Free Hidden Crimes by Emma Holly

him.
    “God,” he breathed as the ecstasy petered
out.
    She’d flung her arms around him at the
climactic moment, instead of simply gripping his shoulders. Nate
doubted she’d planned to do this but liked the full-on hug. He
nuzzled her sweaty temple, relishing the feel of her hard
breathing.
    Because her pussy was quivering
slightly—still coming, was his guess—he took a firmer grip on her
hips and stroked gently out and in. His erection was mostly hard
and this felt really nice to him. To her as well, he noted. Though
she was very wet from their mutual orgasm, he couldn’t miss the
increase in her interior temperature.
    “Jeez,” she said in a worried tone.
    Her concern inspired a chuckle. “We can do it
again, you know. That didn’t take all that long, and weres are hard
to exhaust.”
    She lifted her head from his chest. Her eyes
were suspicious but still glassy with pleasure. “Don’t take
seducing me for granted.”
    “Did I seduce you?” He laughed, more
ebullient at that moment than he could recall being in a while. “I
thought it was the other way around.”
    “Shut up.” She shoved at his shoulder, to
which he responded by kissing the fist she’d made. “Stop it,” she
said in exasperation. “I need to get back to work.”
    That irritated him a bit, since he
couldn’t see why she’d be angry. Hadn’t they both enjoyed
themselves? Years of stepping carefully around women’s sometimes
mysterious reactions told him not to push the issue.
    He released his grip on her and helped her to
stand. Her knees were shaking, and that seemed to irk her too.
    “You’re standing on my jeans,” she said,
doing a poorer job than he was of concealing her annoyance.
    Nate stooped as well as he was able and
handed them to her. She tugged them on in the narrow space, her
movements forcing Nate to flatten against the wall.
    “Please zip yourself,” she said.
    Nate did, then stopped her from opening the
door by stretching his arm across it. He wanted to ask if she was
okay, but was pretty sure he’d dislike the answer.
    “Your hair,” he said. “Turn around, and I’ll
neaten it for you.”
    She grimaced, but did as he suggested. He
handed her a handkerchief so she could blot the sweat from her
face.
    “You’re just Johnny on the Spot,” she said
acidly.
    Done reassembling her braid, he dropped his
hands to her tense shoulders. Something in him hurt that she wasn’t
happy. Unsure how to acknowledge that, or even if he wanted to, he
spoke to her gently. “You knew I’d done this kind of thing
before.”
    Evina exhaled gustily. “I did. Forgive me for
being grumpy. I’m . . . out of practice being a good sport about
these things.”
    Now that he had her apology, Nate wasn’t sure
he wanted it. “You’re not the same-old, same-old,” he assured her.
“I really hope we can do this again.”
    She twisted around and patted his chest
lightly. “You’re very sweet.”
    Well, that wasn’t a real compliment, no
matter how she meant it to sound. Stiff now himself, Nate pushed
the hidey-hole door open. He had just enough room to let her exit
ahead of him.
    She froze in her tracks about a foot outside.
“Mom. What are you doing here?”
    “Seeing if you’re free for lunch,” said a
sultry voice, “though it looks as though you’ve already had a
bite.”
    Nate couldn’t help but grin. This sounded
more entertaining than fighting with Evina. He tucked his shirt
into his now-zipped trousers, smoothed his hair, and stepped into
her office. Evina’s mother didn’t look much like her, but he’d
heard feline genetics were unpredictable. Unlike her daughter, the
elder Ms. Mohajit was tall and willowy. She too had curly hair,
though hers was a bright auburn that hung loose around her
shoulders. She was made up expertly.
    To his dismay, she seemed familiar. Women
weren’t so mysterious that he didn’t know ever having hooked
up with Evina’s mother would be extremely bad.
    His heart lurched when she