“No,” she whispered. “This time we talk in my world.” She no longer felt like Nichole, Wolf’s little sister. She was a Shadow now, an equal. Adam was on her ground now.
Adam dropped the matchbox. “All right, we’re in your world. Only I’m guessing your vision is better than mine in this midnight.” He leaned back against his desk to steady himself in the floating blackness. “How about answering a few questions? Like where you were tonight and how long you’ve been doing this?”
“Doing what?” she almost sounded innocent.
“You know what. Leaving the house after dark and… and… I’m not sure I know what, or want to.”
Her outline moved from the floor and stood in front of him. He could see little, but he could feel the warmth of her body so near and hear the light intake of her breath. The smell of leather drifted past him as she raised her hand and touched his hair.
He ignored the touch. “Where have you been, Nick? Don’t you realize how dangerous it is in this town after dark? This isn’t the woods of Tennessee.”
She pressed closer, her height equal to his as he leaned against the desk. He felt the length of her body only a fraction away from his.
“What if someone saw you?” He tried to keep his words angry. “Maybe even one of the raiders from the stage? Your life would be worthless if they knew you could identify them. You’ve got to stay hidden at least until the sheriff gets back.”
Nichole didn’t answer but moved her gloved hands to his shoulders. Her fingers lightly brushed from his neck to his arm and back.
“What do you think you’re doing, Nick?” She was driving him mad with her nearness and her silence.
“I’m touching you,” she finally whispered. “I seem to remember you telling me I could this morning. Are you backing down on your word?”
Adam raised his head and folded his arms across his chest. But the action only brought him in contact with her, and she refused to step away. “No,” he answered. “I’m not backing down, but we’ve a great deal to talk about. You have to look at what you’re doing logically. The war is over now. There is no…”
Her hand stroking his jaw made him forget his point. He felt starved for her touch.
She pressed close to his forearms and brushed her lips against his ear with her words. “Talk. I won’t stop you, Doc.”
Adam closed his eyes, trying to think of what it was he’d had to say. All he could think about was the movement of silk at his arms as she touched her lips and cheek against the side of his face. Her journey didn’t reach his mouth, but moved over his skin, exploring the feel of him with her lips.
Didn’t she know that a woman didn’t advance so? Only right now he couldn’t understand why women didn’t, for the feel of her was intoxicating. Maybe she was just punishing him for the way he’d acted this morning. If he reached for her, she’d probably pull away and remind him that he said he’d never touch her again.
He tightened his grip on his elbows and found the muscles in his arms became more sensitive to the brushing of her shirt.
Her warm breath tickled beneath his ear as she slid her cheek along his jawline.
His head leaned back as her hands moved across his shoulders and began unbuttoning his collar. “Nick.” His voice was so low he hardly recognized it. “We can’t do this. You can’t do this.” He knew they were both attracted to one another, but they had to fight it. There were other considerations. Though logic told him this was insane, he seemed to be the only one fighting any urges at the moment.
“We aren’t doing this,” she whispered as she removed his collar and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. “I’m doing this. You’ll stand still and keep to your word. After all, you made a promise to welcome my nearness.”
Her fingers clutched the material and pulled his shirt open. “Are you telling me to stop, Adam? Are you pushing me away?”
“No,” he answered. “Never.”
She moved her hands beneath the cotton.
Adam closed his eyes once more and swore beneath his breath. She was torturing him, paying him back for the cold kiss this morning. Now he was positive if he reached for her, she’d be gone.
She tugged at his arms and he unfolded them, gripping the sides of the desk. Let her play this game, he thought. She was too much of an innocent to take it very far.
Without moving away an inch, she pulled off her gloves and dropped them on the desk. Then to his surprise she went back to unbuttoning the remainder of his shirt. With each button, her fingers spread the starched cotton apart so that she could feel his warm skin. The tips of her fingers moved along his chest, painfully slow.
He felt her light touch a hundred times stronger than if it had been a blow. The fresh, wild smell of her surrounded him, making him feel like he was taking her very being inside him with each breath.
“I want to feel your skin,” she whispered. “Do you mind? After all, you’ve touched mine. Even that first night when my body was filled with pain, I remember how you touched me as you washed the blood away. And in your bedroom just before dawn months ago. I’ll never forget the way your hands moved over me.”
“I said I wouldn’t touch you again,” he answered. “And I won’t.”
How could he tell her that the pleasure of her fingers against his skin was shattering any calmness? She didn’t need to remind him of the times he’d touched her. Each moment was vivid in his mind.
She spread the shirt wide and leaned into his bare chest as her lips brushed his so briefly he wasn’t sure if it was reality or dream. Then she lowered her face to his chest and rolled her head from side to side, taking in the feel, the smell, the touch of him like a wild animal choosing a mate.
“We have to talk,” he mustered his last ounce of sanity. “Nick.” His mouth touched hers and his words only traveled a breath away.
Without a word, she pressed her lips against his and ended all conversation. He didn’t react to her kiss but let her kiss him.
At first he thought, let her take what she wants, let her torture him. But she wasn’t being fair. She wasn’t taking, she was giving.
She moved her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer, molding the length of her body against him. His resolution shattered. Without thought of how she might reject him, he moved his arms around her waist and matched her kiss.
For a moment, she felt a jolt of surprise and pleasure, then she settled into his arms as if she’d been there a hundred times.
All the reasons they should stay apart crumbled as he kissed her. He felt a wonderful sense of coming home with her in his arms. Even if they could never get along in the real world, here in the night, they were a perfect match.
He plowed one hand into her short curly hair. The thick, midnight silk of it drove him mad. While he was listing reasons for his insanity, he’d have to add the way her lips tasted and the way she pressed against him without holding back and…
Her mouth opened and all other thought vanished as the kiss turned to liquid passion.
He had no idea if minutes or hours passed, nor did he care. She pulled away suddenly, leaving his body a cavern from the loss.
“Listen!” she whispered in sudden panic. A moment later she vanished into the blackness of the room.
SEVENTEEN
NICK SLIPPED HER knife from her boot and crept into the hallway. A thin beam of light from the kitchen cast a glow along the narrow space turning the center of the house into a wood-lined cave.
The sound she’d heard came again. She felt her way along the wall until she reached the front door. The thin windows on either side of the door were black with the darkness of predawn.
“Let me!” Adam whispered from just behind her as he reached for the knob.
“Don’t open it,” she answered. “It could be the deputy, or even Mole.”
