With that, she left her drink half-finished, walking confidently toward the exit, breathing through her mouth to calm her excitement. Lord, he set her on fire! She hadn’t expected it to be that potent.
Outside, he caught up to her. “What did you do that for?”
“I wanted to see what you’d do.” As she walked, she didn’t look at him. She stayed strong, something she usually had no trouble doing, but he was unpredictable. She stood a good chance of being shot down. For some reason, that only made her want to tempt him more.
“Did I do what you expected?”
“You did what I hoped.” She glanced at him, not having to explain that he’d melted into the kiss right along with her.
“What did you mean by what you said?”
That he didn’t have to worry? That she wasn’t the settling-down type? “Exactly what it sounded like.”
“I wasn’t hitting on you,” he said.
Was he concerned he’d somehow encouraged her?
“No, silly, I hit on you, and it worked.” She smiled.
“Penny... I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
So professional. She’d bet he hung on to that like a badge, his ready defense whenever a woman got too close.
“I don’t have the wrong idea. You kissed me back.” Oh God, was she really doing this? Flirting with fire? And this wasn’t ordinary flirting. This was war. She stopped and made him face her. “Look, whatever happens, happens. There are no rules when you’re with me.” She didn’t go by any rules, either. If the right man came along, she’d know it. If he wasn’t right, he wasn’t right. But this man...
A nagging inner voice said she’d better establish some rules.
“You...” He searched for the right words.
“If it’s just sex,” she said, shocking herself and then berating herself for worrying. “If it’s more than that, then it’s more. Whatever it is, it just is.” Now, that felt natural, in line with her philosophy on romance.
He took in her whole body then. And finally his expression cooled and he repeated, “I wasn’t hitting on you.”
She turned and walked up the street. “Are you saying you felt nothing when I kissed you? I won’t believe you if you say no.”
He chuckled huskily. “I’m not saying that. I felt something.”
She tried to subdue the smile that wanted to burst free. “Thought so.”
He grinned. “You’re a daring woman, Penny Darden. I had you figured for a go-getter, but I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Don’t expect anything when it comes to me. I’m in this for me, not you.”
“In what?” he asked, chuckling again.
She doubted he’d had this much fun with a woman since before his daughter’s kidnapping. “For now, sexual gratification.”
“You want to have sex with me?”
She was so hot for him she almost said yes. Instead, she just sent him a teasing smile as she walked beside him.
They passed an alley. Shortly thereafter, Penny noticed Kadin glance back and then grew aware of footsteps behind them. She looked back. A man wearing a hoodie with his hands in his pocket had emerged from the alley.
She glanced at Kadin, who slipped his arm around her and guided her across the street. Almost to her apartment building, she looked back. The man was gone.
“Who was that?” Jax was taller and bigger. That man looked thin and under five-ten. And he had a gangster kind of swagger.
“Might have been no one related to Sara’s murder.”
“He was in the alley.” How creepy.
He guided her ahead of him into the parking garage. His car was in here, and he’d probably escort her at least to the elevator. She was glad for that.
* * *
Kadin looked behind him once more before as he walked with Penny toward the elevator. No one was there. He wasn’t sure he should leave her alone tonight. Or any other night until he found evidence pointing to Sara’s killer.
“Will you be all right tonight?” he asked.
“Yes. The building is secure.”
Still... He glanced back in the direction they’d come and then across the cars to where light from the street illuminated another entrance to the garage.
“You want to walk me up to my door, Detective?”
At her coy tone, he whipped his head back and saw the seductive curve of her lips, soft, glossy lips. She sure did like to flirt. What he didn’t like was the response she got out of him.
“How many boyfriends do you go through in a year?”
“Depends on the men I meet.” She stepped closer and ran her forefinger down his chest. He watched her do that, unable to prevent desire from gathering down low.
“I told you that you’re safe with me,” she said.
“Are you inviting me up to your bed?”
“No. Not yet. You have to show me you’re worthy.”
He grunted a half laugh. Was she serious? Part of her was teasing. But he’d bet if he tried, he could have her naked tonight. Strange, how that didn’t drive him away. He might not notice most women who showed signs of attraction, but the few he noticed had were half as bold at Penny.
“How do I do that?”
“With you?” She met his eyes and her demeanor changed, becoming more serious. “I’m not sure.”
A sound behind him made him turn. Someone stepped out from behind a cement column. Seeing a gun, Kadin acted fast. He pulled Penny down and behind a parked car just as gunfire exploded.
“Stay down,” he commanded as he untucked his shirt.
Pulling out one of his pistols, he inched around the rear fender. He caught sight of the gunman an instant before a bullet hit the fender. Kadin ducked back and then moved to fire back. Hitting the concrete right by the gunman’s hooded head, he stood and charged toward the man, firing his gun as he went. The man ran, crouching low to take cover between parked cars.
A car that had just entered the garage backed up with squealing tires.
Kadin chased after him, crouching the way the other man had done and zigzagging in and out as he took cover between cars. The other man darted behind an SUV. Kadin hurried there, searching for where he was. At the SUV, he flattened his back against the rear side and then peered around the back. No sign of the man.
Then he popped up with a raised gun. Kadin crouched as bullets shattered the windshield of the car where he’d taken shelter. He rose just enough to see over the hood of the car and fired three rapid shots, breaking a rearview mirror next to the gunman’s head. The man ran.
Kadin fired until his clip was empty and then exchanged that gun for the other one in his holster. The man sprinted across the garage and disappeared in more parked cars. Kadin raced after him. The man fired once more at him before his gun emptied. Then he crouched.
Moving slowly, Kadin made his way toward the area where he’d last seen the gunman. Going one car away, he took cover at the rear and then swung his gun between the rows. The gunman was gone.
Kadin moved slowly through the parked cars, listening, searching. Sirens echoed against the concrete walls. Seeing the man pop up and run for an exit, Kadin took off after him. Outside, he spotted the man running down the street and fired again. He dashed around the corner of the building across the street.
Kadin didn’t go after him. Instead, he jogged back to Penny and the flashing lights of police cars and fire trucks.
* * *
Penny was dead tired by the time the police let them go. The sun was coming up and they’d been awake all night. The crowd of observers and emergency personnel had nearly dispersed when Kadin stood alone with her.
She faced him and was about to say her farewell.
“I should stay with you,” he said.
T
hat drew her head back. “What?”
“Someone shot at us. I’m not going to take any chances, at least not until after the search.”
“My apartment building is secure.”
“Yeah, but you’re not when you leave it. And if Jax sent that gunman here, he did so before the search warrant went through. If he was threatened then, he’ll be especially so now.” He extended his arm toward the elevator.
She didn’t move. Whereas before she wouldn’t have hesitated, now she did. She might flirt with him but him in her apartment presented the real possibility that she’d follow through with her desire.
“Do you have a guestroom?” he asked.
“Yes.” He relieved her by asking that.
In the elevator, she leaned against the opposite wall, eyeing him uncomfortably because she still wasn’t sure him in her guest room would stop her from keeping her bedroom door open.
“Don’t worry. You’re safe with me.” He repeated her own words to her.
The elevator came to a stop at her floor. The doors opened and he waited for her to precede him. She did, walking down the hall.
Inside her apartment, she watched him register a modern and spacious layout with splashes of color and a warehouse-like open living and kitchen area.
Penny put down her purse and removed her cell phone. She was about to hook it up to the charger when she saw several calls had come in. She looked at her land line and the digital display indicated she had two messages there, too.
“Jax tried to call me.” With all the excitement, she hadn’t thought to check her phone.
Kadin walked over to her.
She played the first message on speaker.
“Penny, it’s Jax. Call me back.” The next one was more emotional. “Penny, I know about the search warrant. I’ve got cops swarming my cabin and the old barn. Call me.” In the third he said, “You can’t ignore me, Penny. Why did you call the cops? Do you think I actually kidnapped that girl?” He sighed audibly. “I didn’t know the truck was in there. Call me or I’m coming over.”
Penny looked at Kadin.
“He won’t come here. He sent someone to kill you,” he said.
“Or someone else did.”
“Do you believe him?”
Penny turned and wandered over to her windows. The sun had risen. The view normally made her feel good, not alone, part of the city. Not this morning. She wasn’t sure what to believe. Jax had sounded sincere.
“I don’t know. What do I do if he comes to see me?” She’d have to interact with him at work. Unless he canceled the contract with Avenue One. She couldn’t be sure what he’d do.
“Just go with whatever he says. Don’t offer any information.” He moved closer, brushing a few strands of her hair back from her face, the touch on her cheek causing an electric tingle. “In the meantime, we both need to get some sleep.”
“Yes.” With the mention of sleeping—both of them in her apartment—Penny grew awkward as she recalled her earlier flirtation. Being shot at had doused her play.
“I’ll show you your room.”
She led him across the living room and past the kitchen to a short hallway with four doors. Her office was across from the main bathroom and there were two master bedrooms at the end of the hall. There, she paused in her doorway. He stood in his.
In the quiet of her apartment, with adrenaline gone and lethargy weakening her defenses, she looked at him. His intense gray eyes, his manly, muscular form, proportioned by his height. She saw him the way he must have been before death had changed him, available and eager to explore a woman. Nothing holding him back. Had she really read that in his body language or was her own infatuated mind fooling her?
“Good night,” she made herself say.
After a moment he said, “Good night.”
His pause reinforced her intuition, that he was as physically drawn to her as she was to him. But she no longer felt as brazen as she had in the pub.
Penny pushed her bedroom door so it would close, turning her back and undressing mechanically. She was beyond tired. Punchy. Not herself. Kadin’s presence alone made it difficult to stop thinking about him. That kiss...
What she’d meant as play had ended up being much more, something unexpected.
Down to her bra and underwear, she turned to retrieve a nightgown and saw that her bedroom door had drifted open. She hadn’t pushed it hard enough to latch.
Across the hall, Kadin stood at the door, shirt off, jeans still on, hand on the doorknob. He must have been in the process of closing his door when he’d seen her.
Now she could see his upper body without the curtain of clothes. He’d unfastened his gun harness but hadn’t yet removed it. That along with the rippling muscles of his stomach tickled her desire.
She had never slept with a man this soon after meeting him, but she also wasn’t afraid to explore. Did this qualify? Why not?
This feels different.
He had a lot of personal baggage. But did that matter? She wasn’t looking for a future with him or any other man. Not right now. Still, his cut body tempted her. The longer she looked, the hotter he made her.
He didn’t move in her direction. Would he take the initiative? With a past like his? Doubtful. On impulse, she decided to throw caution aside.
Facing him, she unclasped the front of her bra and let the garment fall to the floor.
He turned. Stepped forward. One. Two.
Chapter 4
Whispering passion against her mouth. The feel of her bare breasts against his chest. Removing her pants, sliding them down her long, slender legs inch by inch. Her fingers urgently unbuttoning his jeans. He couldn’t get her out of his mind. He couldn’t get their lovemaking out of his mind. Each touch, each sensation, kept him in a state of awe.
The more he’d kissed her and she kissed him back, the more he’d fallen into a swirl of smoky seduction. Time fell away now as it had last night. Everything faded away except her. The light of passion in her eyes, her beautiful body, all of her had aroused him beyond comprehension. All he’d wanted to do was run his hands over her. And he had. With her on the bed, he’d touched her everywhere, a slow caress over soft skin. Kissing her just as slowly. Over round lush breasts. The curve of her hips. Toned thighs and calves. Up the inside to the moist treasure between.
Her catching breath had drugged him further. Instead of touching her with his hands, he’d used his mouth. Tongued her taut nipples. Her belly.
While he drowned in her, she’d done her share of touching and raking her fingers through his hair, kneading his butt, and then, when she couldn’t wait any longer, took his hardness and urged him to enter her. He had. But he’d made her wait longer. Going torturously slow had spun him into another world where time stopped and no darkness existed. Sliding into her and pulling back with measured stimulation. Only her cries of uncontrolled ecstasy had driven him to thrust harder. And then both of them had erupted into incredible, star-bursting sensation.
Even when it was over, Kadin had floated in an otherworldly glow. He’d fallen asleep with her wrapped up in his arms. No words exchanged. Just utter peace. Peace he hadn’t felt in years.
And that was what disturbed him now.
Kadin leaned with his hands on the edge of the kitchen table, head bowed. What had happened last night? He’d not been with a woman since his wife died. He’d not been tempted. And now Penny came along and he’d been swept straight to her bed.
How? Why her? Why so suddenly?
Mass confusion consumed him. He struggled to hang on to logic. Order. Routine. All of that seemed shaken this morning. He’d felt something similar after he found Arielle lying on the bathroom floor, dead from too many painkillers. He’d held her stiffening body. Kissed her blue lips. And cried. The doctors had said she’
d likely lost track of how many pills she’d taken, and the last few had been too much.
On the way home, he’d considered driving himself into the abutment of an overpass. The next day, he’d considered using his pistol to join Arielle in her peace. Indeed, he’d thought of every way possible to end his life. End the suffering. Nothing about living had enchanted him. Every breath came with a price, a constant, terrible fight to survive.
He’d learned that peace was an illusion and happiness a complacent kind of equilibrium, forces of nature tricking the mind into a false sense of balance. Offset that balance and bad things happened. Children were kidnapped and tortured and killed. Mothers died trying to numb their agony. And fathers...fathers contemplated suicide until the thirst for revenge emancipated them.
Making love with Penny had given him a glimpse of what he’d had before the physics of his breathing life had thrown him into merciless, execrable chaos. But now that he was back in hell, he wished he hadn’t been reminded. Over the past three years, he’d learned to live with demons. Control them. Make them behave on his terms.
Penny, with all her open, courageous zest for playful love had upset his artificial balance. Her ambition to have him...she’d faltered some tonight, but seeing him across the hall had rejuvenated her. Something about that had inexplicably pulled him in. She made it easy to go to her, to let go—if for just the night—and feel the love of a woman again.
He couldn’t allow her to do that again. Last night was a onetime experience. She didn’t matter in the context of love because she couldn’t matter. She had to be a vessel. Thinking of her as anything more would tear down his cracked foundation, the order he’d managed to create, the very thing that had kept him from taking his own life.
Kadin straightened, took several long, deep breaths. He needed to decide how he was going to handle this. He hadn’t had to think about it until now. Getting involved with a woman had been the furthest thing from his mind. He hadn’t even contemplated the possibility. Moving on without his wife and daughter had consumed him. Still consumed him.
A Wanted Man (Cold Case Detectives Book 1) Page 6