Page 11 of Liaising Kai

“Nathan. I have questions regarding Special Agent Carter Lennon.” She listened then frowned. “Nathan, wait!”

“What did he say?” Austin asked as he approached the desk.

“He told me he couldn’t talk about it and hung up on me.” Her whole body was trembling, anger made her eyes bright. He decided right then and there he didn’t want to be on the bad side of this woman.

“What?” Austin said, incredulously. “That’s ridiculous. He’s duty-bound to help us.”

Kai rose abruptly. “Well, that’s not going to fly. Austin, let’s move.”

“Wait a damn second,” Davis said, grabbing her arm, and turning her around. “You’re not cutting us out of this. Lennon is one of us and we’re not leaving this in your hands alone.”

“Right now, we’ve got a murder to solve, and one of our agents is holding back information. I intend to find out why.”

“Not alone,” his CO said as he came up to them. The commandant and the director agree. These cases are directly intertwined. You’ll be working on them together in a joint effort between NCIS and CGIS.”

After the commander left a pretty speechless foursome, Kai grabbed his wrist and dragged him away. “We’ll be right back. Stay put.”

Kai was moving on gut instinct right now, the headache, which had receded, was now back in its pounding glory. As soon as she pulled Davis into the conference room and shut the door, she whirled on him. “See, this is what I was talking about. Now we’re working on these cases together.” He was so damned distracting in that rough-edged way he’d always had. He simply undid her, and thinking about him being in her life both terrified her and made her want to sigh with satisfaction. He was so beautiful with his Asian/American features, six incredible feet of raw, lean power, silky dark hair, tough, but always gentle with her. His body gave her fever dreams. She’d fought for so many years against this attraction. Had she finally lost it? Yeah, she’d finally lost it.

He stepped closer to her, his hand coming up to smooth a strand of her hair back in place, and his face was too close to hers as he leaned in. In violation of her personal space, he unrepentantly took one step further as he drew the end of her hair over her ear. “We’ve worked quite effectively on cases in the past,” he said huskily. “You’re just spooked because now everything is in the open. I’m not one to panic about that, Kai.” He shrugged. “Nothing happens in a vacuum or overnight. Life is a journey.” His tone was amused and dry, as it often was, yet completely at odds with the intensity of his gaze.

“What was that?” she demanded dryly. He was always so sure of everything, of what steps to take, of the job he did, of what to do with her and about her. Such a fascinating mix of tough guy and natural elegance, and she had the feeling that she hadn’t even seen everything he was capable of, that there was some kind of well of energy that wasn’t only deep inside him, but that radiated out around him like a beacon. This is a man you can trust. This is a man who is safe.

Bullshit. He wasn’t safe, not by a long shot. He was so damned dangerous, and for the first time since she’d lost her daughter, she wanted to drink it in and experience everything she’d buried, hid, shut off, and suppressed.

It’s no wonder she’d been able to resist him this long. She was so turned on by him, that she smacked him again on the shoulder to keep herself from doing something even more stupid. “Some Eastern philosophy?” She leaned her head back and breathed around the turmoil churning inside her. “I am a little unbalanced.” She shoved his shoulder. “You unbalance me, and being rational is just part of your damn charm.” Her heart skipped a beat. It was as close to a revelation as she’d had yet. Her brain scrambled to weigh all the pros and cons, but it was in constant flux with the reactions of her body, and her heart, and it was all such a huge jumble, there was no way she could make any rational judgment. Not with him looking at her like that, and her wanting all sorts of things that were in direct conflict with what she was supposed to be doing right now, and this wasn’t it.

He trapped her between the wall and his hard-muscled body. “We will sort everything out in time, Kai. We will satisfy every craving we have.”

Her body responded instantly to his suggestion, which wasn’t surprising since she was sure he could deliver on that promise. Without a doubt. Thoroughly. And repeatedly. With that well of energy, she could just imagine how creative he would be.

He cupped her cheek and turned her gaze to his when she looked away in a vain effort to regroup. So sincere, real concern outlined in every inch of his handsome face. “It’s okay to melt down, Kai. That’s the raw material we use to build ourselves back up.”

This time her heart didn’t skip. It stopped altogether, then thundered on with such ferocity she felt it might explode from the sudden intensity of it. How could he have known she was nothing but slag, and how could he see that slag as nothing but gold instead of the leftover waste of who she had been?

And she feared that she wasn’t enough for him, like she hadn’t been enough for Alissa. If she played it safe, she’d avoid the hurt and disappointment that was sure to come, and that would be a crushing blow she wasn’t sure she could survive. Her fear of that kind of loss had ruled her for so long, was still ruling her.

“Why don’t you just tell me why you dragged me in here? I know you have it right on the tip of your tongue. Just say it and we’ll get past this and go question Curran.”

“You think you’re so damned perceptive.” She ran her hand through her hair. “Dammit, stop being so perceptive.” Her body trembling with the sheer effort it took to hold back, she let out a shuddering breath. “I’m in charge. I need to be in charge, and I have the rank.”

“Agreed. But I know you always take counsel from your team. That’s what makes you a good leader. Expect my counsel.”

She closed her eyes and laughed, the sound of it echoing in the conference room. “You are way too charming. Damn you.”

She swore she could feel the tension leaping between them. Then from one breath to the next, she took in his features and the longing in her made her feel full to bursting. It was as if the very air pulsated around them as she met his wonderful, open gaze. How had she missed this? How had she missed his hunger, making her falter, thinking it was more than her own?

Her breathing out of control, she locked her arms around him, pulling herself flush against him.

Hoarsely whispering her name, he brushed his mouth across hers, and the surge of raw sexual energy was like being infused with a live wire. Her breathing paralyzed, she wrapped her arms around him and opened her mouth, needing the heat of him. Davis shuddered, grinding his mouth against her as he crushed her even tighter. He took her mouth, and Kai yielded everything to him.

And he burned her right down to the inert slag she had been, firing her and heating her up until she bubbled with promise, stirred with a need to feel that fire tempering her into someone she needed to be, wanted to be, but just wasn’t certain she could ever be again.

With Alissa the fire had gone out, leaving her cold, deadened, numb, and locked into that hollow existence.

He was the spark and the flame.

His breathing raw and labored, Davis tore his mouth away as she gasped for breath.

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