Wasn't it?
"I have to know, Michael."
His gaze burned into her. She shivered and tried to ignore the worm of fear in her heart.
"Think about last night, Nikki. Think about what we shared. Look inside your own heart." No. Never again would she trust what she felt in matters like this. People died when she did. As the lights ahead changed, she slowed the car and risked another quick look. His face was still impassive, giving no indication he'd heard her thoughts. But even if he had, she still needed to know.
"You are a fool, Nikki. A fool who will not listen to her own intuition."
"Intuition has nothing to do with this.” Because intuition was telling her to trust him, telling her to grab on tight and never let go, no matter how he fought. But it had told her the same about Tommy, and it had never been more wrong.
"I have to ask, Michael. Surely you can understand that?"
"The only thing I can understand is the fact that I am a fool twice over." The sudden hint of weariness in his voice frightened her. She glanced at him quickly. What had he meant by that?
"I will not deny there is an element of truth in your fears. I had hoped you might sleep long enough for Jake and me to leave.” He took off the sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. “As for what it meant—I warned you before, Nikki. It can never be anything more than just a moment we share." His words cut through her. While she knew he couldn't stay, she'd hoped it might have been something more than just a physical release to him. To her, at least, last night had been something of a revelation. She'd never realized that two bodies could become one so completely. That two minds could share a dance so poetic, so full of desire and care.
She blinked and looked away, then shifted the car into gear as the lights changed again, and the traffic flowed on.
"Remember, I was not the initiator last night, nor am I made of stone,” he continued softly. “And there's one more question you should ask. Just who was using whom last night?" Heat crept into her cheeks, and she bit her lip. There was no denying the fact he was right. She had used him, used his warmth, the caress of his thoughts, to keep Jasper's nightmares at bay. But while she regretted her reasons, she didn't regret making love to him. Those memories she would treasure in the long years ahead.
"I'm sorry,” she said. “I was wrong. But so were you in leaving me." He made no comment, and she drove the final few miles to the office in silence. She parked in front of the building and glanced at her watch as she climbed out of the car. It was after five. She frowned. Why wasn't her car here? Jake had left before her...
Her psychic senses sprang to life, and pain ran like fire across her body. Only it wasn't her pain. It was Jake's.
Jasper's dark laughter whispered through her brain, a teasing gloat, edged with warning. If she wanted Jake to live, she would have to take his place.
Chapter Fourteen