Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(52)

"Yeah. Right. Give me your heat," he commanded again.

"No."

When his fingers began inching down my throat to the edge of the towel, tracing as if he meant to push it away and caress my nipples skin to skin, perhaps bending down and kissing my belly before laving at the desire between my legs, the fire inside me grew, spread, soon demanding release.

I needed to push him away. I settled for dropping my hands to my sides. I straightened, but couldn't look him in the eyes. Not yet. Those eyes always enslaved me. "We - we have to stop. For now."

"We just got started," he said, but his fingers ceased their movement.

God, do I know it,I thought, already mourning what could have been. There was so much more we could do, so much more I yearned to do. "I'm sorry."

He sighed. "Either you changed your mind about wanting me, which I doubt is the case since I can smell the sweetness of your arousal, or you're afraid to give me your fire." My legs were trembling so much I expected to topple at any moment, and this time the trembling came from something besides hunger, something besides anger. He was right, it came from fear. "Doesn't matter which supposition is correct. Tell me you remember something about our life together." Something, anything. Only then could I trust him to properly filter me.

Silence.

I cut off the surge of hurt before it could bombard me. "That's why we're stopping. You don't remember me, and until you do, you get nothing from me. Like I said, I won't let you screw me as if I'm a stranger. I want your love or nothing at all." I'd have to remember that myself, as easily and as quickly as I gave in to him.

"Fair enough," Rome said evenly. He held up his hands, palms out, and stepped backward, no longer crowding me.

I sagged against the wall to keep myself in a standing position, despising the loss of contact. Stupid girl, my hormones cried.

"But I hope you understand that I do plan to change your mind," he added, then strolled out of my bedroom and out of the house, the door clicking shut behind him.

I didn't allow myselfto ponder Rome's threat/delicious promise as I ate three protein bars and packed my bags. Toothbrush, fire-resistant change of clothes, raincoat, snow boots and a photo of me, Tanner, Rome, Sherridan and my dad, taken a few weeks ago when Tanner had prepared a dinner of his

"famous" booby sandwiches - bread and meats cut in a circle and topped with olives.

Still I didn't allow myself to dwell on Rome's parting words as Sherridan and I loaded our stuff in the car. I couldn't. I'd lose all focus on the case. Again. I'd have to think about it later - and decide what to do if Rome actually attempted to seduce me.

I couldn't think about Tanner, either. My sweet Tanner, who was stuck on a gurney, hooked to an IV

and missing all the action. No one loved action more than Tanner.

My cell rang as I shut the trunk. "Hello," I answered, leaning against the sedan. Please don't be about the wedding. After everything I'd been through, saying my marriage vows was the last thing I wanted to worry about.

"Hello, Belle." The speaker possessed a warm, masculine voice I'd never heard before.

I frowned. "Who is this?"

"Did you like the flowers? The candy? The...panties?"

My jaw nearly dropped. Could it really be..."Who is this?" I demanded again.

"You probably know me as Memory Man."

I froze. So it was him, and he did want me. My first reaction was anger, the slight softening I'd had when I'd heard about his torture, then learned of his dislike for Desert Gal, forgotten. Yo. Yo. "Listen, you.

I - "

"I know you're mad," he interjected. "And I understand the reasons for it. I do. But all I'm asking for is a little of your time so you have the chance to get to know me. I'm not such a bad guy. Let me - "

"No. Whatever you're going to say, no. You have a lot of nerve calling me. You took something that doesn't belong to you and we want it back."

Sherridan motioned to the phone with a wave of her hand.

"Memory Man," I mouthed, and she scowled.

"I'll give you anything you want," he said stubbornly. "Anything but that." Oh, really? "You just wait until I find you. The memory you have of me Tasering Rome will seem like a spa visit compared to what I have planned."

"You have so much spirit." He chuckled softly. "I love that about you. I love so many things about you."

"No, you don't. Rome does." Or did. I wish I had a tracer on my phone. I'd find out where M-Squared was and blast him as promised. He had no right to say that kind of thing to me.

"Doesn't matter whose memories they are." His voice had veered from sweet and amused to hard and stubborn. "They're in my head, which means I lived them. Kind of," he added on a wistful sigh.

"They don't belong to you, and you know it. You have to give them back to Rome."

"Not going to happen. I like them too much." There was that stubbornness again.

Damn him. "Why me?" I asked, still dumbfounded by that fact. I had to know. "You could have had Lexis. She's grade A."

"Actually, she's kind of a snob. But you...you're beautiful, always make the people around you laugh, and...and you know what it's like to have a powerful gift the world wants to use you for." There at the end, sadness had dripped from his words.