Torch (Take It Off #1)(18)
Author: Cambria Hebert

It was a plain white piece of paper, the kind that anyone would use in a printer. I unfolded it, noticing there was some kind of writing on the inside. When I got to the last fold, I glanced up at Holt who was wearing a very grim expression. Clearly, whatever this was wasn’t good.

I pulled it open and stared down, my brain not really comprehending what it saw. I had to read the line over three times before I really got what it was saying.

My stomach clenched.

My hands trembled slightly.

You should have let her die.

“Where did you get this?” I finally asked.

“It was on my truck when I left work earlier tonight.”

The paper fluttered to the floor slowly, joining the towel by my feet. “So you got this before the fire tonight?”

“Yes. It’s the reason I came looking for you.”

“You didn’t say that.”

“I figured you were dealing with enough at the moment.”

“Did you tell the police?”

He shook his head slowly.

“But why?”

“I wanted to talk to you first. See if you knew what it meant.”

“It means someone wants me dead!” I shouted. My voice seemed to echo through the hallway.

“You’re not going to die,” he growled.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” I said, looking frantically around. “I need to go.” I spun around to rush into the living room, but the towel was tangled around my feet and I tripped, falling toward the floor.

Holt caught me around the waist, pulling me back so I was up against the solid wall of his body. The heat of him was delicious and it radiated around my fear-chilled body. “You’re not going anywhere,” he rumbled in my ear.

I struggled against him, but it was stupid. He outweighed me by a hundred pounds, easily, and was likely a foot taller than me. If he didn’t want to let me go, then I was pretty much stuck in his embrace. I slumped against him. “I’m putting you in danger by being here.”

“You’re in more danger when I’m not around.”

I couldn’t stop my snort. “There goes that ego of yours again.”

His chuckle vibrated my ear. Chill bumps raced over my scalp. “All I’m saying is that clearly this guy is a pyro. My job is fire. You’re better off here than alone.”

“But what about you?”

“You let me worry about me.”

I tried to wiggle out of his embrace so I could look at him. He only loosened his hold enough to allow me to spin in his arms. I had to tip my head back so I could stare up at him. “Do you have a death wish?”

“I’m not going to die. Especially since life just got a hell of a lot more interesting.” His fingers flexed against my hip.

“But—” I protested, but he cut me off.

“It’s obvious I’m already in his sights. He thinks we’re connected. You not being here isn’t going to change that.”

I couldn’t argue with that because it was true. After all, he didn’t receive the letter until after I checked into a motel.

“Why are you helping me?” It was something I just couldn’t understand.

His body shifted, I swear coming into even more contact with mine than it already was. He brought up his free hand and brushed back my hair, pushing it so it fell behind my shoulder. “It’s my job to protect people.”

“Is it your job to bring them home, too?” I felt a little breathless. Just beneath my ribs my heart fluttered wildly. It felt like there was a little bird inside me, flapping its wings, trying to fly.

“That’s just a perk of the job.” He smirked.

“So you do this often?” I said, feeling slightly bruised.

“Never.”

“Then why me?”

He took a few steps, backing me up so I was pinned between him and the wall. From this angle, the hall light fell behind him so his face was in the shadows. But even still, the lightness of his eyes pierced me like a crack of thunder in a storm.

“I don’t know.”

I wasn’t expecting those words. In fact, I barely heard them over the thundering of the blood in my veins. His nearness affected me in ways I didn’t understand. I felt hot yet cold. Nervous but bold. Part of me wanted to rush away and the other part of me yearned to arch closer, to slide my hands up the hem of his shirt and run my fingers across the wide expanse of his bare back.

“That’s not a very good reason to get mixed up with a girl on the run from a killer.”

He cocked his head to the side. “No?”

I shook my head.

“How about this?” he said, leaning down so his lips brushed my jaw. The stubble on his face tickled my chin. “Because even in the center of a blazing fire, my body reacted to you. Because seeing you so small and helpless in a hospital bed twisted my guts. Because the day I walked into your room and those stormy gray eyes landed on mine, I felt like there was something tethering us together. Or maybe it was because of the way you sighed and leaned into my chest the night I carried you to my bed. Your scent still lingers on my sheets, Katie.”

Oh my.

I bit my lip. No one had ever said anything like that to me, ever.

He groaned, staring at my mouth. “That drives me crazy.”

I released my lip.

“Kiss me, Katie.”

My gaze fell to his lips. He was mere inches away; my body was fitted between his legs and against him in a way that left little to the imagination.

I hadn’t kissed someone in a long time. I usually found it useless because even if the kiss turned out to be good, it wouldn’t matter. I couldn’t get attached to someone. I didn’t want the pain of saying good-bye.

But I was tempted.

His lips were like a really sinful slice of chocolate cake. You knew if you ate it, you would hate yourself in the morning, but the call of that chocolate was so utterly strong you had to take a bite.

I gazed again at his lips, still inches from mine. He was watching me, watching me debate, watching me try to resist. He didn’t try to sway me; he didn’t try to make the first move. He just held himself there, as still as a statue, and waited.

Tentatively, I leaned forward, keeping my eyes open, and brushed my lips over his. It was a brief kiss but a full one, and when I pulled back a little, part of my bottom lip seemed to take longer to pull away than the rest of me. It was like it wanted to stay, like it finally knew where it belonged.

I whispered his name as my eyes fluttered closed and his arm slid around my waist, pulling me fully against him. His mouth crashed down on mine, his soft, full lips slanting over me in a way that left no room for thought. A buzzing sound filled my head, the only thing I heard as passion built inside me. He nipped at my bottom lip with his teeth and then sucked it into his mouth, gently massaging it with his tongue. Heat swirled in my center, and I became bolder to release my tongue, letting it mingle with his, brushing them against each other over and over again.