A Killing Cupid (Sensory Ops)

by Duncan, Nikki

  "Every victim knew my importance before I was finished. Every family remembers it on a daily basis."

  Lana shrugged and held her ground. "I know you’re going down. "

  A moment later, Breck and Tyler charged in. Tyler tackled Leon as he lurched toward her. Aidan circled them and came toward her, grabbing the throw blanket from the back of the sofa on the way. Menace rolled off him and disrupted the air in his path.

  He said nothing as he wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and escorted her to her bedroom.

  As they crossed the threshold, he booted the door closed and every shred of fear and adrenaline she'd felt in the last ten minutes morphed into anger. She'd been fooled and stalked by a man she'd trusted and respected. Now, she was being pushed around by Aidan.

  "You didn’t use the code word."

  "Be happy you have his confession on tape." She clutched her rage as tight as the blanket Aidan had covered her with. She’d stood in this room and thought of him while she undressed. She'd trusted him with her life so a killer could be stopped.

  He had no right to force her into her room and dish out whatever cruelties and smart ass remarks came to mind. "Damn it, Aidan. I risked my life tonight and the best you can do is stand there and berate me?"

  "You were after a story."

  She nodded slowly, remembering why she’d kept her distance from him since leaving the hospital after the kidnapping. He saw her as nothing more than a hungry reporter willing to step on anyone for the sake of career advancement.

  "Think what you want, but you wouldn’t have Leon without me. And when I write that story, and don’t think for a second it will be easy, every one of his victims and their families will have closure. You, however, will still be an ass."

  His jaw clenched. He closed the distance between them, and pinned her to the dresser without touching her. Rather than the fear she’d experienced in Leon’s presence, she felt only the excitement she’d aroused in herself while undressing for the man now looming over her.

  "Aidan—"

  He swooped in and claimed her mouth with his. Butterscotch. He tasted like the hard butterscotch candies she’d always snuck from the bowl on her grandmother’s living room table.

  His hands rested on the dresser by her hips. Menace continued to flow around him, but there was no violence in his kiss. He kept some space between their bodies, but his mouth moved over hers with a tender passion she couldn’t have fantasized about. She opened for him. He slid his tongue into her mouth and explored every corner.

  She moaned and pulled his bottom lip into her mouth. Lana dropped the blanket and buried her hands in Aidan’s thick hair. With her hands fisted in his silken locks, she rolled her hips forward and rubbed against the erection pressing against his zipper.

  Valentine’s Day had never been her favorite holiday. This one certainly hadn’t been one of her better ones, but this moment... A girl could get used to Aidan’s mouth.

  She moved into him, nudging him toward the bed. He was here. He was ready. She was mostly undressed. They may as well finish off the night for lovers the right way.

  "Aidan. We’re taking him in." Liam, Aidan's twin who spoke with a similar accent, knocked on her door. "You have things under control here?"

  Aidan jerked away, shaking his head. "Yes." His gaze locked on her. "This isn’t going to happen between us."

  He moved to the door before looking back. "Don’t touch that bag, and put some clothes on. CSI will be here shortly."

  He left her in her bra and saturated thong in the middle of her room. He was an ass, but damn she wanted to get busy with Aidan Burgess.

  And her desire wasn’t unrequited.

  With a grin, she began to gleefully plot his downfall. As stupid as it may be, it was her new mission to get him into her bed. He wouldn’t walk away next time. And the next time would be tonight, because she was not ending Valentine's Day with images of Leon and a strap on in her mind.