Once Bitten, Twice Dead Read online

  He switched sides, pausing to blow a stream of air over her wet nipple. Oh, man! He really knew how to make her squirm.

  “Xavier, unh…” She was reduced to incoherence when he used his teeth on her. He was gentle, but she felt the masked force of his nibbles. They quaked through her tummy like ripples of something that closely resembled orgasm. If he really tried, she bet he could make her come just like this. Forget about fucking her. All he had to do was fondle her breasts and she was putty in his hands. The man was dangerous.

  “What, cherie? Do you want more?” His accent grew thicker when he was aroused. It made her hotter as well.

  “More. Yeah.” She would agree to anything if he’d just keep touching her exactly like that. One hand continued to tease her breast while his lips worked their magic on the other one. His other hand drifted down to her waist, working on the knot that held her robe together. She didn’t care. She wanted it gone, too. She didn’t want any barriers between him and her skin.

  In fact, she moved to help. Between them, they wrestled the knot free and he shoved the robe out of the way. It pooled around her as she shrugged out of only one of the sleeves. She was too busy attacking the button at the waist of his pants to drop the other sleeve.

  “Whoa, darlin’.” Xavier intercepted, freeing the button himself and disposing of the others just as easily. Her hand slipped inside, down past the soft cotton of his briefs and within to touch the long, hard length of him.

  He shuddered as she gripped him, his eyes closing as he felt the impact of her touching him. Then he reclaimed her mouth with his, kissing the daylights out of her while she fondled his cock and he played with her breasts.

  The ringing phone sent an unpleasant shock between them. Xavier drew back.

  “I’d better get that,” Sarah whispered.

  She tried to pull her hand out from his shorts, but he stayed her, one large hand gripping hers, pressing her into him for one long, torturous moment while he held her gaze. The intimacy wasn’t lost on her. He was staking some sort of claim, even as he started to let her go. He held her hand as it emerged from his pants, taking a short moment to kiss her palm before letting her go completely.

  He stepped away, his gaze lingering on her body, especially between her spread thighs. She blushed, clapping her legs together and hopping down off the kitchen counter. Grabbing her robe as she went, she reached for the kitchen phone, hanging on the wall near the back door.

  It was her friend Terry, calling to see how she was feeling. Sarah shrugged into her robe and retied it as she reassured her best friend that she was on the mend. Terry wanted to come over but Sarah put her off. All the while, she felt Xavier’s eyes on her, as if burning into her skin. She refused to acknowledge his attention. For one thing, if she looked at him, she’d no doubt begin to babble to her friend. For another, she wasn’t sure yet how she felt about what had almost just happened.

  She should probably be appalled by her behavior, but she couldn’t work up enough energy for it. The delicious hum of arousal still rode her hard—as hard as she imagined he’d have ridden her if she’d let him stay between her thighs just a little bit longer.

  They’d been on the verge of having sex. She wasn’t usually so easy, but there was something about this soldier that blew down all her defenses. She’d wanted to have sex with him. More than anything.

  Saner heads prevailed now that she was free from his seductive spell. He was potent at close range. She’d remember that for the next time.

  She had no doubt there would be a next time. With a man as highly sexual as Xavier, it would be a miracle if he didn’t try something—or if she didn’t—before they finally parted ways. It would be up to her to remain strong against his charm because she’d be the one who ended up with a broken heart when he went on his way.

  Sarah ended the conversation with Terry after a few minutes more and hung up the phone. When she turned, Xavier was gone from the kitchen. He’d moved so silently, she hadn’t even been aware of his leaving. Perhaps it was for the best. She didn’t think she could face him right now.

  As she made her cowardly way down the hall, she heard him moving around in the guest room. He’d retreated for now and she was grateful. She would use this night to shore up her defenses. The first skirmish was his. It would be up to her to regroup to fight another day.

  Chapter Six

  After spending what remained of the night tossing and turning, she finally fell into a deep sleep. Sarah rose late to find Xavier sitting at her kitchen table. He had papers spread out before him, his phone on the table within easy reach, and half a pot of coffee left on the burner. It looked like he’d been hard at work while she’d slept late.

  The awkwardness she had feared after what had transpired between them the night before had dissipated. Seeing him working focused her like nothing else. They had a job to do. It was critical that they work together to solve this problem before anyone else died.

  “Why didn’t you wake me?” She made a beeline for the coffeepot and poured herself a cup. An infusion of caffeine was welcome, considering she felt like she’d been through the wringer and it wasn’t even noon yet. The one bright spot was that her leg felt worlds better.

  “Within the next day or so we’re going to have to switch to night patrols. I figured you could ease into it if you slept late today and went to sleep later tonight.” Xavier rubbed one hand over his face and reached for his cup of coffee. Come to think of it, he probably didn’t look like he’d slept much better than she had. “You just got out of the hospital, after all. You still need your rest to complete your healing.”

  That he would think of her comfort and health was extremely appealing. It had been a long time since anyone put her needs first. So long, in fact, that it felt distinctly strange. Strange and wonderful at the same time.

  “Why nights?” Sarah took a seat next to him at the table.

  “The creatures prefer darkness. They didn’t follow you into the sunlight during your first confrontation, remember? That seems to be a common trait among them all, even if this batch has one or two modifications.”

  “Modifications? You mean how that last guy tried to talk?” She sipped her coffee, welcoming the rush of energy it gave her.

  “Exactly. That was totally new. I spent some time this morning discussing our observations with my superior officer and a few others who’ve had a little more experience with zombies than me. No one has ever seen them try to talk before.”

  “So what does it mean?” She grew concerned, troubled by the frown wrinkling his brow.

  “Who knows? It could be nothing—just an anomaly of that particular creature. Or it could be something much more significant. Like maybe that Dr. Sellars has improved on the original experiment. I know for certain the zombie in that basement didn’t go down as quickly or quietly as he was supposed to. I’ve ended them before. That took way longer than I’ve ever seen.”

  “So what can we do?”

  Xavier breathed a heavy sigh. “Just keep doing what we’re doing, for now. The toxin did work, it just took longer than expected. The zombie tried to talk. Okay. So next time we’ll see if the others do the same. If so, we deal with the situation as it presents itself. We’ll have to think on our feet. Improvise, if necessary. Don’t worry. I do it all the time.”

  She tried to be as confident as he appeared, but she wasn’t feeling it. Not yet, at any rate. Oh, she was certain of Xavier’s abilities and skills. It was her own that she worried about.

  “I’ve been making a lot of other calls this morning. One of my guys already checked out Sellars. We’ve got his file, which includes most of his employment history as well as his current place of employment. Seems he was recently hired by the university medical center in their microbiology department. He even got his own private lab out of the deal. I had Sam swing by there on recon, but it looks like Sellars cleared out. Still, we can go by there today and see if there’s anything we can learn.”

 
“Sounds like a plan.” She finished her coffee and put the dirty cup in the sink. “I’ll just get my stuff.”

  He caught her arm as she turned to leave the kitchen, forestalling her departure. “I’d like to take your patrol car today. It’s a little less obvious than the Humvee.”

  “Good idea.” She had to grin. She’d liked riding around in the big military vehicle, but it was really impractical for suburban streets, not to mention parking lots. “We can drop the Hummer at the station and pick up a patrol car. I’m sure the chief won’t mind. I would have been on patrol today, anyway, and they haven’t changed the schedule, so my unit should be free.”

  Sarah felt a lot more comfortable once they were ensconced in the patrol car. She wondered if maybe Xavier had realized how out of her element she’d felt before and had made this concession to help her readjust to “life after the attack,” as she was coming to think of it. It felt like everything she’d done before was the prelude to what she was experiencing now.

  Apparently, she now had superhuman healing powers and was one of the rare few who were immune to the contagion that killed everyone else it infected. Her life had changed permanently. She feared this mission with Xavier was just the tip of the iceberg. The officers she served with looked at her strangely now. They didn’t know exactly what had happened to her, but they sure knew she’d been singled out to work with the military on something top secret.

  It marked her as different from the rest of the cops she worked with. That might fade in time, but she’d never be able to talk about her recent experiences with anyone other than the few men on Xavier’s elite team.

  The university medical center was located on a sprawling campus. It took some time and maneuvering to find the right building and parking lot but being in an official vehicle helped considerably. Sarah parked her cruiser in an official spot, notifying Dispatch of her location and intent to leave the vehicle. Now that she was back in her official role, she had to do things by the book. She wasn’t on patrol, but she had to follow police procedure. If there was an emergency, they had to know where to find her.

  Xavier watched everything she did, saying nothing. She liked the fact that he hadn’t tried to interfere in any way. He hadn’t tried to give her directions, suggestions, or any other kind of pointers now that he had been relegated to the passenger seat. He also truly didn’t seem to mind that she was driving instead of him.

  Having grown up in a family of men who rarely let their female relatives behind the wheel, she had half-expected some sort of commentary. Lord knew, she’d heard it often enough from her father and four brothers whenever they couldn’t avoid letting her drive.

  “You’re quiet today,” Xavier observed as they headed from the car toward the entrance to the building.

  “Just enjoying the sunshine and being back behind the wheel.” She decided to bait him a little and see if he really was as good as he seemed with letting her drive. “You don’t mind that, do you?”

  “Mind what? You’re the cop. It’s only right you drive the cop car.” His grin said he knew what she was trying to do. The wink he sent her clinched it.

  “What if it was my Mustang? Would you still be content to let me drive?” She watched his response carefully as they neared the row of doors leading inside the office building.

  “Somebody give you a hard time, darlin’?”

  He opened the door for her, motioning for her to precede him inside. She had to pass close to his tall, hard body. She felt the heat of him as he crowded her on purpose, that devilish grin fixed on her as she passed.

  “Because I’d let you take me anywhere. Anytime.”

  Somehow she knew they weren’t talking about driving a car anymore. And she’d be damned if her body didn’t respond to the sinful invitation in his velvety voice. Her pulse leapt, her tummy clenched, and she could feel a sudden slipperiness between her thighs as she walked toward the bank of elevators.

  “I’ll remember that,” she promised him in a teasing voice. He trailed behind her and she could almost feel his eyes following the sway of her hips as she walked. It was enough to make a girl self-conscious, but there was little she could do but keep walking. If she stopped, he’d no doubt take it as an invitation. The scoundrel.

  Why his outrageous flirting made her want to laugh defied logic. She should be upset with his insistence on treating her like they were on some kind of extended—admittedly weird—date. His playfulness was contagious, and she couldn’t help being attracted to him. A woman would have to be dead not to be ensnared by his honest charm.

  Besides, what could it hurt to be friendly? He’d already proved he could be as serious as a heart attack when they were in a combat situation. He was good at his job, and when they’d faced that zombie together he’d picked up the slack caused by her hesitation. As long as he continued to perform at that high a level when it really counted, a little friendly banter during downtime couldn’t really hurt anything. Cops did it all the time.

  Of course, none of her brother officers ever flirted with her. Not like this. Fraternization among male and female officers was strictly prohibited. Xavier, though, was a law unto himself. He wasn’t in her chain of command. He wasn’t even in law enforcement, per se.

  They rode up five floors in the elevator, surrounded by a few people in white lab coats and members of the general public. Sarah’s uniform didn’t raise any eyebrows. There were police officers coming and going from the medical center all the time. But Xavier’s army fatigues drew more than one curious glance.

  His hot bod also drew its fair share of feminine attention. A little spike of jealousy wound through her as she watched the other women ogling Xavier. It made her uncomfortable, which was unreasonable. She didn’t have any claim on the man, and to his credit, he seemed totally unaware of the women who watched with slack jaws and silly smiles as he passed.

  “So how are we getting into Sellars’s office and private lab?” Sarah asked as they passed a row of locked doors, all with nameplates on them belonging to different doctors.

  “Already taken care of. Sam got a national security warrant and presented it to the proper authorities yesterday. Apparently, Sellars hasn’t been seen in a week. Sam did the initial sweep of the place, looking for Sellars. When he turned up nothing of use, he reported back. Here’s where I’m hoping your investigative skills are better than his…or mine.” Xavier stopped in front of a door that had Sellars’s name on it.

  “I haven’t made detective yet,” she hedged. “But I’ll do my best.”

  “Our talents run to the snatch and grab. I think your training in the old search and find might be well beyond what we’ve been exposed to.”

  She liked the way he was looking at her, as if he truly respected her training and skills. How many times had she been underestimated in her life? She’d lost count. But Xavier…He seemed to expect only the best of her. Perhaps that was his leadership style—expecting the best of your people often prompted them to deliver it. Whatever it was, she enjoyed the change and almost basked in the confidence he exuded.

  Xavier opened the door as she reached into her utility belt. She always kept a couple of pairs of rubber gloves in one of the pockets in case she had to deal with evidence or blood. She noted Xavier donning a pair he’d taken from his own pocket. They could touch things in the lab now without worrying about leaving fingerprints behind.

  “I assume a fingerprinting crew will be coming along behind us, right?” She looked at him over her shoulder as she swept past, into the office.

  “As soon as we leave, they’re going to go over this place with a fine-toothed comb searching for microscopic evidence. We’ll want to know who else has been in this office since Sellars moved in. It’ll probably take the techs a few days to sort out all the stray fingerprints and trace evidence that must be in here, but this mission is too important to leave any stone unturned.” He shut the door behind them and pulled the shade. He didn’t want to be seen searching the office if any
one happened to walk by in the hall.

  Late-morning sunlight came in through the blinds on the windows, bathing everything in stripes of light and shadow. Sarah did her best to ignore the distracting play of light as she searched the obvious places first—the desk, file cabinets and credenza—while Xavier booted up the computer and set to work tapping keys.

  “Sam did a quick search of the hard drive, but I have a little more geek in me than he does.”

  The comment startled a laugh out of her and she looked up from a file she’d been leafing through to meet his gaze. “There’s nothing remotely geeky about you, Xavier.”

  “I’m glad you think so.” His smile was pure seduction. “But I do have a couple of certifications from Uncle Sam as well as a degree in comp sci from MIT.”

  “MIT? The Massachusetts Institute of Technology? That MIT?” She was shocked by the idea. Xavier was about as far from a geeky engineering student as she could imagine.

  “The very same.” He didn’t seem insulted by her patent disbelief, but she realized her tone was insulting.

  “I’m sorry. I just can’t picture you as a college student.”

  “I didn’t hatch fully grown, you know.” He continued to grin and she hoped he wasn’t offended.

  “So how’d you get from MIT to Green Beret? I assume you got the degree before enlisting.”

  He shrugged, still tapping keys at lightning speed. His voice was pitched low when he finally answered. “The terrorist attacks of 9/11 changed a lot of lives, Sarah. I was engaged to a girl who worked in the World Trade Center. She died and I signed up. I wanted payback, I guess. My family understood even though my original plan had been to join the family business after I finished grad school.”

  “Oh, Xavier, I’m so sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say. A native New Yorker, Sarah knew firsthand about the tragedy. She’d lost friends that day, too.

  He seemed to shake off the sad memories before replying. “Well, the good news is, Dad still runs the firm and I definitely have a job to go to after I retire from the army.”