She hurried out her side and trailed him into his home. “I can’t stay here. It better be really soon.”
“Why can’t you?” he asked, turning in the darkness and pulling her to him, then reaching over her and pushing his back door closed. “Your car isn’t outside. No one will know.”
“But they will know if I’m not at my house all night. And if I’m not, they will know where to look for me.”
“Good.” He liked believing his house would be the first place they would search for Kylie if she went missing. It meant all those down at the FBI field office believed she was his woman. “We’d hate to have them worrying about you.”
“Perry,” she said, uttering his name with a soft whisper. She implored him to be reasonable, but her eyes were like a midnight sky, large and sultry and slightly hooded with her thick lashes. “We’ve both been ordered not to see each other.”
“They can all go to hell.” He didn’t care if he sounded irritated.
“You would lose your job over me?”
“Do you really think you’d lose your job because of me?”
She chewed her lower lip and he hardened to stone. Her silence was answer enough. They both might endure more humiliating reprimands, although he didn’t doubt for a moment if Rad tried lecturing him that he’d walk out before he could get started.
He wasn’t Peter. The only reason Kylie would need to stay away from him was if she suspected him to be their perp.
He’d help her through her indecision. “Am I your perp?” That sultry gaze of hers faded quickly as she made a face. “Good grief, Perry.”
That was answer enough. He grabbed her arms, dragging her to him. “Then stay with me,” he demanded, his voice a vulgar growl but the best he could master.
He wasn’t used to his emotions being so exposed. But kissing her, not hearing her hesitate but feeling her hot body relax against his, protected the vulnerability that threatened to rise too close to the surface.
Perry ran his hands down the curve of her back, cupping her soft ass, and lifted her against him. He had his arms under hers, encouraging her to run her fingers up his arms. She opened up to him, deepening the kiss as her fingernails scraped his shoulders.
But the soft sigh she released, while stretching against him, was all he needed to lift her into his arms and walk through his dark house to the bedroom.
“God, we shouldn’t-”
“Like hell,” he grumbled, picking up his pace until he reached his bedroom. He tossed her to the bed and was on her before she could turn around. Grabbing her shirt, he yanked it up, forcing her arms up until he ripped it from her body. “You need this as much as I do.”
“True, but.” She bit her lip, her thick lashes shrouding her gaze when he pinned her to the bed.
He was exhausted, damn near spent. It boggled his brain how being with Kylie, feeling her soft, perfect body underneath his, created energy he was positive wouldn’t have existed otherwise.
“The only truth here is this is where you belong,” he told her, nipping her lower lip and kissing the full, moist flesh he just tortured.
“You know once this is over-”
“So I’m a fling to enjoy while you work a case here in town?” he asked, already knowing from the look in her eyes that wasn’t the case. He was prepared for her to admit that as the truth, though, and ready to show her what he would do if she lied. “Is this something you make a habit of doing?”
“No and no,” she said firmly, her look intent when she stared up at him.
Perry ran his finger along the edge of her lace bra, watching her flesh bulge against the fabric when she sucked in her breath.
“Then what is this?” He slipped the material away from her breast, exposing her eager, puckered nipple.
He sucked her into his mouth and Kylie cried out, dragging her nails down the back of his shoulders and arching into him.
It sounded as if she forced the words out. “I’m not sure,” she uttered, her voice strained.
Perry moved his mouth to her other breast, slipping the fabric to the side and exposing a very hard nipple. “You aren’t sure?” he whispered over her flesh.
She smelled good. A mixture of soap and perfume proved she had primped before going to his sister’s house. And when she had prepared to go over there, she thought they were going together.
“You tell me,” she gasped when he wrapped his lips around her nipple.
Perry bit her, pressing his teeth into her tender, puckered flesh and using enough pressure to make her flip off the bed. Her nails dragged into his flesh, digging in deep enough he was sure she punctured flesh. The sharp pain sent the need inside him to a boiling point.
He grabbed her by the back of her neck, yanking her off the bed to a sitting position, and held her while devouring her mouth. She was everything he needed, fresh and fiery with an energy that ignited something inside him every time he was around her. No matter the circumstances or kind of day he was having, Kylie was the perfect medicine for him.
“All right, I’ll tell you,” he growled, aching to be inside her. In spite of being exhausted, he wanted to take his time devouring her. Kylie would scream his name and not have an ounce of doubt in her mind what was happening between them once he made her come. “The truth is that while desperately trying to find an asshole and take him off the streets, we’ve both found something we didn’t know we were searching for. We’ll solve this case but ending what is growing between you and me might prove more work than either of us wants.”
Kylie opened her eyes and stared at him while he pulled his face away far enough to focus on her. Her expression remained serious, although she didn’t look as though she would argue with him.
Perry grabbed the top button on her jeans and tugged until it came undone. “From this point forward, you and I are working on this case together.”
“Okay,” she said offhandedly, as if she didn’t hear him or didn’t give his statement any merit. She kicked her shoes to the floor and lifted herself, allowing him to pull her jeans and underwear off her.
Perry doubted she would agree as easily as that. But he’d hold her to her concession. He’d hold a few more things against her, too, easing her back against the bed and pulling her blouse over her head. Her blonde hair fanned around her, softer than silk and such a beautiful shade next to her creamy skin.
He had a hard time picturing her taking down a bad guy, and an even harder time stomaching her working to capture someone as insane and cruel as a man who could desecrate and torture, then kill a teenage girl. Just thinking of Kylie putting herself in that kind of danger, even knowing she’d done it many times before meeting him, made him wonder if he saw her for who she really was at all.
He wanted to possess her, control and take care of her. Feeling her soft hair against his fingertips when he brushed her hair from her face and lowering his mouth to hers caused something to twist inside him. It created a pressure that stemmed from more than a desire to be inside her. It grew hot, smoldering around his heart until he was sure he’d break out in a sweat from it.
Kylie tilted her head, her breathing hard when she fingered the material by the collar of his shirt. “Is there a reason why you wanted me naked?” she purred.
“Most definitely,” he growled, dragging his fingers down her front and pausing between her breasts.
Her heart released a hard, steady thumping against his fingers while he lifted his gaze to her face. “You’re beautiful.”
“And you’re dressed.”
“In a hurry?” He wanted to take hours to enjoy every inch of her, claim and mark all of her and make sure she never doubted she was now his.
“Maybe I’ve decided I want to enjoy myself, too.” She twisted the top of his collar in her fist, tightening it around his neck, while her expression grew challenging. “I suggest you take your clothes off now,” she whispered, the soft inflection like feathers brushing over her flesh.
There was something in her gaze, though, a glint visible even in the darkness that showed defiance and a friskiness in her nature. It grabbed his attention and he moved, adjusting his weight and grabbing her wrist as he pulled her hand from his shirt.
“I don’t take orders well,” he growled.
Kylie also moved quickly, rolling out from underneath him, and although she made no attempt to free her
