Page 26 of Relentless
A slow smile spread across his face. “You don’t have to stuff it anywhere anymore. In fact, I’d strongly recommend that you let it all free.”
She chuckled softly. “That is my plan. The feel of your hands on my back and your fingertips on my bare skin is helping me along.”
His pupils dilated at her words, and she slid her fingers into his hair and pulled his lips to hers. He didn’t need any encouragement and a half second later, his grip on her body tightened as his mouth slanted over hers. They stood in the middle of the kitchen for who knew how long, kissing. Only it was more than a kiss. When she’d sat on his lap that morning, those first forays into intimacy had been something of a promise. This…this was both an acceptance and an exploration. They were committed to this path now. Both of them. And in that commitment, they’d given each other permission to learn—to explore and discover—each other.
Only someone had other ideas. Or at least that’s how it seemed when Ethan’s phone buzzed in his pocket at the same moment hers vibrated on the counter.
“I so want to ignore that,” Ethan said, between feathering kisses along her jaw.
“But if we do, and it’s Chad or Sabina, they’ll send out the cavalry.”
He groaned at the truth of her statement. Then, with a sigh, he pulled back enough so that they could each look at their devices.
“Chad said you need to look at your messages,” Ethan said, holding up his phone for her to read the two texts he’d sent.
She rolled her eyes and unlocked her own screen. A message from Ava had come in two hours earlier that she hadn’t noticed. And Sabina had added two recent texts.
“Ava wants the name of everyone on that last assignment with me,” Kara said, not bothering to hide her annoyance. It was eleven o’clock at night. Couldn’t they wait until morning?
“Tell them you’ll get it to them in the morning,” Ethan said, mirroring her thoughts.
Kara considered it, then shook her head. “I’ll do it now. If I wait until morning, they’ll start texting me at some god-awful hour and then I won’t be able to laze around in bed.”
Ethan slid his arm back around her waist and pulled her flush against him. “Are we planning on lazing around in bed tomorrow morning?”
She quirked a grin then pulled him down so their lips were millimeters apart. “Lazingisn’t exactly the right word. But yes, I plan to stay in bed tomorrow morning. For a good long while.”
He closed the scant space between them and kissed her. And both their phones buzzed. Again.
“Send her the list and then we can get on with our night,” he all but growled. She smiled, then kissed his jaw before stepping away. He let her go, grumbling something unintelligible and, judging by the tone, also unflattering about his family.
“If only it was that easy,” she replied. “It’s not hard, but I don’t remember everyone’s last names. I need to boot my computer up, find the file on the assignment, and then I can send it.”
His eyes narrowed. “How long will it take?”
“No more than five minutes,” she promised.
He sighed. “Fine,” he said, drawing out the word. “I’ll shower while I wait.” He sounded so much like a petulant teenager that she laughed.
“Or you could wait, and I’ll shower with you,” she suggested.
His eyes brightened at that, and he reached for the crutches he’d leaned against the counter. “Better yet, I’ll run a bath,” he said.
“Five minutes,” she promised again. Then, after one more kiss, she headed upstairs to her room.
Anxious to be back with Ethan, she flipped the top of her computer up and took a seat on the bed as it booted up. A minute later, her files were open. A minute after that, she’d copied the list of names and pasted them into an email to both Sabina and Ava. She hit Send, then started to shut her computer down. Only she hesitated. Glancing at the clock, she had three minutes left. She could hear the water running downstairs, filling the large tub in the en suite bathroom.
Just a quick look, she thought as she typed the first name on the list into a search engine. A couple of articles popped up that the doctor had written, but nothing obviously nefarious. She moved on to the second name and found a few articles about the nurse’s son, a college football player and projected first-round draft pick. The third name she typed in was the fourth doctor on the trip, Danielle Lavigne.
She scanned the list of links seeing nothing out of the ordinary. At least nothing out of the ordinary until her attention caught on the last link on the page. Her heart stuttered as she read the headline. The pointer hovered over the link, taunting her with a truth she didn’t want to know but needed to. Then, bracing herself, she clicked the mouse, and the article filled the screen. She read it through from top to bottom. Then reread it.
“Kara?” Ethan called from downstairs.
She blinked as the implications of what she’d learned hit her like a wrecking ball. On unstable legs, she rose and walked to the stairs.
“Kara?” Ethan asked again as she came into his view. Only this time, his voice was laced with concern and not anticipation. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
She made her way down the stairs, gripping the laptop in one hand and the stair railing in the other. When she reached the bottom, she held the computer out.
