***
It was well into the afternoon by the time the cops and the nurse left. Now, I was alone with Cross, and with no idea what I should do now.
I’d tried calling Juliette’s phone three more times with no luck. The cops had sent a couple of uniforms over to the apartment while the detectives had talked to me, and they’d answered her phone twice. The third time, they’d let it go to voicemail. While the cops hadn’t found any indication that Juliette had been harmed, they also hadn’t been quite at the place where they’d believed that something was wrong.
I’d told them everything. How Juliette and I had gone to a club. How she’d met Sam and later went to a hotel with him. When I said the name of the club, Detective McAllister hadn’t batted an eye, but I’d seen the fleeting expression crossing Detective Bison’s face. At least he had known it wasn’t just a regular club.
Cross had seen it too because he’d casually mentioned that he could corroborate that Juliette and I had left separately since he’d been the one to take me home from the club. I’d flushed then, embarrassed by the implication he’d given, but I hadn’t contradicted him. Let the cops think what they wanted. I didn’t care about that. I just wanted my sister back. I wouldn’t even care if she simply strolled into her apartment, having been caught up with Sam, or shopping, or something else, and had completely forgotten about me.
Even though they’d given me their full attention, and had dutifully written down everything I said, as well as Cross’ statement regarding the hotel manager he’d spoken with who’d said that Juliette and Sam had left together around seven in the morning, I’d been able to tell they still thought this whole thing was a waste of their time.
The nurse had arrived in the middle of their questions and she’d taken both a blood and urine sample, explaining to me that some drugs, like GHB – more commonly known as the date-rape drug – stayed in the blood only up to eight hours. There was a little more leeway with a urine test. I hadn’t cared what she wanted to take from me if it’d help us get to the bottom of what happened.
The detectives asked both Cross and I why the nurse had come by, but neither of us gave them an answer. If we had, they would’ve wanted to run their own tests in their own lab, and who knew how long that would take. Cross’ nurse had been going straight to the private lab where she’d hand off the samples to a technician who would begin running tests right away.
As Cross showed the detectives to the door, I stayed on the couch, unsure what I was supposed to do next. Should I go back to the apartment? Would I even be able to get in or was it a crime scene now? I didn’t know, and I really didn’t want to show up there and be turned away. The only other people I knew in the city were the ones Juliette worked with, and I didn’t want them knowing what was happening, not until I had a better idea of it myself.
When Cross came back into the room, he was on his phone, his expression serious. He was talking low, so I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but as soon as he hung up, he came over to the couch and sat next to me.
“I’m sure the cops will do their best,” he said. “But I have a private investigator on retainer and I’ve asked him to look into it as well. The lab will send him your test results too, if that’s okay with you.”
I nodded. I didn’t have anything to hide. I didn’t even mind that Cross had done it before asking me if it was okay. I could barely think now, much less make decisions.
“Mars will call me as soon as he finds something.”
“Mars?” I gave him a blank look, and was rewarded by that half-smile I was beginning to like too much.
“The PI. His name’s Mars Roster.” Cross shrugged. “I guess his dad was something of an astronomy buff.”
Dad.
Shit.
Our parents. RJ. Yet another thing I didn’t know how to deal with. When should I call them? Did they need to know right now or was it too early? I knew Juliette would be mad if I got them all worked up if this was just a big misunderstanding. But if something really was wrong, wouldn’t she want them to know? And what if I had been drugged? Even if nothing was wrong with Juliette, should I tell them that? Wouldn’t it just be proof to them that I’d made the wrong decision by coming here?
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.
Cross didn’t bother to ask the inane question about whether or not I was okay. Instead, I felt the couch cushions shift, and then strong hands slid over my shoulders. I couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped when his fingers began to knead the tight muscles in my neck. I bent my head forward and turned my back toward him, wanting more. When the massage moved across my shoulders and then down my spine, I could barely suppress a moan.
Between making arrangements to move, finals, graduation, telling my parents I was leaving, and then the past week of being here, the party...all of that alone had been enough to stress me out. Add in my new knowledge about Juliette’s lifestyle and then going to such an unusual club. Then Juliette’s disappearance and the mystery of what may or may not have happened to me, and I was about ready to explode.
A pair of strong thumbs pressed against the base of my spine, reminding me that there was one other thing causing some stress. My defenses were too low. I couldn’t deny the way my body was responding to his touch. Heat was spreading through me, an ache forming between my legs.
“It will be okay,” he said quietly, his voice right at my ear. “Let me take care of you.”
I turned toward him, opening my eyes and tilting my head so I could see his face clearly. I wanted to see his expression when I asked my question, and when he answered. “Why?”
“Why what?” he asked.
“Why are you doing this? Why do you want to take care of me?” Another part of me wanted to know why I should let him, but deep down, I knew I didn’t have to ask that. Once I knew his motives, I wouldn’t need to ask him what my answer should be.
He cupped the side of my face, his thumb brushing the corner of my mouth. His forehead furrowed slightly, and I could tell he was considering my question.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “But I’ve felt like I should be protecting you from the first moment I saw you at the party. It didn’t matter that you were standing there, looking completely confident in whatever you were doing. I felt like I should’ve been right at your side.”
“You didn’t know who I was then,” I pointed out.
“I know,” he said. “That’s what’s so strange. I’d gone to the party, fully intending to approach Juliette, wanting the challenge of her, but when I saw you...I don’t know.” He shook his head as he slid his hand down to the back of my neck, his thumb now pressed against my fluttering pulse. “Let me take care of you,” he repeated.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” My brain sluggishly tried to apply logic while my body protested.
He brushed his lips across mine, the gentlest of kisses. “If you leave, and I don’t know where you are or what’s happening to you...” His eyes darkened as he rested his forehead against mine. “Don’t do that to me.”
I knew what I should do. What the smart thing would be. And I’d always done the smart thing.
I closed the short distance between us, my lips embarrassingly eager against his. I felt his start of surprise, the briefest of pauses, and then he was kissing me back. There was nothing gentle or hesitant about this kiss. It was all-consuming, a hunger that I’d never felt before. His hands slid around my back, fingers playing at the bare skin revealed there. The dress wasn’t slinky or sexy, but it did expose enough skin that he could find places to touch without being too forward.
I buried my fingers in his hair, holding him in place as his tongue explored my mouth, his teeth scraping my lip. I gasped when he bit down, sucked my bottom lip into his mouth. My body tightened, throbbed in response. I scratched my nails against his scalp, and his fingers dug into my back as he pulled me closer. My breasts pressed against his chest, nipples hardening against the fabric.
I never wanted to stop. I wanted to feel his skin against mine, his lips on my body, his cock inside me.
I pulled away and, for a moment, thought that he wouldn’t let me go, that Juliette had been right when she’d told me to stay away from him. Then he released me, moving back, his breathing as heavy as my own.
“I don’t know if staying is such a good idea,” I finally managed to gasp.
He turned toward me, but didn’t try to touch me. “Stay. I’ll keep my hands to myself. I promise.”
As I gazed into his eyes, I agreed with a slight nod, even as I silently wondered if I’d be able to make the same promise. Even with everything going on…even with all my fears and uncertainties…I wanted him.
Chapter Eleven
I had to admit, when I agreed to stay with Cross while the police and his PI did their work, I hadn’t really expected him to keep his promise not to touch me. But he did. We watched a movie together. Ate some expensive delivery for dinner and talked.
He told me about how his family had always made him work hard even though he was the only one in line to inherit their fortunate. I told him about growing up in Ohio with middle class parents. He told me how his parents had been killed in a car crash just after he’d graduated from college, and how he didn’t have any other family. I told him about being the youngest of three siblings, and the youngest of over a dozen cousins.
We had absolutely nothing in common aside from our degrees in business, though mine had come from OSU while his was from Princeton. Different economic and social backgrounds. He’d been born and raised in Hollywood, as far from southern Ohio as one could get. The sizes of our families, the way we’d been brought up, none of it was even close to being similar.
But as we talked, I found myself being drawn to him more with each passing moment. There was something about the way he talked, the way he carried himself that told me he was lonely, and that he’d been that way for so long that he’d accepted it as how he’d always be.
I didn’t want him to be.
The realization hit me partway through the movie I wasn’t paying attention to and distracted me even more. I shouldn’t have cared if he felt lonely, or at least not more than I would’ve cared about some other near-stranger.
What I was feeling for Cross, however, was definitely not stranger-ish. It was...complicated. Or, at least, it had the potential to be complicated. I didn’t really want to think about it at the moment. I had enough on my plate. Fortunately, Cross didn’t seem to notice my internal debate, and our conversation continued as normal.
As it got later, I began to wonder about other things, things better left unsaid. Things that had started with his kiss, his touch. I wondered where he would take me if I reached for him, if I didn’t stop us this time. I knew what I’d seen at the club, and what Juliette had told me, both about Cross and about what it meant to be a Dominant. I knew that he wouldn’t do things the way my ex had done them. A part of me shied away from that idea, away from the unknown. But another part of me – a part I’d never truly acknowledged until now – wondered how I would feel about trying any of the things Juliette and I had talked about.
“I can have my housekeeper pick up a few things for you before she comes over tomorrow,” Cross said suddenly. “I’m assuming you’d prefer not to wear either that dress or the clothes from the club tomorrow.”
That brought back a question I hadn’t thought of since I’d gotten up. “How did you know what size to get? It fits perfectly.”
His gaze ran over me. “Yes, it does.” His eyes met mine again. “I had her get one based on the clothes we sent to the cleaners.”
That made sense. “She doesn’t need to do that,” I said. “I’m sure I can go back to the apartment first thing–”
He stopped me with a simple touch, his fingers on mine. “Let me take care of you, Hanna. Until we find Juliette.”
I didn’t know when things had gone from
me
to
we
, but I couldn’t say that I minded. Especially here, where I didn’t know anyone, it was good to have someone on my side.
“The guest room is yours for as long as you need it,” he said. He stood and held out a hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet. “And I’ll make sure you have something more comfortable to wear tomorrow.”
“What about tonight?” The words popped out of my mouth before I could stop them.
His fingers tightened on me briefly, then he let go. “I’m sure I can find you something.”
For a moment, I wanted to tell him that I could sleep in the nude...and that he could sleep with me. Then the moment was gone, and I remembered that sleeping with him would be a bad idea.
So I didn’t say anything. And he didn’t say anything. He disappeared into another room and emerged a minute or so later with a shirt in his hand. He handed it to me, letting his fingers linger on mine for a second longer than he needed to. Then he was saying good-night, and going back into that room again.
It was easier falling asleep than I thought it would be, than it should have been, considering all that’d happened. I knew a part of that was pure exhaustion, but I also knew that another part was because I’d curled up in his shirt and breathed in the scent of him until the darkness came.
When I woke up, it didn’t take me long to remember where I was or what had happened. It also didn’t take me long to see that there were clothes on the chair again. This time, there was a selection, and none of them were dresses. I selected a pair of jeans and a stylish shirt that I knew was more expensive than pretty much anything I’d ever owned before, and headed to the kitchen. If I didn’t find Cross there, at least I’d get a cup of coffee.