His jaw clenched, and he growled, “Hel o again, Chloe.”
She startled, her eyes flying open, and her gaze snapped to his face. The color fled her face in a quick rush. “Oh, fuck me.”
“I tried that once, remember?” Steel edged his voice, and he realized exactly how pissed he’d been that she’d bailed on him. Denial. He didn’t like that either. He was brutal y honest with himself about everything.
He had to be. Denial got people kil ed in his line of work. He sat back in his chair, laced his fingers over his flat bel y, and stared at her. “You ran from me.”
She twitched as if to dart for the door.
His eyes narrowed, and he tensed, ready to spring. “I wouldn’t do it again. You won’t like my reaction this time.”
Chin lifted, she stared down her nose at him. “You didn’t have a reaction last time. I haven’t seen or heard from you since that night.”
“Exactly. You wanted to go, and I let you. I didn’t make an effort to find you, didn’t invade your privacy, and we both know I’m in a position to do so.” He flicked his fingers to indicate the teeming police department beyond the wal s of his office. “But you’ve dropped back into my life, and now I know your name; I know what you do for a living; I know where you live. Isn’t that interesting?”
“Not real y.” Now her chin jutted stubbornly, and something unholy lit within him at the chal enge she presented. “Look, it’s been a bad day. I’d like to go home now.”
He arched one eyebrow. “My partner had to have told you that’s not going to happen.”
“Detective Grayson is your partner?” She swal owed, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She licked her lips, and he got hard, his body reacting as strongly as it had the first moment her gaze had met his. He wanted those lush lips moving under his, and something primitive snapped inside his chest.
Rising from his seat, he slowly stalked her across the smal room, watching to see if she tried to bolt, ready to pounce, and almost relishing the thought of how that would force him to have his hands al over her.
“Yes, she’s my partner. I thought it best to excuse myself from questioning you. Conflict of interest.”
“We had a one-night thing, so your interest was pretty limited.” She tilted her head back to meet his gaze as he drew closer. Awareness flashed in those hazel depths, and he could feel his control stripping away.
He wanted her. Gods, he’d never wanted a woman the way he wanted this one. He couldn’t even remember wanting his wife with this kind of desperation, but he slammed the brakes on that guilt-ridden thought and any other about his dead spouse. He shoved away the past and focused on the present. Chloe.
His grin was just this side of feral. “Right, because when I have limited interest, I manage to stay hard al night long.”
A flush stained her cheeks, and she sucked in a breath. “I don’t know what this conversation is accomplishing. We were both looking to score that night. Touchdown.”
Only he hadn’t been looking to score that night. He’d gone to Sanguine to wash the bad taste of a shitty premonition out of his mouth. He definitely hadn’t been trying to hook up with a woman who was blank to his clairvoyance. It wasn’t a fluke either. No visions assaulted him in her presence. She was stil unreadable.
The reminder alone made his insides cramp. Being anywhere near someone like her was a mistake he’d sworn he’d never make again. Yet, here he was, hot and horny and angry because everything about her was beyond his control.
“Detective . . . Kingston, isn’t it? I don’t think—” She fumbled with the door handle behind her, and his fingers snapped around her wrist.
The feel of her soft, soft skin against his made him grit his teeth as his cock throbbed. Insanity. The way he responded to her, it was pure insanity. The lust that pulsed through him twisted with annoyance because she tried to escape him. Again. “Merek. You’l cal me Merek. And you have an appointment with the FBI, Dr.
Standish— Chloe—so you aren’t going anywhere until they get here.”
He planted his hands on either side of her, trapped her with his body, and leaned down to her level. He could feel her breath rush against his skin. She was panting, her breasts rising and fal ing. Her eyes looked glazed as her gaze moved over his features. “You’re mad at me.”
“Hel , yeah, I’m mad.” He got right in her face, until his lips were no more than a hairsbreadth from hers.
Gods, he wanted to kiss her, wanted to see if she was as good as he remembered. He snarled. “Two months later, and I haven’t gotten the taste of you out of my mouth, the sound of your voice moaning my name out of my head—”
“Stop.” Her breath caught, her eyes darkening with passion.
His laugh grated from his throat, a rusty sound of lust, self-derision, and rage. “I wish to hel I could, Chloe, but I can’t. Can you?”
“I . . . I . . .”
“Tel me you never think about it.” He moved one hand to let his fingers stroke over the inside of her wrist, and he felt her tremble. Good. “Tel me you walked away as cleanly as you’re pretending. Tel me you don’t remember clawing my back while I slid my cock inside you. Tel me you don’t care that I made you scream and sob and sigh. Tel me—”
She dropped her purse to the floor, clapped her hands over his ears, and dragged his mouth down to hers, cutting him off. Just like that, he had her pinned to the wal . His tongue was between her lips, and she struggled for control of the kiss, her tongue twining with his, her teeth nipping and sucking at his lower lip.
Her breasts pressed to his chest, and he wanted his mouth on them too. Soon. He’d have her again soon.
He growled, picked her up, and turned away from the door. With a mere thought, he cast a spel to muffle the sound coming in and out of the room. He couldn’t make out the voices and footsteps passing his door, and no one outside would hear what he and Chloe were doing.
He could make her scream, and no one would know.
A groan of pure satisfaction dragged from his throat. He set her down, backed her up against his desk, crowded her, bracketed her hips with his fingers, and held her in place. Her jaw set in an obstinate line, and her eyes narrowed. “This is crazy.”
“Yeah. So?” His smile was more a baring of teeth, and he didn’t care. “That didn’t stop you from kissing me a second ago.”
“Don’t remind me.” She wedged her palms between them and pushed at his chest. He fought another groan at just that nonsexual touch. Gods, but he loved her hands on him. It fed a craving that went far, far deeper than mere pleasure. Though the pleasure was undeniable, and his cock chafed against his fly. He leaned even closer to her, into those smal , slender palms.
Her eyes widened when his erection prodded her bel y, and he watched a flush race up her cheeks. She swal owed, her breasts rising as she dragged in a deep breath. Goose bumps rose on her arms, and she shivered. He grinned. “Cold, sugar?”
Her eyes flashed, magic sparking molten gold flecks in her irises. “You know damn wel I’m not cold.”
“That’s a shame.” He ran his hands down her back for just the enjoyment of feeling her heated skin under her blouse. “I would have offered to warm you.”
She shoved harder against his chest. “Go fuck yourself, Kingston.”
“But it’s so much more fun to fuck you, Chloe.”