Hearing how he must sound, he wanted to stop from making an ass of himself. But it was too late. He'd gone way past that now. His voice raised, he continued his tirade.
"And for every cop pulled off duty to protect you, Tony, and his family, that's one less cop to find this SOB."
Rising from the sofa, she tossed aside his jacket and confronted him. With her brow furrowed, she stood her ground, hands on her hips. He knew the woman would not make this easy.
"And what do you propose I do about that? Believe me, I hate the fact that I've been assigned protection. I refused it, but the chief insisted, pulling rank on me." Her eyes bore the weight of her emotion, second only to her pale skin flushed with anger. Punctuating her outburst, she crossed her arms. "But the bastard that attacked Tony is gonna pay for what he did. I got plenty of cops willing to do whatever it takes to find this guy. There won't be a place he can hide. I'm gonna see to that."
"Let me help you," he insisted, aroused by her fire. The woman was fearless.
"Help me? You're not officially off the suspect list, for crying out loud. I'm not sure I can trust you. Are you forgetting about your own secret agenda?" With her chin jutting forward, she amassed the attitude, standing close enough for him to smell her warm skin. "Or must I remind you, Captain Cryptic?"
He watched her nostrils flare; her breast heaved in maddening swells. The heat from her skin seduced him. Raven orchestrated his body's reaction with the precision of a symphony conductor. Bellowing with the resonance of a bass drum, his heart pounded his rib cage, the sensation intoxicating.
For only an instant, she lowered her lids and gazed at his lips. With innocence gone, a desirable woman stood before him. Her eyes held him spellbound. She seemed to understand his intention even before he fully grasped it himself.
An impulse struck him like a blindsided sucker punch.
Without his usual deliberation, Christian merely reacted, following his instincts. Standing so close to Raven, he felt her pull like a force of gravity. His hands reached for her, taking on a life of their own. He had no will to stop. One arm found the small of her back, drawing her toward him. His right hand caressed her cheek, his fingertips stroking her velvet softness.
At first, her dark eyes brimmed with shock at his bold move. Tension made her body taut. But just as suddenly, she collapsed into his arms, reeling with his impulsive intimacy. In his embrace, her body nestled warm against him, fitting into place as if he were made to hold her. With a faint tremble to her lips, she beckoned him with her surrender, her eyes enticing him once more. And the sweet fragrance of her skin filled him with the courage to take the next step.
"I want you . . ." His voice trailed off. Overwhelmed by his urge, he gave her every opportunity to stop before it was too late.
"Entirely too much dialogue, Delacorte." Her voice sultry, she closed the gap between them. "Kiss me, damn it!"
Slowly, he lowered his lips to hers. With a touch, the softness of her delicate skin sent shock waves firing through his body. He pressed for more. Gently parting her lips, his tongue took liberties, finding her just as eager. The sensual barrage jolted his senses, short-circuiting his brain with gratification. Skin flushed with heat, he grew rigid, his body straining against his pants. Fleeting control gave way to insatiable appetite as his hands eagerly explored soft mounds of flesh. And she responded in kind, equaling his growing desire. She tugged at his shirttail and slipped her hands next to his raging skin.
God! He never knew it could be like this!
He felt such a connection to this woman. Far more powerful than his physical hunger for her, he savored the deepening bond between them. Blocking out all other sensation, he wanted to focus on every inspired nuance of her, to give her pleasure. The room faded into nothingness. The sound of her throaty sighs and the arousing scent of her skin dominated him.
Only Raven mattered. Only she touched something within him—something he thought he'd lost. Only she made him forget.
And damn it!
Only he would get a phone call during a time like this.
The vibration of his cell phone nudged him back to reality. He would've ignored it, but with the phone hooked to his belt, its pulsating signal reached out and touched her too. She jumped. And with that, he'd been disappointed to learn that the tingling he felt in the pit of his stomach had not been entirely prompted by the alluring woman standing before him.
"Is that your cell phone, or are you just happy to see me?" Breathlessly, she teased him, hunger and frustration still vivid in her eyes. Her breasts swelled against his chest as she clung to him, nearly driving him crazy.
"Oh, I'm definitely happy to see you." His breathing rapid, Christian leaned his forehead against hers, his hands still cradling her body. "And I'd like to see much more of you, believe me."
"Forget the visual aids; I'm a tactile girl."
"Hold that thought." Reluctantly, he turned to one side, pulling from her embrace. Flipping the cell phone, he put the receiver to his ear. "Yeah, Delacorte here."
"I'd like to hold more than just a thought, Christian," she muttered.
As he talked on the phone, she nuzzled against his back. Raven wrapped her arms across his belly and burrowed her warm hands under his shirt. His taut muscles reacted to her touch, making the phone call a challenge.
He turned toward her, slipping the phone back to his belt. "It's the hangar. The jet has touched down. Tony's parents are gonna be here within the half hour." His finger brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
Raven cupped a hand to his cheek, with a warm palm pressed against his chest. Even through his shirt, her touch aroused him beyond reason. And the suggestive timbre of her voice soothed him like warm honey in July.
"Look, I don't want you worrying about me." Her eyes softened to a rich mocha, a kaleidoscope of raw sensuality. Bathed in her light, he couldn't keep his hands from her. Every touch felt like redemption.
But reality struck home when she added, "The coward that attacked Tony and skulked into my house won't be able to get past the police protection. I'm gonna be okay." With a sly smile, she spoke softly. "Besides, I think the real danger is what just happened between us. They don't make an asbestos suit for that kind of combustion."
She ran her thumb across his lower lip, teasing his memory, attempting to distract him from worry. For a moment, he just stared at her, unsure if she was joking. Despite a clear sense of foreboding, he let a lazy smile tug at the corners of his mouth. Somehow, the woman found a way to yank him from the doldrums.
And once again, he let impulse rule the day.
"I want you to stay with me, at the Dunhill Estate. I've got the manpower to protect you. And your brothers in blue can focus on finding the man that hurt Tony. I'm sure whoever did this is behind Mickey Blair's murder, too."
"I think you're right, at least about a connection to the Blair case. But you've gotta let me do my job, Christian, on my terms. I can't just run and hide."
In his arms, she gazed up at him. He wanted nothing more than to take her home with him, to make love to this beautiful woman. But Raven was a cop. And something in his past had drawn a killer to her door. Seeing the audacity of this cold-blooded butcher, he knew that twenty-four-hour police protection wouldn't be enough. For her sake, he had to get to the bottom of it all, without destroying Fiona in the process.
As if sensing his conflict, she grew somber. Compassion filled her eyes.
"I'm not sure you trust me enough to confide your role in all of this. I have no doubt that the case is linked to your past. Let me help you find the truth. I gotta believe that together we can do this, but you're gonna have to reach out to me. I won't betray your faith," she vowed. "Promise me you'll think about it."