Steele (6 page)

When their breathing had calmed, Steele reached up and tucked an errant stand of hair behind her ear. “Did I hurt you?” he asked.

Marla smiled blissfully and nuzzled his neck. “Not at all.”

“God you make me feel so good.” He pressed a kiss to her temple and held her tight against him.

“Me too. I haven’t felt this good in…well, I can’t even remember,” she admitted with a laugh.

From somewhere beyond the bedroom Marla heard a clock strike eleven. “I need to get home and get some sleep if I’m going to be worth anything tomorrow.”

“You could always stay here,” Steele offered hopefully.

Marla shook her head. “I have to go home. I need a change of clothes and my medication.”

Steele grunted. “Let’s get dressed then and I’ll take you home.”

Getting dressed was much harder to do with Steele’s hands roaming over her body every other breath, but somehow Marla managed. Then it was her turn to stroke his body as he dressed, roving her hands all over him. It was fun to play and unwind after a hard day…and a hard ride.

Marla gathered her things and followed Steele out of his quarters. She still wasn’t used to all the winding corridors of the Sterling compound, but she was learning fast. They made it out to the parking lot where Steele’s Expedition waited in less than five minutes. Steele gallantly helped her up into the cab of the vehicle, his hand lingering on her arm.

“I’m not a man who can tolerate a one-night stand.”

“Me either. I mean,” she amended quickly, “I’m not a
woman
who can tolerate a one-night stand either.” She grinned.

He closed her door and walked around the vehicle to enter on the driver’s side. His silvery gray gaze burned her, roving from her head to her toes, lingering on her lips, breasts and sex. Marla blushed and ate him up with her own eyes in return.

“Will you stay with me tomorrow night?” he asked softly. “I’ll make us some steaks and baked potatoes. And after…we can do whatever you like.”

Marla smiled. “Yes. I’d very much enjoy that.”

Steele reached over and took her hand in his, not letting go until they pulled up in front of her house.

Chapter Five

Steele helped her down out of the vehicle. When she was on her feet, he held her close to his heart. Marla hugged him back, feeling safer now than she had ever since waking up with one year of her life lost forever.

She stirred against him. “Why didn’t you help me into the truck this morning?”

Steele chuckled softly. “I was afraid of what I’d do if I touched you,” he admitted.

Marla blushed. “I see. Well, I’m glad you feel more comfortable touching me now,” she laughed.

“Comfort has nothing to do with it.” His gaze burned and he rubbed his erection against her belly. “I do love to touch you though.” He stroked his hand down her back, his hand so wide and large that it nearly spanned her entire back.

Steele walked her up to the front porch, lingering as they reached it. He bent down and kissed her, his tongue delving deep. He pulled her into his arms, lifting her feet off the ground, and held her tight, his lips demanding on hers, as if he would never let her go.

He set her back down on her feet and pressed one last lingering kiss to her lips. “If I don’t leave now, you won’t get any sleep tonight.”

His wicked promise made her knees turn to water and she leaned against him to keep from falling. He steadied her then turned to go. Dazed, euphoric, Marla turned to go into the house.

The door opened with nothing more than a push. She must have forgotten to lock it, though she’d never forgotten it before. She hated having such a short memory for ordinary things like this. More than likely, she’d be feeling these aftereffects of her coma for the rest of her life. It was a depressing thought.

All this was happening just because she’d tried to change a lightbulb. It sickened her how easily she’d been brought low by a simple fall.

She turned on a light in her living room and gave a loud scream when she saw the man waiting there for her. Marla backed up, wanting to distance herself from the stranger standing in her home as though he owned it. The man watched her and slowly put his hand beneath the suit coat he wore. He pulled out an impressive-looking gun—big and silver, it glinted in the dim light—and pointed it at her.

“Have a seat, Ms. Rivers,” he said softly, menacingly.

Marla plunked limply down on her couch, keeping her eyes focused on the gun at all times. “Who are you?”

“I’m Daniel Press, the acting junior director of Siren Corp.”

Marla felt her eyes go wide. “I thought I’d seen the last of you people?”

“I decided to try and persuade you, personally, one more time to allow us to study you.” His teeth glinted in the light. A razor blade smile. The smile of a predator.

“I’ve already told you no. My answer hasn’t changed,” she said bravely, feeling anything but. “A gun isn’t going to make me change my mind, either.”

“I could shoot you.”

“Killing me isn’t going to help you understand my quirks.”

“Who said anything about killing you?” He fired the gun at her feet and she jumped up on the couch with a shriek, the explosion ringing in her ears. “The next bullet will be in your kneecap. You can count on it. I’m an excellent shot and we’ve doctors on standby in case it becomes necessary.”

Marla’s heart went cold with fear.

There came a sound at her door. “Marla? You forgot your purse in—” Steele halted mid-sentence as he saw Daniel. Daniel, surprised by the interruption, squeezed the trigger of the gun, pointing it squarely at Steele. Marla screamed at him to move, but it was too late. The gun went off with another mighty roar.

Steele didn’t even flinch. He stood there and took the shot, unafraid of any damage it might cause. Miraculously, magically, it didn’t cause him any harm at all. The bullet bounced off him, the slug falling uselessly to the floor at his feet.

Marla’s jaw dropped in shock. The light in the ceiling blew with a loud popping noise in the sudden stillness, plunging the room into a shadowy darkness.

“Damn it, Steele. Don’t interfere. This isn’t any of your concern.” Daniel growled from the shadows.

Steele ignored him and stepped further into the room, reaching Marla’s side and stepping protectively in front of her. Daniel had the gun trained on them as they stood together united against him. “I beg to differ. She’s working with us now. Leave her be. We both know you don’t want blood on your hands over this.”

“One day, Steele, I’m going to find a way to hurt you. And when I do…” He made a dramatic slicing motion across his throat.

Daniel kept the gun trained on them as he walked around them to the door. Steele reached out and snatched the gun from his hand, crunching it in his fists. Marla watched with disbelief.

Daniel suddenly screamed and clutched his head. He fell to the floor, writhing in agony. “Stop it,” he shrieked. “Stop it Marla!”

Marla looked at Steele and shook her head. She had no idea what she was doing, if she was indeed doing anything at all.

Daniel choked out a scream, grasping his head in his fisted hands. Steele walked over to him, bent down and pried open one of Daniel’s eyelids. “He’s not faking,” Steele said, looking back at Marla.

“Of course I’m not faking,” Daniel spat unevenly, groaning.

Steele lifted him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out onto the front lawn. Once there, Daniel seemed to ease, but the moment Marla stepped out onto her porch, he clutched at his head again with another agonized scream. Steele took Daniel’s head in his own hands and carefully looked through his hair.

Steele pinched something off Daniel’s scalp and held it up to the moonlight. Immediately Daniel eased, shuddering quietly on the ground.

“What is it?” Marla had to ask.

“It looks like a microchip,” Steele said. “You must have interfered with it somehow. No wonder Siren wants you so badly.” He grabbed Daniel’s collar again and put his face close to the weakened man’s. “What is this thing for?”

Daniel spat in his face.

Steele shook him. “You’ll tell me what this is for one way or another. Choose wisely.”

Daniel sobbed for breath. “It’s top secret. You can’t have the technology.”

“I don’t want the technology. But you’ll tell me what it’s for and quit stalling.”

“It’s a cerebral enhancing chip,” Daniel said at last. “It’s meant to improve motor skills and brain power.”

“How does it work? It’s not surgically implanted—how
can
it work?”

“It doesn’t need to be implanted surgically.”

“So what do you do, just plant them on people willy-nilly?” Marla asked, incredulous.

“Absolutely. We can put them on anyone,” Daniel said with a smug smile.

“And you’re testing this thing on humans? On yourself? Do your financial backers in the White House know what you’re up to?”

“We’ve gone beyond testing. We have outfitted over a dozen men and women with the chip. And as for the government, they’re on a need-to-know basis only, you know that from your own work at Sterling,” he said slyly. He turned to look at Marla. “Did you know that the big guy here is a vigilante? He goes out almost every night to find the so-called bad guys and dispose of them one way or another.”

Marla looked at Steele for confirmation of this shocking news.

“I’ve never killed anyone,” Steele said softly. “And everyone I’ve helped to put behind bars richly deserved it, believe me. All I do is aid the police a little, whether they know it or not. I help them catch criminals red-handed.”

Daniel smirked. “How noble you make it sound, when you’re nothing more than hired muscle.”

A car drove slowly down the road and Daniel leapt to his feet and bolted. Steele followed him easily, his long legs eating up the distance that Daniel’s head start had given him. The car swerved as if the driver intended to run Steele down.

A split second before the car struck him, Steele brought his fist down on the hood. The car halted abruptly and nearly flipped over. Steele took his fist off the car, leaving an incredible dent behind. The driver got out of the car and ran down the street as fast as his legs would carry him. With one last murderous look at Steele, Daniel turned to follow his friend at a sprint.

Steele looked back at Marla. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Why?” she asked shakily.

“I didn’t want you to ever have to see that.”

“What, Siren?”

“No. My…uh…” He gestured to the smoking wreck of a car in the middle of the road. “My gifts. My curse.”

Marla smiled and ran to him, throwing herself into his arms. He lifted her and held her close. “I’m glad you were here. I’m glad you’re gifted. It makes me feel less alone in this world.”

“You’ll never be alone,” Steele said thickly. “Never as long as I’m here.”

“That was pretty amazing stuff,” she said, marveling at how incredibly strong Steele was. Stronger than steel he might be, but he’d been nothing but gentle with her from the start. He was her own gentle giant. Her mighty protector.

Steele set her back down on the ground and looked at the microchip still held within his hand. “Ryan will want to see this.”

“Let’s take it to him.”

Steele’s gaze burned hers. “Not yet. It’s late. And first I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Marla nodded. “I’m fine. Just a little shaken.”

Steele swept her up in his arms like he would a babe and carried her back toward her house. “I need to see you naked, to make sure you’re not injured in any way.”

“Oh God, what will the neighbors think?” she giggled.

“I meant that I’ll get you naked
inside
the house.” Steele’s mouth turned up at the corner in an endearing lopsided grin.

They crossed the threshold and Steele closed the door behind them.

* * * * *

The moment Steele set her down on her feet in the bedroom he began to strip her clothes from her body. Marla knew she wasn’t injured but she let him have his way. He seemed determined to know for himself that she was all right.