very alone right now if you weren't here.'
He cradled her hand between his palms. 'I talked to Darcy today. The tampering with the surveillance tape at the Hotel St.George looks like an inside job. And that same company provides security here at the Princeton.' He lowered his voice a notch to a rough growl. 'It took me less than a minute to talk my way in here, Iris. If I can do it-'
She squeezed his hand. 'Stop trying to scare me.'
'You need to know what kind of people you're dealing with.'
A ripple of terror washed through her from where his hands cradled hers. He snared her gaze with his, leaving her with no doubt he intended for her to feel everything he was sharing with her through his touch.
'Stop.' she choked, tugging her hand away.
He let her go. 'I'm sorry. I'm not trying to hurt you.'
She cradled her hand to her chest, fear still churning inside. 'Are you sure about that?'
He brushed her jaw with his fingertips. The touch was light, soothing and free of pain, though it evoked a twisting sensation in the center of her chest. 'I'm sure.'
The low nimble of his voice sent tremors up her spine. Need coiled into a tight knot. She reached for her fork, trying to distract herself from the onslaught of desire, unsure what part of the sensations were coming from Maddox and what was hers alone.
He retreated from the bed and stood by the balcony doors leaving her to finish the omelet and toast in silence. But his emotions filled the room like white noise, buzzing through her brain as she washed down dinner with a glass of orange juice.
When she was finished, she broke the silence. 'Why did you really come here?'
'I told you, sugar. You're not safe.'
'And that's all?' She started to put the empty tray on the bedside table, but he intercepted it, taking it from her hands.
He put the tray outside the hotel room door for room service to retrieve and turned back to her. 'I let you down this morning. I want to make that up to you.'
He sounded so serious, she thought, miles from his usual self. 'You don't owe me anything.'
He sighed, 'You want me to leave?'
'No.' She stretched a hand out to him. 'Sit with me.'
He closed the distance, taking her hand. He stared at their clasped hands for a moment, then lifted his gaze to hers, his eyes dark with questions. She moved closer to the edge to make room for him next to her.
His body felt warm and achy as he settled in beside her. She ignored the twinges of pain from his bruises and scrapes, focusing instead on the electric feel of him next to her. The pain started to fade away to nothing.
She leaned into his body and he shifted, sliding one arm around her to tuck her against his side. She laid her cheek against his chest and listened to the thud of his heartbeat, steady and a little fast.
'You look like you could use a good night's sleep' he said in a half whisper.
She smiled, 'Such flattery.'
He smiled back. 'I guess I should stick to being the strong, silent type, huh?'
She smoothed a wrinkle in his shirt. 'Big, tough Marine.'
He didn't answer, drawing her gaze. A frown creased his forehead as he stared at the far wall.
'Why did you join the Marines?' she asked.
His chest rose and fell in a deep sigh. 'Because becoming a nuclear physicist just wasn't in the cards.'
'Seriously.'
He ran his hand over his chin, his palm rasping against his beard stubble. 'I was tired of being everybody's mistake.'
She pushed up to look him in the eye. 'You're not anybody's mistake.'
'My father would've told you different'
'Your father thought you were a mistake?' She hid her reaction to the pain emanating from him in bleak waves, afraid he'd close up if he knew he was hurting her.
His smile was terrible. 'Ever heard of Alton Sinclair?'
'The billionaire guy who left his money…' She trailed off, gazing up at him with dawning understanding. 'You were-'
'-the bastard son he used to shaft his legitimate heirs.'
'So you really do have a trust fund.' she murmured, remembering something he'd said the first day they met.
He looked away. 'I tried to give it back to them. But when they wouldn't even meet with me, I just said forget it. They don't care enough to meet me, why should I care whether they can afford a new vacation home or this year's Porsche?'
His bitterness burned like fire along her nerve endings, but she gritted her teeth and held on. 'Your father must have wanted you to have it-'
His bleak laugh made her shiver. 'He didn't want me to have it. He just didn't want them to have it.'
'He could have given it to charity.'
'But that wouldn't punish his kids enough' He sighed again, his breath stirring her hair. 'Just proves he never even bothered to get to know me. I mean, if he thought his other kids were screw ups…hell, I messed up a lot as a kid, too. I was so angry at everything. Always in trouble.'
'Did you choose the military or was it chosen for you?'
He looked down at her smiling. 'A little of both.'
'So the Marines straightened you out?'
His dry laughter rumbled against her cheek. 'I'm a beach bum, baby. Do I look straightened out to you?'
She sat up. 'You're not a bum, Maddox. You're a hero.'
'Iris. I'm not-'
She pressed her fingers to his lips, shushing him. 'I'm not even talking about what happened in Kaziristan, I'm talking about what you did for me.' She traced the curve of his lower lip, fire smoldering inside her. 'I didn't know what to do or who to go to, but you were there for me, and you didn't have to be. That's not the act of a bum.'
He kissed her fingertips before tucking her hand to his chest. 'You have a low threshold for heroism, baby.' He started to get up from the bed.
'Where are you going?'
'I'm just going to settle in the chair right over there and let you get some rest.'
She caught his arm. 'I thought you were going to show me what you wanted to do with me.'
He settled on the bed, his gaze intense. 'Iris-'
She angled her chin at him. 'I know you want me'
