myself.
Staring him straight in the eyes, I thrust out my chin. “One
what?”
“You’ll soon see.” His silky promise only made me hotter.
“So tell me, why aren’t you yourself?”
You. Your eyes. Your lips. Your sexy voice. Your rock-hard
body…everything about you. Plus your involvement with BDSM—whips, chains, and
kinky sex—which I know nothing about. More than likely I couldn’t handle the
shit you’re into, but I still want to strip you naked and ride you like an
insatiable banshee.
“I don’t know. It’s been an exhausting day.”
What a chicken-shit.
James slid his finger from my ear, leaving a trail of
tingling flesh all the way to my cheek. The walls of the elevator seemed to
close in all around me as a dizzying wave of heat rushed from my head clear to
my toes.
“I think it’s more
than that, gorgeous,” he murmured in a rich, inveigling timbre. “Someone, most
likely Drake, told you what goes on at Genesis.”
Darting a nervous gaze to the floor, I didn’t answer; didn’t
want him to sense how equally aroused and frightened I was of the things he did
at Mika’s club.
“I was serious when I said I’d show you around. You’re not
afraid are you?”
Terrified.
“Of course not. I’m simply not interested,” I replied
coldly, masking the hum of intrigue singing through me.
“Oh, I think you’re very interested.”
Wrapping me in his arms, James pulled me tight against his
rigid chest. Staring at his lips, I longed for a kiss…just one taste of the
sinful seduction oozing off him. Dragging my attention to his eyes…lust, fiery
and intense reflected back at me. Need twisted in my belly. James wasn’t immune
to this strange and blistering chemistry between us.
“Jesus,” he murmured, inching his mouth closer to mine.
Parting my lips, I tasted his warm breath on my tongue, a
provocative precursor to his masculine spice.
“You’re so fucking beautiful.” His voice was low and raspy,
and it made me shiver.
Just as he leaned in to kiss me, the doors of the elevator
opened. James stepped back. I felt as if I’d been stripped naked and tossed out
in the snow when he broke the fiery spell.
James gestured for me to go first. I stepped into the
parking garage dragging in a shallow and frustrated breath. Moving in next to
me, James dropped his broad palm to the small of my back, stoking the embers
back to life. I savored the sweet, delicious burn while sexual energy pinged
through my cells.
“You
do
normally have someone walk you to your car
at night, right?” he asked, scanning our deserted surroundings.
“No. The garage is perfectly safe.”
He grunted in a tone of disbelief. “Do you have a gun?”
“No.” I chuckled at his over-protective mien.
“A Taser?”
“No.”
“Mace? Please tell me you at least carry mace.”
“No. There are security cameras everywhere,” I explained,
pointing out the video devices. “Besides, the hospital has a guard on duty. I
see him up here every once in a while.”
“That’s not enough protection, Liz. Christ, you’re a woman
alone in a vacant parking garage. You’re a prime target for muggers or rapists.
Anyone could jump out from behind one of those pillars and—”
“I know you’re a cop, but you don’t have to be so paranoid.
Nothing’s ever happened and nothing ever will.”
“Ex-cop,” he corrected with a hint of annoyance. Squaring
his shoulders, James puffed out his chest, all self-righteous and full of
himself. “I’m not paranoid. You can’t claim that nothing will happen. You don’t
know that for certain. It’s fucking dangerous to walk to your car at two in the
morning, unescorted.”
“Well, I don’t usually walk to my car at two in the morning;
it’s usually a little after midnight. And I
am
being escorted. By
you,” I jabbed with a sassy grin. “No offense, but I feel just as safe as I
always