Chapter Six
A deep, primal, tingling sensation erupted low in Cassie’s belly. Currents, warm and wonderful, snaked up and down her torso, encircling her neck and shoulders. Then the worst thing imaginable happened.
Her legs wobbled.
Oh, no. Please, God, no.
Mom always said that when a man makes you go weak in the knees, he’s the one.
Mike’s lips were warm on hers, his breath fanning her face. His delicious scent invaded her every pore. Something hard pressed against her belly, but she couldn’t tell if it was Mike’s arousal or one of the dozen pieces of police-issued hardware on his duty belt.
As his lips feathered hers, he slipped one hand into her hair, pulling it out of the hair band. Despite the overpowering way he had her pinned, his touch was gentle, caressing. When he lifted his gaze to hers, it was hungry. He pulled her closer, her nipples hardening on contact with his chest.
She willingly melted into his arms, sliding her hands up his chest to link them around his neck. The kiss grew hotter, frantic. He took, she gave. He moaned, a hoarse, sexy sound that sent chills up and down her spine. All Cassie’s inhibitions about Mike being a cop faded into oblivion.
For several minutes, he slanted his lips across her mouth at every possible angle, tasting, caressing with erotic swipes of his tongue. Cassie kneaded the corded muscles of Mike’s neck, loving the way they rippled beneath her fingertips. She wanted to rip off his shirt and tear that thick Kevlar vest off him to get to his bare chest.
Very large, very warm hands slid beneath her shirt and across her bare back. A moment later, his hands were cupping her now-tender, aching breasts. She arched into his hands as he trailed his lips down her cheek to her jaw. Everywhere his hot mouth touched her trembling skin, she burned.
Through the fabric of her running bra, he flicked at her nipples, driving them to hardened peaks until she thought she’d die from need.
Mike lowered his mouth to her neck, then lower still, dropping light kisses on the curves of her breasts above the low neckline of her shirt. He fastened his mouth on one of her nipples, sucking hungrily at the fabric covering her super-sensitized breasts. She moaned and pulled him tighter to her. He bit and nipped until she was ready to scream. God, but she wanted his mouth and tongue on her bare breasts. She inhaled breath after ragged breath as he alternately laved both her nipples with his tongue and teeth, massaging her breasts, squeezing them gently.
With his knee, Mike parted her legs and hauled her against his upper thigh. His impressive erection pressed against her hip, undeniable proof he was as aroused as she was. He took her mouth again in another heated kiss, wild with so much unbridled urgency her belly quivered.
If this was how the man kissed…
In the distance, a car horn blared.
With a groan, Mike released her, pulling away until there was a good two feet between them.
He stared at her hungrily, taking deep breaths. She, too, could barely breathe. Her pulse continued hammering away, nearly drowning out a car as it rounded the bend and drove past them.
Cassie licked her lips, tasting him, smelling him all around her, willing him to reach out and kiss her again. But it was obvious from the look on his face that touching her now was the last thing on his mind.
Dark brows drew together, blue eyes flashing with something akin to anger. Mike took another step back, clearing his throat and dragging his hand down his face. But not before lowering his gaze to where Cassie was certain her shirt was damp from where his mouth and tongue had ravaged her nipples.
“You should go.” His tone was curt.
Cassie widened her eyes. What the hell? He might as well have slapped her. One minute the man aroused her with passion she didn’t know existed, and the next he treated her as if she had the plague. Gritting her teeth, it was all she could do not to belt him a good one. Fury spiked her blood with more adrenaline than a quadruple shot of espresso.
“Do you really think you can grope and manhandle me, then discard me like a tramp two seconds later?” And make me start to feel something for you. “If I could spit nails through your body armor, I’d gladly swallow a whole box.”
Mike regarded her with about the same interest he’d give a piece of lint. Here she was a veritable ball of unchained, revved-up nerve endings and he stood there all cool and unaffected. It took every ounce of restraint not to burst into tears. She’d lowered her defenses and look where it had gotten her. Clearly her lust, or feelings, or whatever it was, was one-sided.
Fine. If he can turn it off, so can I.
Bastard.
…
“Just when I was beginning to think you were different, you go and reaffirm my belief you’re nothing but a pig-headed, badge-heavy, chauvinistic cop.” With a disgusted huff, Cassie crossed her arms over her chest.
Shit. I really am a shit.
Mike tilted his head back a moment and blew out a breath before meeting Cassie’s icy glare.
“Cassie, I—” Am scared shitless of letting you in, he wanted to say, but didn’t. Couldn’t.
The pained, angry look in her eyes tugged at his heart, making him feel every bit the asshole he was. He had nothing to blame but his own stupid, Neanderthal libido. And my own fears.
Cassie clamped her jaws tight and turned her back to him.
“C’mon, Raven. We’re outta here.”
She pointed to the Trail Blazer and Raven shot into the back of the SUV. Cassie slammed the rear door shut and stormed to the driver’s side. After getting in, she slammed that door shut as well.
The engine started, but before she put the truck in gear, Mike hustled to the open window and rested his forearms on the ledge. As she rammed a pair of dark sunglasses on, he glimpsed the hint of tears glistening in her eyes.
You did that, you dumbass.
“I’m sorry,” he said, trying like hell to put every ounce of the sincere regret he felt into his words. “I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m sorry. It was…unprofessional.”
Cassie’s hands shook slightly where they gripped the steering wheel.
“Forget it,” she said tightly. “I won’t tell your girlfriend.”
He smiled. “Don’t have one of those.”
Above the dark sunglasses, Cassie’s brow lifted. “Sure you don’t.”
Sensing she was about to put the pedal to the metal, Mike lifted his arms from the window. Sure enough, the Trail Blazer shot off down the road toward town.
Mike watched her, shaking his head, amazed at what a jerk he could still be.
It must have been the feel of her soft skin that had gotten his blood boiling. Or her soft, full breasts fitting so perfectly in his hands. Kissing her had been his final mistake, turning his brain to mud. If that car horn hadn’t blasted some common sense into his muddy, drugged-out brain, he would have gone horizontal with her right there on a public road! Damn, he never should have touched her.
But he couldn’t help himself.
Mike headed back to his Explorer and started the engine, cranking the AC to the max. He was sweating like a pig, but he honestly didn’t know if it was due to the outside temperature or the way Cassie twisted him into knots.
Yeah, he’d definitely hurt her, but he’d needed space or he would have given in to a woman he knew virtually nothing about. He still couldn’t go there, and he suspected it would take a miracle to get him to open up to a woman again. The thought of getting stomped into the mud again was enough to make his chest go tight.
Major sexual attraction aside, Cassie struck him as a woman who could take care of herself, and he admired that. Even if she couldn’t admit she needed his help changing a flat.
He’d pissed her off good, particularly his crack about breaking a nail. He could see it in the way her eyes blazed, hot enough to burn off his nuts. While she’d been struggling with the lug wrench it had been all he could do not to stare at her shapely toned body, especially that incredible ass beneath those skin-tight hot pink shorts.
Mike ran his fingers over his stubbly chin.
Stupid, Flannery. Real stupid.
Despite his concerns, Mike unexpectedly found his gut tightening at the thought of Cassie getting hurt. Truth was, he’d been scared by how close she’d come to getting killed, and that bothered him on a personal level. Why that was, he couldn’t fathom.
Maybe she was running away from an ex-boyfriend or husband.
Cassie married?
If an estranged husband tracked her to Hopewell Springs, things could get ugly. He knew firsthand how quickly domestic squabbles could turn deadly.
He slowed the Explorer, waving to a father and son walking on the shoulder and carrying fishing poles. As he drove past, Mike wondered if he’d ever have children of his own. Oddly, that question brought his thoughts back to Cassie. He still couldn’t get the image of her holding that baby in the Nest out of his head.
Don’t even think it, bonehead. Not with a woman hiding something. Been there, done that. Got severely raked over the coals.
Yet as he gunned the Explorer back toward town, the more-than-memorable vision of Cassie’s spectacular ass in those sinfully tight running shorts invaded his brain.
And stayed there.