Chapter 4

It was 3 am, and Eliot wasn't asleep. Ok, so he didn't sleep much at night anyway, too many bad memories that crowded into his head when he tried to close his eyes… But this time it wasn't just him not being able to turn his brain off. Every time he closed his eyes, there was Parker scooting through his dreams. Lithe limbs, hair glowing golden, skin like silk… he would wake up with a raging hard-on and then try to get himself under control before attempting to sleep again. He was about to give up on sleep and just go find the hotel gym.

Then he heard the snick of his door being opened and a brief flash of light spilling in from the hallway. Eliot held still, keeping his breathing even, not giving a sign that he was awake. Whoever it was really was making a mistake, trying to take him out while in bed. Eliot didn't go to bed unaware.

"Eliot," Parker's voice sang out softly. Aw, well, crap. "E-liot…"

"What, Parker?" he growled, not bothering to raise his head and look at her. "It's 3 in the morning, dammit, go back to bed."

"You're not asleep, how come I should be?" she pointed out, wandering closer to his bed and then perching in the window. How the hell did she balance on that little bitty ledge, he wondered, it had to be all of like three inches wide.

"Not the point," he grumbled. "What do you want, Parker?" Go away, he thought, so I can go find the gym and beat myself into oblivion.

"Nate wants me to plant some cameras in that bar," she said cheerfully. "I figured you'd want to come with me."

Whoa, whoa, Nate was going to send her alone? "Nate was going to send you by yourself?" Eliot demanded, giving up on any pretense of staying cool. "What the hell, Parker! Damn straight I'm going with you." He sat up and swung himself out of bed, reaching for his jeans and coming up hard against Parker, instead.

Apparently Parker wasn't on the windowsill anymore. Nope. She'd moved in that sneaky, silent way she had, and had apparently stood up next to the bed. Eliot nearly crashed into her, jeans in hand. Her hand shot out to catch his momentum and hit palm first in the center of his bare chest. Eliot was prepared to swear that his heart stopped beating for a moment there.

For a second, they just stood there. Parker's pale hand in the center of his chest, light against his darker tan. Eliot stared down at her hand and just breathed. Parker was still, very, very still, staring at her hand as well. He could smell the clean scent of her, the scent of just Parker. The little bit of light from the hotel window glittered on her blonde hair, her face bathed in shadows…

Very, very slowly, Parker pulled her hand back, her fingers trailing lightly against his skin and leaving hot paths in their wake. Eliot stood stock-still, literally unable to move. He just watched her, blonde head bent, eyes on her own hand, slim body still and silent in front of him…

Then Parker breathed in, a big breath that made her breasts lift beneath that tight black shirt she wore, and she flitted away. "I'll meet you in the car," she floated back over her shoulder, and then she was gone, out the door.

Eliot stood, gripping his jeans and just stared after her. Absently, he rubbed his bare chest with his free hand, feeling again her smooth fingers hot against his skin…

He dropped his hand and growled at himself. Dammit. He was so fucked, so very very fucked, he thought furiously as he yanked on his jeans and reached for a shirt. Fucking Parker and fucking Nate and fucking con. How the hell was he supposed to do this without screwing something up?

He threw on his shoes, grabbed a couple of tools and tossed on a dark, long-sleeve button-up shirt. Parker was waiting in the car. Who the hell knew what kind of crazy shit she'd be getting up to?

He almost left his room key, and detoured back to grab it. No way was he going to have Parker break him back into his own room.

One thing was for certain, Eliot thought grimly as he went out the door. HE was going to drive tonight.

Eliot couldn't believe they were already back at the same damn dive. Ok, so it might be one of the few places in town to get a beer, but still. It was a dive. NOT someplace he'd take a woman to, even a woman like Parker who could handle herself.

"Hurry up," he muttered at Parker, as she picked the back lock.

"Pathetic," he heard her mumble. "I've seen better security on Nate's refrigerator," and the door swung open.

"That's because I don't want you eating my dinner ingredients," Eliot muttered as she straightened back up. He was rewarded for his snide comment with a brilliant flash of white teeth before Parker disappeared into the dark bar. Eliot heaved a sigh and went in after her. After all, there might some passed out idiot lying on the floor. You never knew.

Parker was flitting about the main room like a dark little ghost while Eliot scanned the premises. It was quiet. No one here. No security feed, nothing in the least high-tech. As long as Hardison's little cameras weren't spotted, no one would ever know they'd been inside tonight.

"Let's get a move on, Parker," he said gruffly and softly. "How many we got?"

"Five," Parker said, suddenly appearing at his elbow. Another man might have jumped in surprise, but not Eliot. Nope.

"Gimme a couple, and let's get this done," he said, a little roughly, and held out his hand. Parker dropped two of the mini cams into it, her fingers brushing lightly against his and he had to hold back a shiver. Crap. "You do high," he said, turning away abruptly. "I'm gonna place these two in back rooms."

Parker didn't answer, but was already on the bar, stretching for the ceiling. Eliot went past her to the back office, trying to ignore the white strip of skin gleaming as her shirt rode up from her pants. Not looking, not looking, he thought determinedly. He WAS going to get over this.

Eliot placed one camera with a good view of the desk, and then slipped into the supply room to locate the other, before re-entering the dark main room. His eyes searched the gloom automatically for Parker, and found her near the front window. Dim and grimy as it was, moonlight still streamed through the panes in enough quantities to gild her slim form, silvering her hair and haloing her body in a nimbus of pale light.

Eliot just stood a second, silent and dark in the doorway, and looked. This was how he thought of Parker, he realized quietly, as something dark and ethereal and strong, yet so fragile and pure. His eyes trace the dimly lit curve of her cheek, the swell of her breast and long line of her legs before he forced himself back.

"Done?" he said gruffly, stepping fully into the room. Parker turned her head and he could again see the gleam of white teeth in the dark.

"Of course," she said. She beckoned to him. "Look, Eliot, I didn't realize how many stars were out here," she said, pointing up through the dirty window. "We don't get that many in the city."

Eliot stepped up next to her, he couldn't help it. He peered through the grimy glass. "Light pollution in the city," he said absently. "Blocks a lot of the stars." He shot a glance down at her face, rapt and starry eyed on the night sky. "Come on," he said abruptly. "We can see better outside."

"Job's done, anyway," Parker said, and sighed. Eliot got the feeling that she didn't think he was actually looking at the stars.

In that moment, he made an impulsive decision. Not something he did often, and not something he did without the proper background knowledge, but still. He could do spontaneous sometimes. And Parker had looked at those stars with such… pure enjoyment. He wanted to keep that look on her face.

Once in the car, he pulled out onto the road and headed away from town, away from the hotel.

"Eliot," Parker started in a puzzled tone, twisting in her seat to look over her shoulder.

"Shut up, Parker," he said gruffly. "Just wait." He felt more than saw her puzzled look, but amazingly she kept quiet, settling down into the passenger seat and slipping into the dark silence like she was part of it.

Eliot drove, dark, twisting, winding roads that wound around and slowly up the hills that surrounded them. The trees were black and shadowed in the moonlight, the headlights too bright in front of them as the bends and curves of the road slid by. They were silent, not talking, and somehow not needing to. Eliot had felt like this with Parker before, had felt this silent understanding. Parker, for all her crazy, could sometimes just get him. Those moments when stillness and silence weren't necessary, but wanted… she seemed to get them.

He finally found what he was looking for, the scenic overlook that he'd seen on the map he'd glanced through in one of the gas station stops on the way to Pennsylvania. He pulled into the gravel lot, and killed the engine and the headlights. The dark, shadowed valley stretched out before them, black hills rising in the background. Tiny pin-pricks of light showed the town spread across the scene, and above… Eliot opened his door and stepped out, raising his eyes, and feeling the content sigh leave his body silently. Above, the sky glittered with stars, so many he knew he'd never be able to count. More beautiful than one of Parker's diamond necklaces, they winked and sparkled and shone in patterns tossed across the black bowl of the sky.

Drawing in a breath, Eliot suddenly realized that Parker was still in the car. A little puzzled, he stepped around to the passenger side and opened the door. "Parker?" he said, leaning down a little and looking at her. "You gonna come out?"

She was staring out the windshield fiercely. Then her head came around to look at him, and he almost would have sworn that her eyes glittered in the dark, glittered with… tears? "You brought me to see the stars?" she said, and her voice was soft, wondering.

He couldn't resist it. He reached down for her hand. "Come on, darlin'," he said quietly. He pulled just a little and she came, following him obediently out of the car. They really needed a bigger car for this, he thought, as he pulled her next to him, up onto the hood. The plain and practical Camry should be his pickup, and they could be lying in the bed, staring up. But it would do.

They laid back and just stared up at the sky. The hood was still warm beneath Eliot's back, and Parker was warm by his side, her arm barely brushing his as they laid and gazed up. He felt more than heard her contented sigh, and then felt her fingers sliding over his. They wound between his own larger, rougher fingers, slipping in and curling her palm against his. His own fingers tightened in response.

"Thanks, Eliot," she said softly.

He couldn't resist rubbing his thumb lightly against her fingers wrapped in his. "You're welcome," he said just as softly.

Yumm… Eliot in the dark…

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