“Ravioli suits you,” he murmured. His teeth grazed a nipple. I shuddered, and barely resisted the urge to arch into him. To offer myself to that tantalizing, tempting touch.
“So does my name.” My voice sounded as liquid as I felt. “Which is Grace Rioli, in case you’ve forgotten.”
“I haven’t.” His lips trailed fire back up my neck. When his tongue flirted with my ear, my knees threatened to buckle. “But ravioli is my favorite food, and this particular dish is one I’ve longed to taste more fully.”
If he kept this up, he’d be able to drink me, because I’d be little more than a puddle at his feet.
“So basically, you’re saying I remind you of a small square pasta?”
His chuckle vibrated against my neck, and my toes curled in delight.
“You may be small in height and waist, Grace, but you’re sure not small in other departments.”
His tongue alternated with his teeth against my ear, teasing the exact right spot, and my body vibrated with the force of pleasure shooting through me. God, why was the elevator taking so damn long to climb ten floors?
This had to stop. Not the elevator—him. Or I wouldn’t want to. I squeezed my other hand between us, and pushed with both. Not too much, just enough to remove the heat of his lips from my neck. “So now you’re saying I’ve got a fat ass? Charming.”
His gaze scorched mine, blue eyes rich with amusement and lust. It was the same sort of lust that pounded through me—the hot, let’s get down and dirty, right here, right now, type of lust.
Damn it, why couldn’t I find that sort of intensity with someone I didn’t work with?
“You’re determined to twist everything I say, aren’t you?” he said, deep voice edged with amusement.
“Yes.” Because sarcasm was my only line of safety. I was far too susceptible to this man’s charms otherwise.
I ducked under his arms as the elevator finally halted and the doors opened. The simple act of walking was an effort, because my heart still raced a million miles an hour and my legs were all fluid and wobbly. It was just as well Frank’s office was down the far end of the hall—at least it gave me time to gather some sort of composure.
Ethan reappeared by my side, his long strides curtailed to match my shorter ones.
“Why?” he said. I was still so attuned to him his voice seemed to flow over my skin as sensually as a warm summer breeze. “The attraction between us is getting stronger, and you can’t keep denying it exists.”
I could, and I would. For as long as we had to work together, and maybe even after that. “There has to be hundreds of women working in this building. Why don’t you go try your luck with the half you haven’t sampled?”
Something flashed in his eyes. Something that looked an awful lot like annoyance. “Because I’m attracted to you, not them.”
Attracted to the challenge more than the person, I suspected. “Yeah, well, I have no intention of becoming another notch on your bedpost.” As much as my hormones danced excitedly at the very idea.
“What if I promise to make that notch worthwhile?”
His grin was pure cheek, and I couldn’t help responding in kind. The man might be a dangerous rogue, but he was undoubtedly a sexy one. “Not even then.”
He stopped to open Frank’s door then ushered me through, his fingers searing my spine though his touch was feather light.
“The more you challenge me, the more determined I get,” he murmured.
His words sent another tremor racing across my skin. Lord, if what he was doing now wasn’t determination, what was? And how was I going to survive it?
Janet, Frank’s secretary, glanced up as we both walked in. “Go straight through,” she said, her gaze lingering appreciably on Ethan.
“Thanks, Janet,” he said, voice so intimate the older woman blushed.
I shook my head, and continued on through the second door. Like most werewolves, the man just couldn’t help flirting—and that was part of the problem. If I’d had any reason to believe he was after anything more serious than a quick roll in the sack, then maybe I’d reconsider—
I scratched the rest of that thought from my mind as Frank, our semi-bald boss, glanced up.
“Sit down,” he said.
“What’s the problem?” I crossed my legs so that my feet pointed away from Ethan. Even an accidental touch could be deadly given the aroused state he’d so easily worked me into.
“We’ve got a couple of missing kids I want you to look for.”
“When and where?” Ethan asked, voice becoming cool and businesslike.
Something inside me relaxed. This Ethan I could handle. It was the flirty, oh-so-sexy version of his personality that got me all flustered and out-of-sorts.
“The first was three nights ago.” Frank shoved several files across the desk. Ethan leaned forward and picked one up, quickly scanning it before handing it across to me.
I was careful not to touch his fingers and amusement flared briefly across his lush lips. The basic details were all there—name, location, and the particulars of where and how he’d gone missing.
I looked up. “Were there any threats? Ransom demands? Anything to suggest this was a standard crime?”
Frank shook his head. “The kid disappeared from his bedroom in the middle of the night. No evidence of a break-in, and all the doors and windows were still locked in the morning.”
“From the inside?”
He flicked a glance my way. “Yeah.”
Meaning someone had a key. Ghosts might be able to get past locked doors and windows, but humans—large or small—couldn’t.
“Why were we called in?” Ethan asked. “The official investigation would still be underway. We usually don’t get pulled in until after the dust has settled.”
“A second teenager went missing last night under the same circumstances.” Frank pushed the other file closer. “That teenager is my nephew.”
“Ah.” Ethan’s voice was neutral, and yet as attuned as I currently was to the man, I sensed his distaste. He hated jobs that involved personal connections—though he’d never actually said why.
“I want answers,” Frank said, “and I want them fast.”
And that was probably why Ethan hated personal connections. Hard to do your job properly when someone closely connected rode your back.
I glanced at the file in my hand. The teenagers had gone missing from Wild Dog Creek, a small beachside town about ten minutes beyond the popular Apollo Bay. “Getting accommodations at the height of summer holidays is going to be a problem.”
“My sister-in-law has a guest house. She’s putting you up there.”
I glanced briefly at Ethan. He still wasn’t giving much away, but the taste of his displeasure was thicker in the air. “Do you think that’s wise?”
“Mari won’t get in the way of the investigation.”
The problem wasn’t so much his sister-in-law or the investigation. It was more me staying with a man I was only barely resisting.
“Why the two of us?” I asked. “I can handle a missing person case by myself. I don’t need Ethan to babysit.”
Frank raised his eyebrows at that. “Do you have a problem with Ethan?”
Yeah, he was too damn sexy for my own good. I had a hard enough time resisting the man in the few minutes our paths crossed each day—how much more difficult was it going to be if I had to spend all day and all night with him?
Spending that much time together could only have one result—us in bed, getting hot and heavy. My sex drive was perfectly normal, even if the works were a little rusty, and there was no denying the fact I did want him. I just didn’t want to end up getting hurt. Thanks to my parents, I wasn’t very good at the casual stuff, and Ethan was the sort of man I could fall for. Except he didn’t seem to want a relationship of any kind.