His jaw clenched in a gesture she’d come to recognize, one that signaled the calm before the proverbial storm. “You’re damn right you didn’t think. You didn’t think he’d grab you, didn’t think he’d try to drag you into his car, didn’t think some rookie looking for a promotion would see his chance and fire.”
She’d put herself in danger while he was powerless to stop it…just like with his mother. Kayla realized the foundation of his anger way too late to prevent the flood of emotion she’d inadvertently unleashed. The yelling came from deep concern, and fear of reliving his painful past.
“I’m not hurt, Kane.”
“But you had to push him,” he continued as if he hadn’t heard. He probably hadn’t. “You had to know about your aunt. You couldn’t trust me to do my job…” His voice trailed off and he paused, shaking his head. “It’s not like I gave you any damn reason to.”
Kayla shook her head. She trusted him, all right. With her life and with her heart. But he wouldn’t believe her any more than he’d want to hear the truth. Because Kane was only concerned with his job, not with emotions he hadn’t asked her to feel for him. This turn of events hadn’t helped. In fact, that rookie had probably shot her happy ending to hell and back.
Kane had wanted a neat wrap-up, no problems, no proof that he’d let his feelings sway his judgment in any way. Life had just thrown the unexpected in his path. He’d have to deal with that, Kayla thought. The man had emotions and it was past time he got in touch with them.
She quickly cataloged her body and not finding any overt injuries, she levered herself to a standing position. Unexpected pain shot through her ankle when she put pressure on her foot. She forced what she hoped was an easy smile. “I’m fine.”
His hand reached out to stroke her cheek. Spiraling dizziness assaulted her. Not from the shock of the past few minutes, but from his heated touch and the caring it implied.
“You just winced.” His husky voice shook her composure. Could she dare hope he wouldn’t be able to walk away?
“Did I?” She shook her head. “I didn’t realize. That guy weighed a ton and I took the brunt of his fall. Look, Captain Reid’s here,” she said, hoping to distract him so she could walk the kinks out of her ankle.
Kane placed his hand on the small of her back, waiting for her to precede him. She drew a deep breath and took her first step. Her ankle buckled beneath her.
His muttered curse coincided with the sudden weightless sensation of being swept off her feet.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting you the hell out of here.”
She gripped his shoulders with both hands and held on tight. Hard muscles flexed beneath her fingertips and an accompanying rhythm began to hum inside her as well. She couldn’t suppress a shiver of desire. “Put me down and let me walk on my own. This is humiliating.” And arousing. And it felt way too good for something destined to end.
“Captain.”
The older man walked toward them.
“Anything you need from her you’ve got on tape. She’ll be down tomorrow to make a statement,” Kane said.
Reid nodded. If Kayla wasn’t mistaken, an amused smirk clung to the edge of his mouth.
Embarrassment flooded her. She could only imagine the shade of pink that probably washed over her cheeks. “I can walk,” she muttered in Kane’s ear.
“You heard the lady, McDermott.”
Kane shook his head. “She’s got a choice. X-rays at the hospital or ice at home until I know if there’s swelling.”
Though she should be used to it, Kayla bristled at his take-charge attitude. Still a tiny part of her reveled in the attention, probably because there wouldn’t be much more in her future.
Her heart clenched in denial. “I’ll take the ice at home.” At the very least, their goodbye would be in private.
KAYLA’S FREEZER LOOKED about as empty as Kane’s apartment. The place he called home. The place he’d be returning to tonight, alone. He slammed the door closed hard.
“Don’t take your anger out on the appliances. I can’t afford new ones,” Kayla yelled from the couch in the next room.
“I can’t find an ice pack,” he called back.
“That’s because, despite how many times I’ve been hurt this week alone, we’re not accident-prone around here. There are plastic bags in the top drawer. You can put some ice cubes in there.”
He popped freshly made cubes into the clear bag and joined her in the room she called the
She’d propped her ankle on a double set of pillows. After checking out the swelling, he realized it wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d first thought. A bad bruise at the very worst. Still a little first aid couldn’t hurt so he laid the ice on her elevated foot.
A shudder rippled through her.
“Cold?” he asked.
She nodded.
“It’s cramped, but I like it,” she said.
He’d been around her long enough to recognize the sensual undertone. The unintentional but blatant desire in her voice touched something inside him, probably because he recognized the same longing in himself.
“I’m warmer now,” she murmured.
“I know.” Shared body heat had never felt so good. Her breath blew softly against his cheek and the swell of her breast pressed against his arm.
Before he could enjoy the sensation, his weight began a slow descent off the sofa’s edge. He caught himself before falling and jerked his hips back onto the couch.
Her husky laugh reverberated through his already tight body. “Your choice, Kane.”
He respected her for that. The days of power plays were over. He hadn’t planned a return to this house, but then he hadn’t counted on things playing themselves out the way they had. In the split second before he’d hit the street, he’d had a flash of Kayla lying sprawled on the pavement covered with blood. A scene he’d seen once before with a different end. She was alive, though, and offering herself to him.
A blatant invitation he could accept or decline. An invitation with no strings attached, because as she’d so boldly told him, she didn’t expect anything in return. Selfish bastard that he was, he couldn’t turn her down. He needed her too much. One last battle lost before he waged his final campaign. He glanced toward the front door, knowing his last battle was one he could not let himself lose.
Before gravity could pull him back toward the floor, he shifted his weight so his legs straddled her hips. The weight of him pushed against the V of her legs with unmistakable pressure and she moaned her pleasure. The sound twisted his insides in coiled knots only she could undo.
He reached for the buttons on the prim and proper shirt she’d changed into earlier at his urging. She’d already removed the wire on the way home. Keeping his eyes on the road had been damned near impossible, but he’d managed. Barely.
He worked at the buttons with shaking hands, reminiscent of his first attempt as a teenager in the backseat of an old beat-up thing his uncle had called a car. The only difference was this wasn’t nerves causing the problem, but overwhelming desire that could no longer be restrained.
“The hell with this,” he muttered. He grabbed the sides of her shirt in each hand and pulled.
Little pearl-like things popped and scattered in myriad directions. Kayla gasped. Kane looked down, and his breath caught in his throat. Her cleavage swelled above the lace border of her bra, while her nipples stood erect
