by Cynthia Eden
Panties. Bra. That’s all she wore. A black bra and matching panties. Her full breasts pushed against the silky cups, and the tiny panties that she had on barely covered her. She was all long limbs and curves and perfect temptation. And he was staring. Gaping.
Maybe drooling.
Get your shit together, man.
He spun away, turning his back on her. “I didn’t know you were…changing.”
“Well, I didn’t know you were just going to barge in like you owned the place, so color us both surprised.”
He swallowed. Three times. Flexed and fisted his hands. “I do.”
“You do—what?”
“I own the place. Technically. I mean, I let Wilde Securities use it for a safe house spot, and in return, Eric stocked it with tech, but the place is mine.” He caught himself turning to look back at her. “Will you tell me when you’re dressed?”
“I’m dressed.”
His breath rushed out. “Thank Christ.” He whirled toward her.
She was still in her panties and bra.
His eyes squeezed closed. His dick shoved toward her. “You are not dressed.”
“I’m not naked. That means I’m dressed.”
Rick shook his head. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“That’s the only kind of game I know how to play.”
“You’re trying to seduce me.”
“Yes. I thought that was obvious when I decided to keep standing in front of you just wearing my underwear.”
His eyes flew open. “You like jerking me around?” Anger pulsed inside of him. So did desire. Damn. The things he wanted to do to her…with her…
It’s a game. She doesn’t want you. A woman like her wouldn’t go for you in a million years.
“I’m not jerking you around.” She made a mistake. She came closer.
Don’t do it. If I reach out…I’ll take. She didn’t get that he wasn’t the kind of guy who played. If he put his hands on her again, she was his. “Why are you doing this? Do you like to tempt every guy you—”
“Don’t say insulting things that you will regret later.”
His lips clamped together. He didn’t want to think about her with any other guy. Not ever. He just wanted her. And that vanilla scent was all around him because she was right in front of him.
“I liked the kiss earlier,” Kat told him softly.
I more than liked it. His chin lifted. “Bullshit. You kissed me to distract me. You wanted me to stay in the farmhouse with you.” And so much for being Mr. Cool and In Control. Because he’d felt her mouth against his and he’d gone straight to blazing hot. Burn, baby. Burn.
“I did kiss you to distract you.”
He could not have this talk with her while she was clad in those pieces of silk. He jerked his shirt off and tugged her forward.
“Uh, Rick, what are you—”
He pulled the shirt over her head, and the garment swallowed her. At least she was covered, though.
“This is…fabulous.” She glanced down at the t-shirt that hung past her thighs.
“I can’t talk to you when you’re naked.”
“I wasn’t naked, for the second time, and you weren’t supposed to talk. You were supposed to kiss me, and we were going to see if things became just as hot as they had before.” Now her stare rose to pin his. “Except…I think you’re afraid.”
“Princess, I’m not afraid of anything.”
She pulled up the t-shirt that he’d damn well just put on her and tossed it to the floor. Sonofabitch.
“I think you’re afraid of wanting me.”
He kept his eyes on hers. Do not look down. “I have a job to do. The job is to keep you safe. Not to fuck you.”
“Why can’t you do both?”
Why couldn’t—“Seriously? Why the hell do you even want me?” Rick knew he wasn’t handsome. He didn’t look like some of the pretty-boy jerks he’d seen in bars. He was scary as hell. Too big, too rough, too dangerous. Too wild. And she was just going to stand there and offer her body to him? No. He didn’t buy it. She likes her games, and she’s screwing with me.
But her gaze didn’t waver from his. “I want you because I like the way you make me feel.” Her hand rose and pressed to her heart. “When we were kissing, I felt like my heart was about to race out of my chest. Heat filled me, and I ached. I wanted you, and I haven’t wanted someone that much in a very, very long time.”
Right. “That’s not what the stories say.” His hands had fisted again.
“You should know better than to believe everything you hear.”
“I believe the intel that Wilde gives to me. You’re a mob princess. Protected and pampered, and I’m sure you’ve had more lovers than—” No, screw that. He was not going to think of her with other lovers. Because when he thought of that, he wanted to fuck someone up.
“You don’t know me. Wilde Securities doesn’t know me.” She turned away. Grabbed a robe from the bed and pulled it on. Thank Christ. “And I think I was wrong about you.”
She was covered up, and he was extremely grateful that Wilde kept the place stocked with emergency clothes for men and women. Now that she wasn’t only in her bra and panties, he could breathe again. Mostly. “I told you already, I’m not going to be another guy that you wrap around your finger. Maybe seduction is your game of choice, but it’s not mine.”
Her shoulders stiffened. Then she turned and faced him once more. Her face was completely without expression as she advanced toward him. Her hand lifted, and her index finger stabbed into his chest. “Seduction isn’t a game. None of this is a game.” Another stab. “I’m running out of time. Is it so wrong to think that I wanted to live a little before I—” But she broke off. Her index finger stopped stabbing. Her hand fell back to her side. “Forget it. I want to get a little sleep, all right? Just leave me alone for a while.”
He didn’t move. “You wanted to live a little—before what?”
She stared at him.
And he knew. “You think you’re gonna die.”
“Well, I do have about a dozen targets on my back right now.”
“You also have me. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.” His hand lifted. A lock of her hair had fallen over her cheek, and he brushed it back behind her ear. His hand lingered against her cheek. So smooth. So soft.
“That’s why the first shot was aimed at you, Rick.” Her eyes were such a deep green. He didn’t know if he’d ever seen that particular shade of emerald with anyone else. “Because the people after me know that you have to be taken out. And they’ll do it. They’ll kill you so it will be easier to get me.”
“I’m not dying.”
“You could’ve died at the farmhouse. It’s luck that you’re standing in front of me right now. If I hadn’t shoved you—”
Time to come clean. “I’d spotted the shooter right before you lunged at me. Saw the gleam of moonlight reflected off his gun. I was about to shove you down when you attacked first.”
Her left eyebrow rose. She doubted him. Wasn’t that cute?
Or insulting. He wasn’t sure which yet.
“I thought it would be a shame,” she whispered, “for you to die. For me to die…for us to go out without knowing just how amazing we would be together.”
Okay. She was about to shred his control. If she kept saying sexy and sweet things like that, looking up at him with those eyes that promised so much…
Back away. She’s pulling you into her web.
He didn’t move. “Amazing, huh?”
“I’m fucking spectacular.”
That matched up with his fantasies, check.
“And I’m betting you are, too. The heat we felt with that kiss—it was something special. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t want you. I do. The only question is…Rick, do you want me?”
More than he could remember wanting anyone. “Be careful.” A low, savage warning. “You are playing with fire.”
“How many times do
I have to tell you, I’m not playing?” Her hair slid over her shoulders. “It’s just us here. You and me. What happens between us can stay between us. A secret that is never shared. You don’t have to worry about your boss at Wilde finding out. If you think you’re crossing some kind of line—forget it. No one ever needs to know.” A ghost of a smile curved her lips even as sadness flashed in her eyes. “I’ve gotten very good at keeping secrets when it comes to lovers.”
“Okay…what the hell does that mean?” And why did he get so freaking pissed anytime he thought of her with someone else?
“Forget it. This…it was a mistake. I should’ve known better.” Now she turned away and put some distance between them. “I just…I thought you felt the same way.”
He felt damn near insane around her.
“Then when you came in, and you saw me…I could have sworn…I swore I saw…” Her words trailed away.
“You did see it, baby.”
Her gaze swung to meet his as she spun toward him once more.
“I want you. You saw lust. Plain and simple. You’re gorgeous. Every man you meet probably wants you.”
She flinched.
He didn’t like that. “Kat?”
“I felt lust, too. And I didn’t expect it. And I didn’t expect you. But it won’t be a problem again.”
Yeah, it was pretty much going to be a constant problem because when he looked at her, he needed.
Her safety comes first. Priority one.
“It’s probably for the best.” Her voice was so husky. “Bad things tend to happen to men who want me.”
“What in the hell does that mean?” He found himself asking that question too often with her.
“I’m really tired. Can we talk later?”
He wasn’t moving. “Kat.”
“Fine!” Her breath heaved out. “I had my first lover when I was seventeen. Seventeen. He wanted me, I wanted him, and after a lifetime of being locked away, it was just good to be free. Only we weren’t free. Because you know what happened to him when my dad found out about our relationship?”
Rick’s muscles locked down.
“My dad had the boy beat to hell and back. Because he touched me. Because my charming father had plans for me. My dad wasn’t going to let anyone mess up those plans. He wasn’t going to let anyone close to me. But he’s gone now, and I thought—maybe, maybe with the time I have left…maybe I can take something for myself.”
Rick could barely breathe. “You only had one lover?” Some lucky kid who’d touched her and then gotten the ever-loving-hell beat out of him?
“Two lovers. Thanks for asking. Not like I asked you for blow-by-blow details on your exes.” Her lips curved down. “The second guy was when I was twenty-one. I thought he loved me. Realized later that he was playing games. He wanted to tell my dad that he’d fucked the big boss’s daughter.”
I want to tear the sonofabitch apart.
“He told my dad. They went to war. It was pretty much the nightmare you can imagine. There was no happy ending for anyone. Just blood and death. I never saw Gage again. I don’t think anyone did.”
Shit.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Kat whispered.
Rick blinked. “Like what?”
“Like you pity me. You feel sorry for me. I don’t want that.” She shook her head. “I want a lover who wants me. I’m running out of time, and I thought that lover could be you. I was wrong. It won’t happen again. So just—just get the hell out, okay?” Her eyes gleamed with tears. “While I still have a little damn pride left.”
He hated those tears. Hated it when one lone tear leaked down her cheek. “No.”
A part laugh, part sob escaped her. “I think you’re the one who likes the mind games.”
“I’m not scared of your dad beating the shit out of me.”
“Good. Because he’s dead.”
“And I don’t want to fuck you to screw one over on him.”
“Again, good, because he’s—”
“I wouldn’t care if he was alive. My reaction to you would still be the same. You need to understand that. I look at you, and I want. I fucking crave. I want to strip you. Pick you up. Fuck you against the nearest wall.”
Her lips parted.
“I want to sink so deeply into you that I freaking own part of you. My response to you isn’t easy or civilized. It’s savage. And you don’t get that. You don’t get exactly how dangerous it is for someone like me…to want someone like you.”
She didn’t get how hard it was to stand there when she’d been offering herself to him. How hard it was not to take and take until there was nothing left.
Until she was his.
Possession. A primitive response because he was a primitive kind of guy.
“I’m not scared of the mob. I’m not scared of the Feds. There is very little in this world that I fear. Know that. Fucking you wouldn’t be about anything else but need for me. You’re the sexiest woman I’ve ever seen.” He exhaled on a rough sigh. “And if you want a freaking ‘blow-by-blow’ as you call it on my past lovers, I’ll give it to you. Fair is fair. There weren’t a lot of them. Most women don’t take one look at me and think they’ve found the man of their dreams. I look more like a beast than Prince Charming.”
“Prince Charming is an asshole. I met him years ago. Won’t ever believe his lies again.” Her head tilted. “And I don’t think you’re a beast.”
He looked at his hands. Huge. Every part of him was. He was too strong and too rough. Had been as a kid, and as a man…he’d tried to hone his strength. But being at Wilde had just taught him how to use his strength and power in even more dangerous ways. “Some people are very good at lying.” Rick thought of his best friend and the pain that would haunt him until he died. “I don’t deal in lies. I don’t have time for that shit. I say what I mean. I want you. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t, but you don’t know what you’re going to get with me.”
“Why don’t you tell me?”
“Rough. Hard. Dirty. The kind of sex that will make you scream and claw. I’ll want to drive you crazy because you’ll sure as hell be driving me that way. But it isn’t about emotion. It never is. I’ve never been in love, never will be. We only have a week together, and then you walk away. Hell, I think the federal government will probably make you into someone else and you’ll vanish from my life. So think about all of that. Consider it long and hard before you decide that you really want me.” Because if she made him an offer again, there was no way on God’s green earth that he’d be strong enough to turn away. He swallowed down the lump in his throat. “Get your rest, Kat. The next few days and nights aren’t going to be easy.” Rick made himself head for the door.
“Stop.”
If she told him that she still wanted him, if she—
“You came into my room for a reason. What was it?”
He’d been so caught up in her that he’d forgotten. Way to be a world class agent. “The shot fired at me…” He cleared his throat. “There are so many bounties on you, why would the shooter waste a bullet? Doesn’t make sense.”
“I told you…the shooter was trying to get rid of my protection. You were in the way.” The floor squeaked beneath her feet. “I mean, I’m worth way more alive, so the shooter had to get you out of the way and then come after—”
He whirled around. “I thought there was a death order on you.” Multiple kill orders, in fact.
“There is.” She nodded, like it was the most normal thing in the world to have hits on her. “But certain individuals want me alive. They think I know information about my father’s business that’s important to them.”
“Information, like what?” His temples were throbbing.
“Oh, I don’t know…” Kat gave a little shrug. The right side of the robe dipped open and slid down one shoulder. She winced. “Maybe like…where my father’s missing twenty million dollars may be hidden?”
Jesus.
Chapter Six
He hadn’t touched her all day long. He’d kept at least two feet between them. His voice had been almost painfully polite when he’d addressed her. Rick was playing by the rules, dammit. Yet every time he looked at her…
I want. I ache.
Rough. Hard. Dirty.
I want to sink so deeply into you that I fucking own part of you. My response to you isn’t easy or civilized. It’s savage. And you don’t get that. You don’t get just how dangerous it is for someone like me…to want someone like you.
Had he really told her all of that? What in the hell had happened to his control?
“Uh, Rick?”
He blinked.
Kat frowned at him. “You all right? You seemed to have zoned out there for a minute.” Her elbow was on the countertop, her chin propped in her palm, and Kat had just caught him staring at her. All right? Not even close. His dick was so damn hard that he was pretty sure the zipper had left an impression on him. He wanted her, but he was not going to cross that line. Not.
Maybe.
Night had fallen in the city. They’d been cooped up all day long. Cabin fever had definitely set in. Rick felt as if he was about to jump out of his skin. Or maybe, jump her.
No, not happening.
“Cole will be here in a few moments,” Rick told her as he continued using his polite voice. “He’s coming to give us an update on the shooter.”
A little furrow appeared between her brows. “Your agents didn’t catch him?”
“He vanished into thin air.” And no one else had showed up at the cabin, either. He’d been so certain someone else would follow her GPS signal and appear at the cabin, but, no dice.
“Unfortunately,” Kat sighed, “disappearing is what Ghost does best. And if he’s the one leading the pack after me, I’m screwed.” She pushed away from the counter. Headed to the window and stared out at the city below. There were other bars on the block. Rick knew she could see people filling the street below.
If he strained, Rick could even hear the hum of music. Her body swayed just a little—as if to a beat—and he knew she heard the music, too. For a moment, her face reflected longing as she stared below.
“No, princess.”