Then he slid two fingers into her v.a.g.i.n.a, curving them to find her sweet spot, rubbing it to the slow slide of his c.o.c.k, in and out, in and out. "Give it to me."

With a long, loud cry, she came. Her o.r.g.a.s.m burst slowly and violently, like the birth of the heavens. He kept thrusting into her, making her ride that stardust to the crest of another o.r.g.a.s.m. This time he removed the nipple clamps as she came. Heat radiated through every cell in her body, and her vision went black.

Keith loosened the straps binding her head and arms first, but she didn't open her eyes. He shook her shoulder. "Kitty Kat?"

No response. Her eyes weren't completely closed. He could see the whites peeking out where her lids didn't quite meet. Worried, he pried them open and checked her pupils. They responded to light appropriately, but she still didn't stir. He'd never driven a lover to this place before. They'd pa.s.sed out, gone to sleep, whatever. But they always roused when he told them to.

He freed her shoulders and hips, but he kept her legs bound while he cleaned her up. As sensitive as he knew she was, she didn't flinch at all. When he finished, he wrapped her in a warm blanket and lifted her into his arms. He didn't have a sofa in his dungeon because he didn't want to encourage cuddling.

It looked like he was going to have to get one.

He carried her up two flights of stairs and into his bedroom. He had a very comfortable armchair there, so he settled in and held her in his arms.

Time pa.s.sed. The digital display on his alarm clock changed fifteen times before she made a small whimpering noise that put him on high alert.

"Kat?"

Her cheek was against his shoulder. She stirred, shifting so that her nose touched his neck. Her hand came out of the flap in the front of the blanket, and she grasped at his shirt in a jerky, panicked twitch.

"I'm here, honey. I've got you."

She settled down and mumbled something, but he didn't catch what she said.

"What? Can you say that again, Kitty Kat?"

Seven more minutes pa.s.sed. At least he knew she was all right. Then she stirred again. "I said I need to talk to you. I have to tell you something."

She sounded worried, so he smoothed his hand down her spine. "We have all night. I'm not going anywhere."

"It's serious." Now she was rousing. Her voice was stronger, but she didn't move a muscle. "And not about s.e.x."

Iciness crept through his veins. "Okay. Do you want to get dressed?"

"No. I don't want you to let go. I feel like you're holding me together, like if you let go, I might break apart."

It had been a more intense scene than he'd originally planned, and it had left her vulnerable and emotionally wrung out. His ill-timed o.r.g.a.s.m hadn't helped either. He'd heard her utter those three heartfelt words. He wanted to say them back, but the chance had pa.s.sed him by, and his courage had gone with it. The least he could do was hold her.

Her voice was scratchy from all the yelling she'd done, and he didn't have water nearby to offer her a drink. Yep, he was going to have to tweak the setup in the dungeon to better meet her needs. A sofa and a small fridge went on his mental shopping list.

"Okay. I won't let go."

"You have to promise to listen to everything before you get mad at me."

That really didn't sound good. "What did you do?"

She tightened her grip on his shirt, her fist pressing against his stomach. "Promise first."

"I promise." He hated making a promise when he didn't know if he could keep it.

"Last Thursday, when I was late getting to the parking garage?"

He nodded, and he wished she would sit back so he could see her face. Right now, he only had a view of the top of her head.

"Your mom came to see me."

Fury boiled in his core. That b.i.t.c.h had no business going near Kat. "She what?"

"Keith, you promised."

He took a deep breath and slowed his temper to a simmer. "Go on."

"She told me that your sister was in jail and the state was going to put her kids up for adoption."

Though he'd known she was in prison, and he knew the conviction was triple manslaughter, he hadn't known that Savannah had kids. The fact he stayed silent was more a testament to shock.

"She really didn't say much more than that, so I did some digging. I looked up the charges. She's serving three consecutive eight-year sentences for manslaughter. The details don't matter that much. I went to see her, and she told me that she wanted me to make sure nothing bad happened to her kids."

Keith felt nothing but pity for those children. No doubt Savannah had been a s.h.i.tty mother and they were better off with another family.

"So I looked up the social worker who is handling their case. Her name is Mrs. Daley. She wouldn't talk to me over the phone, so I went to go see her. That's where I was today. It's why I couldn't meet you in the parking garage."

Kat twisted her fist tighter in his shirt, and he heard the seams pop. More than that, he heard the distress in her voice. He wanted so badly to interrupt, but he'd promised, so he buried his questions and kept stroking his hand up and down her back.

"Mrs. Daley said that Corey stands a good chance of being adopted because he's eleven months old and has no health issues. But Angelina, who's three, has some behavioral problems. Mrs. Daley doesn't know if she'll be able to find a permanent home for Angelina, and she's pretty sure she's going to have to split them up."

She was crying now, her shoulders shaking with the weight of her sobs. He tightened his hold and rocked, tipping back her head so he could smooth kisses over her face.

"You're not mad?"

How could he get mad at her for doing something that was the essence of what he loved about her? "No. You have a soft heart. I can't imagine you not following through on finding them and making sure they're okay."

She searched his face the same way she had earlier. Finally she continued. "Mrs. Daley is going to set up a time for you to meet them, if you want."

He felt his eyes widen and his eyebrows lift, an outward manifestation of his shock. "Why would I want to meet them?"

"They're your niece and nephew. Your parents don't want them. This might be your only chance to be a part of their lives."

He didn't know whether to be stunned or angry. "Kat, they're strangers. They don't know me, and I don't know them. You said their caseworker was working on finding homes. Why would I interfere with that?"

She sat up and pushed away, not bothering to hide her disappointment. "I'm not asking if you want to interfere, you thickheaded man. I'm asking if you want to be part of their lives. You could be a positive influence. I'm sure whoever adopts them won't bar them from seeing you, not if you asked nicely."

With a scowl, she got to her feet and grabbed her overnight case. She shoved a nightgown over her head, which mollified him a bit because it meant she wasn't planning to leave in a huff.

"I can't believe you're not even curious. I know you hate your sister, but I don't see how that translates to innocent little children."

With that, she marched into the bathroom. He heard water running and decided to leave her alone. He didn't know what he'd say anyway. Was he curious about the kids? Not really. They were a foreign concept, and he was still stunned, both by the bombsh.e.l.l Kat had dropped and by her expectation of a different reaction from him.

He caught her as she exited the bathroom and headed toward the bed. Her body vibrated with fury. "Kat, I know you're angry, but you're being thoughtless about this. By my count, you've had five days to think this through. I've had five minutes."

Just like that, the tightness drained away. She threw her arms around him. "You're right. I'm sorry. I just... I think about those poor little kids out there in the big, bad world with no stability whatsoever."

"If they lived with my sister, then they never had it to begin with."

She looked at him with a wealth of sadness darkening her deep brown eyes. "At least think about it. I won't go against whatever decision you make."

Chapter Fourteen.

When Katrina started her period the next day, she understood the reason for her tears. She'd cried way too easily, both in Mrs. Daley's office and in front of Keith. It wasn't like she didn't know when to expect it. Those color-coded pills were pretty exact. She just hadn't been paying attention.

However, that wasn't the worst of her problems. Coming into contact with countless strangers each day put her at risk for any number of illnesses. In addition to her monthly visitor, her sinuses left her head feeling cottony. Because she didn't normally suffer from allergies, she figured on the flu. It had been going around in the Health Care Fraud Unit, and now it looked to be making a home in the WCCU.

Keith frowned at her when she had plain toast and weak tea for breakfast. "Kat, you can't survive on just that until lunch. At least have a bowl of cereal."

The idea of eating anything else made Katrina's stomach churn. "I'll be fine."

"You don't look fine. Was last night too much?"

Starting her period and getting the flu all in the same morning was too much, but she had a lot to do at work today. She couldn't let those problems get in her way. "No. Last night was wonderful. I started my period this morning, so I'm a little tired. Maybe we can just hang out tonight."

The calculating squint to his eyes didn't give her much hope that he completely bought her story, but he didn't say anything, so she let the matter drop.

An hour later, she reached her desk to find Aaron angrily packing his things into a cardboard box. Two security officers stood watch. Her jaw fell open. "What happened?"

He looked up briefly, long enough to deliver a glare. "I got suspended, thanks to you."

It felt like he'd punched her in the stomach, and that area of her body was already pretty battered. "Thanks to me? I don't understand."

"I asked you for one simple favor, and you turned me in for it."

Katrina shook her head. Chief Alder had known where she'd been and what she'd been doing the whole time. She'd been taken to task for it as well. "I still don't understand. You shouldn't be fired because I did some digging for you. When the chief called me into her office yesterday, I-"

Aaron held up his palm. "I don't care, Katrina. You got me suspended so you could take second chair on the Holbrook case. Don't think I don't know about that."

His aggressiveness didn't make sense on so many levels, but Katrina forced herself to let it go. She couldn't imagine how angry and hurt he must feel right now. She was going to schedule an appointment to talk to the chief. Then she would call Aaron and try to explain what happened. There had to be more to the story than either of them knew. Vaguely, she wondered if the person who was forging names in the evidence logs was targeting Aaron.

As she watched the officers escort him to the elevator, she bit back tears. It wasn't fair. Aaron had been a good, supportive friend. She felt horrible for him. And to top it off, she had to be in court in half an hour, so she couldn't do anything to help Aaron right that second. She fired off a text to Jordan as she headed to court, asking him to look into Aaron's suspension.

She didn't get a chance to talk to Chief Alder until her boss stopped by after lunch to a.s.sign work related to the Holbrook case. Even then, the chief dumped a series of tasks on Katrina's lap and walked away.

Katrina ran to catch up. "Chief Alder, I know I'm overstepping my bounds, but I wanted to ask about Aaron. It wasn't my intention to get him in trouble."

Half of Chief Alder's nose scrunched up. "I'm not at liberty to discuss the particulars."

She walked away, and Katrina knew better than to push the issue until she knew more about what had happened. She'd ask Keith if he knew what was going on. While he probably didn't, he'd have ideas. And contacts. The man had an amazing amount of contacts. This turn of events made no sense to Katrina.

When she spotted Dustin coming toward her with a tight expression on his face an hour before the end of the day, she almost ran for the door. She didn't want to deal with more stress, and with Dustin involved, the news couldn't be good.

"Hey, Trina." He stopped in front of her desk. "Is there somewhere private we can talk?"

Good news could be delivered with other people around. It was no secret that she had a stalker or that the FBI was investigating the case and all the ways it might be related to the DOJ. The sick feeling that had been simmering on the back burner all day became bothersome, and that did not mix well with the achiness in her limbs. d.a.m.n flu. d.a.m.n period. d.a.m.n stalker. d.a.m.n everything.

She rose from her chair and pointed toward the hall to the conference rooms. "Five is open."

He followed her across the room, past all the desks of people looking at her. She wondered what they were thinking about as they watched.

When they arrived-those fifteen yards seemed like a mile-Dustin reached around her to open the door, and he closed it behind them. "You look like I could knock you over with a feather. Have a seat, and breathe. I have some good news." Ever the gentleman, he pulled out a chair.

"Good news." She tried for a smile, but it wasn't forthcoming. She didn't want to get her hopes up too high. "I could use some of that."

"Someone broke into your condo today." He had to know full well that his delivery made her squirm, and his easy smile mitigated the b.u.t.terflies somewhat. "Because your brother had the place wired with cameras, we have the crime on tape. We're running the pictures through facial recognition right now."

She stared at him as she processed what he'd said. Suddenly she felt much better. The effects of her flu seemed so paltry now, like she would wake up in the morning and be completely well. "So you don't know who it is, and you haven't made an arrest."

"We have a picture, Trina, of a woman. That's a lot. I know I'm jumping the gun on this a little. Nothing is official, and I'm still working on the case, but this is a major breakthrough." He closed his hands around the fists she'd made. Their warmth indicated exactly how cold her hands had become. "That, and I need to ask you not to go home today. The place was trashed. I have a team there now, gathering evidence. It's safest if you just go home with Rossetti."

Trashed. She closed her eyes and buried feelings of violation underneath the relief she felt at the imminent end of this ordeal. "Did you want me to look at the picture? Maybe I know her."

Dustin's pocket vibrated, and he checked his cell. "That's not necessary. We got a positive match."

From the expression on his face, she could only tell that the information he received hadn't made him happy. "Who is it?"

He shook his head. "This just got more complicated. I need to check this out before I say anything more, but I can tell you that I'll make an arrest in the next few hours." He stood up, pulling her to her feet with him because he didn't release her hand.

"Dustin, you have a name." She deserved to know the name of the person who had upended her life for the past two weeks.

Instead of answering, he hugged her close and kissed her cheek. "I'll let you deliver the news to Malcolm and Keith, and I'll call you once this is all over."

He left. Katrina spent the rest of the workday vacillating between bouts of manic productiveness and choking anxiety. She called and left voice mails for Malcolm and Keith. Her parents actually picked up the phone, and they both expressed relief.

Keith met her in the parking garage wearing a happy smile on his face. He opened his arms, and she stepped right into his embrace. "I'm still going to be sleeping over when you stay at home."

With his arms around her, the stress of the day melted away. She closed her eyes and realized how drained she was. "Dustin wants me to stay away from my house this evening. Let's go to your house. I want chocolate ice cream and a chick flick. You can paint my toenails."

He laughed and gave her one final squeeze. "I've never painted toenails before. You might come to regret that offer."

He released her and opened her car door. She slid into the driver's seat and looked up at him. "No resistance to a chick flick?"

He shrugged. "I can't remember ever watching one of those either."

"Wow. Two new experiences in one night. Are you sure you're up for it?" She was teasing, but her concern was real. s.e.x was off the table tonight. "Seriously, if you want to do your own thing while I veg on the sofa, I'll understand."