Danger Calls. Caridad Pineiro
laid a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I need some air.”
Melissa raced out the door before Sebastian could react. He looked at Ryder. “Don’t you think you should see if she’s all right?”
“She just needs some time alone,” Ryder responded.
Anger surged through him at Ryder’s too-pat answer. “Melissa’s been alone for too long.” With that, he pushed away from the table, shoving it so hard that wine sloshed over the lip of Melissa’s nearly full glass.
He stepped through a set of French doors on the main floor that opened onto a small balcony where Melissa stood. She’d wrapped her arms tight around herself and her head hung down, her chin almost on her chest. It was as if she wanted to disappear into herself. He placed a hand on the glass of the sliding door, wishing he could touch her with that gesture. A moment later her shoulders started to shake. He couldn’t handle that.
Sebastian walked up behind her. Large soundless sobs racked her body.
It twisted something inside him to see her in such pain. He laid his hand on the gap between her neck and shoulder. At his touch, she turned and leaned into him. He wasn’t sure what to do for a moment. He had so many reasons for wanting their relationship not to get personal. So he stood there awkwardly, hands raised in midair until he finally did what his heart knew to be right. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He bent his head and rested it against the top of hers. At that moment, whatever restraints she had left broke free.
She eased her arms around him, gripped his shirt in her fists and buried her head against his chest, murmuring, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
He grasped the back of her head and tunnelled his fingers into the thick wealth of her hair. “Shh. There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
She kept crying and repeating those words over and over in soft tones. He held her until her distress abated and the sobs racking her body subsided into small hiccuping breaths. When she was finally calm, she pulled away from him and her gaze met his. Her eyes were a gleaming sapphire, bright with tears still waiting to be shed. He cupped her face, wiped his thumbs across the wet trails on her soft warm skin. It seemed only natural to move his finger a fraction of an inch, trace the outline of her lips with his thumb. He bent his head until the spill of her breath bathed his lips.
Her lips were satiny. Flavored with the salt of her tears. He licked away those remnants and she opened her mouth to him, deepening the kiss.
Melissa’s head was spinning; her mind reeling with the feelings he created in her. She’d been so alone until he’d stepped out onto the balcony. Even before he’d touched her, she’d connected with him. Now here he was, kissing her again. She let herself enjoy the sensation of how right his kiss felt. Met his tongue with her own and pressed herself tight to him. Like some kind of genetic memory, she recalled every little nuance of his body’s contours. Remembered his strength and caring as he’d made love to her. A surge of emotion ripped through her.
It was the tension and that transference thing again, she told herself.
She yanked away from him and brought her hand up to wipe the taste of him from her lips. “I’m sorry, Sebastian. We shouldn’t be doing this.”
He nodded slowly. “You’re right. We probably shouldn’t be doing this.”
She felt disappointed, again, then something definitely short-circuited in her brain because she blurted out, “Why not?”
“Because I can’t be your hero, Melissa. I’m not cut out for it.” He took a step back toward the door and away from her.
She raised her chin slightly and with a trace of defiance in her voice said, “I’m a modern woman. I don’t need to be saved.”
Sebastian gave a soft little laugh and smiled sadly. “Everyone needs to be saved eventually, Melissa.”
She moved until she was standing barely an inch from him. His shaky exhalation washed over her face. It reminded her of that wonderfully sweet and enticing kiss. Up this close, it was impossible to avoid the full impact of his presence. Strong and capable. Sexy. Way too sexy.
She cupped his cheek and he didn’t pull away. That was good. But not enough. Gently she brushed her thumb across his skin, which was rough with the start of an evening beard. The whirl of emotions in his gaze touched her. In some ways, they were very similar creatures.
She saw his fear. Determination. Loneliness. Yearning. The last made something inside of her clench tightly, for she knew what it was like to want that much. She whispered, “Do you need to be saved?”
In the second before he turned and strode away, she thought she saw his answer—that he didn’t think himself worthy of salvation.
She wanted to go after him but she didn’t know how to run toward something, only how to run away. She’d been doing it her whole life. First from the hurt caused by parents who couldn’t love her. Then from the impossibility of a normal existence, given her role in Ryder’s undead life. It had been easier to run than to face reality with all its problems.
But now Sebastian made her feel something she’d never felt before. Something that dared her to rethink what her life was supposed to be. It was only by accepting this challenge that she could find out what was meant to be…or not meant to be.
Chapter 5
Given that he didn’t think of himself as hero material, Melissa was prepared for Sebastian to cut and run when Diana asked, “Are you with us on this?”
Sebastian stood by the table, his arms crossed against his chest. A defiant edge to his stance. “If you’re in it, Diana, I’m in it.”
Feelings of unworthiness rose sharply again, but Melissa ignored them. “You and Sebastian don’t have to be involved. Ryder and I can handle it.”
Diana laid her hand over Melissa’s in a comforting gesture. “You don’t have to be alone anymore. Plus, it may take the right connections to get the information we want.”
“Meaning?” Ryder asked.
Diana looked across the table at her lover, but refrained from reaching out to him. “The locals might be a little concerned with a Fed like me asking any more questions. I may need someone else to do the asking.”
“But that’s one more person in the loop who might become aware of Ryder’s secret. What if we just left this alone?” Melissa suggested, concerned that the inquiry into her parents’ death might do more harm than good.
Sebastian surprised her by saying, “If these events are connected, whoever broke into your office may not be satisfied with what they got. They may come looking for more. You can’t risk that.”
“No, you can’t,” Diana said. “We’re not really sure what happened with your parents yet, but if they were murdered—”
“Then whoever did it is willing to go to any lengths to get what they want,” Ryder finished.
There was a moment of silence as Melissa considered all they had said.
“What if you had been in your office, Melissa?” Sebastian asked. “What if the intruder had found you there?”
Melissa was about to answer that she could take care of herself when Diana spoke up, “How’d they know you were gone? They timed the burglary perfectly. That would require knowledge of your whereabouts and that you had the journal with you.” There was silence all around. “I need you to think about everyone who was at the hospital that night. Anyone who would have known where you were. What you were doing. Make a list of names so we can check them out.”
Melissa thought back to the staff that had been present and those who had dropped by after the theft. It was easy enough to remember, but it was difficult for her to imagine that any of them might be responsible. Despite that,