Part 16 (2/2)

The voice from behind her was both welcome and unwanted. As Leon's hand fell away, she turned to see Cul en standing there, his thumbs hooked in his waistband, legs spread wide, and his eyes narrowed on Leon's face. He looked like a boxer ready to brawl, she thought. She stared at him, but he hadn't so much as looked at her yet.

No, he was totally focused on Leon. He closed the distance between them and stared down at the shorter, skinnier man. In his youth, Leon had probably had a strong, wiry build. She knew well enough just how strong he was, but all the years he'd spent practicing his fire and brimstone spiel had softened his body, and now, standing in front of Cul en Morgan, he looked weak, almost frail.

”You know what I'm going to do to you if I see you touching her again?” Cullen asked, his voice pleasant, almost friendly.

Leon sneered. ”Even after all these years, that harlot niece of mine has control over you, doesn't she? You succ.u.mbed to temptation, and now you're as d.a.m.ned as she is.”

Cullen's hand shot out, and he fisted the st.u.r.dy black cloth of Leon's s.h.i.+rt. Jerking Leon forward, he said in a soft, deadly voice, ”You want to watch how you speak of her, Carson. You might have half the town thinking you're a benevolent, G.o.d-fearing man, but I know better, and I'd sooner knock your teeth down your throat than look at you.”

He gave Carson a hard, fast shake before he turned the older man loose. ”You don't want to touch her again, old man. You do, you're going to deal with me.”

Anger did a bad thing to Leon's common sense. Dropping the pretense he always used in public, he lifted a bony hand and pointed a finger at Cullen. ”I've tried to warn you, tried to keep you from the evil you want to surround yourself with. But you're no innocent lamb led astray. You seek out the evil, embrace it. You'll burn with it when the time is right.” Muttering under his breath, Leon stormed away.

”Why didn't you just hit him?” Cullen asked, his voice cold and flat as he turned to face Taige. ”He needs it.”

”Yeah, but I don't need the headache.” She frowned at him. ”What are you doing here?”

Lifting a brow, he replied, ”I'm looking for you.”

”Why?”

”Unfinished business.” His voice softened as he looked her over from head and toe, and Taige had to suppress a s.h.i.+ver. Nearly a hundred degrees and so d.a.m.n muggy breathing was a ch.o.r.e, and he could make her s.h.i.+ver with just a look.

Then she focused on what he had said, and she felt something dig at her heart. ”We don't have any unfinished business, Cul en.” d.a.m.n, he wasn't going to try to pay her or something, was he? A niggling suspicion wormed through her, and she narrowed her eyes at him. ”I don't want any money from you.”

A reluctant grin tugged at the corners of his lips as he shook his head. ”I'm not here to pay you.” That hard, s.e.xy mouth of his flattened out into a thin line, and his eyes scanned the parking lot. He held his hand out to her and murmured, ”We need to talk.”

Taige really, really didn't want to touch him. She'd worked hard to avoid doing just that as much as possible in the few hours she'd spent with him last month, but there had been a good excuse for avoiding physical contact. Now? There was no logical reason for refusing to put her hand in his. Other than the fact that she really didn't want to touch him.

”Scared of me, Taige? Or just p.i.s.sed at me?”

Yes. No. In that order. But was Taige going to tell him that? Oh, h.e.l.l, no. She took a deep breath to steady herself and then reached out, placed her hand in his. Instinctively, she braced herself for the onslaught of memory flashes that came with physical contact, and just as quickly, Taige forced herself to relax. She hadn't ever been able to pick up anything concrete from Cullen, and now wasn't any different. When she lowered her mental s.h.i.+elds, she caught a few faint flickers, but none of them were solid. None of them of were defined.

”Where to?” she asked and hoped he didn't notice the way her voice shook just a little.

THEY ended up at an oyster house that Cul en remembered from his summers there.

The red and white striped awning hadn't changed, and the restaurant stil had the best salad bar and excellent fried oysters. Too bad he had next to no appet.i.te. He sat pus.h.i.+ng the food around on his plate and wondering why he'd thought getting a bite to eat would break the tension.

”Where's Jillian?”

He looked up to see that Taige had eaten about as much as he had: next to nothing.

Her eyes glimmered against the warm gold of her skin, framed by long, spiky lashes.

Cullen's mouth went dry as he stared at her. Seeing her had the same effect on him as it had twelve years ago: hot need and a tenderness that turned his bones to mush. He was torn between wanting to pul her against him so he could cuddle her close and wanting to strip away her clothes so he f.u.c.k her brains out.

Only with Taige had he ever experienced anything besides l.u.s.t. She hadn't been the first girl he'd slept with, but she'd been the first girl to really matter to him. The first one he'd loved. The only one he'd loved.

”Cullen?”

He blinked and realized she'd asked him about Jillian. And was still waiting for an answer. ”With my dad.”

”How is she doing?”

Shrugging restlessly, he leaned back from the table and crossed his arms over his chest.

”She has good days. Some not so good. Nights are hard on her. She doesn't want to be left alone.” He grimaced and added, ”Hard on me, too, because I have a hard time leaving her alone.”

At that, Taige lifted a brow. Her mouth, soft and kissable, bowed upward in a gentle smile. ”Then why are you here? You need to be home with her. She needs you right now.”

Cullen pushed his plate out of the way and then leaned forward, reached out, and caught her hand. He laced their fingers and said, ”I'll be honest; a huge part of me needs just that. But . . . she needs to feel safe more. There's only one thing I can do to give her that.”

”Ahhhh.” Understanding came into her eyes, and she squeezed his hand, gently, and then pulled back. She didn't like him touching her. It was almost impossible to miss that.

She'd hesitated before putting her hand in his earlier. As soon as she could, she'd pul ed away, and now she was doing it again, all the while giving him a false, bright smile. The smile faded from her face, and she said, ”You need to understand that nothing you can do is going to help her nightmares. Nothing you do can undo what happened. Even if he'd been there that day, and you kil ed him then, she'd still have a hard time. The only thing that works is time.”

”Putting that degree in psychology to good use, aren't you?” he asked grimly.

Now both brows arched. ”How did you know about that?”

Lifting one shoulder in a shrug, Cullen said, ”There's nothing you've done in the past twelve years that I don't know about. If it's public knowledge, I found out about it. What wasn't public, I learned through al those dreams.” He paused and then softly added, ”You trust me more in those dreams than you do now.”

Taige shook her head. ”It doesn't have anything to do with trust. I do trust you.”

”As far as you trust anybody?” he said ruefully.

”More than I trust anybody,” she corrected. With a scowl, she demanded, ”What in the h.e.l.l do you care what I've been up to the past twelve years?”

The look on his face did bad, bad things to her insides, Taige decided. There was a lambent, lazy look in his eyes, and her skin heated under the warmth of his gaze. She knew that if they were someplace private, he'd probably be trying to do more than look.

There were twelve years between them, but those years might as well not have existed, thanks to the dreams that had kept them connected. She knew him better now than she had when they had been together, knew when he was mad, when he worried-when he wanted.

And now he wanted-oh man, did he want. She hadn't ever had a man look at her quite the same way Cullen did. His lids drooped low over his eyes, and he murmured, ”You know why I care, Taige. You might not let yourself see it, but you do know.”

Averting her eyes, she asked quietly, ”Why are you here, Cul en? Exactly what do you want from me now?” I found your daughter. I gave you my heart, my soul, my body. I don't have too much left to give you.

She kept that latter part quiet, although she suspected he already knew most of that, just like she knew that if he asked, she'd probably give herself up to him all over again.

”Your help.”

”Help with what?”

Bracing his elbows on the table, Cullen leaned forward. His blue green eyes pinned her in place, and she couldn't have looked away from him if she had to.

Softly, he said, ”Finding him.”

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