Keep Me Safe

He raised goose bumps where he touched. They pimpled over her skin, raising the tiny hairs in their wake. He pressed his mouth to her neck, nuzzling softly with his lips.

“Did I hurt you?” he murmured.

She made a low humming sound and then shook her head, bumping it gently against his chin. “I never knew it could be like that,” she said in wonder. Her voice cracked and she lifted her head so she could look into his eyes.

He slid both hands down her slender back to cup her behind. She was astride him, still pulsing around his cock with little quivers that were like electric shocks to his system.

His hand went still on her rounded bottom. “I didn’t use a condom. I’m sorry. I’ve never been so caught up in the moment that I didn’t use protection.”

She shivered but didn’t immediately respond. Her vagina clenched wetly around him and he felt himself harden again. He hadn’t worn a condom the first time but he’d be damned if he made that mistake again.

Gently he turned her so they rolled to their sides. She snuggled against his body, her eyes closing as he withdrew from her liquid heat. He was immediately bereft of her warmth. He felt hollow and empty.

“You must be hungry,” he said. “You had nothing to eat since breakfast.”

She shuddered delicately. “I don’t think I could eat even if I was hungry.”

“You can’t afford to skip meals,” he pointed out. “You have to take better care of yourself, Ramie. If you won’t do it, I will.”

“Did they find her?” Ramie asked softly. “Did they catch him?”

Caleb tensed, his arm tightening protectively around her. “They found her. And no, they didn’t capture him.”

Her exhale was sharp. Her breaths hitched and stuttered from her lips.

“He’s going to keep killing,” she said painfully. “He wants me. He’ll trade me for future victims.”

“No!” Caleb exclaimed, fear gripping him by the throat. “Don’t even think it. There will be no trades. No deals. No negotiating with insanity. You’re staying here with me. Where I can be sure you’re safe and protected.”

“I can’t hide forever,” she protested.

“Can’t you?” he challenged. “I have resources you can’t imagine. I can make sure he never reaches you.”

“At what price? How many more women have to die because of his obsession with me? Maybe we should talk to the police about a trade. A setup. Give him what he wants.”

Panic slammed into his chest. He couldn’t force air into his lungs. He was holding her so tightly that he was likely bruising her. He forced himself to relax but rage burned through his gut, eating a hole in his stomach.

“There will be no trade,” he said tersely.

“It’s not your decision.”

“The hell it’s not! One of us has to play it smart and it sure as hell isn’t you. You aren’t in this alone, Ramie. And there’s no way in hell I’m letting you offer yourself like a sacrificial lamb to a deranged psychopath who wants your death. It’s not up for negotiation. If I have to tie you to the goddamn bed and sit on you I’ll do it and suffer no remorse whatsoever.”

“What do we do then?” she asked in frustration. “I can’t live like this, Caleb. I can still smell blood, feel it on my hands and remember the instant he killed her. It’s a game of chess to him. He’s cold and calculating and he enjoys death. He’s god of his own universe and is an unstoppable force.”

He kissed her furrowed brow, trying to ease her fretting. “You being dead won’t save anyone.” She sucked in her breath as he continued ruthlessly. “Do you honest to God believe he’d stop with you? He’ll always need the rush. A bigger challenge.”

She made a frustrated sound of grief. “He’s probably already hunting for his next target. He’ll keep taunting me until he gets what he wants.”

“I don’t give a damn what he wants,” Caleb snapped, his arm tightening around her body. “I will not hand you over to him nor will I allow you to be drawn into a trap that may or may not result in his capture. We’ll find another way.”

“There is no other way,” she said quietly. “You know it and I know it. Eliza and Dane know it. The police know it. How long do you think they’re going to put up with a maniac killing off women before they throw me at him?”

“If I have to take you out of the country I will,” Caleb said, his jaw clenched tightly. “This isn’t open for debate, Ramie.”

She sagged against him and then sighed wearily. “We can’t do this, Caleb. It’s insane.”

He frowned, a growl of frustration welling in his throat. “We’ve already discussed this. I asked you to stay. To fight for your right to stay. With me. For me. If I’m willing to make sacrifices, shouldn’t you be as well?”

Ramie pushed herself up on her elbow, tugging the sheet over her breasts. “Any other time I’d say yes. If we’d met . . . before. Maybe we would have had a chance. But this has no shot at working out the way it stands now. What kind of life will you have with me in hiding for the rest of my life, unwilling to confront a killer? A constant reminder to your family of what happened to Tori.”

“Shut up,” he said rudely. “I never said I had all the answers. But I happen to think you’re worth fighting for. I’m not giving you up.”

“God, Caleb. It’s not that I don’t want you or that I don’t want to fight for you—us—whatever. I’m just trying to get you to understand what kind of life it will be, not only for you but for your family. I can’t hide for the next fifty years.”

“I don’t see why the hell not,” Caleb bit out.

She let her head fall to his chest, pressing her forehead against his skin. He sighed and slid his hand into her hair, absently massaging her nape.

“I have feelings for you that I’ve never had for another woman. And I want to explore those feelings. See where it takes us. All I know is that I can’t—won’t—give you up. Not for Tori or my brothers and definitely not for a homicidal maniac. As I said, I don’t have all the answers—yet. But that doesn’t mean I’m just giving up and handing you over like some virgin sacrifice.”

She stared at him in silence. He could see her processing his statement, obvious befuddlement in her features.

“Just accept it,” Caleb said. “You aren’t going to talk me out of it. You aren’t going to tell me what I do or don’t feel for you. And you may as well resign yourself to the fact that I’m digging my heels in whether you like it or not. Now, I’m going to go down and fix us something to eat and then we’re going to go back to bed and in the morning we’ll sit down with Dane and Eliza and brainstorm some more. And one more thing, Ramie,” he said, tugging her hair so she was forced to look at him. “Get used to being in my bed because that’s where you’re going to sleep from now on.”





TWENTY




TORI sat up in bed, coming awake with a gasp. Her heart pounded violently in her chest, her pulse so rapid she was weak. She scrambled out of bed, the images still vibrant and alive in her mind. She could still hear the gunshot, smell the blood and could see the face of her tormentor as he pointed a gun straight at her.

She went into her bathroom and splashed cool water on her flushed face. Then she lifted haunted eyes to her reflection in the mirror and winced at how pale and gaunt she looked.

It had been a year. It was time to move on. Time to stop being afraid of her shadow. Live.

Was the dream a vision or was it simply a nightmare? It was too real, too crisp and vivid to be a dream. Dreams didn’t usually make sense and were jumbled images randomly thrown together.

She went still for a moment, her brow furrowing in concentration. She didn’t recognize where the shooting took place. It definitely wasn’t here or anywhere she was familiar with.

It should be easy enough to avoid, if indeed it was a prophetic vision. She never left the house. She was too afraid to go out, either with someone or alone. Especially alone.

What had her life become? Who had she become? She no longer recognized the girl in the mirror. She was dull and lifeless. Scared and timid. A far cry from the woman she’d been a year ago before she’d gone to hell.

How did Ramie do it? How could she bear to endure that over and over? Tori flinched at how angry and rude she’d been with Ramie. The idea that someone had seen her shame was more than she could bear, though. Great injustice had been wrought against Ramie St. Claire, but Tori couldn’t find the empathy to soften against this fragile woman.

She stood in the bathroom a long moment before finally going back into her bedroom. She crawled under the covers, pulling them to her chin. She lay there shaking, her stomach churning endlessly.

An hour later, she gave up. A trip to the kitchen would be a welcome—and necessary—nightly patrol. One she didn’t confide in her brothers. But between the times they or their men scouted the house, inside and out, Tori had her own route she followed, moving her markers so that she would notice a difference if someone touched them. Her brothers would think she was crazy, clinically insane if they knew how obsessed she was with the fear of someone coming into her home and taking her again. She hid a lot from her brothers. This was just another thing in a long list they didn’t need to know about because they’d only worry more than they already did.

Sleep wouldn’t happen tonight. Just like so many other nights in the past year, she’d be awake, staring up at the ceiling and trying to shut the door on things she’d rather forget.

At least if she had food and coffee, then the middle-of-the-night munchy run wasn’t all that strange.

As much as she wanted to put her past behind her and cower in the corner of her choosing, she hated being alone. She just didn’t want people always psychoanalyzing her. Always knowing what she needed or wanted. They had no idea.

She just wanted to be normal and focus on what all young women focused on. Their first job out of college. The knowledge that they’re ready to take on the world, live in their own apartments, make their own choices.

Except Tori, who, at twenty-three, was focused on none of those things. Not that she didn’t give them a passing thought every once in a while.





TWENTY-ONE




RAMIE lazily opened her eyes and sighed, stretching like a cat next to Caleb’s body. Her mind was refreshingly blank. No fragments of violence and death. Just blissful calm. Maybe she had Caleb to thank for that. She’d told him to make her forget, but she hadn’t really believed anyone could ease her torment.

“Morning,” Caleb murmured as he pressed his lips to her forehead.

His arm tightened around her, pulling her into his side. She slid her hand over his taut abdomen and up the hard planes of his chest until her palm rested over his heart. The thud of his pulse against her skin was reassuring.

“Good morning,” she returned.

“I have to leave for a few hours,” he said, an apology in his voice. “There are things I need to take care of. I have a meeting with my attorney to sign several business documents. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Don’t put your life on hold for me,” she said firmly. “And don’t jeopardize your business by babysitting me twenty-four/seven.”

“Hate to break it to you, baby, but my life is already on hold for you.”

Even as she felt dismay over his statement, warmth spread through her veins at the conviction in his voice. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to daydream and ponder the what-ifs. She knew it was stupid—and dangerous—to pin her hopes on a normal life. Her life would never be normal. But it didn’t make her want it any less.

“I’ll work with the sketch artist while you’re gone,” Ramie said in a low voice.

It was ridiculous to fear putting his face down on paper, but it terrified her nonetheless.

Caleb squeezed her to him. “If you want to wait for me to get back I’ll stay with you while you talk to the sketch artist.”

She shook her head. “No. It needs to be done as soon as possible. It should have already been done. Perhaps if I hadn’t been so hysterical we could have saved his last victim.”

“Stop,” Caleb said in a terse voice. “Don’t go there again, Ramie. You are not to blame and I won’t have you thinking it much less saying it.”

No matter how convinced Caleb was, Ramie didn’t feel the same way. She hated being so powerless. She hated that she was helpless to do anything to prevent him from targeting his next victim. God only knew how many women he’d already killed.

But she fell silent, not wanting to argue with Caleb when he was so determined not to place blame on her.

Caleb gathered her up with his arm and leaned down to kiss her. “I’m going to go shower so I can get gone and back as soon as possible. Eliza and Dane will be with you until I return. You won’t have to worry about Tori or my brothers. Dane has been instructed to keep you away from them.”

She bit her lip to stanch her reaction to his words. He didn’t mean them to be hurtful, but how could they not be when the people most important to him wanted her gone and out of the way?

She brushed her mouth over his chest and hugged him tightly. “Hurry back,” she said. “I miss you already.”

It was the truth. Knowing he wouldn’t be here, protecting her, fueled her anxiety. But she had to keep it together so she could help put a psychopath behind bars.

She rolled away, taking the top sheet with her. As she stood, the sheet unfurled and she wrapped it loosely around her body, suddenly conscious of her nudity—and his. He pushed himself out of bed, and she saw his erection that had nothing to do with it being morning.

She clutched the folds of the material over her breasts as he walked around the end of the bed to stand just in front of her. Then he reached forward, tugging at the sheet until finally she let go. It pooled at her feet and Caleb’s avid gaze burned a trail over her skin.

He cupped her shoulders and pulled her into his embrace. His warmth was a shock against her chilled skin. His big hands roamed over her back and down to the curve of her behind, squeezing possessively.

“I thought you had to go,” she whispered.

“I do. But we both happen to need a shower, so why not kill two birds with one stone?”

She shivered delicately, her pulse bounding. His lips found hers in a heated rush. His hands tangled in her hair, tugging lightly so her chin was angled upward and her mouth fit perfectly to his.

He began backing them toward the bathroom, his lips never leaving hers. When they got inside, he fumbled for the light switch and then he lifted her, hoisting her up his body before placing her on the counter between the two sinks.

His cock was rigid, straining upward toward his navel when he hurriedly turned on the shower. When he returned to her, his erection pressed hard against her belly as he gathered her in his arms once more.

She let out a sigh and let her head rest on his shoulder. He brushed his lips over her exposed neckline and then nibbled a path to her earlobe. Again she found herself lifted. She wrapped her legs around his waist to anchor herself more firmly. Holding her with one arm, Caleb stuck his free hand into the spray to test the temperature.

Evidently satisfied with the result, Caleb stepped into the shower and lowered Ramie to her feet. Even so, he still kept one arm firmly wrapped around her while reaching for the shampoo with his other hand.

He soaped her from head to toe, petting and caressing until she was nearly mindless with need. She was aroused to fever pitch, craving, wanting so badly. Steam rose, coating their skin with dewy moisture, and then he ducked her back under the spray to rinse her off.

Not five minutes later, Caleb tugged hard at the faucet to turn off the shower and then he was out of the stall in seconds, lifting her to the counter and fitting his erection between her thighs all in one smooth motion.

He plunged deep and hard. Ripple after ripple of raw pleasure consumed her. She threw back her head, bumping the mirror behind her. Her hair clung wetly to her body as she arched her breasts forward for his mouth to find.

Her hands slapped the counter and her fingers curled around the edge to give her leverage as he continued to drive into her. And then with a muffled curse he swiftly withdrew, his face a wreath of strain. The veins at his temples were distended and he tugged in shaky breaths, his chest heaving with the effort.

“Don’t stop!” she gasped. “God, Caleb, you can’t stop now!”

“I forgot the goddamn condom again,” he growled. “Give me just a minute.”

It seemed an eternity before he yanked one of the drawers open and then ripped at one of the packets. He fumbled between her legs a moment and then spread her wide once more.

He pushed into her and they both moaned. She curled both arms around his neck, pulling him down to kiss her. Had there ever been a man like Caleb in her life? Never had she felt the tumultuous rush of raw, hedonistic desire.

“God, what you do to me, Ramie,” he said through clenched teeth. “You make me forget everything until all I want is to be inside you and never leave.”

She slid her mouth down his jaw and then nipped lightly at his throat, causing him to shudder violently against her. She inhaled deeply, the combination of powerful male and his soap swirling through her senses.

He slid his hands underneath her behind and lifted her upward, his fingers digging into her flesh, branding her irrevocably. Her body clamped down around his erection, holding it, sucking it deeper inside her.

“You make me forget too,” she whispered.

Her nails scoured his back and he let out a growl of pleasure. He swelled within her, surging hard and fast until the only sound that could be heard was the slap of flesh against flesh.

The mirror was completely fogged from the hot shower and their rapid heavy breathing. She tilted back, allowing her head to rest against the glass once more. She gripped his forearms as her orgasm roared over her, tightening, clenching every muscle in her body.

Her release was so explosive that her vision went blurry and she seemed to float outside of her body. His name was a litany on her lips, whispered over and over as he claimed his own release.

He convulsed against her, his hold on her almost bruising, and yet it gave her comfort to know she was completely sheltered in his arms.

His breath stuttered over his lips, his entire body heaving as they both tried to catch up.

He smoothed wet hair from her forehead and then kissed the spot he exposed.

“I know you probably aren’t ready to hear this, Ramie, but I’m not just falling in love with you. I am in love with you.”

She froze, holding her breath as he pulled back just enough that he could look into her eyes. Panic struck and she couldn’t get her tongue to cooperate. Would he be angry that she couldn’t find the same words? That the idea of being loved and in love was terrifying to her?

She was marked for death. She couldn’t afford emotional entanglements because it would only end in grief. She didn’t want Caleb to love her because then it would hurt him if something happened to her.

“Caleb . . .”

His name was all she could muster. Tenderly, he pressed a finger to her lips.

“Don’t,” he said. “It’s all right, Ramie. I can wait until you’re ready. Just know that you are loved and you aren’t alone. For now, it’s enough.”





TWENTY-TWO




FINALLY, his quarry was in his sights. He smiled a slow, satisfied smile as he watched Caleb Devereaux walk into the building that housed all of his businesses. He was especially amused by the newly formed security company. Did Devereaux honestly think his security experts were any match for his genius?

Chuckling to himself, he shook his head and then hunkered down to wait for Devereaux to exit the building. He was a patient man and patience was always rewarded. Always. Patience was a virtue according to the Bible.

“I’m coming for you, Ramie,” he said in a singsong, soft voice.

His mind was flooded with images of Ramie St. Claire being punished for interfering in his quests. It was his duty to rid the world of the weak and the sinners. But then Ramie had turned the investigators loose on him. She’d cost him valuable time. He’d had to fall back and regroup, lying low and lulling everyone into a false sense of security. They’d thought he’d stopped the cleansing, but in truth he only took a sabbatical.

He laughed again. A sabbatical from sin. It had a certain ring to it.

Ramie St. Claire didn’t have his entire focus. He was capable of splitting his attention, especially when it came to new blood. Another waited for him. He licked his lips in anticipation and rubbed his hands back and forth together.

As soon as his job was done here, he’d take care of his latest conquest. Ramie would be pleased, no doubt, that he had another victim because it meant she wasn’t his yet. But soon. Very soon all the pieces would fall into place and Ramie would be punished for her sins.