“I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly.”
“The pain in my arms was nothing compared to my poor ears. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought a cat was being murdered in here.” Graham chuckled and released his grip. She studied his handiwork, turning her wrists to test her flexibility. “Not too shabby. I think I’ll keep you around.”
He cleared his throat, and she lifted her gaze to meet his. “I like the sound of that.” Tears hovered above the rim of his lower lashes, and she reached out and cupped his cheek. His breath shook as he drew it in and out. “I was scared as hell when I saw you lying on the ground with that sonofabitch on top of you. I thought I’d messed things up again. That I’d lost you.”
Moisture ran along the lines of her fingers, and she used the pad of her thumb to wipe his face clean. “Hey. I’m alright. And it was my own fault. I shouldn’t have gone after Pete alone. You didn’t do anything wrong. You saved me.”
He squeezed his eyes shut and the lines of his face contorted. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if something happened to you. I couldn’t carry any more guilt like that.”
Pushing up from the chair, she shifted her weight and sat close to him on the bed. The mattress dipped low beneath theirweight and his jean-clad thigh scraped against her smooth skin. “What do you mean by more guilt?” She kept her voice soft, urging him to confide in her.
“Something backfired on my last case.” He shook his head back in forth. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Please open your eyes and look at me.” He did as she asked, and the pain in his gray eyes deepened them to slate and split her heart in two. She linked her hand with his and squeezed, her gaze never wavering from his. “You can tell me. I’m here for you.”
His gaze dropped to their joined hands and his shoulders slumped forward. “I’ve been with the FBI for the last eight years. I came in wanting to make a difference, and the human trafficking division seemed like an ideal fit. I’ve worked through the ranks and clawed my way to where I am today. Being a special agent, looking for the bad guys day after day, is exactly where I want to be. But it’s not always easy.”
Her heart hammered against her chest and anxiety zipped through her veins. She couldn’t begin to imagine the things he’d seen. Hell, the nightmares hadn’t left her since the night they’d found that damn house. “I’m sure it’s never easy, but you’re able to help so many innocent women and children. That has to feel good.”
A half smile lifted his mouth. “It does. I’ve learned to cope with most of the bad I come across, but what happened in Austin has never left my mind. It happened a couple of months ago, and my stupidity got an innocent man killed.” His voice fell to a whisper and his hand hung limply in hers.
“I’m sure that’s not true. You’d never be careless.” She’d only known him a short time, but she was as sure of that as she was her own name. He was damn good at his job, and he would never compromise anyone’s safety. He was too smart.
He pulled away and stood in front of her, tunneling his hands through his hair. “How would you know? You don’t even know what happened.”
“Then tell me.” Her breath caught in her throat as she waited for him to say something. He stood, frozen in time, his gaze fixed to some unseen place.
“The case was similar to this one. Eric and I got a tip about a small but lucrative sex ring planned on traveling to Chicago. We’d dealt with this type of thing before. A lot of traffickers bring girls up from Mexico. Eric and I started digging around, and I was convinced I’d found the right thread to pull to break open the case.”
His voice broke off and she reached for him. He shook her off and paced back and forth, creating a well-worn path in front of the bed. Seconds ticked by before she asked, “What happened?”
“My sight was locked in so tight on one specific person that I missed the bigger picture. Eric had to practically do the job alone because I wouldn’t listen to anyone or anything. By the time Eric opened my eyes to what was happening, we were forced to act quickly…too quickly.” He stopped moving and the tips of his fingers dug into his eye sockets. “We pulled in the local police and raided the house. A good cop died, and I killed the only person who could have given us the answers we needed.”
Her heart sank. “Was it the person you’d been investigating?”
“What does that matter?A good man is dead because I didn’t open my damn eyes to what was going on.”
She tucked her bottom lip into her teeth and weighed her words. What had happened was terrible, but he didn’t need to put all the blame on his shoulders. She wanted to comfort him, not piss him off. “It sounds like your gut was spot on. The man you knew was responsible for being an ass hat was killed becauseyou didn’t take the time you needed to create a better plan of attack. That’s not all on you.”
“Eric found the house, he coordinated the raid, and he stopped them from moving those girls to Chicago.”
“And you’d already found the ringleader and were forced to abandon your plan to follow someone else’s.” Doubt darkened his irises, and she pushed on. “What happened was tragic and I’m sorry it happened, but you aren’t wholly responsible. And it’s not the same thing that’s happening now.”
“It feels the same. Even though we have Pete, we still don’t know where the girls are. And you could have…” His voice trailed off and moisture filled his eyes.
Pushing herself up from her chair, she stood in front of him and framed his face with her hands. “Hey, look at me. I’m okay. Nothing’s going to happen to me.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. His hand pressed against her neck, keeping her close. Her hand came down on his hard chest and she deepened the kiss. His tongue parted her mouth and she let him invade her warmth. A moan tore through her throat and a strong arm wrapped around her back.
They broke apart and he looked down at her with smiling eyes. Her heart leaped to her throat. She loved those eyes.
“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
Not yet, but he could. But did it matter? She was already a goner. “No, the tequila’s wearing off and my shoulder’s throbbing.”
Leaning her backward, he laid her on the bed. The corners of his mouth tipped up in a delicious grin. “Maybe I can help take your mind away from the pain.”
She swallowed hard. The pain he could inflict on her tender heart was much worse than the cuts and scrapes on her flesh. But as she stared deep into his kind eyes, the last strings of resistance fell away. Graham wanted to protect her, not hurt her.Raising her arms, she wrapped them around his neck. “Come on, tough guy, show me what you’ve got.”
A low growl rumbled from his chest as he lowered on top of her. Her heart picked up its pace as he lifted himself up on his elbows and stared down at her. His T-shirt hung away from his stomach, and she let her hands roam over his hard muscles before peeling his shirt over his head. Shifting to her side, he grabbed her hand and laced their fingers together. He placed their joined hands on her breast and her skin tightened. The pad of his thumb brushed over her hard nipple and she sucked in her breath. Even over her shirt, she was sensitive to his touch.
