Page 21 of Liaising Kai

Davis headed for the door and pulled it open. “Mr. Jimenez. We’d like a word with you.” The man looked over his shoulder, terror in his eyes, and he took off at a run. Davis shot after him, gaining speed as he pounded down the dock. When he caught up to Roberto, he shouted, “Stop!” But the man kept moving, heading for the exit. Davis had no choice, he tackled the guy, hitting him hard as they both tumbled from the dock into the ocean. The water closed over his head as the guy elbowed him in the face, momentarily stunning him.

He saw kicking feet and grabbed his ankle, then headed for the surface, pulling the man with him. When they broke free, the man punched him, then ducked him down. The man curled his body, and Davis caught the silver flicker before the guy swiped a knife, catching his clothing and across his arm. Blood colored the water. The man kicked free and swam.

Davis crested the surface behind him and caught him around the neck. He thrashed, but Kai’s hard voice made him settle. “Stop resisting.” She pointed her Glock at him, and Davis felt his muscles go slack.

He swam with him to the ladder on the side of the dock, forcing Roberto to climb up ahead of him.

When they got onto the dock, Kai holstered her weapon as Dario cuffed his hands behind his back. Water trailed off him and Roberto, leaving a puddle where they stood.

“You’re bleeding,” Kai said, grabbing his wrist and pulling at the material of his blood-tinged shirtsleeve. The wind was as warm as the water. Davis ran his hands through his wet hair, slicking it back as rivulets of water slipped down his temples and into his neck.

He covered her hand and squeezed, noting the concern in her eyes. He liked that a lot. She’d been worried about him. “It’s shallow,” Davis said, turning to Roberto. “Why did you run? We just have questions.”

The man’s expression was full of petulance, anger, and fear. “I don’t want to answer your questions,” he spat.

“Where’s Eduardo?”

Roberto gritted his teeth. “I don’t know.”

“I think you do know, Roberto. He could be in danger.”

Roberto scoffed and turned his head away, clenching his jaw.

“You’re under arrest for obstruction of justice and assault with a deadly weapon,” Dario said, then hauled him toward the cruiser.

“We’ll take him down to the precinct, and you can join us after you’ve, ah, gotten some dry clothes.” He smiled. “Nice takedown, though.”

“Don’t question him until we arrive,” Davis said with a return smile and a steely gaze. “Thanks.”

After taking a cab to the hotel, the cabbie giving him perplexed looks, they went up to his room. His clothes were still dripping wet, and he left a trail through the lobby and a pool in the elevator. Inside the room, he removed his badge, gun, and holster, setting the damp items on the desk.

“Davis—” Kai said, her voice sounding strangled. He turned around in confusion. What the heck was—his thoughts ceased. Her face was flushed with warmth, and she met his gaze with a small smile that was so incredibly sweet and guileless.

A slow, seductive awareness took hold as her eyes caressed his chest.

“What’s going on? I thought you wanted to talk.”

“No talk now,” she said, stumbling over her words, holding him in place with a sultry, disarming gaze.

“No talk now?” he repeated, his brows lifting. He felt the beginnings of an answering grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Kai was discombobulated…over him.”

She shook her head in wonder, the soft waves of her hair caressed her flushed cheeks. “I’m kind of having a Mr. Darcy moment right now. You have no idea how sexy you look in that transparent, clinging T-shirt with your hair messed up. I have to say. Your back is a work of delicious, muscled art.”

He turned around to look in the mirror, and all he saw was himself. He guessed beauty was in the eye of the beholder. He shrugged. He really only cared that he turned her on. That’s what was important here.

She crossed to him, and he responded to the desire darkening her eyes. His dick was suddenly throbbing and aching, his damp jeans too tight and confining against his stiff shaft.

“Daivs…” she whispered, his name infused with a wealth of emotion that struck a chord deep within him, too. Eyes closing, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Her mouth was soft and yielding, a heavenly temptation he couldn’t resist, so why even try? Her lips parted, and he accepted the invitation to deepen the connection, to slide his tongue inside and curl around hers, dragging her into a hunger so dark and hot he burned with the intensity of it.

He kissed her with a fierce urgency borne of knowing that she wanted him. Kissed her with an abundance of need and something far more profound that echoed in the furthest recesses of his soul—an emotional, intimate bond that rocked the foundation he’d tried to build without her in it. Now that she was here…he was shaking with the enormity of getting what he had desired for so long.

She was the one who broke the kiss, her eyes dazed, her pupils dilated, almost lost to her own desire, but then she saw the thin scape along his upper arm, and she took a hard breath. She leaned in, ran the pad of her finger under the knife slash, then pressed a soft kiss to the wound. There was no pain except for the way his heart squeezed at her tender kiss, and at the concern still clear in her eyes.

“You better get in the shower before things get even more heated. My lapse is inexcusable.”

“Sometimes the way we feel is beyond our control, and I won’t fault you for that. But you’re right. We need to get to the precinct.”

She stepped back and with a teasing look on his face, he toed off his shoes, pulled off his sodden socks, then grabbed the hem of his T-shirt and yanked it over his head. Reaching for his jeans, he turned his back to her and stripped them off, giving her a brief glimpse of his backside as he closed the door.

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