Part 12 (2/2)

aUseless,a she whispered.

aMaybe you should let me look through these instead,a Dante said.

She shook her head. aI should be able to do this.a She hated feeling weak. Twelve years later and Tony Maclin still held her prisoner. Even in death he still terrorized her.

aYou canat help but feel close to his case. He traumatized you. Are you supposed to forget it ever happened?a aI want to. I want to be over it. I want it to not bother me anymore.a She tilted her head toward him. aFor G.o.das sake, Dante, itas been twelve years.a aAnd you still carry a scara”not just psychological, but an actual, physical scara”from what he did to you. I donat think there are timelines for just getting over that.a She turned away from him. aThere should be. Many women get over attacks like that and go on to bea”a aWhat? Normal? You think youare not normal?a She snorted. aThose panic attacks I have are totally normal.a aFace it, babe. You didnat exactly choose the best career to distance yourself from the dregs of humanity. You remind yourself every day of the evil out there. Facing down rapists, drug dealers and killers isnat exactly the best way to get over trauma, ya know?a She allowed a smile. aYou may have a point.a aAnd you work yourself almost nonstop, so itas not a surprise youare always so tense. You donat give yourself time to relax.a She shrugged. aI figured if I worked all the time, I wouldnat have to think about it.a aSometimes you have to face it. Itas the only way to let go of it.a aI like my method better.a She lifted her shoulders, then dropped them again, the tension mounting.

aYeah, your way is working great. Iall bet youare just a bundle of knots back here.a He slid his fingers into her hair. Her ponytail holder had started to bother her, so shead taken it out and slid it on her wrist, leaving her hair loose. His fingers running rampant along the back of her neck and along the tenderness of her scalp was not good for her concentration. Not that she was really focusing on the Maclin files anymore anyway.

He rubbed the base of her neck, the area that was always so sore.

Oh, yeah. Right there. She dropped her chin to her chest and gave up. He swept her hair over one shoulder and stood, moving behind her to use both hands now, digging into those tight spots with his thumbs.

aAm I hurting you?a aNo. Harder.a aYour muscles are like bricks here.a aTell me about it.a He alternated between hard and soft, and she yielded to the mastery of his hands. She was such a sucker for a good neck ma.s.sage. Dante had strong, firm hands, and he didnat seem to be in any hurry to stop.

Most men couldnat handle her tough muscles, stopping after only a few minutes and flexing their fingers as if her muscles had caused them pain.

Wimps.

Dante kept going, digging at the tight spots until they melted under his sweetly brutal a.s.sault. He knew exactly how far to push, how much pain she could take, when to back off and move somewhere else. He never stopped. She almost felt guilty.

Almost.

aYou a licensed ma.s.sage therapist or something? Youare really good at that.a He laughed, the deep sound vibrating through his fingertips and skittering through her nerve endings to all her sensitive feminine parts.

aNo. You have a high pain tolerance.a aMmm. Lucky me.a She wondered how long she was going to let this go on before she put a stop to it. The Maclin files lay scattered across her kitchen table, forgotten. She really should get back toa”

But then he hit a tight knot and dug at it, and she melted.

aOh, thatas really good, Dante. G.o.d, your hands are like magic. Right there.a She heard his harsh intake of breath and stilled. aWhat?a aYou do realize thatas s.e.x talk.a She laughed. aSorry.a He moved his hands across her muscles again. aI donat think youare sorry at all. I think youare trying to torture me.a aYou keep rubbing my shoulders like that and Iam likely to start moaning.a aYou start moaning and I wonat just be rubbing your shoulders.a She enjoyed this easy banter, especially the s.e.xual undertones. And what was wrong with that? They knew each other. She probably knew Dante better than any other man shead actually had s.e.x with.

Maybe it was time to find out what shead been missing all these years.

His touch glided across her neck and down to her shoulders, his fingertips light now instead of firm. Admittedly, she liked the b.u.t.terflies dancing around in her stomach.

If their relations.h.i.+p came with a past, so what? He had to know they had no future. She knew it. He belongedasomewhere else, was just hanging around because of the case. When it was over and they caught the killer, head be on his way, and shead go back to her life the way it was.

But the thought of exploring with him was tempting. It was a new feeling, one rich with promise.

She liked his hands on her, and wanted more than just a back rub.

She tilted her head back to peer up at him, not at all shocked to see the dark desire in his eyes as he stared down at her.

Nor was she surprised when he cradled her head in the palm of his hand and bent to take her lips in a soft, searing kiss. She melted into the kiss, losing herself as his lips swept across hers, his tongue sliding inside to claim hers.

He moved to the front of her chair, lifting her to draw her against him. Plastered against his hard, hot body, she could only moan and clutch his s.h.i.+rt while his hands roamed over her back, his fingers tangling in her hair to angle her head for a deeper kiss.

His pa.s.sion ignited hers and she wanted to get closer to him. Standing wasnat going to cut it. She broke the kiss, shocked at the raw hunger she saw in his eyes, at the same time needing to see it there, desperate to know what she felt wasnat one-sided.

aCome on,a she said, sliding her hand in his so she could take him to her bedroom.

He tugged on her hand to pull her back. aNo. Right here. Iave been thinking a lot about right here.a He would, wouldnat he? The thought of it shot her desire up to the ceiling.

He lifted her and placed her on the kitchen counter, jerking her tank top out of the waistband of her shorts. She lifted her arms and he drew the s.h.i.+rt over her head, his mouth coming down on hers at the same time his hands pressed against the bare flesh of her belly. Her abdomen quivered at his touch, the idea of surrendering totally to him both thrilling and utterly terrifying.

Oh, no. That wasnat going to work. She had to touch him, had to feel his skin, too, had to take control. She pulled at his s.h.i.+rt and he lifted it out of his pants.

She took a moment to appreciate his broad shoulders, lean waist and tanned skin, then reached out to let her fingertips wander over his chest where a fine sprinkling of dark hair was scattered, then disappeared, only to reappear lower by his belt buckle.

She lifted her gaze to his. He wasnat smiling, his eyes a half-lidded dark, stormy blue, his jaw clenched. She knew he was at the boiling point, which made her want to push his b.u.t.tons. She reached for his belt buckle and pulled the flap out.

aLater,a he growled and pulled her to edge of the counter before cupping the back of her neck and putting his mouth on hers again.

She gasped at the contact of her skin to his that was both joy and shock. She hadnat been close to a man in so long, and never one who exuded as much pa.s.sion as Dante. She purposely chose men she could dominate so she could set the pace, so she could be in control. With Dante, she knew that wouldnat be the case.

Shead have to surrender, and shead never done that before.

Could she do it?

Dante released Anna from the kiss.

G.o.d, she had a stranglehold on his body, and d.a.m.n if it took every ounce of restraint to hold back, when what he really wanted was to strip her naked and be inside her right now.

But while he saw pa.s.sion flare hot in the honey-brown depths of her eyes, he also saw a flicker of fear, and that meant he was going to have to slow things down. Because she could put on whatever show of bravado or tough act she wanted to, but he knew better. He felt the tension when he kissed her. Head been with enough women in his lifetime to read the easy yield versus the hesitant one.

Anna was hesitant, and that meant things werenat a go.

She might think she was ready, and maybe her body was willing, but her mind hadnat yet come along for the ride.

He laid his hands on the counter on either side of her thighs and took a deep, cleansing breath, then raised his gaze to hers and offered up a smile, one that let her know how much he wanted her. Because he really did want her. His c.o.c.k was hard and his whole body ached for her. But this wasnat about what he wanted.

She arched a brow. aYouare kidding, right? Iam half-naked here, Dante.a He took a long, slow look at her, from her messed-up hair that made her look s.e.xy as h.e.l.l, to her lips, swollen from his kisses, to her bra that barely covered her spectacular b.r.e.a.s.t.s, to her flat belly and those barely there shorts and her oh-so-hot long legs.

aYouare still dressed. All the important parts of you, anyway. I think we need to talk about this before we jump into having s.e.x.a aAre you f.u.c.king kidding me? Isnat that usually the womanas line?a She grabbed her tank top and pushed him away, leaping off the counter at the same time.

He turned. aAnna.a aDonat. Just donat.a She pulled her s.h.i.+rt back on, then grabbed his and shoved it in his chest. aYouare angry.a She whirled around to face him. aYou think? Iave just been rejected.a aI didnat reject you. I just want to talk.a aManspeak for I-donat-think-youare-hot-enough-to-f.u.c.k.a She stormed off into the living room.

He laughed and followed. aThatas not what I said. You are definitely hot enough to f.u.c.k.a She stopped in the middle of the room and narrowed her gaze at him.

Okay, maybe laughing had been the wrong move. Good thing her gun was in the other room. Then again, she did have that hidden Glock in here somewhere.

aDonat you dare laugh about this. You donat get a woman all hot and bothered, then say you want to talk. Are you some kind of moron?a aI guess I am. Look, you seemed tense.a She threw her hands in the air. aOf course I was tense. You were kissing and touching me and I was turned on like crazy. Also, I havenat had a decent o.r.g.a.s.m in like six freaking months. Are you reading my lips here? Six. Months. Youad be tense, too, wouldnat you?a Dante gaped at her. Anna threw him a murderous glare.

aAre all men this dense or just you? Jesus, Dante, do I have to draw you a road map to my v.a.g.i.n.a, or are you grabbing a clue?a He finally lost the smile. aIam beginning to.a aGood. So can we get down to the s.e.x so we can get back to work, or do we just want to sc.r.a.p the whole idea?a She wanted to get it over with? Really? Was s.e.x a ch.o.r.e for her, a task to get through so she could get back to the exciting part of her lifea”her job?

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