Midnight Fever (Men of Midnight #5)(13)

In repose, his face looked relaxed, younger. Awake, he looked older than his years. He was thirty-four but sometimes he looked forty-a man who'd seen a lot of things, few of them good. A man who bore great responsibilities uncomplainingly. A man who didn't shirk his duty, no matter how heavy.

Kay was used to being around men who were responsible, at least at work. All her male colleagues at the CDC were serious men at work. Outside work, not always. Nick was always responsible, admired by everyone who knew him.

He was hers, for the moment at least. He'd made that very clear. She had a remarkable man who showed in every way there was that he liked her. And she was throwing this away, in the name of … what?

Responsibility, duty. She heaved a deep sigh, watching him sleep.

Would this be the last time she ever saw him?

Maybe, maybe not. Nothing was clear, except that after the night they'd spent together, he was going to be really pissed that she'd sneaked away. Such a generous lover he'd been. He would feel he deserved better than being abandoned without a word, and he'd be right.



       
         
       
        

She couldn't even leave a message. Sorry I skipped out on you, but stuff is happening. Catch you at some point in the future.

Nope.

So, in all probability, this was it. One red-hot affair that lasted one incendiary night, which was over, but which she'd never forget.

Her eyes welled with tears she tried to blink away. Oh God, no. This was no good. She was about to embark on something crazy dangerous. No time for tears, no time for any emotions at all except determination to stop something evil that had already claimed two lives and might well claim millions more. Not to mention her own.

Nick was still out, more of a coma than sleep. Good. It increased her chances of making a clean getaway.

The curtains had been drawn last night, but the rising sun gleamed in very thin stripes around the edges of the curtains, providing just enough light to see by without tripping over anything.

Kay closed the bathroom door, put a towel against the bottom and turned the lights on, the reflection off the white tiles almost blinding her. She closed her eyes against the glare for a moment and stared at herself in the mirror wondering in that first startled moment whether someone was in the bathroom with her.

She blinked. No, that wasn't a stranger. She was looking at her own reflection in the mirror.

A completely different her, transformed overnight.

Her skin wasn't that skim-milk color it had been lately, like her body had died a week ago and she hadn't noticed. No, her skin was pink and flushed and glowing. Partly due to whisker burn, though Nick had tried to be careful, and partly due to the sheer volume of hormones circulating through her body all night. Though she'd barely slept, her eyes weren't shot with red. They gleamed, the whites as clear as a baby's. Her mouth was swollen and red, as if she'd just put on lipstick. Her hair floated around her head, mussed by his hands, but the effect was like on one of those glossy women's magazine covers, where the model stood in front of a fan.

She looked … beautiful.

Kay knew she was good looking. Her parents had been genetically blessed, and she'd taken after them. Kay had inherited their skin and bone structure and the metabolism that let her eat without gaining weight.

She'd been a pretty girl, a pretty teen and was an attractive woman.

It was a fact of her life that didn't affect her that much, except there seemed to be a lot of annoying men who wouldn't take no for an answer. But in general, she'd been so busy keeping herself balanced after the death of her parents, adjusting to life with her only relative, her grandfather, who'd inherited a young girl. Then college and making her way up the career ladder. She'd chosen a hard discipline-a doctorate in virology and another degree in genetics. It required long hours of study and later, in her job, even longer hours of work and dedication and focus. 

No time or place for vanity there.

But right now, she felt beautiful, because Nick had made her feel that way all night. He'd delighted in every square inch of her, and she was aware of her entire body, from her wayward hair to her toes. Which he'd kissed.

Oh God.

Kay watched herself in the mirror as she blushed down to her breasts. Remembering. Remembering how he'd started at her toes and kissed all the way to the heart of her.

The memory made her so hot that she decided to take a cold shower for the first time since she'd stayed up all night studying for Biochemistry II and needed to shock herself into wakefulness.

Now she needed to shock herself into leaving Nick behind.

The cold shower was just what she needed, reminding her that she was going to abandon something wonderful and walk straight into the unknown. It was going to be painful and she needed to be clear-headed.