Free Danger Mine: A Base Branch Novel by Megan Mitcham

him, and walking backward.
    “I’m not the kind of guy people tickle.”
    “Of course you’re not, but what about when you were a kid?”
    She’d just asked him about his past. He’d wanted her to just a few minutes ago. His tongue thickened. He could go all in or hash it up.
    “Sorry.” Khani whirled around. “I didn’t mean to…never mind.”
    “You’re the first person who’s ever tickled me.”
    Her hand slipped through his fingers. Street let her go for now, feeling more raw than he ever expected. He wanted her to open up, but he never realized how much that asked, because he’d never disclosed things about himself people didn’t already know from circumstance.
    Khani waltzed past the alley with her head high and aimed for the glass-front double doors. Hand on the pull she stopped and pivoted toward him. “Unfasten my top two buttons, but don’t make it obvious.”
    He sure as hell hadn’t expected her to say that, but he’d be a Nancy not to seize the opportunity. Street lowered his mouth and sealed his lips over hers. Her gasp rolled across his tongue, eliciting a groan from the depths of his throat. His knuckles thrummed across her belly. He hit every button on his way to the top.
    One finger slid beneath the thin fabric. His other hand followed the trail, ending on the cool front of the first clasped button. While his fingers worked the metal through the hole, Street worked his tongue across the edge of her mouth. Hers opened in invitation.
    He held back. If he delved into the sweetness of her mouth, he’d lose all control and bonk her on the side of the building. His teeth raked her bottom lip, tugging it into his mouth. The chalky texture of her lipstick shielded her skin from the teasing strokes of his tongue. He longed to strip her mouth of the barrier just like he yearned to dismantle her other defenses. Street sucked her lip to a point, and then released it with a pop.
    Seconds suspended between them. Piled atop one another. Khani blinked. “What the hell was that?”
    “I made it obvious I was kissing you, not that I was unbuttoning your shirt. If you ask me though, the two go hand in hand.”
    Her shoulder-length hair thrashed side to side. “I was going to put the moves on the security guard to get upstairs. You were supposed to be my brother.”
    “You can’t ask me to partially strip you without suffering the consequences. Why didn’t you unfasten your own buttons?”
    “The guard was looking at me. I didn’t want to be conspicuous.”
    “Well, I definitely ruined your plan. But don’t worry, I have another. Just hang back.”

8
    “ H e just about threw us into the elevator.” In case there were any cameras, Khani blocked the knob with her body. The place wasn’t high tech enough to need the decoder. She wiggled the J hook in the lock and glared at Street. “Did you threaten to castrate him?”
    “Nah.” Street shook his head in that slow, sexy way that had her heart free falling into her stomach. Calculating amusement twinkled in his hazel eyes.
    “Well, what did you say?”
    The lock gave. Khani pushed through the door, grabbed Street’s arm and yanked him in behind her before she thought about the ramifications—just like she’d bloody done downstairs. He stepped so close static cracked between them. Literally, the material of her blouse clung to her torso. The wool blend of his pants charged the air—along with his smokin’ physique.
    Though close enough to meld their lips again, he didn’t make the move. His gaze flitted about her face, searching for what, she hadn’t a clue. But what she found in his eyes made his body seem paltry by comparison.
    The more time she spent around him the harder it became to maintain her distance. The issues that prohibited her from being with anyone—even wanting to be with anyone—faded to the background. Her carnal desire rushed forward.
    Desire doesn’t change the facts.
    “I told him you had a thing for roof sex, that