Chapter 22

Taking a deep breath, Hannah inhaled the early autumn air as the evening settled around them. Though she couldn't see them, she could hear the chatter of two women over to her right. Myles had spoken to another man as they came out the door so she knew there was at least one other person out there with them.

The agent assigned to them for protection had helped them outside, but he'd moved away, leaving them relatively alone in their corner of the patio. For the first time since she'd met him, Hannah actually found herself speechless around him. She didn't know what had happened to her.

When Myles had suggested the smoking patio, she didn't know what to think. However, after feeling his body against hers as she helped him to bed Hannah wasn't really thinking very coherently in the first place. She couldn't stop herself from wondering if he felt the heat between them. Never, she scoffed, knowing he probably went for women with more class and sophistication.

"Are you okay?" Myles asked, reaching over to cover her hands as they lay on her lap. "It's not too cool out here for you, is it?" he questioned, concern heavy in his voice as he squeezed her hand to get her attention.

"Uh…yeah," Hannah stammered, realizing he must have been watching her closely. "I'm fine," she murmured, trying to sound reassuring as she attempted to pull her fingers from his grasp. Her heart pounded like a jackhammer in her chest so loud that she was sure he could hear it from where he sat next to her.

"You know, this is my first time outside since the explosion," Myles commented, sounding almost wistful as he reluctantly released her hands.

"Mine too," Hannah agreed, hoping she didn't sound as breathless as she thought she did.

"Really?" Myles stated, the surprise evident in his voice. "I would have expected you to have come out here as much as you could," he continued, leaning forward in his wheelchair interested, wincing slightly at the pain it caused in his back.

"Well, I just spent most of time between your room and mine," Hannah admitted before she realized the possible implications of her comments. "Uh…I mean…I needed someone with me until I learned where I was going, and that was as far as I could get someone to take me," she rushed, lowering her head as she suddenly felt very warm.

"Have you talked to your parents?" Myles asked, finally breaking the silence that seemed to stretch on between them.

"Uh, yeah, Tara helped me call them the day after the explosion," Hannah replied quietly, taken a bit off guard by his sudden personal question. She didn't even realize that he knew she had family back home. "I've talked to them a couple of times a day since," she admitted softly, shifting slightly on the bench to face him.

"I'm surprised they're not camped out in your room," Myles smirked sarcastically.

Ah, there's the Myles we all know and love, Hannah thought, her breath catching in her throat at the last word. Love? she repeated silently, surprised at the feelings that had invoked within her.

"Uh, normally wild horses couldn't have kept them away, but I wanted them to wait until after I found at how the surgery went," Hannah stammered trying to get her mind off her suddenly sensual thoughts. "My parents want me to come home, but I don't know what I'm going to do," she confessed, knowing she had many decisions to make over the next few days relating to her injuries.

"Lucky you," Myles scoffed, causing her to cock her head in confusion. "You have a home to go to," he added for clarification.

"Don't you?" Hannah asked, regarding his sudden change quizzically. "What about Anne?" she questioned sadly.

"We haven't exactly been the Brady Bunch growing up, and don't get maudlin on me," Myles warned pushing himself away. "The reality of life is that we're all alone. When the chips are done, it's always every man for himself. The name of the game of life is solitaire."

"What about love?"

"What about it?" Myles countered stiffly, the impact of his tone hitting her like a brick wall.

"Never mind," Hannah replied softly, turning her head away. How could I have been so stupid to think someone like him could ever really love someone? she wondered.

"No, go on," Myles challenged, his tone harsh as he gripped her arm forcing her to face him again. "You can live in that fantasy world where you think love can conquer all, but I've been around long enough to know that's not reality," he added as if trying to remind her she was too young to understand.

"Oh, just because you're old and cynical don't mean I'm some little girl, Myles Leland," Hannah countered snappish, leaning forward aggressively. "What happened to you that made you so hard?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Hard? When you've seen what I have, the terrorists that use their own children in their sick little plots, the killers that go after women just because they're successful. When you've seen that, you won't question what made me so hard!" Myles growled unsympathetically. "Life did, sweetheart. Even as a child, I learned from the best that you can only rely on yourself!

"Despite your assumptions, Special Agent Leland, I'm not some untested rookie. I've seen some of the same things you have," Hannah snarled, her heart rate increasing as her rage boiled over. "I was in the New York office on 9/11. While my parents worried if I was alive or dead, I had a job to do, but tell me how I'm supposed to tell them that," she snapped.

"Hannah…"

"I'd only been with the bureau a year when I had a gun shoved in my face by a Colombian drug dealer, and never thought I'd make it out alive," Hannah continued, not hearing his interruption. "And don't forget that lovely adventure we just had. I'm just having time of my life now with almost getting blown up, and sitting here not knowing if I'm ever going to see again is just soooo wonderful."

"Hannah…" Myles repeated exasperatedly, trying to get her attention as she ranted.

"Half the stuff I've seen on the police force and now with the bureau, I haven't even been able to tell my parents. The only time I haven't been on my dad's prayer list was the eighteen months I spent doing PR in Austin," Hannah persisted, her voice cracking with emotion. "But as much negative that I've seen in the last few years, I've seen much more positive. Three months ago, Bobby was in the hospital after a serious car accident, and Tara was almost killed, but now they're going to be parents. D has a wonderful family waiting for him at home…"

"Hannah!" Myles called exasperated, causing her words to come to a screeching halt.

When she suddenly felt herself being pulled forward, Hannah gasped in surprise. Her hands instinctively went up to catch herself, colliding with the hard wall of his chest. She barely had time to think before his strong arms wrapped around her as his mouth came crashing down on hers.

The pressure of his mouth increased as he teased her lips apart, his tongue slipping inside to taste her. Hannah's fists opened and closed against him as she struggled to fight the sudden emotions surging through her. A soft moan escaped her throat as her rage slowly gave way to the pleasure building inside her and sagged against him, her fingers twisting into the soft material of his robe as she pulled him closer.

Almost as quickly as it started, Hannah felt him slowly pull away. She groaned in disappointment as Myles broke the kiss wishing it could go on forever. Feeling his breath on her face as his mouth hovered mere inches from hers, she lifted her chin in anticipation, but their lips did not meet.

It was almost as if Myles was daring her as they both struggled to control their errant breathing. There was only one answer to his unspoken challenge as Hannah licked her lips, first the upper and then the lower. Almost tentatively, she lifted her hand to his shoulder feeling the material of his robe as she leaned closer, knowing his lips hovered just inches away.

Her tongue darted out of her mouth and licked first his bottom and then his top lip, taking the time to trace the entire outline of each. Only then did she press the full contours of her damp, slightly opened mouth on his. He groaned or maybe she moaned as they both surrendered to the soft sounds of passion.

When they finally pulled apart, Hannah scooted away self-protectively, quickly rising to her feet as she began feeling her way to the door, her expression anguished. She put a shaking hand to her throbbing lips as her stomach did somersaults inside her. What was supposed to be simple, just a few hours spent with a co-worker as they recovered together, had turned into a nearly overwhelming possession of her mouth by his, and it scared her.

"Hannah?" Myles tormented voice penetrated her bewildered thoughts as she reach the door.

Hannah turned toward him, braced for another insult.

"You saved my life down there. You could have left several times, but you didn't," Myles stated, his voice void of emotion. "I promise I'll find a way to repay you."

Hannah debated accepting his thanks. If only he knew the truth! she thought, knowing she stayed with him because she was afraid to be alone. Yet as she felt his wary eyes on her, she doubted he would accept her explanation. What sort of life had he led to believe that every act of human kindness had a price tag attached? she wondered as she turned to wrench open the door and stumble inside, wanting to escape from his prying eyes, needing to escape from the turmoil she was feeling inside her own being.