Back In The Bedroom (The Wrong Bed #29)(15)

As he talked to dispatch, he shoved his gun—the one he’d retrieved from one of the men on the floor—into his waistband. She tried not to think about that, that he carried a weapon on him, but she could do little else. She heard a half-hysterical giggle and was surprised to find it had come from her.

“Hey.” He clicked off the phone and looked at her, now fully dressed.

How was it he looked even more devastatingly dangerous fully dressed?

“You okay?”

A question from the man so miserly with words. She started to nod her head, then slowly shook it instead. Overwhelmed by the entire night’s events, by his utter calmness, by everything, she did as she’d wanted to moments ago. She set her head on his chest and hung on for all she was worth.

“Tess—”

She lifted her head. “I’m sorry. I just need…” Their mouths were a fraction of an inch apart. God, he was gorgeous. She was sure he’d hate that, but— “I really need a hug.”

His arms encircled her.

“Thank you,” she whispered, something warm and gushy happening to her insides at his touch. He did that for her, made her feel so secure that she could move on from the fright.

And move on she did. What was it that made her so suddenly, ridiculously turned-on? The danger? The shocking violence Reilly had just displayed? There had to be something sick in that, she decided, but it didn’t take away from the fact that her nipples had hardened and her thighs tightened.

Maybe it was the embrace itself. Or maybe it was simply Reilly’s presence, or the fact that she already knew how good he kissed, how delicious his touch was, but being with him made her feel…she glanced at the restrained bad guys…safe.

It was true. Reilly, for all his brooding intensity, made her feel safe, so she had no idea, no idea at all, why she shivered.

His arms tightened around her. Mouth still so close to hers she could feel his warm breath, he said, “Don’t go into shock now.”

“No.”

His eyes roamed her face, settling on her lips. His arms were banded tightly around her. “You’re still shaking.”

“I think…I think the adrenaline is getting to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think…I want you. I want you a lot.”

With a groan, his eyes became slumberous and…hot, definitely hot. “Tess—” One large hand palmed the back of her head and he slowly changed the angle of his head. Their noses brushed, but not their lips, not quite. Feeling a little desperate, a little like this was her last shot because the police were coming and then it’d be over, she closed the slight gap between them and laid one on him.

She expected to have to coax him out of his contained, tight control, as she had last time, but his mouth opened to hers immediately, and he fed her a hot kiss, holding her to him as if she was the very air he required. He was certainly hers. She lost herself in the sounds of their ravaging kiss, in the feel of his hands running up and down her back, squeezing her bottom, gliding her against the enticing bulge now firmly behind the buttons on his Levi’s.

Don’t stop, was her only coherent thought, and as if he’d heard her, he turned, pressing her against the wall, protecting her from view of any of the men bound on the floor. He slid his hand over her breast. His fingers teased her nipple and the sensation dissolved her bones. But then he pulled his mouth back slightly, breathing harder than when he’d fought the bad guys.

She’d done that to him, and the power that knowledge infused her with was shocking. “That…that was some adrenaline rush.”

Another pass of his thumb over her nipple. “Yeah.”

She would have slid to the floor if he hadn’t been holding her up. She needed a bucket of ice water, something to bring back her temporarily vacationing sanity—

The sound of a siren coming closer did just the trick.



THE SUN FULLY ROSE as they all stood on Eddie’s driveway. In the bright L.A. sunshine, surrounded by officers, Reilly answered all the questions he could. Yes, he was Eddie Ledger’s son. Yes, Eddie had known he’d be coming by, because he’d left Reilly a note—one of many in the past ten years since he’d decided he wanted back in his son’s life. No, the note hadn’t specifically said to come by last night, just that he’d wanted to talk.

Eddie always wanted to talk these days. The man had grown up, just ask him and he’d be happy to tell you. He’d also be happy to tell you that Reilly needed to accept that they were a family, father and son. To prove it, he was constantly barging into his son’s world with a wide smile and a full wallet, because he wasn’t picky—he’d buy his way into Reilly’s affections if he had to. He wanted Reilly to come to watch the Lakers with him, he wanted Reilly to hop on a plane to Barbados with him, he wanted…so much Reilly had no idea how to take it.

He’d compromised, accepting temp office workers from Eddie’s vast and surprisingly talented working pool when his office manager needed the extra help, which she usually did. But up until now, that had been about the extent of it.

So, no, he told the officer, he didn’t know Eddie’s regular habits enough to know if the burglars had been watching him. He didn’t know Eddie’s enemies—only that given his various corporations and their successes, he was sure to have them. And, no, he didn’t know why Eddie had sent him a note if he was going to be out of town. As he said, when it came to his father’s life, he knew very little.