Exposure - Kelly Moran Page 0,46

"And I started college like nothing had happened, visiting once a month on the pretense of mountain climbing or fishing." He swallowed. "For ten years."

She cupped his jaw with both hands, soothing away some of the ache with just her touch. "What about your parents? They died, what, two years later?"

He nodded. "The FBI couldn't link their accident to Rizzoli, but we suspected." Grabbing her wrists, he held them tightly. "You have to understand, I'd never put you at risk. From the moment we met, I've had a guard following you at a distance, just in case. I've had a private investigator gathering evidence, but Rizzoli was slippery. It took this long to get a good amount so he couldn't wiggle out of charges. The FBI has enough to lock the bastard away for good." He shook her. "That's why I made a move with you. It was supposed to be over."

"Okay," she said immediately, wrapping her arms around him, her scent of rain calming his erratic heartbeat. "I believe you." She rubbed his back in slow methodical circles. "But what about the truck who followed us tonight?"

It seemed so long ago, but it had been tonight. He hated this fucking holiday, not that it had anything to do with his past. "A week after you and I?? He waved his hand, unable to put words to what was between them. Sex wasn't the label to slap on it anymore. "McCannon, my FBI contact, called to tell me there was a hit out on me. Rizzoli's funds are inaccessible, but he got around that somehow, had money hidden somewhere."

Her gaze grew distant. "That's what that call was about at your condo. The day you got upset and we wound up in the shower."

His teeth gnashed. "Yes." She'd shocked him that day, taking his punishing thrusts and endless supply of rage. There was something utterly healing about being with her, sinking into her soft, supple flesh and letting the world fall away. Though he didn't think sex would fix his riotous emotions tonight, his erection thickened, needing her. Always needing her.

He sighed. "Rizzoli never had any interest in me. Moving to Alaska was more precaution than anything, but then Aubrey happened?? He shook his head. "I wanted justice, so I pushed. Got evidence. Rizzoli found out about my involvement the same night I told you the truth." He grabbed her shoulders. "I won't let him hurt you. The trial will be over soon. The contract out on me is a last ditch attempt at revenge. I'm all that's left of my family. He doesn't know Aubrey exists."

She blew out a breath. Her gaze swept over him, the moonlight at her back and heart in her eyes. No one else ever got to see this side of her. The yielding, vulnerable person she hid under all that control.

Threading her fingers in his hair, she tugged his head down to hers. "None of this is your fault. None of it."

He suspected she knew a thing or two about irrational guilt. No, he wasn't responsible for this clusterfuck any more than she was for her own parents' deaths. Still, the thought of that bastard taking her from him gave fear a whole new name, made wrath bounce around inside his skull until thinking was a pipe dream.

Hell, he was teetering between pushing her away to keep her safe and drawing her closer for the same reasons. Tonight, they'd found her. And it scared him so damn bad he hadn't drawn in air since. There were two people in this world he'd die for, and tonight, both were under the same roof.

Sensing the shift in him, or maybe she just knew what he needed, she brought her mouth to his and kissed logic out of his head. Her tongue danced with his, her arms banding around him like she was just as fucking lost.

Clothing flew across the room. But always, his mouth came back to her kiss. To heaven. Naked, shaking, he laced their fingers and pinned her hands above her head to the cool glass wall. She brought one leg up, then the other to wrap around his hips, arching her back and forcing her pebbled nipples to rub against his chest.

Reality eked in and he tore his mouth away. "Is this okay? Your hands?? Restraint and her weren't friends, but they were vertical and he was throbbing to the point of pain. Tonight, he needed to dominate. To feel like he had some