Risa rolled away from him and climbed off the bed. Forcing her knees to support her weight, she walked across the room and into the bathroom. Closing the door, she leaned against it, the solid barricade pressing along the length of her spine. She looked down at herself. At her naked breasts, nipples red from rubbing against the rough hair of his chest. At the juncture of her thighs, still moist with longing.
She grabbed a bath towel from the rack and covered herself, wrapping the terrycloth tight. She couldn’t dwell on what would never be. She couldn’t let herself need him, want him. She had to be strong all on her own.
The only thing that mattered now—the only thing that could matter—was getting Nikki away from Dryden before it was too late. And Risa was done with sitting around waiting.
She needed to take action, to do something.
No matter what the risk.
Trent
Trent hoisted himself up from the bed to sit with his back against the headboard. He punched the pillow behind him with his elbow. Damn, damn, damn.
When had he lost control of his senses? When had his sexual urges gotten so strong they eclipsed common sense?
Rees needed him to protect her. She didn’t need him to tear off her clothes. And even though he’d managed to bring himself under control before he’d really crossed the line, he’d hurt her in doing that, too.
Hurt her. Again.
He closed his eyes, pressing the pads of thumb and forefinger hard against his lids until color mushroomed behind his eyes.
He knew what he was up against. He’d seen the atrocities Dryden was capable of committing. He’d felt Dryden’s darkness stain his own soul, a stain that festered and grew until it choked out every last vestige of light.
Trent had to protect Rees from all of it. If only he could manage to stop wounding her himself in the meantime.
The bathroom door swung open and she stepped back into the room. Wisps of dark hair brushed over naked shoulders and cascaded down her back. She’d wrapped a towel tightly around herself, the pressure of the terry cloth mounding her breasts above it. The bottom edge of the towel barely covered the tops of her thighs.
The image of her naked body, the sweet scent of her, the feel of her, was seared into his mind. Everything she’d just offered him. Everything he’d just pushed away. He stifled a groan and shifted on the bed, trying to relieve some of the pressure in his groin. Trying to calm nerves that were strung tighter than piano wire.
She set her chin in that stubborn way of hers and looked him straight in the eye. “I know how we can catch Dryden.”
Whatever she had in mind, he wasn’t going to like it. He could tell by the hell-bent-for-leather tone in her voice. He shot her a skeptical look and waited.
“This teddy bear thing pretty much establishes that Dryden is after me, right?”
“Right,” he said, his voice deliberately emotionless and flat.
“And he will likely follow the pattern he did with his wife, right?”
“He’ll likely start killing women who look like you, same hair color, same build.” Like Nikki. And though he didn’t say it out loud, he knew Risa was thinking the same thing.
“And he won’t quit.”
“Not until we catch him…”
“Or until he kills me.”
He forced a nod. Rees had it right except for one detail. Dryden would never stop. If he killed Risa, he’d find another woman who had wronged him. Another woman to avenge himself against. And the whole pattern would begin again. Each time the fantasies would become more violent, his hunger for his victims’ fear and pain more voracious. It would take more to satisfy him. But he would never stop.
Rees took a step further into the room. “Since Dryden wants me, then why not use that to draw him out?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“You’re always talking about being proactive.”
His legs tensed with the need to climb off this damn bed and close the short distance between them. His hands opened and closed with the need to grab hold of her and shake some sense into her. “Too dangerous.”
“And doing nothing isn’t dangerous? Trent, he’s going to kill Nikki and then come after me anyway.”
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and lurched to his feet. He wanted to say he didn’t give a damn about Nikki. That he cared only about Rees. He wanted to rip off that flimsy towel, throw her back on the bed, and finish what they’d started. He wanted to wrap her in the safety of his arms and never let her go.
Of course, he couldn’t do any of those things. But that didn’t make Risa’s idea a valid option. “I’m not going along with this.”
“You’d still be protecting me, Trent. But we might save Nikki, too. Be reasonable.”
“Reasonable? You’re suggesting dangling yourself in front of Dryden like a worm on a hook, and I should be reasonable?”
“Nikki’s running out of time.”
“I said forget it.” He grabbed his trousers from the floor and yanked them on. Even if it was Nikki’s only chance, he damn well wouldn’t let Rees sacrifice herself to draw Dryden out. “We’ll get him another way.”
“What other—“
The electronic tones of Trent’s cell phone interrupted.
Risa pointed an accusing finger at him. “If this was one of your other cases, if I was just some woman you didn’t know, you’d okay it. Wouldn’t you?”
“It’s not one of my other cases. And I won’t use you that way.”
On the second ring, Trent fished the phone from his pocket and checked the number. “Cassidy.”
He flipped it open and took the call. “Tell me your man is on his way.”
“No need,” Cassidy said. “Get yourself and the professor to the Lake Loyal PD. She’ll have plenty of protection there.”
“Task force?”
“Postponed.”
“Did you find something at Risa’s house?”
“Yeah, but that’s not why I’m calling. Man out jogging with his dog found Nikki Dryden’s car. And Burnell? There’s a body inside. Male. Lives in the area. I’ll fill you in on all of it when you get here.”
Trent ended the call and turned to Risa. “We need to go. Cassidy has something for me to take a look at.”
“Nikki?”
“No.”
She frowned, as if deciding whether or not to believe him.
“Listen, if it was Nikki, I’d tell you. Okay? Promise.”
“So where are we going?”
“You’re going to the Lake Loyal police department.”
“And you?”
“Not sure yet.”
“What happened, Trent?”
“They found Nikki’s car.”
“I’m going—”
“To the police station. If I think you can help, I’ll let you know.”
“Help? I sure as hell can help.”
“Not that again.”
Risa snatched her rumpled clothes from the floor. “Lucky for me you’re merely assisting in this manhunt. Dan Cassidy will jump at the chance to use me to draw Dryden out. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Risa
Risa stared at the closed door to the tiny Grantsville police station’s conference room and chewed her bottom lip. Trent had dropped her off at the station and left for who-knew-where. Hours had passed before he, Cassidy, and the police chief had returned. Since then, they’d been sequestered in the conference room, joined by nearly a dozen county deputies, neighboring counties’ deputies, and officers from the tiny Lake Loyal P.D. Even a handful of men in suits who looked suspiciously like federal agents had filed into the too-small room.