Touched by Lightning [Dreams of You] (Romantic Suspense) (18 page)

“When it was over, he told me, ‘I plan to straighten this out between us.’ I was terrified. Still, the District Attorney believed that if they found the right kind of evidence, they could bring a civil case against him. That could get him twenty-five years for each offense, plus state charges of handling explosives. They thought it would only be a couple of months before that happened.

“I took what he said to me as a threat on my life, though I couldn’t prove it. I didn’t think he’d really try anything, especially since the trial had put the whole ordeal in the spotlight. Jack wanted me to move in with him so he could take care of me. He told me that he wasn’t sure if Devlin was responsible and tried to convince me to see what the jury saw. I knew Jack and Devlin were friends, but I still resented the fact that he took Devlin’s side once the trial was over. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, but with Devlin’s threat, I didn’t want to be connected with anything from my life. So I moved to another part of town, trying to work it all out in my head. That’s when I found out I was wrong.”

Adrian leaned closer. “Wrong about what?”

“That Devlin wouldn’t try anything. Three weeks after I’d moved in, I found a rattlesnake in my bedroom. The police thought I was paranoid, that it had gotten in somehow on its own. The following week I was nearly hit by a car. There were no witnesses, but the police took me more seriously that time. They checked with Devlin, even with Jack since they were friends, but Jack had been on the phone and Devlin was at a bar when the car tried to run me down. The police offered to protect me, but for how long? I couldn’t hide out in my room wondering when the force couldn’t provide protection anymore. So I hid in the one place no one knew about—the streets.

“I had already been taking photographs for months, working on a project I kept secret from my family, even from Jack. I knew they wouldn’t understand. So that’s where I went, thinking it would only be for a few months while the District Attorney dug up more evidence. I’ve called several times in the last two years, but they tell me that there are just too many crimes in the city to devote time to this one. The further away we get from the case, the harder it is to find evidence. So here I am, waiting until I turn twenty-eight so I can claim my inheritance and give it to charity.

“If I die before I inherit, Devlin gets my half. I won’t let him take my life, or my mother’s money. They found a twenty-four pound pipe bomb wedged inside the console. Whoever planted it had no mercy or compassion. I’m not going to give him the chance to do it again.”

Adrian looked mesmerized and angry at the same time. She didn’t want to drag him into her problems, yet she felt hundreds of pounds lighter for telling him. He still held her hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb. Her heart wanted to trust him, but it was so hard to trust anyone.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t have somehow found you then. I wasn’t even sure it was real.”

“The saddest part was that Mother and I had been arguing a lot before then.” She smiled faintly. “It seemed we were always disagreeing about something. I just wish I could have said, ‘I’m sorry.’”

“Everyone argues sometimes.”

She shook her head. “Not for arguing. For not living up to her expectations.”

“How many people live up to their parents’ expectations?”

“I felt as if I was the only one in the world who didn’t.”

He touched her cheek. “And who says we have to live up to their expectations, anyway? Only you can set your goals and dreams.”

“That’s easy for you to say, Mr. Bigshot Photographer. I’m sure you didn’t have that problem.”

His expression shadowed, but he lightened it with a soft smile. “My father died before he could even have hopes for his son. My mother and I grew apart after she married an abusive tyrant. I don’t even know if she expected more than for me to just survive. I never got to make peace with her either. She died from cancer three days before my stepfather bothered to find me in New York and tell me. I don’t know what I would have said to her anyway.” His smile deepened when he pinched her cheek. “And I’m not a big shot. Yet.”

“Close enough. I wanted to be a professional photographer, but more for the artistic end.”

“And what did you mother want for you?”

“To marry some rich guy, have his babies, do the social thing. I couldn’t imagine settling for that.”

“I’ll bet she was proud of you, even if she didn’t tell you. You’re an excellent photographer. She could hardly deny that.”

Nikki smiled. “Thank you. She did grudgingly admit that my work was good; what I showed her of it, anyway. But she thought it should be directed to babies and glamorous vacations, not ordinary strangers in sad or touching circumstances. And that’s all your fault, you know.”

“My fault?”

“Yes. That jazz singer photograph that took first place in PHOTOgraphic Magazine.”

His baffled expression took on incredulity. “From ten years ago?”

“Yep. There was nothing elegant or beautiful about that picture, but I was so touched by what you captured that I started looking for that kind of soul in my shots. That’s how I came to photograph the homeless.”

“I can’t believe you remember that photograph.”

“Remember it? I’ve still got it. When I found out your real name, I went on a hunch and looked in my file. There you were. The funny part was, I wrote to the magazine to get your address. They wouldn’t send it to me, but if they had, I would have written you. We almost connected all those years ago.”

He covered his mouth with his hand, an incredulous look on his face. “That’s incredible.”

“Or fate. Or destiny.”

A pressure was slowly building inside her as she looked into his eyes filled with compassion and something else, too. Something she couldn’t identify.

He squeezed her hand. “A photograph almost brought us together ten years ago. This time it worked. I wasn’t sure you were even real until I saw you in the background of one of my shots. Even then, I couldn’t be completely sure I wasn’t losing my mind. But I had to find out.”

She held her lower lip between her teeth. “You came here because of a picture? That picture of me on the table, the one you told me about on the beach?” She nodded toward the kitchen.

“I know, it sounds crazy. That’s why I couldn’t tell you the truth when I first found you.” His smile made her heart melt. “Do you believe me, or do you think I’m a kook?”

“Both,” she said with a grin. Her hand felt hot where he held it with his large hand. “So what are you doing down at the shelter?”

“We’ve been working to get it up to the city’s standards so they won’t shut it down. I started helping out in the kitchen because I hoped you would come in again.”

“I did.”

His eyebrow raised. “I didn’t see you.”

“I saw you first and left. All I knew was that you had lied to me, that you weren’t what you said. The only man I ever really trusted died. My father,” she clarified. “Devlin I could never depend on, and then he committed the ultimate act of betrayal. I have trust issues.”

He touched her chin. “Do you know now? Do you trust me?”

The pressure inside her grew with every touch, with every word he uttered in that velvety voice. She closed her eyes, wanting to trust him completely. Her life for the last two years had been a lie, yet she couldn’t lie now. Not even to the man who had deceived her. “I want to, Adrian. I’m not sure if I know how.”

His fingers tightened on her chin, then he let his hand drop. “I understand. You need to know something, because I want no more secrets between us. Not on my side, anyway. I’ve lied to you enough already, but there’s no need to lie anymore. I went to see Devlin after I saw you at the beach.”

She sucked in a quick breath. “Are you crazy?”

His hand gripped hers, assuring her that he wouldn’t let her move away.

“I went there because that’s all I had, his name. I found the mansion and walked up to the door. I told him I met you four years ago while on vacation. He said you were gone, and that he didn’t know where you were. He looked rather sad, empty. I wanted to see what I could find out about you.”

Her muscles relaxed a bit, but she shook her head. “He’s probably sad because he can’t find me anywhere. Don’t let him fool you. He’s a killer. You should have seen him at the trial, bereft, crying over Mother’s death. Three weeks later he tried to kill me.”

He took the shell necklace she had returned and put it over her head. “Nikki, you’re the bravest woman I’ve ever known.”

She knew he meant those words. The pressure inside her kept building, leaving a tingling trail of anticipation in its wake as it traveled to her extremities. Anticipation of what? The answer to that made her heartbeat quicken. She wanted him to kiss her again, to hold her in that strong embrace, but other feelings raced inside her, too. Feelings she was afraid to even think about.

She was no longer afraid of Adrian, though, of his presence or his intentions. Here was a man who had come for her because of visions. The warmth and fire in his eyes comforted and teased at the same time.

He turned her hand and fitted his palm against hers. A small tremor moved down her arm and into her fingertips. She looked at their hands, his so much larger than hers, his fingers extending far beyond her own. Her gaze traveled up his arms, to his shoulders. For the first time in so long, she could let herself feel delicate and feminine.

Adrian entwined their fingers and pulled her gently toward him. She freed her fingers and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The cotton T-shirt felt soft against her arms. He framed her face with his hands and just looked at her, as though he couldn’t believe she was really there.

He pulled her close and pressed his mouth against hers, tasting, tugging her lower lip between his. Then his tongue tickled along her lip, leaving a warm, moist trail. She felt her breath catch and fought to keep the trembling at bay. His tongue teased, flicking in and out, touching her front teeth. When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she opened her mouth and kissed him fully. His sigh seemed to emanate from deep within his soul as he pulled her tighter against him. His thumbs stroked her cheeks, close to her lips, and then his fingers moved through her hair.

A spear of panic trembled through her at the realization that this would probably lead to making love with Adrian. Nothing in her life had ever felt so right as that thought, and she realized the panic was only because this would be her first time. She also knew that no matter what happened later, she would never regret it.

Just kissing Adrian was like making love in itself, with their tongues moving together in perfect synchronization, exploring every crevice. She loosened his ponytail and let his hair flow free over his shoulders. It felt soft and silky as her fingers moved through it. She heard a low growl from him, like a tiger. The sound made her heart race faster, sending an animal-like ferocity through her bloodstream. She heard herself growl back as he tilted her head and started kissing and nibbling down her throat.

Nikki was burning up in her sweatshirt, steaming beneath Adrian’s mouth as he kissed all around her neck and to her collar. She leaned back on the couch as he crouched over her. Parts of her body crackled with electricity as they came to life. Her hands ran along his shoulders and down the hard plane of his chest and stomach.

It didn’t matter that she was dressed in faded clothes, or that she wore no make-up. The way he looked at her made her feel more beautiful than any woman on earth. He smelled of soap and shampoo, but his own essence was there, too, more intoxicating than any fancy cologne.

When he lifted off her sweatshirt, she didn’t think about her scars. In his eyes she felt flawless. Beneath she wore one of her silk bras, faded peach, but still her prettiest one. Adrian’s eyes seemed to soak in every inch of her bare skin, stroking it with his gaze and his fingers. They roamed over her stomach, down to her sides and skimmed across her breasts. That one simple touch shot fire through her body. She reveled in the newness of the feelings, and of having saved it for this moment.

He bent down and kissed her again, long and languorous. She could hardly catch her breath after that last long kiss. He looked at her for the longest time, searching her eyes for something. She hid nothing from him, letting everything in her heart shine through. Including that she wanted him. Wanted this.

She hardly recognized her voice as she spoke, so breathy and worldly-sounding. “Make love to me.”

Adrian wasted not a second in swooping her up into his arms and taking her into his bedroom where she had once seen him sleeping. He sat her down on the edge of the bed, then knelt down in front of her. He took her scarred hand and kissed it with a gentleness that belied the fire in his eyes. His mouth trailed up the length of her arm, taking his agonizing time, before finally kissing across the fabric of her bra and unhooking the clasp. When her bra fell away, he caressed each breast and kissed them with tenderness. When his tongue brushed her already sensitized nipple, she sucked in a breath. He kept teasing, first one, then the other, then back again, leaving a wet trail in the valley between them.

“Adrian, you’re driving me absolutely crazy,” she whispered when she couldn’t handle another second. Her toes curled up.

“Good.” He grinned, then went right back to teasing her.

Nikki had read the novels, had seen the movies. The first time a couple made love, it was usually fast and furious. Why was he taking his ever-loving time? He couldn’t possibly know she was a virgin. Or could he?

When she started squirming, he stood, took her hands, and pulled her to her feet. While he was kissing, his hands unzipped her skirt. She felt it drop down to her bare feet with a soft whisper a second before his fingers slid beneath the band of her silk panties. He didn’t take them off quickly, like the skirt. Adrian slid his fingers down over her buttocks, lightly grazing her skin before sliding around to the front and mingling with her hair. She could hardly focus on the kiss with his fingers snaking down to barely touch her most sensitive area.