Free Mountain Investigation by Jessica Andersen Page B

up,” he said. “You didn’t ask for any of this.”
    Tears filming her vision, she shook her head. “But I didn’t do anything to stop it.”
    “You are now.”
    She blinked, surprised at the intensity in his eyes, and at the warm rush that surged through her at his words, a knife-edge combination of fear and unexpected heat. “I’m scared,” she said, the words coming out very small and thin, and shaming her with the weakness they revealed.
    “You’d be an idiot not to be.” He surprised her, both with the low fervency of his words and by what he did next.
    He dropped his head forward so his brow rested on hers. She’d never before thought of him as a man who needed to lean, but in that moment, she felt as though they were propping each other up.
    “Gray?” she said, the single word a question that encompassed all the thoughts suddenly jammed inside her head. What’s going on? she wanted to ask, Do you feel it, too? But she didn’t have the guts, had never had the guts to do what mattered.
    “I’ll protect you,” he said, the three words punching through her in a heartfelt vow, because she instinctively knew he wasn’t just promising to protect a witness, or potential asset. He was promising to protect her.
    “I know you will,” she said, trying not to make more of this than it really was. He was tired; they both were. The situation had thrown them together, and it had broken down barriers that perhaps would’ve been better left in place. Trying to resurrect some of those barriers, she said, “Because it’s your job.”
    “And because of this,” he replied. Then he tipped his face up, and touched his lips to hers.

Chapter Five
    Mariah froze as heat raced through her veins and an unexpected flare of connection threatened to unlock a torrent of wants and needs too long denied. Her rational brain screamed that there was a cop at the door, and though Gray was the only one watching the in-room surveillance, everything was undoubtedly being caught on tape. More, experience had taught her that desire could make her do very stupid things.
    But as his mouth slanted against hers and his lips exerted subtle suction, teasing hers apart for a touch of tongue, a nip of teeth, she couldn’t find the strength to pull away.
    She hadn’t expected him to kiss her. Or at least not now, not under these circumstances. It seemed out of character for a man like Gray, who might push the boundaries of his position and his boss, but was always aware of himself, always on the job. Yet at the same time she could understand it, had felt—and denied—the chemistry from that first moment they’d met during her initial interrogations, and again whenhe’d rescued her from the cabin and shielded her with his own body.
    Now, realizing from the urgent press of his lips that he felt the same sharp, greedy attraction, she leaned into him, opened to him. And if a piece of her wondered whether this was another layer of manipulation, she told herself to enjoy now, analyze later.
    He groaned when her tongue touched his, a harsh rattle at the back of his throat, and he held himself tense for a moment, as though fighting the mad impulse that had roared up and was riding them both, spurring them on. Mariah knew she should pull away, knew they both should, but she couldn’t make herself break their partial embrace any more than she could force herself to assess his motives.
    Gray’s lips were clever and agile, and far softer than she would have expected, based on what she knew of the man. His skin was cool to the touch, which was definitely what she would’ve expected, but it heated rapidly, bringing an unfamiliar sizzle of feminine power surging through Mariah.
    Going with that power, which made her feel as though she were in control, in charge, she changed the angle of the kiss and added a light scrape of teeth, then feathered a breath along his jaw, and into the soft place behind his ear, where she herself was supersensitive.
    His