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

Remi forced her eyes open, aware of the material scratching the skin of her thighs. “You’re wearing jeans.”

“I was getting dressed when I realized you hadn’t turned on the water to the shower.” The rich timbre of his voice, combined with the circles he pressed into her back, worked to clear the exhausted haze from her head. “My instincts were right. You need me. I hope you don’t drive when you’re this tired.”

“I hope you don’t...” The sharp scent of citrus dove into her lungs before soft strokes and bubbles tickled the sensitive skin down her spine. “I don’t remember what I was going to say.”

“You’re delirious and on the verge of another collapse,” he said.

She closed her eyes, indulging in the sound of his laughter. Tough calluses caught on her skin as Dylan ran the bodywash the length of her arms, across her chest and down the other side. In minutes, he’d washed away the blood, dirt and post sex residue, handling her as though she were made of glass. Leaving her to stand on her own, he peeled the gauze from her side and surveyed the damage underneath. “We need to get your wound cleaned up and put you into bed. I’ll keep working the case while you rest.”

“You...deserve better.” She hadn’t meant to say the words, but she’d never been more confident of anything in her life. Even now, as a killer closed in around them, he was taking the time to care for her. To make sure she got through the next day, the next hour, the next minute. He’d lost as much as she had when she’d been fired from the sheriff’s department, but he’d never blamed her. Not once. “You were the best...investigator I’d worked with in Delaware. That’s why...when you applied to the marshals, I made sure you ended up in Oregon. I told all the division heads you were mine. I told them they had to turn you down for the open positions in their offices, but now I know I’m never going to be...good enough for you.”

“You made sure I didn’t get any of those jobs so I would have to come to Oregon?” Dylan dipped his chin to his chest. His hands hesitated above her ankles; his touch was so light, she barely felt it.

She latched onto his shoulders for balance, and a sharp sense of clarity rippled through her, but it was too late. The truth settled between them as he straightened, and there was nothing she could do to take it back, to make what she’d done okay. Remi couldn’t read his expression, and a knot of fear coiled deep in her belly. She tried to shake the exhaustion, but it was only a matter of time before she collapsed. “Dylan, I’m sorry. I... I didn’t mean—”

“Didn’t mean to admit you like me more than you’ve let on?” He hung the loofa from the shower nozzle and twisted the water off. Echoes of dripping water attacked the nerves lining her skin with each splash from the showerhead. He reached for one of the soft, white robes hanging on the wall beside the shower and wrapped it around her, clenching the collar around her neck. “You’ve been holding out on me, Sheriff.”

She didn’t know what to say to that. She threaded her arms into the sleeves and let him loosely secure the tie at her waist. Within minutes, cool air brushed against her collarbone as he led her back to the bedroom they’d ended up in for the night, but it did nothing to douse the newfound admiration swirling through her.

She followed his lead and fell back on the bed, her eyes heavier than ever before. Modern angles sloped from the ceiling above, casting shadows across his handsome face. She framed one side of his jaw, stubble prickling her warm skin. Her hand fell back to her chest. “You’re not angry... I might’ve limited your career opportunities?”

“To be honest, I’m a little surprised you let it slip at all, even as tired as you are.” Leaning over her, Dylan pressed a light kiss to her mouth and pulled back. Of all the times her body had shut down, she’d made sure no one would be there to take advantage of her at her lowest, but she trusted him. “I know exactly where I want to be, Remi, and right now, that’s with you.”

ANOTHER USELESS LEAD.

“Damn it.” Dylan tossed the file across the kitchen table and rubbed at his eyes. He’d gone through every family member, coworker, friend, former lover and acquaintance on file for each of the New Castle Killer’s victims. No evidence these people had any clue one of their loved ones had survived. No large debts or sudden absences from work. It’d take a warrant to get phone records and data from their personal computers, but his instincts said if one of Del Howe’s victims had survived and become a killer, their family and friends had no idea.

If it hadn’t been for the fact Remi had noted the scars on her attacker’s hand, Dylan would’ve doubled down on the involvement of their first suspect. Sergeant Daniel Nguyen still had the means and the motive, despite his shift schedule and the fact he’d been in the interrogation room when Remi had been abducted confirmed he wasn’t the killer they were looking for. As of right now, the Gresham PD officer was only guilty of planning to kill Del Howe. The man who’d given the New Castle Killer a taste of his own medicine was still out there.

“Good...morning?” Remi headed for the coffee maker, no signs of exhaustion in her movements, and a tightness seized the space around his heart. Long-sleeved shirt, cargo pants, weapon holstered, hair pulled away from her face. Damn, the woman bounced back like no one he’d known. She glanced at the clock on the microwave as she reached for a mug. “Not morning. Good afternoon.”

“You don’t look like you’re