Harlequin Intrigue April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Carol Ericson (short books to read TXT) 📖

think he could best her mentally or physically. He had the weight, but she had the skill, even with a fresh stab wound in her side. “Innocent until proved guilty, Deputy. Didn’t they teach you that at Glynco?”

“Funny how some of the hair started growing back after you took up with the marshals service.” He threaded his hand around her waist and pulled her into his chest. Tipping her chin up, he brushed his mouth across hers in a teasing kiss that ignited only a hint of the desire they’d shared last night. With his luck, he’d be the one taking a cold shower, and she’d get away with making his leg itch for two months straight. Her body heat buried through the thin fabric of his boxers. “I think I’m going to have to start plotting my revenge.”

“Like I said, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Lifting onto her toes, she pressed her mouth against his and wrapped her arms around his neck. She arched into him, a low moan escaping her throat, and every inch of him caught fire. He’d lied to himself. Two couldn’t play at this game, because the woman in his arms would win at every turn.

Remi stepped back, her fingers trailing down his chest until she slipped her hand into his for the briefest of moments. Crouching, she hefted her overnight bag over her shoulder, her mouth thinning into a line at the weight. “I’d be more than happy to help you even it out after we review statements from friends and family members of the two New Castle Killer victims. I’ve already run background checks, but it’s possible someone knew their loved one survived the attack and has been helping him stay off law enforcement’s radar all this time.”

Dylan shook his head. No matter what’d she been through, how much pain she was in, Remi wouldn’t stop. Not for her own health, and not at the expense of losing momentum in the case. He’d kept her awake for the recommended amount of time last night, but after that, she’d taken her well-being back into her own hands. The circles under her eyes had darkened since last night, and concern replaced the knot of desire coiling in his gut. He took a single step toward her. “You didn’t sleep after you were cleared to, did you? You worked the case last night after we were finished.”

Her smile slipped from her lips, and his nervous system kicked into overdrive. A single muscle in her jaw ticked. “I needed to know which one of them took me to that cave, which one of them has been killing my friends and coworkers for years without me knowing.”

“You’re biting the inside of your mouth,” he said.

Her drawn inhale was a sign that she was ready for battle. The hard set of her mouth told him the passionate, vulnerable woman he’d gotten a glimpse of last night had only been temporary. This wasn’t the sheriff he’d come to know, who’d practically admitted to waxing his leg for two months straight a few minutes ago. Squaring off with him, Chief Deputy Remington Barton leveled her chin with the floor. “In case I haven’t made it clear for you, my sleeping habits don’t fall under your purview of this case. We might have slept together last night, Deputy Cove, but I’m still your superior, and we have a murderer to find.”

She turned from him and headed for the door.

“You see them when you close your eyes, don’t you?” His instincts had confirmed the truth when he’d had to carry her to the bedroom two nights ago because she hadn’t been able to function any longer. “You push yourself into exhaustion instead of taking the risk of falling asleep on your own. That way you don’t have to see the faces of the victims we failed.”

Remi froze, her head slightly turned over her shoulder. The small, shaved section at the back of her head revealed the stitches her surgeon had sutured less than eighteen hours ago. “You don’t know what you’re talking—”

“Yes, I do.” Those same faces haunted him every night. “The men you have pinned to your board out there? They’re the reason I started investigating the case on my own. They’re the ones who pushed me to find the connection between the New Castle Killer and Del Howe.” His pulse raced. “I’m the reason the son of a bitch got his hands on Tad Marrow, and the moment I heard the news, I swore I’d never let that happen to another victim.”

“But I didn’t,” she said, so low he almost hadn’t heard her.

“I know for a fact you did everything you could to stop Del Howe from killing again.” He’d never been more sure of anything in his life. “Just like I know you’re doing everything you can right now to bring his killer down. But that bastard almost took you from me, Sheriff. You were stabbed. He slammed your head through a window. At some point, your body isn’t going to play by your rules anymore. You need to—”

“What do you mean he almost took me from you?” She faced him, and the strong, self-confident woman he’d worked with these past six months disappeared. In that moment, he envisioned her on the edge of a blade, trying to find balance between the mask she was compelled to wear in the line of duty and the woman underneath. Her mouth parted as she struggled to control the tremors in her hands, but she couldn’t hide from him. Not anymore.

“We started sleeping together because we both needed the stress relief during the New Castle case, but that’s not enough for me anymore,” he said. “Not after what we’ve been through these past few months, and sure as hell not after what happened in those caves.”

Resignation filtered through the slight ringing in his ears. He hadn’t meant for the admission to slip out, but Remi was far too good of