Toni was pissed. Leo had nearly blown her cover when he'd approached her in the parking lot. It didn't get much worse than him calling her by her name while she was on a case. The only thing that had stopped him was her heel jammed into the top of his foot.

Too close, anyone could have heard.

She wondered if he might have done it deliberately and glared at him across the car. He wasn’t paying attention. He sat there, eyes closed, as she drove through the hills to her house.

Damn him!

And why did he have to look so good? Not the way he usually did. Tonight, there was a fierce resolve in the lines on his brow, a set to his jaw that was all business, and his eyes...

They’d gleamed when she turned toward him in the ballroom. Desire had grabbed her by the throat and made her panic with the intensity. Although he'd rented his tux, it was remarkably well-fitted, and he looked peel-off-his-clothes-slowly-and-lick-him-good. Even if Jones hadn’t warned her to get out of the party, she’d have run. Like Rose said, running was something that was coming easier. But the desire to run pissed her off, and she'd direct that ire at the specific cause.

She frowned before she turned toward the front window, concentrating on the winding curves, back to the too-massive home she shared with her mother and sister.

“I know that look, Toni.” A chuckle rumbled from deep in his chest.

“You aren’t even looking at me,” she argued.

Another laugh echoed in her earpiece. “Does he, now? Let me guess. Is it the one where you’re about to murder someone?”

Shit! It had gone silent since they'd gotten into the car and she’d assumed that Jones had turned off her mic once they left the gala. Knowing fellow agents were still monitoring their conversation flushed her cheeks. She was immediately grateful that they’d made most of the drive in silence. Thank goodness they couldn't read her thoughts about what she'd like to do to Leo.

“I’m heading home, turn me off for tonight. We’ll pick this up in the morning when I go for my meeting with Bentley.” There was an annoyed grunt from the seat beside her and she turned toward him. “You have something to say?”

His forehead furrowed and the muscle in his jaw twitched. “Not a damn thing,” Leo growled.

“Wow, who shit in your cornflakes? Glad it’s him in trouble and not me,” Jones laughed.

“That’s because you’re a pussy, Jones.”

“No, but I've seen what a bitch you can be when you’re mad.” He snorted. “Call me in the morning. We’ll get you mic’d up and the van in place again.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Will do.”

Her partner was still laughing as he signed off, the sound vibrating her eardrums. Toni met the other agent’s wife on several occasions. Sweet, demure and very subdued. Exactly what the alpha male needed in his life. But the thought of someone like that made her want to yawn. It would bore her out of her mind. She loved the push-pull she and Leo had. Arguing one moment, making love the next. It was exciting - he was exciting - but that didn’t mean she would tolerate his domineering attitude. They were a team or they weren’t.

Toni tugged the earpiece out and dropped it into the console of the car as she slowed, turning into her driveway, waiting for the electric gate to open.

“Why were you even there? Do you realize what you almost did?” Leo opened his mouth to speak, but she didn’t give him the opportunity. “You almost said my name. You’d have blown my cover if I hadn't done something.”

“I…” he paused as realization dawned. “Shit.”

“Yeah, shit. Do you really want me to step down so badly that you'd jeopardize my career?” Toni shook her head. “Why were you there? I got my ticket from the Bureau. How did you get one? They sold out months ago.”

“You know as well as I do, when you wave a badge around, people let you in almost anywhere to prove they aren’t hiding anything.” He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it, making him even sexier. “I’m sorry, Toni. I was mad, not thinking straight after I heard the senator make a comment about your ass and…I can’t believe I did that.” She appreciated the apology but his acceptance would have been far better. “But you realize if you hadn’t taken this case–”

“You still haven't told me why you went there.” She didn't want to get into the argument about her job again.

“My missing girl. Her jackass boyfriend mentioned she’d been talking about running away. Troubles with her mother. I went to follow up on it.”

“You believe him?” Her mind tried to connect pieces she wasn’t sure were part of the same puzzle. It was the danger of her job, wanting to see monsters in every shadow.

Leo shrugged and shook his head. “He’s a cocky playboy, but he's not smart enough to pull off a kidnapping. At least, not alone. I need to find out if she stayed there, what Bentley might remember about her, conversations they may have had…things like that.”

She parked the car in front of the house and Rose stepped out onto the porch, waiting for her. When Leo exited the vehicle, a smile spread across her sister’s face.

Great, now the two of them would gang up on her about her job again.

Guilt dug in, settling below her heart. Rose adored Leo. She’d told Toni more than once how excited she was that he would eventually be her brother-in-law, but just because he'd come back home with her didn’t mean she would let their troubles be so easily forgotten. They still had too many unresolved issues looming over their relationship. First and foremost, Toni was not giving up her undercover position until this case closed. She would step down on her terms when she was ready.

“Hey, Leo.” Rose stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and he pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “Good to see you again. Sooner than I expected.” She gave him a wink.

Toni clenched her teeth at her sister's unapologetic conspiracy right in front of her. “He’s not staying.”

Rose shot her sister a warning glance. “You’re welcome here whenever you want,” she countered.

“Appreciate the invitation, Rose.” He cast a guarded look at Toni. “Not sure everyone feels the same.”

Jealousy bit into Toni at the connection her sister and Leo shared, chewing on the insecurities she tried to hide. She wanted to let this go, to return to the way things had been between them, but they’d been pretending this day wouldn’t come, that it was far into their future. Now that they faced the reality of it, she wondered if their entire relationship would crumble under the pressure.

Rose laughed and tucked her arm through his, turning to head inside. “She’ll come around.”

“Right here, assholes.” Toni stalked past both of them, through the front door, letting it drop closed behind her. It was rude and childish but she didn’t want to deal with either of them in her current mood.

“Uh-oh.” Rose lowered her voice as Leo opened the door and they followed Toni into the house. “What’d you do now? Or was it me this time?”

“Could be so many things; I’m not sure where to begin at this point.”

“Well, in that case, I'll let you get on with your groveling while I finish getting ready for my parent conferences this week.”

Toni ignored them both and started up the long staircase toward her bedroom. The patter of Leo’s shoes over the granite tiles followed her but she didn’t bother turning around as she entered the suite. Exhaustion fell over her, sucking her into it further, gradually, like an undertow, until she wanted to give in. Drowning would be preferable to exhausting herself by treading water. She wanted a hot shower and to crawl into her warm bed. The weight of the last few months - dealing with her father’s sudden death, the funeral arrangements, her mother’s grief, not to mention the regular stress of her job, and now, Leo's complaints about it - were more than she wanted to carry any longer. As much as she pretended she was able to handle it all, she needed a break.

She heard Leo enter her room, behind her. He was going to have to leave.

Before she spoke, Leo pulled her back toward him, pressing her against the closed door as his warm hands cupped the sides of her face and he lowered his mouth to hers. She gasped in surprise as the kiss stole her breath as well as her will to protest. Heat exploded in her belly, spreading like wildfire through the rest of her. His lips moved over hers as he shifted, and pressed her body between the door and the hard wall of his chest. Her hands, caught between them, clung to the lapels of his jacket, pulling him closer. Every plane of him pressing against her, making her ache with need, stoking the fire inside. His tongue plunged into her mouth and she moaned softly. His mouth released hers, moving to taste the sensitive hollows along her neck. The rasp of his jaw against her smooth skin sending longing spiraling from her head to her toes, leaving her grasping for control.

“I’m sorry, Toni. I can’t believe the danger I almost put you in.” He shook his head, his lips never leaving her skin, nipping at the hollow where her neck and shoulder met, making her shiver against him. “If anything happened to you, I couldn't…”

“Don’t,” she whispered, letting her head drop back against the door. “Don't go there. Please.”

She didn't want to point fingers or lay blame. She didn't want their jobs to be an area of contention between them any longer. Leo shoved his jacket from his shoulders and she let it fall behind him before reaching for his shirt.

His hands slid over her back, bared by her dress, tracing the length of her spine. Goosebumps broke out over her skin and she shivered against him, her fingers barely able to work properly as she slid the buttons of his shirt open. What was it about this man that turned her into a quivering mess of yearning?

“You’re taking too long,” he murmured. His words fell against her flesh as he reached up and gripped both sides of the shirt, ripping the rest of the buttons loose and freeing it from his pants. He shrugged the scrap of cloth to the floor and flicked at the front of his slacks, kicking off his shoes.

“Isn’t that tux rented?”

“Yeah, so?”

Toni snorted a laugh. “Guess we’ll be replacing that shirt tomorrow.” Her hands brushed his away from the fly of his pants.

He let her take control of the final vestiges of his clothing and they were cast aside. Leo stood before her, nude and content to outline her collarbone, following the material draped along the front of the dress with his index finger, exposing her rising swell of her breasts to his perusal. He was almost eye-level thanks to the high heels and his blue eyes gleamed with the same desire burning through her.

“You still have too many clothes on.” His gaze dipped momentarily over the curve of her breast, tracing it, before plucking at the spaghetti strap of her dress.

“Do I?” She arched a brow and let her gaze travel over him, relishing every ounce of her feminine power as the muscles of his chest flexed involuntarily at her appraisal, his erection straining toward her. She cupped him in her palm, her thumb brushing over the wetness at the tip. “I’d do something about that but you’d have to let me move first.”

Her fingers closed over him and she didn’t miss the way his hands clenched into fists at his sides. A pained groan broke from his throat as his eyes fell closed. She stroked him, reveling as his muscles tightened, fighting to control his reaction to her. So focused on giving him pleasure, she didn't realize he'd released the zipper on the side of her gown.

“Too much,” he ground out, tugging the strap down her shoulder and watching the dress fall into a pool of satin at her feet.

His hands followed her curves, glancing over her ribs to the indentation of her waist before swelling out over her hips. Leo brought a palm up to cup her breast, the pad of his thumb brushing over the taut nipple. Dipping his head, he sampled her, sucking at the beaded flesh. Pleasure shot-gunned through her body, making her back bow, pressing her into him. His hungry laugh washed over her and he sucked harder, his hand moving over the flat plane of her abdomen, slipping beneath the satin underwear and finding her ready for him.

Leo teased her, taking her close to the brink then holding steady only to carry her with him again to the edge. She rode him, her fingers digging into his shoulders as her hips bucked into his hand, his palm grinding against her as she begged him for more. With one sweep , he pushed her underwear down her thighs and lifted her thigh over his hip, positioning himself between her legs, the tip of him pressed against her core where he paused.

“This doesn’t change things, Toni. I still hate you being undercover.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and wound her other leg around his waist, lowering herself on him, taking him into her completely. With a sigh, Toni dropped her forehead to his shoulder, letting him bear her weight against the door. His hips jerked, moving within her as he tried to hold back his release. Her body clutched his, begging for more, wanting him to drive himself into her, to give himself over to the passion of their lovemaking.

“Toni?” Tension strained his voice.

His body trembled. Or maybe that was hers. She couldn’t tell anymore where one of them ended and the other began. She moved against him and he sucked in a harsh breath. Tears of desperation filled her eyes, at least that was what she'd admit to.

“I know you do. We’ll talk about it after.” She caught his lower lip between her teeth, nipping gently. “Less fighting, more fucking.”