The Missing

your face.” He caught her right hand and lifted it, staring at her wrist, finally out of the soft cast. “And I can’t help but think how many times I’ve dreamed about you and seen marks on your body.”

    Taige saw his gaze slide over her body, linger low on her torso. Stiffening, she pulled away, but she didn’t move fast enough. He caught her in his arms and pulled her against him, turning her so he could lay his hand on the scar from the bullet that had ripped through her abdomen a few years ago. “I remember dreaming about you in the hospital. I thought it was just a nightmare. That’s all I wanted it to be, but it wasn’t a nightmare; you were shot.”

    Closing her eyes, she tried not to let his nearness affect her. It was like swimming upstream—up a stream that had long since flooded its bank—and although she was strong, the current was pulling her along, and she had no choice but to go with it and hope she didn’t go under in the process. He was pulling her under, pulling her in, and she was powerless to resist. Against her back, she felt the heat and strength of his body, the slow, steady cadence of his heart, and his breath drifted over her naked shoulders like a caress. When she’d left the house earlier, she’d pulled on a plain black tank suit, and the thin material did nothing to camouflage the effect he had on her. Although he hadn’t done anything more than cover the bullet scar with his hand, her nipples were stiff peaks, stabbing into the thin material of her swimsuit.

    “You were shot,” he murmured, as though he was unaware of the effect he had on her. “Because of what you are, what you do. What I forced you into.”

    Taige tugged against the arm he’d wrapped around her belly, but he wouldn’t let her go. “You didn’t force me into this, Cullen. It was my choice.”

    “And what I said to you, what I accused you of, had nothing to do with that choice?” He rested his hands on her hips, stroking absently. He didn’t even seem to realize he was touching her, and that was just another little torture, because she was so damned aware of him, she could hardly follow the conversation.

    “So what if it did?” Taige stiffened her body and tried again to pull away. This time, he let her go, and she got a good five feet between them before she turned to look at him. “You gave me a kick in the ass, a much-needed kick.”

    “You didn’t need to be forced into a life where you’re constantly risking your neck, your safety—your sanity. You live in hell, doing what you do.”

    Bitterly, Taige thought, I’ve lived in hell all my life. It’s pretty much about all I know.

    But that wasn’t entirely true. The few years she’d had with him hadn’t been hell. Not until she failed him.

    She glanced at him from the corner of her eye as she turned to stare out at the rolling blue green waters of the Gulf. The water was rougher than usual today, and the waves crashed into the sand. Turning her head, Taige stared back over the beach where they had walked. Already, the waves had washed away their footprints. It was like they had never walked there. If only something could come and wipe away her memories that easily. Memories of Cullen, memories of the people she’d failed to save—including his mom.

    “I’m not in hell, Cullen,” she said quietly. Granted, there were times when she would agree with him, times when she was certain she did indeed live in hell. But then there were times like when she had looked through the curtain in the hospital and seen Jillian’s sleeping face. She hadn’t dreamed of the girl once in the month since she had left Cullen in the hospital with his daughter.

    Looking back at what she’d done with her life, she knew it was worth it. It would have been worth the heartbreak, the rage, and the tears if she saved even one life. Instead, she’d gotten to see dozens of kids safely home to their parents. Kids she had pulled out of their own hell. Whatever hell she had to live in, it was worth it for that.

    “If you could give it up, would you?”

    Startled, she looked back at Cullen. All the distance she had put between them just moments ago was gone, and he stood so close, she could see blue and green striations in his eyes. She could smell the warm, musky scent of his skin, and she could almost feel his mouth on hers.

    His lips moved, and Taige had to bite back a moan as she fought the urge to cover that mouth with hers. “Would