Chapter 8
For the first time since Tanner had shown up like the living incarnation of Ben’s rawest sexual fantasies, the tension in his shoulders eased enough he could draw a clear breath through the persistent chokehold gripping his throat.
Lifting his champagne off the bar, he kept her centered in his sights, just off left in the middle of the dance floor, eyes sparkling as she grinned at a blushing Trey. It was downright bizarre how fast the kid shot up the past few months. Though from the way he held her in a stiff ballroom stance, he was still fighting a serious case of teenage awkwardness, staring at his feet as they swayed to the wedding band’s halfway decent rendition of The Things We Do for Love.
Ben dipped a quick nod. Good enough for now. He cut a hard glare toward the mile-long dessert station running the curve of the back curtain, tipping his champagne to his lips for a cool sip. In fact, if the call were his, Tanner would stay right where she was for the remainder of the reception.
Adder still stood beside Moira, smiling along with whatever she was whispering in his ear, and even though biting his tongue while that scene unfolded didn’t increase Ben’s comfort level any, at this stage in the game, he was happy to take whatever small advantage he could get.
All night, he’d been relegated to picketing the perimeter, maintaining his distance as Tanner moved from place to place on Adder’s arm. And every time the shithead touched her, it was all Ben could do to fight off the loud voice in his head that roared Mine!
A frustrated growl grated behind his breastbone, and he shifted uneasily against the bar.
The infuriating woman had everything so twisted around inside him, it was a wonder he could still tell which direction faced east.
Tanner wasn’t his and she never would be.
Cramming two fingers along his Adam’s apple, he jerked at his tie before slipping the tight button digging into his throat. After the agony his mistakes had brought him, he’d rather dive headfirst into a scorpion-filled pit than to ever go that route again.
Though that sure hadn’t stopped her from coming up with the perfect way to torment him, had it? Sticking close to the one person he’d warned her time and again could not be trusted. Acting as if she and Adder were a couple in front of everyone in the room. And the craziest part was, the more she succeeded in pissing him off, the more Ben found her all that much harder to resist.
Good Christ Almighty. Dealing with women should be the first item listed in the Black Ops Handbook under the chapter on Successful Torture Techniques. Yes, the effect she had on him made him angry. And yes, the way he’d reacted when he’d first laid eyes on her wasn’t her fault it was his.
But that glimmer of expectation he’d found in her gaze wasn’t something he could afford to mess with, and if she wanted him to work Trey’s case with a clear head then, goddamn it, neither could she.
Tanner Jones made him think of things.
She lifted Trey’s hand over his head and the kid rolled his eyes before ducking under her arm.
Things Ben had spent five long years trying to forget.
Straightening her elbows, she pushed Trey back a step and then brought them together in a swinging dance.
Yet one look at her, and it was all he could do not to remember. Not to lose himself in the muck of self-pity and regret. Even as he stood here and the last of his willpower trickled like water through his fingers, and he struggled over how fucking nice it had been for the two of them to connect.
Tossing her head with a laugh, Tanner whirled Trey in a clumsy spin, and Ben’s gaze fell to the feminine curve of her bare lower back.
Jesus, an entire article within the Chicago City Code of Laws & Ordinances could’ve been dedicated to that dress. Returning his glass to his lips, he doused the arid desert riding the back of his throat. The way it gloved every inch of her, inciting a riot in his imagination. Those goddamned red heels making him hard whenever she crossed the room.
Instead of going with the same bright red lipstick that reminded him of a circus clown on every other bridesmaid, she’d blanked out her lips with a color that was closer to her natural skin tone.
He shouldn’t have even noticed, but it distracted him. Gave him ideas that served no purpose rambling around inside his head. Ever since she’d caught his eye outside the ballroom, the only thing he could think about was taking a rough swipe of his thumb over her mouth.
A layer of heavy shadow coated her eyelids—something else that never should’ve snagged his attention. But rather than coming off as too much, the end result had darkened her blueberry irises to near black.
The effect made them mysterious. Glitter in the low light like two razor-sharp bits of glass. And did a fine job of turning the rest of her into nothing but a long slim column of red.
Like a jeweled dagger.
Arousal tightened his body at the thought of messing her up. Fisting the bow at her nape so he could peel off that dress and discover what, if anything, she wore underneath.
Dressed that way, she was exquisite. Refined. Dangerous as all hell with attempted murder in her eyes whenever she accidentally glanced in his direction.
At another time, in another place, he wouldn’t have wasted a split second accepting that wicked challenge in her gaze. His dick thickened and pulsed along his thigh in preparation to make good on that threat, and he filled his lungs to expel a slow, agonizing breath.
She’d gotten to him. Bad. In a way that had him second-guessing every hard and fast rule he’d ever made.
Draining the last of his champagne, he set the empty glass on the bar. Fuck, if she wasn’t the most intoxicating thing he’d ever seen.
Movement snagged the corner of his eye, and in a moment that was scarcer than every drug dealer in the metropolitan area strolling into the precinct to confess their crimes, Kelly left Eden’s side and approached the bar.
“Hey, Buddy.” He slapped Ben’s back and pivoted toward the dance floor. “Couldn’t help but notice you seem to be keeping to yourself this weekend. Care to share what’s on your mind?”
Sparing a quick glance at his best friend, Ben cocked a brow. Though he hadn’t been looking forward to this conversation, he wasn’t dumb enough to believe it would never happen, either. Kelly was too sharp to have missed how Ben had mentally checked out. Hell, his knack for reading people was what made Kelly Riordan the best damn homicide detective in the city.
The flip side was, he wasn’t the only one who’d topped out as the frontrunner in his profession, and after a thorough mull over his options, Ben was confident he’d prepped a decent enough excuse he wouldn’t be forced to lie directly to Kelly’s face.
“It’s this latest case D’Avella handed me.” He worked one shoulder in a shrug. “You know how it is. Sometimes the details crawl under your skin and refuse to let go.”
“Shit, sorry to hear that.” Kelly raked his long hair off his brow. “Anything I can do to help?”
The music ended and scattered applause came from near the stage. The same weary tension Ben had been shouldering like twenty pounds of extra ammo crept into his neck, and he darted a frown from Tanner to Adder and back.
Muted conversations floated through the sudden quiet as Ben waited for either of them to make a move.
Laughter. The pop of a cork. A singing chime of fine crystal.
Rearranging themselves on the stage, the band members swapped out their guitars and strummed the beginning chords of Maroon 5’s Daylight before the guy heading up the song stepped in front of the mic.
Whooping in excitement, Trey and Tanner threw their hands in the air and resumed their dance. From across the room, Adder’s gaze narrowed and shifted from the two of them to Ben.
He grunted. Vaheed Shahzar or not, the guy was a gigantic asshat. Ben squinted as the hint of a smile curved one corner of Adder’s lips. And what in the hell was that silent message supposed to mean?
He shot another frown at the dance floor and, without any warning, recognition slammed into his gut so hard, his lungs seized. The aged photo Molly had given him swam before his eyes, and Ben clamped down hard on his knee-jerk response to sprint for the center of the room.
Goddamn it, no. That couldn’t be right. He stole another peek at Adder before refocusing on Tanner and Trey. Holy shit. That lying, lowlife, two-faced son of a bitch.
“She’s beautiful, Ben.”
He flinched and swung a dark scowl toward Kelly, scrambling to come up with the right thing to say. Jesus, if Ben’s instincts were right and his best friend picked up on his discomfort, the entire night could easily take a flaming dive straight into the crapper. A desperate growl threatened to tear through his chest, and he gritted his teeth to contain it. Besides that, hauling Adder in with nothing more than a ten-year-old computer-generated picture as evidence wouldn’t convict him of a goddamn thing.
Thank Christ, he’d kept his mouth shut. And the same held true when it came to how Eden and Kelly had kept their honeymoon destination a secret. A quick search of the room to make sure she was secure, and Ben answered Kelly with a tight nod. Only a few short hours and they’d be outside Adder’s reach. “Your new wife makes a lovely bride.”
Goddamn it, how could he have missed the resemblance? Ben peeked at Adder from under his brows. That greasy snake had been one step ahead ever since he’d shown up at Smith manor.
But not anymore. The second Ben was able, he was taking Molly off every other case on her desk and asking her to track down every last detail involving Valentina Fernández.
Kelly’s low chuckle came off as don’t be dumb. “You’ll get no argument from me, but I wasn’t talking about Eden.”
Oh, for Christ’s sake. Sweat beaded and trickled down Ben’s back even as he swiped his hand down his face. He already had enough confusing shit shoving around inside his head. The last thing he needed was Kelly busting his chops about Tanner. “You’ve lost your damn mind.”
“I just willingly got married and there wasn’t a single firearm involved.” Kelly raised a shrewd brow. “Trust me, you’re not the only one questioning my sanity. But also I think it’s time we face facts, Buddy.” He smirked. “I hate to break it to ya, but Tanner’s got you by the balls.”
Irritation fired across every synapse in Ben’s brain, and he resisted the urge to seize Kelly by his crisp, black lapels and lay him out flat. Now was not the time or place. “This habit you got of throwing my words back in my face makes me want to punch your lights out.”
Kelly snorted. “As if that would ever happen.”
And yet Ben couldn’t deny, if he wanted to exploit the small break he’d gotten in the case, this conversation just might provide the exact distraction he needed to keep Kelly off track.
Jesus, he hated all this scheming. Hated the way he’d been left no choice but to constantly twist the facts. Crossing his arms, Ben studied his best friend past the edge of his lowered lashes. But if Kelly already assumed he’d been off his game because of Tanner, there was no doubt capitalizing on that misdirection would be Ben’s best tack…regardless of how close to the truth Kelly might be.
“You’re seeing ghosts, Riordan. I’m not interested in getting involved with anyone, much less a woman who’s so…” Shit, what was the word?
Frustrating? Argumentative just to piss him off?
A harsh breath scraped the back of Ben’s throat. “Difficult.”
“Okay.” Bottom lip jutting forward, Kelly nodded as if he agreed, and yet something about the way he scratched the side of his nose told Ben he would’ve been smart to strap on a Kevlar vest under his suit. “But doesn’t that logic seem a little backward to you? I mean, if she’s easy, chances are good she won’t be amazing. And if she’s amazing, I’m here to tell ya, she damn sure isn’t gonna be easy.”
A slow blink, and Ben kept his face deadpan, even though he had to grudgingly admit Kelly had a point. Of the few women he’d ever gotten close to—his mother and sister, Felicity before he’d said too much and she’d followed him straight into the bowels of hell—none of them had been anywhere close to what Ben would’ve described as laid-back.
Each of them had been gifted with an inner strength, were beyond complicated. When pressed, they’d each had a stubborn, aggravating streak they’d exercised in their own special way.
And he’d loved all three of those women hard and fierce right up ʼtil the end. “You’re a real piece of shit, you know that? Some days, I hate your guts.”
Kelly’s brow twitched. “I love you too, man. In the most non-bromantic sorta way.” He slanted his head toward the stage. “But in case you’re still on the fence, looks to me like its time you made a decision.”
Ben snapped his eyes toward the dance floor and rage tore through his midsection like the rapid-fire spray off a Parabellum submachine gun. No. Fingers clenching, he lowered his fists to his sides. Goddamn it, he’d moved his eyes off of Tanner for two seconds and that viper had moved in to strike.
Twirling her around the dance floor, Adder kept his palm centered on her bare lower back, but his hands didn’t belong anywhere within a hundred klicks of her body. There was no fucking way.
Locking his knees, Ben drew a deep breath against the driving impulse to march across the floor and snap the fucker’s knuckles one after the next. That maggot wouldn’t know the truth if it walked up beside him and cracked him across the jaw with a set of brass knuckles.
The music altered to a slower tempo, and Adder tugged her close. Easing his cheek down to hers, he whispered something in her ear. Jesus, Ben would’ve loved to get him alone and beat a confession out of him, connect the dots and confirm his suspicions without a shadow of a doubt. But until that time came, there wasn’t a single fucking thing he could do.
No, dammit. Why did he always find himself trapped in his position? For Christ’s sake, what had happened to his solitary, contained, a-place-for-everything-and-everything-in-its-place life?
“Exactly how much time did you think you had?” Slipping his hands in his pants pockets, Kelly rocked forward on his feet. “Any man here can see Tanner’s a complete knock-out. Even me, Ben. She’s smart, driven, trust worthy. Anyone who’s ever met her can tell she’s got a good heart.” He shrugged. “I guess the only question left is who gets to be the lucky guy.”
Dammit.
Dropping his chin to his chest, Ben gritted his teeth. But that wasn’t even the worst of it, and he jammed his thumb and index finger into his eye sockets to scrub the image of Adder’s lap dance from his mind.
Whatever excuses he’d fed her, whatever lame explanations he’d come up with to justify what he’d done, Tanner had believed every last word. Ben had witnessed the way she’d smiled and held Adder’s face after the ceremony with his own two eyes.
All while he stood on the sidelines. Nothing to say for himself. Too bound up in past hurts to protect her from a threat that was less than ten feet away.
“Well, Eden and I are probably gonna take off soon.” Another slap to the back of Ben’s shoulder, and he lifted his head as Kelly smiled. “Thanks for being my best man. Have a good night, Buddy.”
Good night, his ass. Ben aimed a squint at Kelly as he turned and strolled across the room toward Eden. More like, the guy had dedicated the past few months to a crash course in how to manipulate people, compliments of his scheming, revenge-for-hire wife.
Ben shifted his gaze back to Tanner, his blood heating to the point of boiling in his veins. Adder swayed her to the music as his thumb stroked a slow path across her spine.
Enough. Shoving away from the bar, Ben closed the distance in a few long strides. He was done playing the silent protector while this bullshit unfolded. He may fall well outside the range of what Tanner deserved, but when it came to her, he was the lesser of two evils by a margin that rivaled the Cumberland Gap.
Rapping a hard finger on Adder’s shoulder, Ben waited for him to turn around. Their footsteps halted, and a frown drew Tanner’s brows together as Ben jerked his head toward the dessert table. “Walk it off.”
Best he could do given the circumstances, and if Adder hesitated or made a fuss, Ben would be only too happy to show him how bad life could get when he fooled with things that weren’t his.
One hand propped on her hip, Tanner glanced between them before she aimed a lethal glare at Ben. “What are you doing?”
“I’m asking you to dance.” He offered her his palm. “Just a few times around the floor, Tanner. Nothing to be afraid of.”
The drill sergeant in his head called him out for being a big, fat liar. Having the woman in his arms was the most daunting suggestion he’d come up with all year. But it wasn’t like she’d given him a choice. She was not spending another second cozying up with that prick.
“Afraid?” She boosted her chin in the exact way Ben had expected. With the same determined angle that said he’d ticked her off and she wasn’t about to run from a fight. “Don’t flatter yourself.” She peeked at Adder and sighed. “Give me a second, Casper. This won’t take long.”
Ben grunted. Only the rest of the night.
“Fair enough.” Adder raised his palms and backed away, retreating toward the bar.
Which was where he could stay. Twiddling his fingers, Ben held Tanner’s gaze. Or better yet, the jackass could take a header into the lake and swim back across the Atlantic, far as he was concerned.
Lips set in an uncompromising line, Tanner finally stepped forward and smacked her palm into his.
Ben pulled her near enough to make a point, yet maintained a sufficient amount of distance he wouldn’t embarrass himself by having her plastered against him.
Didn’t work.
Her silky skin shifted under his palm, and he internally cursed. The light scent she wore wove through his senses like a goddamned island paradise, and had him conjuring images of her running naked down a sandy stretch of beach.
Christ, he was in trouble. The woman was a mixture of fresh air and glistening turquoise water. A trace of something fruity that mingled with her feminine musk and had him wanting to take a long deliberate inhale down the side of her throat.
“So, you got my attention.” She kept her gaze riveted on some distant point over his left shoulder. “What do you want?”
Good question. A fucking excellent question he couldn’t begin to answer even if he tried.
“To apologize.” Something he seemed to be doing with increasing regularity, though the irritation of shoving that phrase past his lips didn’t hold a candle compared to the other issues currently riding his back.
Speaking with her so close downgraded the hell out of live combat to a Sunday stroll through the park. Two words, and he was forced to breathe her in, and the way she filled his lungs made him doubt if his body had ever before performed the basics of respiration. “You can quit spending time with that asshole. Message received.”
Closing her eyes, she shook her head. A few steps, and some of the tension leaked from her body. Rather than holding her arm to the side, she bent her elbow and rested their hands on his chest. “It was the way you looked at me. Before the wedding. Dumb as it sounds, you hurt my feelings.”
Hell, he knew that. He peered down at her lowered lashes, two dark fans feathering her cheeks. A blind man would’ve noticed the wide blue hope in her eyes that first time she’d glanced in his direction.
But shutting it down had seemed like the best option. The only option.
Right up ʼtil the irate confusion she’d shot at him had landed like a swift upper-cut to his diaphragm, and for some fucked up reason the only thing that mattered was how he could get that light back into her gaze. “My heart had stopped, Tanner, and I was concerned it might never start beating.”
She snapped her eyes to his, filled with everything he’d been craving, and he quickly stared over the top of her head before they had a repeat of what had led them to this place to begin with.
“It’s taking everything in me right now not to throw a right cross at your perfectly square jaw.”
Yep. That pretty much summed up the fix he was in from start to finish.
For him to be dabbling in things better left unsaid was wrong. Irresponsible. He’d gotten lost inside that rabbit hole once before. Gotten lost and had to pay for it in a way no man should’ve ever had to face.
Another trip, especially with a woman whose middle name spelled trouble, and chances were high he’d never find his way back out again. “That doesn’t mean you should spend the rest of the night flirting with danger.”
Another sigh, and she softened against him even more. Her curves molded to his body as she lifted on her toes, and he gritted his teeth as her breasts dragged a warm, tempting path up his chest.
One of her hands slid behind his neck, fingers clenching, and he nearly sheared off a layer of enamel as she brought her lips to his ear. “Did it ever occur to you that not everything I do with Casper is actually what it seems?”
Oh, hell no. He jerked back from her so fast, she stumbled forward. A slight gasp hitched in her throat as he cinched her waist to steady her feet.
Dammit, he should’ve known there was a hidden agenda behind why she’d wanted to spend her time with Adder, and if Ben had to guess, whatever this was about had everything to do with what she’d been hinting at in his truck.
For Christ’s sake, he didn’t even know where to start untangling that mess. If Adder turned out to be Shahzar—shit, even if he didn’t—the stubborn woman was bound to end up neck deep in a game she would lose. “If you think you’re using him in some screwy scheme, he knows, Tanner. Count on it.”
The guy had already tricked everyone into believing his lies of omission. Ten years Adder had been a part of Dirty Deeds, and whatever his being here was really about, Ben had zero doubts he’d already seen Tanner coming.
“Keep your voice down.” Tipping her head, she smiled over his shoulder. “Of course, he knows. He volunteered to help me, remember? But since you obviously have information I don’t, that’s exactly my point.”
Aw, Jesus. A growl formed in the back of his throat. He squeezed his eyes closed against the constant need to grip her upper arms and shake her until she saw reason. How did the woman always know how to make him lose his shit?
“Trying to figure out who he is won’t work.” Wrong, wrong and wrong again. Ben had spent enough years slogging through the criminal element that made up Chicago’s underbelly to know when those efforts were careening straight toward a dead end. “How can you when he’s a two-faced son of a bitch, and every word rolling off his tongue is a lie?”
“Again, too loud.” She spoke through clenched teeth, frustration glinting in her eyes as she faked a laugh for the guests behind him. “And if you’re insisting we do this, I’m not letting it happen in the middle of Eden and Kelly’s wedding.”
A tight spin, and she’d somehow slipped from his arms. Before he had the chance to catch up, he stood solo in the middle of the dance floor, swaying to the music on his own.
Damn woman.
Halfway toward the curtains strung along the southern end of the room, she came to an abrupt stop, met his eyes over her shoulder and jerked her head for him to come on.
His teeth met with a clack. A sharp tug to each of his cuffs, and he pivoted to follow wherever she was off to now.
She wove a path through the sheets, shoving them aside until she’d located a secluded area near the windows. Plastic crates filled with stemware and china sat stacked around the perimeter. A few tables set up as workstations held bins loaded with dirty dishes and piles of unused linen napkins.
Rounding on him as soon as he entered, she jabbed her finger at him and he slammed on the brakes before she could give him a hard poke in the eye. “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not stupid. And I’m not some shrinking violet who’s about to sit around, waiting for you to give me the all-clear over what I should or shouldn’t be doing. I already told you. I’ve got a lot riding on this case and, dammit, so does Trey.”
She kept her voice low, even though there was a good chance the background noise had camouflaged her rant. But the real bullet to the arm was the way her throaty whisper had to be the sexiest damn thing that had ever left a woman’s lips.
Or maybe the weird ache traveling through his chest had more to do with the ball-shriveling realization he would’ve easily traded his badge and gun for the chance to wake up every morning with that voice in his bed.
“So, fine.” She tossed her hand in the air. “Since the cat seems to have miraculously returned your tongue, we’ll have it out right here, right now. But this is it, Ben. I’m not beating this dead horse with you again and again. You either tell me what you’re hiding and I’ll listen, or you can go back to your regular silence and butt the hell out. Either way, I’m moving forward and I’m solving this case.”
Speak now or forever hold his peace, huh? He boosted his chin. That was quite the ultimatum, considering his vocal chords weren’t the only ones pleading the fifth. “Moving forward how?”
She’d already told him whatever she had planned was liable to piss him off, but until he had a clearer picture of what he was up against, all bets were off. “You’re asking me to make a decision without providing the facts.”
A beat passed, her eyes unblinking. “Oh, dear God.” Smacking her hand to the top of her head, she turned away from him and approached the windows. “So, that’s what this is about?” Leaning forward, she grasped the brass railing running the circumference of the room and lightly pounded her forehead against the pane. “Impossible. The man is completely impossible.”
Yeah, welcome to his reality.
“All right, fine. If that’s what it takes.” She finally knocked off her self-abuse, pivoting to the side. “God knows, it’s not like holding back has done me any good.” Though he didn’t miss the way one of her hands remained on the banister, and alarm jabbed the pit of his stomach over how she held on as if the room were about to flip.
Shit. His acid reflux had just been demoted to the nuisance of a hangnail.
“The lead Casper and I got from our John yesterday afternoon? Well, it checked out. The guy’s a local arms dealer. Online arrest report shows he has a special knack for moving stolen weapons. Even if he didn’t pull the trigger, all indicators point toward him being the supplier. So, if I’m looking to get even on Trey’s behalf, it appears he’s where I’ll need to start.”
Start? Ben squinted. Just that one word and everything that had come beforehand dropped into his gut like an ICBM cluster bomb. If she’d found the guy responsible, then all they had to do was bring him in and wait for him to squeal. Hell, Ben would even be happy to tack on a little strong-arm incentive if doing so meant they could put the case to rest. “Sounds to me like that’s where it ends.”
A small smile curved her lips, but it didn’t hold any humor. Her knuckles whitened, and dread wound to a high-pitched wail in his ears as she darted a sidelong glance at him through her lashes. “It would be…if that was all it took to stop the flow of illegal arms from moving into the area.”
The shrieking cut out quicker than a repeating round clicked into a chamber. Her meaning hit home, and he rocked back on his heels, fighting to think through a wave of panic that surged so high, the glass ceiling overhead vibrated with a weird ping.
Absolutely not. Lowering his chin, he nailed her in place with a scowl. “Are you now telling me you’re gearing up to try and bring down the whole ring?”
Jesus H. Christ. Not even a cop with his experience and connections had been able to pull that off. Every time someone from the precinct had tried, Ben had ended up standing graveside, dressed in his blues and folding an American flag during a three-volley salute.
“The guy is small potatoes, Ben. A front man I was able to locate in under forty-eight hours.” She swiveled the rest of the way to face him, the angle of her chin every bit as defiant as the heart-stopping shine in her eyes. “If we take him out, it’s only a matter of time before someone else steps in to take his place. You know that as well as I do. A month from now, it’ll be like we were never there and all our hard work didn’t make a bit of difference.”
We? Another swell of dread doused him in a cold sweat. He shoved his hand into his hair and the roots complained as he fisted the strands. “So, let me get this straight. You’ve decided the smartest move is for you and Adder to infiltrate the organization and… What, Tanner? Act like you’re one of them until you can locate the leader? Think you’re outmaneuvering everyone until you’ve figured out a way to take him down?”
“I’m not a cop.” Resentment hardened her features. As if Ben were the one who made the rules. As if he’d get some ridiculous satisfaction out of seeing her fail. “They won’t smell me like they smell you.”
But she had everything backward in her head. If he had any control over how tragedy unfolded, he would’ve done anything and everything in his power to get her the fair shot she deserved. And he would’ve done so for every strong, beautiful, infuriating woman he’d lost in the past.
“No.” Storming forward, he closed the distance and smacked his hands down on either side of the railing, caging her in his arms. The danger needed to be contained. The security breach redirected. One wrong move and, no matter where she turned, she’d be trapped. Stuck between the threat of someone who couldn’t be trusted and a bunch of ruthless killers who would just as easily pop one off in her brain. “Get as pissed as you want, I’m not letting you do this. It’s too damn risky.”
“Yeah, the funny thing about that?” She slapped her hand to his chest and shoved, but he braced his legs and pushed right back. “I don’t remember asking your permission.” Setting her jaw, she got all up in his grill. “I knew you wouldn’t get it. I knew no matter what I said you’d start bossing me around like I’m some inexperienced kid. I hate to break it to ya, but that ain’t happening.”
She thought this was his ego? That keeping her alive meant he wanted her under his thumb? Jesus, the woman couldn’t have shot wider of the target if she’d tried. “The only thing I have ever wanted was your safety.” Why couldn’t she see that? Why, for two goddamn seconds, couldn’t she get it through her head that protecting her was the one thing that brought meaning to his life? “You are not willingly walking into the most dangerous trap in the city. Dammit, woman, you’re driving me crazy.”
“Oh, yeah? Well, that sounds like a you problem to me.”
He flinched as his thoughts swung back around and hit him like an open-handed smack to the face.
A slight gasp parted Tanner’s lips, and his focus dropped to her mouth.
Shit, she was too close. He lifted his gaze, fingers flexing around the metal railing as she stared into his eyes.
Or maybe he was too close.
Her chest rose and fell in time with his.
And all this time, there’d always been too much distance between them.
Her soft breath warmed the stubble on his chin. She darted a glance at his mouth and her brow twitched. “If you’re planning to kis—”
He drove forward and consumed whatever comment was about to form on her tongue. There, finally. He got her to shut the hell up just this once.
Their lips collided, and he seized her ribcage. Her whimper filled his mouth, and he held her in place so he could feast.
Damn, he’d expected her to taste like innocence. The pure unspoiled expanse of a faultless blue sky.
But she was sin.
She nipped his bottom lip and any attempts at finesse took a backseat to greed.
The aphrodisiac of a heated seduction. Sex and confidence and a reckless certainty that had him desperate to get his hands on her skin.
Grabbing the front of his suit, she tugged him deeper. His cock pulsed, and he thrust his tongue inside her mouth.
Wrapping one arm around her waist, he palmed her ass and hitched her onto the brass railing. She shivered against him, opened her thighs and jerked him between her legs.
A thick groan heaved through his chest as she writhed, panting. Tipping back, she hooked her calves around his thighs, and he cursed as she bucked and her sex rode the throbbing side of his shaft.
Fuck, this wasn’t a kiss, it was a claiming. Grasping her chin, he angled her head and dove in for more. A clashing of lips and teeth. A contest of wills as they both fought for control.
“Oh, my God, Ben.” She cinched his neck, fingers buried in his hair. Her nails raked his scalp, and she arched against him as he latched onto the tender skin under her ear.
Yes… She knew just how he liked it. Skimming his hand up her bare back, he twined those slippery ribbons through his fingers and yanked. He wanted her hard and fast, pounding into her until she shuddered around him as she came.
“This can’t be…” Her thighs cinched his waist, and he rocked back and forth, gritting his teeth. He braced his hand on the window and drove deeper as she gasped and squirmed. “We shouldn’t…”
Goddamn it, why in the hell did the woman always have such a hard time keeping her lip zipped? Squeezing his eyes closed, he grasped her shoulders and stepped back, holding her steady as she lowered her feet to the floor.
He’d be hard-pressed to come up with another time he had to agree with her. At least about how he’d lost control and would’ve loved to have her shattering around him, wet and tight as he followed her straight off the edge into oblivion.
Confusion filled her gaze, the hint of a question, and he lifted his hand to run his knuckles down her cheek.
Everything else? Not so much.
“What I want isn’t the issue, Tanner.” He’d always hungered for her. He knew that now. And after what they’d just shared, he no longer had any doubts about how much. “I’m not your enemy, and whatever I keep to myself doesn’t have anything to do with me thinking you’re a kid or some stupid worry I might have about offering you my trust.”
Cradling her cheek in his palm, he ran his thumb over her lips. She slid her fingers between his and held his hand, tipping her head into his touch.
But the bottom line was, Kelly had been right. Ben lowered their hands. His fingers slipped from hers as he turned and started for the curtain. He’d been on the fence too damn long, and when it came to what was best for Tanner, there was every chance his luck had run out.
“The only thing that has ever mattered to me is making sure you don’t get hurt, and if you’re gonna hate me for it, then I’m not sure any more words are needed. Fight or no fight, I’m not about to change my mind. Not now and not in the future.” He parted the sheets and strode through. “Kissing you has only made everything worse.”