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“She was unrecognizable, except for bits of clothing and a necklace she still wore when she was pulled out of the river. Burning her and cutting off her hands hadn’t been enough for whoever killed her. She was also weighted down, making sure she wasn’t discovered for a long time after she vanished.”
“My God,” Je
Brock shrugged. “What reason could there possibly be to kill a defenseless young woman? She was just a kid. A beautiful, wild child who was living every moment. There was something addictive about her energy and her spirit. Cori
Je
His gaze was distant in the dark of the backseat. “I don’t remember how it happened. I made an effort to keep my feelings to myself. I never acted on them, not even when she flirted and teased. It wouldn’t have been right. Cori
Je
He shook his head slowly, reflecting for a moment. “I failed. What happened to Cori
Je
“I had been hired to protect her. That was my job, the promise I made every time she stepped out of her father’s Darkhaven. I would have traded my life for Cori
“And now?” Je
But when Brock’s gaze lifted, his eyes were steady and serious, centered completely on her. His touch was warm and lingering against her face, his mouth so very close to hers. “Wouldn’t you rather know how I feel about you?” He stroked his thumb over her lips, the barest skate of contact, and yet she sizzled deep within. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, and believe me, I’ve tried. Getting involved was never in my plans.”
“I know,” she said. “Allergic to relationships. I remember.”
“I’ve been careful for a long time, Je
She swallowed, suddenly concerned that his voice had gotten too serious. “You don’t owe me anything, if that’s what you think.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “I do owe you something—an apology for what happened between us the other night.”
She shook her head in denial. “Brock, don’t—”
He caught her chin in his grasp and drew her attention back to his gaze. “I wanted you, Je
“No.” She touched his face, recalling very well how good it had felt to be kissing him, touching him, lying naked with him in his bed. She’d been more than willing to know that kind of pleasure with him, then and now. “It wasn’t like that, Brock. And you don’t have to explain—”
“Most of all,” he said, talking past her denials, “I owe you an apology for suggesting that sex with you would be purely physical, without strings or expectations beyond the moment. I was in the wrong. You deserve more than that, Je
“I didn’t ask you for anything more.” She caressed the line of his jaw, then let her fingers drift down the strong column of his neck. “And the desire was mutual, Brock. My will was my own. It still is. And I would do it all over again with you.”
His answering growl was purely male as he drew her to him and kissed her deeply. He held her close, his heartbeat thudding powerfully, the heat of his body seeping in through her skin like a balm. When he broke from her mouth, his breath was ragged through his teeth and bright points of his fangs. His dark eyes glittered with brilliant amber sparks. “Christ, Je
The idea was more than tempting but made even more irresistible when he leaned in and caught her in a sensual, bone-melting kiss. She wrapped her arms around him and met his tongue with her own, losing herself in the erotic joining of their mouths. He made a low noise in the back of his throat, a rumbling growl that vibrated through her as he drew her deeper into his arms, deeper into his kiss.
Je
“Gideon’s waiting for us in the tech lab,” she managed to whisper as he broke away from her mouth to rain a dizzying trail of kisses along the sensitive skin below her ear. They’d phoned in from the road an hour ago, alerting Gideon and Lucan to the situation they’d encountered in New York and letting them know they were heading back to the compound. “They’re expecting us to report in as soon as we arrive.”
“Yes,” he growled, but he didn’t stop kissing her.
He unzipped her coat and slid his hand underneath her shirt. He caressed her breasts over the thin fabric of her bra, teasing her nipples to pebble-hard peaks. She writhed beneath him as he moved atop her, slow thrusts of his pelvis that made her body weep with the need to feel him naked against her. Buried inside her.
“Brock,” she gasped, all but lost to the passion he was stoking in her. “Gideon knows we’re in here. There’s probably a security camera trained on us right now.”
“Tinted windows,” he rasped, glancing up at her with a sexy grin that bared the gleaming tips of his fangs and made her stomach flip. “Nobody can see a thing. Now stop thinking about Gideon and kiss me.”
He didn’t have to tell her to stop thinking. His hands and lips erased all thought, except the yearning she had for more of him. He kissed her with demand, pushing his tongue into her mouth like he meant to devour her. His passion was intoxicating and she drank him in, clutching at him, inwardly cursing their inconvenient clothing and the confining interior of the Rover.
She wanted him even more intensely than the first time, her desire fueled by the sweetness of his u