“No one.” She glanced up at him. Dark eyes glittered recklessly from that strong, fascinating face. She was immediately aware of the animal magnetism and powerful sensuality that were parts of his basic personality. She always tried to ignore and block them out, but she seldom succeeded. Even now, his grip on her elbow was sending a tingling through her arm. “I’ve been surprised how tame you’ve been during the last week.”
“Oh, I’m an excellent actor when I need to be. In this case, the need was yours, and I always try to meet your every desire.” His smile was fading. “Though I haven’t had an opportunity lately. Trevor has been covering you with that cloak of golden charm he drapes over you whenever he’s near. It’s hard to compete when I have no golden cloak, and you’re so wary of me.”
“Golden cloak? That sounds like something from Disney. Bullshit.” She didn’t try to deny the last part of his sentence. They both knew she was wary of Caleb. She not only had an erotic response whenever she was around him, he was not like anyone she had ever known. Hell, he was probably not like anyone the majority of the population had ever known, she thought ruefully. That weird talent he possessed that allowed him to affect the flow of blood in those around him was bizarre and a little frightening. Eve had told her she had seen him kill a murderer with that talent a couple years ago. And Jane, herself, had experienced the hypnotic sexual aspect to that control of the blood.
Yes, “wariness” was definitely the word for what she felt for Caleb. Among other more confused emotions. It was Caleb who had been there for her, flown her here from London, when she’d first become drawn into the nightmare of Eve’s kidnapping. He’d stayed with her after she’d been shot by Doane’s accomplice, and no one could have been more supportive during the hunt for Eve. He’d been very clear he wanted and intended to go to bed with her, but for the most part, he’d set lust aside and concentrated on helping her find Eve. “Trevor is just doing what I asked him to do. He’s making himself visible and adding to the authenticity. Which you are not doing, Caleb.”
“I did my best. Making myself visible at occasions like this usually adds more of an air of disturbance rather than authenticity. People seem to sense that I’m out of place.” He shrugged. “As I said, your lover has the advantage of being able to charm birds off the trees.”
“Trevor’s not my lover.”
“Thank God. But he was your lover a few years ago, and he wants to be again.” He met her eyes. “But he’s missed his chance. He shouldn’t have let you go.”
“He wouldn’t try to hold me if I didn’t want to be there. I go my own way, and we realized that it wasn’t working out.” They had reached the steps, and she stopped and looked up at him. “Not that it’s any of your business. I’ve warned you about that, Caleb.”
“Just chitchat.” He tilted his head. “Now run up those steps and go take a rest. I’ll tell Joe where you are.”
She gazed at him in astonishment. “I have no intention of leaving this memorial service. I only let you bring me here to avoid a scene.” She jerked her elbow away from him. She repeated the words she’d said before, “I go my own way. Step aside, Caleb.”
He didn’t move.
“I mean it.”
“If I do, you’ll collapse within ten minutes.”
“What?”
“I warned you,” he said softly. “I can see it coming. You’ve been going at a frantic pace, helping Joe with all the preparations for this media circus. I’ll bet you haven’t slept at night.”
“I’ve slept.”
“But not much. I told you when you asked me to try to heal you enough for you to be released from that hospital that the effect wouldn’t last if you overdid it.”
“I feel fine,” she said quickly. It wasn’t true. She felt exhausted, but she’d hoped it had nothing to do with the wound and infection that had put her in the hospital and out of the hunt for Eve. “I’m just tired.”
“And you might last a little while longer if you rest now.” He smiled. “And I told you I was at your service if this happened.”
“Screw you.”
He laughed. “I wish. Now admit it, there was nothing about the experience that was unpleasant. As I told you, there are all kinds of medical studies being done on the value of laser therapy stirring the blood around wounds to induce healing. I just stirred the blood in a wider area throughout your body and used my own method. Much more efficient than any laser.”
Unpleasant? Bare flesh to bare flesh. His mouth on the wound in her shoulder. His hands stroking her body, his tongue on her nipples.
Heat.
Intense need.
Swirling darkness.
Fiery tingling.
“You’re remembering.” His gaze was on her face. “Pleasure, Jane. Not complete. But you didn’t want it to stop. I’m the one who backed away.”
It was the truth. She had been completely helpless against that powerful wave of feeling. “You didn’t tell me that what you were doing would have a sexual effect.”
“You would have done it anyway. You were still weak and ill, and the doctors at the hospital wouldn’t release you. You were desperate to get out of that hospital and on the hunt for Eve.” He chuckled. “And I wasn’t sure that it would be quite that explosive. It could be because you had my blood in your veins, which I donated to you after you were shot. Though it might not have mattered anyway. You might not trust me, but you can’t deny the chemistry between us.”
“I trust you … sometimes.” She stared him in the eye. “I’ll trust you now if you tell me that you were telling the truth about my being on the verge of collapse. Were you lying to me, Caleb?”
His smile faded. “No, it may take a little longer, but you’re on the way. I told you that I’m no healer. I can manipulate the blood and give you a constant rush of energy and a temporary masking of symptoms. That’s what I did in the hospital, so that the doctors would release you. If you’d rest, you’d even heal yourself. But we both know you’re not going to do that. Not until you find Eve.”
“Damn.”
“But maybe you can stave it off if you’ll take periodic rests. There’s a possibility that you can do without undergoing the same bonding we did last time.” His brows rose. “You see, I’m not giving you the answer I’d like to give you. Maybe because I don’t like being a drug you can’t do without even on a temporary basis. Well, actually I would, but I don’t want it to be based on a physical weakness. When I touch your body again, I want you strong and wanting it.”
She forced her gaze away from him. “I believe you’re being honest with me. Though I don’t want to believe it.” She started up the steps toward the porch. “I can’t afford to be stupid about this. I’ll see that I rest more.”
“And I’ll be close by in case you need me,” he said softly. “All you have to do is call.”
She ignored those words. “Tell Joe I’m fine, that I’m only going up to see Kendra. Do not tell him I’m tired.”
He nodded. “Whatever you say.” He stood watching her from the bottom of the stairs. “But Quinn never trusts me entirely. He’s too protective of you, and he’s seen me do a few things that are both violent and unorthodox. It might be better if you give him a text from your cell.”
Yes, she’d say that Caleb’s causing a killer’s heart to explode from a rush of blood could be termed both violent and unorthodox. She opened the cottage door. “Perhaps you’re right. I’ll tell him myself.”
CHAPTER
3
CALEB WATCHED THE DOOR CLOSE behind Jane before he started to turn away. She had looked fragile and almost breakable during those last moments. That would not last long, and the strength would be back. It was Jane’s strength that had first drawn him to her when he’d met her all those years ago. Yet now this breakable quality filled him with an almost primitive desire to reach out and touch, hold. Hell, he wanted to touch, stroke, hold, whenever he looked at her, no matter what the circumstance.
He should have lied to her, he thought recklessly. He had never wanted to have sex with anyone as much as he did Jane, and that lust was growing in intensity. Yet for some reason he couldn’t reach out and take what he wanted. Most of the time lies were counterproductive, but to increase Jane’s physical need for him could have been—