by Chloe Barlow
She spun on him, eyes blazing, “I wasn’t stewing, you big jerk! I was trying to collect myself…you know, so I wouldn’t accidentally strangle you while you were bringing me home. Do you have any idea how unprofessional you were back there?”
“Seeing as I’m not a professional, or a fed…no, I don’t know, and I don’t really care. I couldn’t see you on the video. I had no way of knowing if you were okay,” he added with a shrug, which felt practiced, even to him.
“So, it’s my fault?”
“Of course it is,” he retorted.
“You can’t be serious!”
“I’m completely fucking serious. You should know better! You promised me you’d stay in my line of sight.”
“You also promised me I’d be able to go in there and do my goddamn job. When are you going to realize I can’t be right where you want me every second, and I can’t possibly follow your every random command?”
“They aren’t random and they aren’t commands, they are just what’s right. Christ, look at what happened today. I got in there and he says all that shit. He’s not allowed to talk about you that way.”
“But you get to act like an idiot and break every protocol I’ve sworn to follow? This is the life I’ve chosen, Trey. Don’t you care about me and what I want at all?” she pleaded, and the hurt in her voice tore him apart.
“I do care about you, Claudia,” he whispered, moving closer to her. “You know I do. That’s why I can’t play by these stupid FBI rules you’re talking about. It won’t make you any safer. We’re going to do this my way…all the way.”
“There you go again…”
“Exactly. I’ll keep doing what I can to help you with this job and life you want, but I know how risky it is, in a way you don’t. You think you understand, but you’re wrong.”
“We were just talking. And it was going somewhere. I had it under control.”
“Then why did you stand and walk away from him?” He bit his tongue at scolding her again for leaving the camera’s range.
Her face softened. “I decided to tell him Tea was doing well, but she would rather not see him. I think it helped him to open up. But he started asking some really personal questions about me. I was…uncomfortable. I moved away from him to try and get the power back.”
“What did he say to you?” Trey growled.
Claudia took a slow breath. “It doesn’t matter. He’s arrogant and delusional, but he does regret taking the bribes, and more so, what happened to Jack Taylor. I think underneath everything he’s scared.”
“I don’t doubt he regrets getting busted, but I’m more concerned about the delusional part. He was totally fixated on Tea, and now he’s trying to make me think he’s transferred his unhealthy obsession over to you.”
“If it helps to solve the case, who cares?”
“I care!”
“I’m a special agent, right? I can do this.”
“I know you can. I brought you there because I believe in you. But leaving you in a room alone with him was stupid. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“I’m glad to see you realize you acted stupidly today, we will just disagree on which specific part,” she teased with a surprising amount of ease before walking into the kitchen.
He followed her, noticing her sneak a peek at her continuous glucose monitor, before opening the refrigerator to grab a bottle of orange juice and what looked like a premade sandwich. He was glad to see she was taking care of herself, but he was still filled with an oppressive sense of dread, which wouldn’t subside.
Trey immediately started to pace around her kitchen. Claudia poured herself a cup of orange juice and watched him cautiously. Unable to leave her, but incapable of knowing how to behave if he stayed, he ran a hand through his hair, glancing from one appliance to the other because he couldn’t figure out where to rest his eyes. He decided to commit to the window, eying the gray, moody weather outside, which mirrored his own internal unrest.
Every time he thought he’d figured out how to handle Claudia, something else twisted him up all over again. Maybe the person he couldn’t manage was himself — which was the most terrifying part of it all.
She leaned back against her kitchen counter and stared at him, her face becoming more still as she sipped her orange juice, then placing the half-empty cup on the counter. Claudia finally broke the painful silence.
“I won’t lie, I’m glad I got to talk to David alone, but I’m sorry I upset you. I was so focused on the fact he was opening up to me, I lost track of everything else. When he started to get too intense, I got flustered and a little scared. I tried to distance myself from him, but I also forgot how worried you’d be. Thing is, I had no idea you’d overreact like that. I guess I should know better by now,” she added with a rueful smile.
“I know I’m not the only person who has ever tried to protect you,” he answered, moving so close to her he could’ve dipped a finger into her drink.
She met his gaze and whispered, “Maybe not, but you are the first one who I actually wanted to.”
“I must confuse the hell out of you, little one,” he responded, allowing himself to laugh a little.
“You won’t get all worked up again if I agree with you, will you?”
“No promises,” he answered, running his gaze over her upturned face, and resting on those big, brown eyes of hers.
“What did he say to you?”
“David?” she asked. Trey simply nodded. “About the case?” she added.
“No. What did he say to you in Spanish? When we left.”
“Oh, that. The code you were so worried about?” She laughed a bit and answered in the most beautifully perfect Spanish, “He said ‘mujer encantadora.’”
“Yes. When he said it, you blushed.”
“It was only because it was such a silly thing to say about me. It means a girl whom everybody loves. All people are enchanted with her. So you see, not me at all. He probably said it to throw me off.”
Trey moved a hand to her face, running his thumb slowly back and forth across her pronounced cheekbone.
“David is supposed to be a genius. I mostly think he’s crazy and full of shit, but he’s absolutely right when he calls you that.”
“You’re being crazy again,” Claudia said with a forced chuckle, looking away, but he moved her face back to his.
“Maybe I am. Even so, I wish I could speak Spanish, because it would’ve given me words for the spell you have over me…how you make me feel. You have enchanted me, Claudia, and I don’t know what the hell to do about it.”
“Just do something, Trey. Because you have me completely turned inside out. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next. I’m putting all my faith in you, so how about you have a little in me? What if we just let go? If we screw each other up, so be it.”
“It’s very tempting.”
“Is it?” Claudia swallowed, sucking on her upper lip for a moment. The sight transfixed him. She continued with a tremor in her voice, “Don’t you want to hear what else he told me?”
Trey didn’t answer her. His eyes searched her face to see if she understood just how scared she’d made him.
“Not yet,” he whispered.
“Why not?”
Trey grasped her upper arms. “Because I’m still freaked out. You have to be more careful. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to leave you in there with him?”
Claudia licked her lips and it made him feel completely exposed.
“But you have to trust me, Trey. I know it scares you to let things go, but I’m not crazy. Well, not totally crazy.”
“This isn’t about me somehow not trusting you, or not believing in what you can do — because you already know that’s not possible. It’s not even about you figuring out I really am a controlling ass. The fact is, I have no trouble letting things go. Hell, I’ve spent most of my life losing things, and I’ve tried hard to be really fucking okay with it each and every time… But you…”
Trey took a deep breath, loosening his grip before bruising her. Backing away from her, he continued, “Claudia, you are a very different story. David was also right about something else — I do refuse to allow you out of my sight for too long. Maybe I don’t have a clue how not to mess all of this up with you, but I know this — no matter what happens with us, this case, you name it…the one thing I can promise you is I won’t be able to breathe if I don’t know you’re safe.”
“Trey…” Claudia answered before pausing briefly, her lips parting before she started to continue her rejoinder.
“Shhh,” he countered, silencing her. Once more, Trey moved his hands to her face, holding her in place. He watched her lips part and heard her breath quicken. He had no idea what he was doing and he knew it wouldn’t end well. But it was too late to stop now. His fingers twisted into her hair and his lips were on hers in an instant. He wasn’t slow or gentle. He was too desperate. Just when he thought she might back away, her arms were around his neck.
Their kiss wasn’t sweet and romantic like he knew she deserved. Instead they had both become nothing but eager lips, teeth, and tongues. He knocked his hip against the kitchen table on his way to pushing her against the wall — moving her upward slightly and pressing his own body against hers. She slid her arms down to clutch his face in return, pausing to suck on his lip, licking the metal loop with her quick tongue. Trey groaned into her mouth, slipping his hands under her top.
The thrill of her hot flesh under his fingertips quickly morphed to concern when his hand caught in the cord of her insulin pump. The rapid reminder of her delicacy — how perfect and fragile she was — rocked him back to reality. He eased away from her, breaking their connection.
Her eyes were burning with a potent combination of passion, confusion, hurt, and fury. The emotions were swirling within the velvety brown irises, singeing him like acid. Claudia clutched at the front of his shirt, forcing him to face her.
“No! Don’t you dare stop. Not because of that. Never because of that,” her voice dropping from an angry demand to a devastated plea.
“I don’t want to hurt you…”
Tears threatened to choke her words to death before they escaped her mouth, and the knowledge of how much this show of emotion must have hurt her cut into Trey. She bit her lip and met his eyes with a steady gaze.
“Don’t you get it? If you ever let that be the reason you stay away from me, then you will hurt me…more than I could ever say. Touch me, Trey… Please…”
His hands clenched and then relaxed at his side, drawn to the intoxicating peace, which only came from the sensation of his skin on hers. Before he could figure out what was the right thing to do, her fingers were in his hair and she was pulling his mouth back down to hers.
Trey gave in to her, but this time he controlled himself a bit more. His arms held her close to his chest, and his kisses were gentler as he savored the soft fullness of her lips. Running a hand over her back, he twisted the ends of her hair into his fingers. She might have been petite, but he could feel her lithe muscles under her shirt. With each turn of his head, he would leave her mouth for a moment before immediately tasting her again.
He moved his left hand slowly down her neck, then over the curve of her shoulder, finally allowing himself to stroke the edge of her breast. She gasped immediately with surprise and lust. The sound broke through the haze in his brain.
It took all his resolve not to take it any further. Her inexperience was apparent to him, but it was also heady and arousing. Just when he thought he couldn’t hold back anymore, her fingers made their way to the button of his slacks. Reluctantly, Trey moved his hands to hers and stilled them.
“What are you doing?” Claudia looked up at him, her eyes swimming with lust and her lips were impossibly plump and red.
Trey pushed down the image of other parts of her body becoming red from desire and attention.
“We should slow down.”
“I told you…” she began, her voice sharp with that temper of hers.
“This isn’t because of your pump.”
“Then what is it about? I figure you’ve been with a lot of women, you probably know what you’re doing.”
“No argument. I’ve been with more women than I probably should have.”
“I can follow your lead…”
A chuckle escaped his mouth, which only made her look more irritated.
“Always so practical.”
“I’m not a little girl. Seriously, I can’t believe this is how my sexual life begins. You’re being such an asshole.”
“I know it seems like that. And maybe I am an asshole. But if we’re really going to do this, then you need to listen to me, because I also know a lot of this is new to you. No matter how much you think you have this figured out, I don’t want you waking up tomorrow and worrying about how fast we moved tonight. I want you to enjoy everything I do to you. And trust me, I would like to do so many things to you, Claudia.”
“Oh,” she breathed out, a desperate look of desire washing over her features again, and hints of red streaking her smooth cheeks.
“But I don’t want to fuck this up with you — whatever it is. It’s almost guaranteed I will somehow. I’m not good for anyone, little one. But I can’t stay away from you. And if I’m going to be weak, I want to at least give myself a fighting chance to get something right. Which means, I need you to let me be a domineering jerk, okay?”
“Okay, as long as you promise to kiss me again,” she answered.
“I guarantee it, Claudia,” Trey promised. He took her face in his hands and brushed his lips against hers, as he let the fog descend over his mind once again.
CHAPTER NINE
Claudia pressed her right index finger firmly against Trey’s doorbell, and couldn’t help but think about how odd it seemed for him to have one at all. A front door with a little round button to alert him to company seemed far too pedestrian for someone as remarkable as him.
When she thought of Trey at home — other than picturing him in bed — she generally imagined him in some kind of swanky penthouse from a James Bond movie. In the feverish recesses of her brain, the mysterious Mr. Adler was suited more to a lair than a house.
Guys like Trey weren’t supposed to have a zip code and junk mail in the box next to their carved wood and stained glass entryway. Yet, he did have mail, and her nervous, grabby hands snatched it up while she waited for him to open the door.
The late October breeze ruffled lightly against her skin, but her cheeks were burning red, thinking of being inside his home for the first time. Before she knew it, the door was open and Trey was standing in front of her. He was dressed comfortably in a fitted tee shirt and jeans. He looked sexy as hell, as always, but she was fixated on what was beneath his clothes.
Now that she’d touched his chest — if only through the cotton of his shirt — her palms seemed magnetically drawn to stroke it again. Right when she built up the nerve to throw herself at him, he stepped backward to let her inside.
“Come on in. Is that my mail?”
“Uh, yeah, Pottery Barn is having a sale on their Harvest Collection. You should get right on that.” Claudia thrust Trey’s rubber banded mail against his stomach so hard he huffed out a breath of air in response. After taking the bundle from her hand, he tossed it on the built-in bench just inside his door.
He’d rented an old row house from the 1920s and every inch of it was lovely — the kind of home she’d like to share with someone…with him.
“I’ve been thinking this place lacked a certain element of farm-related charm. Did you find it okay?”
She could barely hear him over the pounding in her ears. Her brain was still flush with the memories of him finally kissing her the evening before. The sensation of loss, which came from him stopping was just as fresh, and had left her desperately wanting more of him. Ever since he’d walked away from her, it seemed all she wanted to do was kiss him until her lips were raw.
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The firm outline of his pecs and the impression of his nipple rings were pushing provocatively against the thin material of his shirt with each of his breaths, and suddenly Claudia wanted to kiss more than his lips.
“Claudia?”
“What? Oh, getting here? Right. Yes, I found it, no problem. It was easy.”
Faking nonchalance, she strutted through his front door. When he leaned down and kissed her cheek, the pressure was light though when he pulled back, his eyes were smoky and intense. A jolt of desire passed through her and she leaned her face eagerly toward his mouth, like a tiny flower tucked away alone in a kitchen window, yet still seeking the sun.
He pulled away from her and her own body lurched forward just enough to be awkward. Feeling downright silly, Claudia desperately attempted to fill the void between them with words.
“I actually remember finding this address for my brother when he needed help with Jenna,” she added.
“So that’s how he tracked down where I lived. Well, it explains a lot. I knew he couldn’t have done it on his own.”
“Trey…” she warned. Even though he supercharged her libido enough to turn her into a complete idiot, she was still a McCoy, and no one talked crap on her family when she was around.
“Right, only you can bitch about your brother. I remember the rules,” he answered, a playful half smile gracing his face.
“It’s nice to see you lighten up a little for a change.”
“You think I need to lighten up?”
“Well, duh…”
“Did you just say duh to me?”
“I sure did.”
“You truly are a poet.”
“You better believe it. And I’m right, you’re way too wound up.”
“I gotta say, no one has had to tell me that for a really long time.”
“Come on…”
“It’s true. Whether either of us likes it or not, I can’t help it, I’m only this way with you.”
