Night Moves : Dream Man/After the Night Read online

  She had nothing to go on. No face, no name. Eventually, though, she would be able to focus on him, stay with him, and he would make some mistake that would tell her his identity.

  She would have to work with the police, and that meant working with Hollister. She had no doubt it would be an uncomfortable, difficult situation, but she had no choice. She was caught up in this and had no way of getting out.

  7

  MARLIE HAD JUST FINISHED DRESSING the next morning when the heavy knock at the front door made her jump, then frown with both annoyance and alarm. She had no doubt who was pounding on her door at seven-twenty in the morning, and it didn’t take any special skills to figure it out.

  The best way to deal with him, though, was to not let him know that she reacted to him in any way. He would see her anger as a weakness, and heaven help her if he should get even a hint of the unwilling attraction she felt. He was too aggressive to let either circumstance pass by.

  She wasn’t about to invite him in. She had to get to work, and she had no intention of letting him make her late. She got her purse and had her keys in hand as she marched to the front door. When she opened it, he was standing almost in her face, leaning with one muscular arm braced against the frame and the other one raised to pound on her door again. The closeness of his body made her catch her breath, a reaction she hid by stepping out and turning to close the door behind her. Unfortunately, he didn’t move back, and she fetched up solidly against him, all heat and hard muscle. She was practically in his arms; all he had to do was close them around her, and she would be caught.

  Grimly she concentrated on locking the door, trying to ignore the situation. The brief look she had had at his face told her that he was ill tempered this morning, but now she sensed an alarming male edginess beneath the temper. He was as fractious as a stallion scenting a mare in season.

  The mental image was unfortunate, and so apt that her heart began beating wildly. With her back turned to him as she wrestled with the stubborn lock, she was suddenly acutely aware of the press of his body against her buttocks. An unmistakable ridge had formed, thick and hard, blatant in intent.

  The lock finally clicked into place. She stood motionless, frozen with indecision. If she moved, she would be rubbing against him; if she didn’t move, he might take it as an invitation. She closed her eyes against the insidious temptation to simply turn and face him, giving him silent permission by giving him access. Only the certainty that it wouldn’t work, that she would freeze under the onslaught of a six-year-old horror, kept her from giving in. She couldn’t go through that again.

  She forced her voice to work. “What do you want, Detective?” Then she could have bit her tongue. Bad choice of words, under the circumstances. With his erection insistently nudging her, what he wanted was obvious.

  For two seconds he didn’t answer. She felt the lift of his chest as he slowly inhaled; then, thankfully, blessedly, he moved back a step. “I’m not here as a detective. I just came to see if you’re all right.”

  The heavy sexual tension eased with the small distance between them, making her feel as if she had been freed from shackles. The relief made her light-headed, a reaction she countered with action. “I’m fine,” she said briskly, and went down the steps before he could stop her. Oh, damn. His car was blocking hers in the driveway. She stopped, and her self-control had returned enough that she hesitated only briefly before turning to face him. “I have to leave or I’ll be late to work.”

  He glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s a fifteen-minute drive. You have plenty of time.”

  “I like to leave early, in case of trouble.”

  The explanation didn’t budge him. His heavy-lidded hazel eyes moved over her, their expression shielded. “Anything else scare you last night?”

  “I wasn’t scared.”

  “Couldn’t prove it by me.”

  “I wasn’t scared,” she repeated, this time with her teeth clenched. His obstinance was already fraying her temper. She needed to get away from him, now.

  “Sure you were. And you’re scared now.” His gaze raked over her again. “Though not for the same reason,” he said softly. This time when his eyelids lifted, she saw the predatory gleam of male awareness.

  Marlie stiffened, a chill of apprehension touching her. He might not be psychic himself, but his male instincts were acute. It would be more difficult to evade him than she’d thought, for he sensed the response she couldn’t quite mask. He came down the steps toward her, and she swiftly retreated to her car. She jerked the door open and slid behind it, using it as a barricade against him.

  He regarded her over the open door, his eyes sharp now, piercingly intent. “Calm down,” he murmured. “Don’t get in such a snit.”

  She glared at him, agitated almost beyond endurance. If he didn’t leave soon, she was going to lose control and say something she knew she would regret. She clutched at the door for support, her knuckles white with the effort. “Move your car, Detective. And unless you have a warrant, don’t come to my house again.”

  • • •

  Great going, Hollister. Dane felt violent as he swore at himself. He glared down at his desk, ignoring the noise around him of overlapping voices and the incessant ringing of the telephones. He was raw with frustration, both sexual and professional. There were no leads in the Vinick case, no evidence. The investigation was going nowhere, and it looked as if his interest in Marlie Keen was rapidly headed in the same direction.

  What else had he expected? That she wouldn’t notice his erection jammed against her ass? The wonder was that she hadn’t started screaming.

  He should have moved back immediately when she had stepped out of the house, but he hadn’t. The first accidental touch of her body had frozen him in place, all of his senses painfully focused on the contact. It had felt so good that he had barely been able to tolerate it, but at the same time it hadn’t been enough. He had wanted more. He had wanted to strip her naked, to thrust inside her. He had wanted to feel her legs wrapped around his hips, wanted to feel her quivering beneath him as she came. He wanted to dominate her, smash her resistance, bend her so thoroughly to his will that he could take her whenever he wanted . . . and he wanted to protect her from everything and everyone else. That was why he had been on her front porch this morning. He hadn’t been able to rest all night, almost certain something had frightened her but totally certain that she wouldn’t welcome his concern if he’d called her again. When morning came, he hadn’t been able to resist. He’d had to see for himself that she was all right.

  So what had he done? Alienated her even further. He had mishandled her from the very beginning, and he still had no idea what he was supposed to do about her. Officer Ewan had cleared her of being at the scene of Nadine Vinick’s murder, but she obviously knew something about it, and had come to the police with it. So what was she, a suspect or a witness? Logic said the former, some uneasy instinct said the latter, and his dick frankly didn’t give a damn.

  “You’re in a piss-poor mood,” Trammell commented lazily, all tipped back in his chair and watching Dane’s expression.

  He grunted. There was no denying it.

  “Talked to Marlie lately?”

  Annoyed, Dane shot him a glance. “This morning,” he said briefly.

  “And?”

  “And nothing.”

  “Nothing? Then why did you call her?”

  “I didn’t.” Restlessly Dane twirled a pencil. “I went over there.”

  “Oh, ho. Keeping secrets from your partner, huh?”

  “No secrets to keep.”

  “So why did you go over there?”

  Damn, all this interrogation was making him feel twitchy. Dane had a brief moment of sympathy for the suspects he and Trammell had questioned for hours. A very brief moment. “No reason,” he replied, blatantly stonewalling and not giving a damn if Trammell knew it.

  “No reason, huh?” Trammell was having fun. His dark eyes were gleeful. He had never th