Page 77 of The Sinner's Touch

After three weeks in the hospital, she’d wanted to come home to her own apartment. As grateful as she was for the use of the penthouse, she seemed more at ease here in her small, cozy apartment. It soothed her. Kade had seen the difference in her almost immediately. She was back in familiar territory, and it comforted her in a way Nikoli’s expensive fort of a penthouse never could.

Viktor and Nikoli had come over to discuss which job offer Kade was going to take. They’d both offered him positions in their companies. Kade loved his work with the FBI, but he loved Angel more. His position with the BAU kept him on the road more days than he was home. As tenuous as their new relationship was, he didn’t want to sabotage it by being gone all the time or causing her undue worry when he went off hunting a serial killer. She’d seen enough violence to last three lifetimes.

Nikoli wanted him to be head of security at his gaming company, and Viktor offered him full partnership in the smallprivate security firm he’d built in New York. The latter was more attuned to his skills. It offered him a way to serve and protect and still keep Angel happy.

After what she’d gone through, she deserved some happiness. The man they knew as Wes Donovan currently resided in a maximum-security facility awaiting trial. The real Wes Donovan died at the age of six months of SIDS. His identity had been assumed by their serial killer. Angus, his supervisor at the BAU, had called Kade and spoken to him at length about the unsub. He fascinated Angus. Kade wished him all the best in discovering the secrets buried in the psychopath’s psyche. If Kade never had to see him again, it would be too soon.

She whimpered, and the sound echoed in his heart. He’d give anything to take away her fear. Angel’s sleeping form twisted, her arms flailing. She kicked out, and Kade caught her leg before it could do him much harm, but it only made it worse. In her panic, she fought harder, her fear and anger evident in her cries.

Kade caught both her hands and pulled her to him, dragging her across his lap, careful of her still healing back. He shook her gently. “Wake up, sweetheart.” She opened her eyes, the nightmare still holding her in its grip. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, and she fought—she kicked, she bit, she twisted so hard, Kade almost lost his grip on her. “Angel, wake up. It’s just a dream, baby. Wake up.”

Angel blinked, Kade’s face coming into focus as the memory of the peeling wallpaper and the feel of her attacker’s hands dissipated. A low sob broke free from deep within her, and she wrapped herself around him as he continued to whisper and try to soothe her.

“Easy, baby, I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

His gentle assurance only made her cry harder. Safe. She never felt safe once her eyes closed and the memories tormented her. All she dreamed about was the feel of his hands on her, thememory of watching her attacker push his fingers inside her, the way he’d fingered her while he’d scalded her skin with boiling water.

“Why won’t it stop?” She buried her head against his chest, her tears making dark stains on the blue shirt. “Why can’t I get him out of my head?”

“Shhh, don’t cry, baby.” He stroked her hair, and Angel snuggled deeper into him, his nearness chasing away the last vestiges of her dream. “What can I do? What do you need?”

Could he erase every memory she had of Wes Donovan and that bedroom? Angel hated feeling like this, hated herself for being so weak. Why couldn’t she shake this awful fear? She jumped at the smallest noise. If anyone touched her before she knew they were there, she screamed. She felt an obsessive need to check all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked. She’d started researching home security systems and self-defense classes.

“Just tell me how to help you.”

The need to make it all better vibrated in his voice along with a sense of helplessness. Angel looked up at him. “You do help me. Just by being here when I wake up, you chase away the nightmares. Don’t you understand that, Kade?”

“I would do anything in the world to take away your pain and your fear,moye serdtse.” He stroked her cheek. “If I had listened to you at Target and taken you home, none of this would have…”

Angel stopped him with a finger against his lips. “None of that. What happened wasn’t your fault, Kade. I don’t blame you. He was crazy, obsessive, and hellbent on taking me. He would have found a way no matter how many precautions we took. I know that.” She sat up, straddling him, and took his face in her hands. “But you saved me, Kincaid.You. Remember what you told me? Not to blame myself for things I can’t control? Don’t blameyourselffor whatyoucan’t control. You came for me, andyou saved not just me, but every other woman he would have killed after me. You’re the hero of this story, the hero ofmystory.”

Emotion choked Kade. He’d thought of himself as the villain of her story for so long. He hugged her tightly, wishing he had the words to express what that meant to him. When she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, it caught him by surprise. She slid her hands down his face to rest on his shoulders, her lips softly caressing his.

She pulled away, her green eyes serious. “Remember what you told me?”

What did he tell her? Kade searched his memory, trying to figure out what she was talking about. His brain refused to cooperate, only focused on how soft her lips had felt against his.

She smiled and put her hand against his chest, where his heart was. “I’m touching you, Kincaid.”

As much as he wanted what she offered, he had to put her first. “Angel. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Not yet. You need to…”

“What I need is to forget.” She peppered his face with soft, small kisses. “Memories of us helped me survive those hours until you came for me. What I need is for you to love me, Kade, to chase away all those bad dreams.”

“Angel…” The tears in her eyes made them shine like the emerald nestled in its tiny black box in his pocket, and it nearly undid him. Kade closed his eyes, torn. Her plea ate away at him, but he was terrified he might cause her even more pain if he gave in.

“Please, Kade.” She leaned into him, her lips sliding along his neck. “Please.”

He shuddered at the sensation of her warm breath against his skin. Why was she trying to make this so hard to say no to? He didn’t want to do something she might not be ready for.

Her hands slipped under his shirt, and he caught them before she could explore any more of his heated flesh. His dick said he should shut the fuck up and do what his woman wanted, but he ignored the mouthy little bastard. “Angel, I know you think you’re ready for this, but…”

“But nothing.” Her eyes narrowed when she realized he wasn’t going to give her what she wanted. He did want to fuck her. In a very bad way, but her well-being was more important to him than dealing with blue balls.

Then she did something he wasn’t prepared for. She shifted so she was pressed right over his cock and slid herself along the length of him. The little bastard twitched, and Kade groaned, letting his head fall back against the couch when she did it again. She was playing dirty.

“I need this, Kade.” Her voice had gone all low and throaty—the Angelique voice, he used to call it. The one that could make him come just from listening to it. “I need you.”

She ground herself over him, and Kade’s eyes rolled back when the friction almost caused him to explode on the spot. He closed his eyes and gave up the fight.

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