04 A Killing Touch

by Nikki Duncan

  “What are you doing here?” She put sneering emphasis on you. She’d spoken the same way in the pub. Her sniping tone gave her feelings away even when she blocked them from reaching her face.

  “You asked for my help.”

  “I didn’t ask you to follow me.”

  “How could I follow you when I was clearly here before you?”

  “You… Why are you here?”

  “Because I knew you would be coming here with some plan to get a scoop. A plan that could land you in trouble like that kidnapping ring did. Like The Killing Cupid.”

  His blood heated at the memory of backing her up on that serial killer case. He hadn’t known her before the kidnapping case, but in the time it had taken him to carry her to the ambulance she’d gotten beneath his skin.

  Watching her set herself up as bait on Valentine’s Day, when a woman like her should be on a date surrounded by romance, had sliced into him. Staying out of the way while she all but invited a sociopath into her home to rape and kill her had driven him onto an uncomfortable and violent ledge.

  Lana cocked a hip and flashed her perfect teeth. “So you admit I may be on to something?”

  “Reluctantly.” He took her elbow and pulled her away from the people exiting. He’d almost stalled her long enough for it to be too late for her to get to the doctor today. “I also think you’re jumping in before you know enough facts. It’s what you do. It’s going to get you killed.”

  She rested a hand on his arm and glanced up from beneath her thick lashes. His dick throbbed. His spine tingled. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or pull her into a dark corner to devour her. Damn the woman’s touch.

  “You’re sweet, Aidan.” She placed a hand on his chest, tapping her fingers over his heart. “I had no idea you cared for me.”

  “God.” He jerked away. She never stuck to one kind of behavior. One time she’d be hard as forged steel and the next she’d be Southern charm. It made her tough to predict and impossible to resist.

  He missed her touch more than he should. Shifting the remembered feel to the side, unwilling to let it completely go, he slipped into the antagonism that protected him against her charm. “Leave it to you to play games.”

  “No games.” She grew serious. “Though I’m curious why else you’d be here if you aren’t here to protect me.”

  “I’m here to watch out for Kieralyn. If you get hurt she’ll be upset and that will impact the team.”

  Even he wasn’t sure he bought the day’s flavor of bullshit.

  “For a fed, you’re a surprisingly bad liar.” Lana crossed her arms and stood with her right hip slightly cocked. It was her stubborn stance that said she’d dug her manicured nail tips in and wouldn’t be letting go. “I think you checked into the doctor and found a link to something or someone. I also think you worry about me.”

  “You’re wrong.”

  “Then why are you really here?”

  Her tongue flirted with the corner of her gloss-coated lips. As vibrant as she was, she didn’t use bright colors in her makeup. Instead it was the understated touches like the pale pink gloss that made her approachable. Tempting.

  “Kieralyn asked me to check out your ideas. I can’t do that if you’re muddying the investigation.”

  “So you do think I’m on to something.”

  “I think you need to back off long enough for me to do some checking. And that will take me more than three hours.”

  She grinned and he knew she thought she’d won. He also knew she knew how he worked. He wouldn’t be checking into anything if he thought he’d find nothing, because he didn’t believe in wasting time.

  “Well.” Lana pulled his watch wrist up and checked the time. “As you’ve now stalled me long enough for the doctor’s office to close, you can buy me dinner and tell me what you have in mind.”

  “After you tell me how you were going to approach Dr. Grayson. And what other explorations you plan to take in your illegal quest to see his patient records.”

  She uncrossed her arms and squared her shoulders like she was arming herself for a confrontation.

  She accused him of avoiding her, which he did, but she avoided him too. Neither of them wanted to admit it, but each time they’d touched over lunch and now, the truth smacked them. Having sex had never cured their desire. The distance they’d kept only made the anticipation worse.

  They would end up having sex before they were done. The question was how ugly would things end between them.

  “If you want my secrets, Aidan, you have only to ask.”

  His temple’s pulse beat so hard his right eye throbbed. “You wouldn’t hold anything back?”

  “You’ll have to decide.” The proposition in her tone had nothing to do with the case as she nodded toward the parking garage. “After dinner.”

  He took her by the elbow, more for a bid at control than for anything sexual, but he felt the sexual flavor of the touch. “Where do you want to eat?”

  “I could go for some seafood.”

  “Fine.”

  “Oysters sound good. Oysters and white wine.”

  He narrowed his left eye and looked down at her. “What are you scheming at?”

  “I don’t scheme.”

  “And Ian’s not blind.”

  “Really? I didn’t think they could correct his vision.”

  “Lana.” Kieralyn’s fiancé had lost his sight as a kid. The accident had been awful, but Ian had used it to grow stronger. His dad had made sure of it.

  “Not that he seems to mind being blind.”

  “Lana.” A warning crept into Aidan’s voice.

  “It certainly doesn’t seem to slow him down any.”

  “Lana.” His warning hardened.

  “And Kieralyn never complains.” She ignored him and seemed to be enjoying her little game.

  He enjoyed her game too. And her sass. How much so was a prime reason he’d avoided her for the last several months. Her playful passion pushed him too close to the edge. When he crossed his patience threshold things got…hot.

  He hadn’t had hot in too long.

  He led her down a slight incline in the garage, where his car was halfway down the mostly empty space, backed in for a quick departure.

  “Kieralyn told me about their first night together. Hers and Ian’s.”

  “Stop it.” His warning vibrated his throat. He did not want to hear about Kieralyn’s sex life when his own was sadly deficient.

  “Have you heard what happened when they went back to his place?” She blew a soft whistle and ran her free hand over the seam of her blouse. The muscles in the arm he held flexed. “For a blind man, he sure seems to know his way around a woman’s body.”

  Aidan gritted his teeth. His dick argued his protests. “Stop now.”

  “Maybe he could teach classes,” she pondered.

  “A real man doesn’t need classes.”

  “Eh. Everyone could use some refreshers. Especially when it’s been a few months.”

  A rumble rose from Aidan’s chest. She was talking about sex like it was the most natural thing in the world. There was nothing natural about the way she got to him.

  He grabbed her, fused his mouth to hers and backed her to the concrete wall in the shadow of a support column. Parting her lips with his tongue, he dove into her mouth. It was a thorough exploration that whisked him back to Valentine’s night.

  His neck tingled. His dick hardened.

  She arched into him, pressing tight against him even as he scraped his hands up her legs, grabbing the hem of her skirt. Eager for more, Aidan sighed as she buried her hands in his hair and deepened the kiss.

  The subtle taste of chocolate lingered on her tongue. She’d indulged in her favorite sweet since lunch. The flavor aroused his taste buds. Her touch aroused his body.

  “Aidan.”

  “Shut the hell up.” He took her mouth again and rubbed his body against hers, lowering himself a little. He reached beneath her skirt,
grabbed her ass and pulled her off her feet.

  Following his lead, she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. Fishing in his jacket pockets, she pulled out his keys and disarmed the car alarm. He grunted and carried her to the car. Rather than open the back door, he sat her on the trunk.

  With his hands free from holding her, he cupped her breasts and trailed a flaming path of kisses over her jaw, down her neck, to the open V of her blouse.

  She gasped and tugged his earlobe between her teeth. With a sigh, she sucked on the sensitive spot she knew would weaken him. Her hands returned to his hair and fisted. The slight pain of her tug awakened him more as she brought his nerve endings roaring to life.

  Commanding his body as effortlessly as she always did, Lana swiped her tongue along the corded veins in his neck. When she hit the collar of his jacket, she shoved it away. She didn’t uncover much more skin, but every inch was sinful seduction.

  Aidan rolled his hips, grinding his erection against her wet panties. She thrust forward, begging with her body.

  A door slammed, a car alarm beeped and high heels clacked against concrete somewhere above them.

  Lana’s breasts hardened beneath his hands. The change was slight, but the extra firmness proved her arousal reached deeper than her nipples. It had been the same way the other times he’d touched her.

  He moaned, unable to care about the danger of exposure. Any one of the people leaving work for the day could come out and see them at any moment, but he wasn’t sure he cared. He had Lana beneath his hands and nothing was going to break the moment.

  He’d never thought himself an exhibitionist, but the prospect of being caught thrilled him.

  She lay back on the trunk, pulling him with her. He slid his hands down her body, his fingers tense with desire and restraint. Shifting positions, he blazed kisses up her thigh, beginning at her knee. His fingers shoved her skirt up to her waist and flipped her thong to the side.

  His head buzzed.

  When his mouth reached her sex, he licked away some of her wetness.

  His vision blurred.

  He flicked her clit with his thumb and sucked, pulling her into his mouth with a gentle scrape of teeth.

  Her legs shook beneath his hands. Her body heated beneath his touch. Ecstasy shot through him, molten in his veins, with her orgasm.

  She reached for his belt buckle, but he stepped back and righted her clothes. Damn their differences. He wanted Lana and was tired of denying himself. He was going to take more time with her. “We’re going to my place. It’s closer.”

  She nodded once, hopped off the trunk and moved toward the passenger seat.

  Her knees buckled. She grabbed the car. Aidan laughed as he grabbed her waist and kept her from falling to the ground.

  “I’m fine,” she slurred. “Legs are just a little weak.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  Aidan considered using his siren to get through rush hour traffic faster. The taste of Lana on his tongue, the slide of her skin beneath him, the contrast of her red lace thong against her ivory smooth skin, the lust lurking in her green eyes, the musky scent of her arousal floating from the seat beside him snapped at his tethered control.

  Hoping restraint on the drive would focus him, he resisted the siren. He instead sought every shortcut he knew. The ten-minute drive was still too long.

  They didn’t speak as they walked up the winding path and through the iron gate. They didn’t speak as he unlocked his front door and pushed it open for her to precede him. They didn’t speak after he closed and relocked his door.

  Lana dropped her purse and turned. Three steps were all she needed to close the distance between them. She shoved his leather jacket off his shoulders. His dick jerked. Aidan backed her toward his bedroom. They undressed each other along the way, leaving a trail of discarded barriers.

  When they reached his room, the only thing Lana still wore were her red heels with the delicate straps twisted around her ankles. She started to remove them. He shook his head. “Leave ’em.”

  “Okay.”

  “Lie down.” He jerked his head toward the king-sized bed he never bothered to make. For once the sheets would have a fun reason to be tangled. “On your stomach.”

  She arched a perfectly shaped brow and pursed her plump lips. “You’re very demanding.”

  “Damn straight.” He wanted her in every position, starting with taking her from behind so he could go deeper into her warmth. “You already got off once.”

  “Then it seems to me you need the favor returned.” She batted her lashes dramatically.

  “Oh hell.” His brain shut down. His cock throbbed and bounced.

  Lana turned them so his back was to the bed, placed her hands on his shoulders and shoved. He flopped on the mattress with his calves and feet dangling off the edge. He didn’t scoot up. He preferred the idea of her kneeling between his thighs.

  She smiled as she stepped closer and ran her blunt-tipped nails over his thighs. Bending at the waist, she leaned over and sucked a nipple into her mouth. It was just the tip between her perfectly even teeth, but it was…impactful.

  His dick jerked again. The tingles that started at his neck ran up and over his scalp. He fisted his hands in the sheets and ticked like a time bomb counting down the last thirty seconds.

  Determined, and clearly not rushed after her release, Lana moved to his other nipple. Her hands danced a barely touching tango over his hips and stomach.

  She cast her gaze up to meet his. Her irises had shrunk beneath the demand of her pupils. Only a thin ring of sea green remained around the edge. The pulse in her throat thumped while his own drove at his skin looking for escape.

  “Your body is so…amazing.” With her sexy mouth curled up in pleasure, she skated her hands down him and lowered to her knees at the end of the bed. She tilted her head and cupped his balls. She lightly tugged the skin and massaged him. His cock jumped, announcing he was ready for some attention.

  She ignored its plea and instead wetted her lips and blew a hot, open-mouthed breath over him. His spine buzzed and the muscles in his lower back constricted, shrinking in on themselves in a fiery buildup of awareness.

  She lowered her hand toward the bed, raising his cock. Her eyes sparked. Her lips brushed his tip and pulled the bead of moisture into her mouth with a gentle hum. The pressure of her hand holding his sac should help him last longer. In theory. Theory flew out the window with Lana naked.

  Licking his tip again, she slid her tongue in a slow circle around him before angling her head and slipping her tongue down his bulging, pulsing vein. At the end of her trip up, she opened her mouth wider and took him in.

  Rather than stay on her knees, she stood again. She rubbed him with her tongue and sucked deeper, jeopardizing his control. He hit the back of her throat, but she kept going.

  Her nails dug into his thighs. Her hips gyrated in a slow roll. This abandon was what he enjoyed about her. Their differences were like a hard kick of Kentucky bourbon, but in the bedroom they more closely resembled the slow burn of Patron Silver. Both were combustible.

  Up and down she sucked him, seducing him closer and closer to orgasm. His hips moved in the erotic rhythm she sat. Their paces matched, his hips to her mouth. She sucked until he thought his head would explode.

  Just like Valentine’s night, she didn’t pull away. She settled him deep in the curve of her mouth and took him all the way to completion.

  Just like Valentine’s night, he wasn’t going to stop after one round.

  Chapter Three

  A subtle yellow light settled over the room as dawn moved in. Lana looked from the ceiling to Aidan’s arm and leg that pinned her to the mattress. He’d also hogged the bed and pinned her down on Valentine’s night. It was almost like he thought she’d try to escape, which of course she needed to do.

  She’d spent more time with him than was safe. Or smart. They still had to deal with each other on the case. It was
more than she could handle. On top of it all, she didn’t want to be the one getting left again. She especially didn’t want to be around when he woke up to again claim the night an aberration.

  It would be full morning soon and she needed to get back to Dr. Grayson’s office. Aidan’s distraction last night had successfully kept her from reaching her goal, and she hadn’t been able to spend the evening formulating a new plan. Neither had they done any talking.

  All the more reason for her to get out and return to work.

  She drew in a long breath and slid toward the edge of the bed. Aidan’s arm tensed. Carefully, she lifted it off her and laid it on the mattress. She rose to a sitting position and began working herself free from his leg. Watching him the whole time, she barely breathed for fear he’d wake up. If he did they’d either fight or she’d fall back into bed.

  She preferred quiet mornings and morning sex carried complications.

  Finally free, she expelled a silent breath and went through the apartment putting her clothes on. The temptation to strip and crawl back between his sheets was strong, almost tangible, but she would not be distracted again. Each article of clothing closer to the door buoyed her determination.

  She slung her bag onto her shoulder and flipped back the deadbolt.

  “Going somewhere?”

  “Shit!” She jumped and whirled around.

  “Guilty conscience, Lana?” Sleepy humor lit Aidan’s voice as he leaned, proudly naked, against the doorframe of the bedroom with his arms crossed over his wide chest.

  Tousled, nearly black hair, equally dark eyes heavy with sleep, tantalizing treasure trail leading a taunting path to his morning erection… She craved him.

  Her heart lurched excitedly in her chest, and it had little to do with him scaring her or her being caught leaving without saying good-bye. No. It had everything to do with him.

  “I need to go home and get ready for work.”

  “Did you call a cab?”

  She paused. A mistake when it came to a battle of wits with Aidan. “No.”