Page 29 of Too Lethal to Love

If she backed away, he would.

With a sigh that shot straight to his cock, she flicked out her tongue again. Her slow lick, like she deliberately took her time eating every crystal of sugar off his skin to drive him wild, matched the devilish look in her eyes. She knew what she did to him.

Enjoyed it.

Fuck, she reveled in it.

He leaned farther across the table. Snaking his hand around her neck, he gathered up her curls and tugged her within mere inches of his lips. “Do you have any idea what you are doing to me, sugarplum?”

The security app on his phone beeped an alert. He yanked the device out of his pocket and cursed. “Someone’s approaching the rear of the house. Stay here.”

Beth whipped her head toward the back door in the kitchen. “How do you know?”

“Superpowers,” Kane muttered as he hurried through the rooms like a stealthy predator.

Licking sugar off her lips, she followed in his wake. She wasn’t about to stay put. She doubted a trained mercenary like Chavez would openly tromp through her parents’ backyard. How had Kane known someone was approaching anyway? She hadn’t heard a thing other than his question still sounding in her brain.

““Do you have any idea what you are doing to me, sugarplum?”

He held up his hand. The motion halted her and her contemplation of his question. A heartbeat later, his shoulders relaxed.

“It’s your neighbor.” He opened the door. “You suck at staying put, you know.”

She couldn’t argue that, but she had been about to suck the sugar off his finger. Had been thinking about sucking that full lower lip into her…

Rita derailed those thoughts as she entered the kitchen and handed Beth a gold box. “I just wanted to drop these off.” She turned her pink-painted smile to Kane. “I hope you two enjoy them.”

Beth lifted the lid and sniffed. “Your famous butter cookies. Thank you so much.”

Kane slipped past them. “I’ll get the bags from the car.” He looked back at Beth. “Close the door behind me.”

She gave him a salute as she kicked the door closed with the toe of her boot.

Rita pulled her in for a hug. “I just had to come over and say I’m so happy for you.”

Beth schooled her features into a bright smile and hugged Rita’s plump body. “The relationship is still new. Myparents don’t even know yet, so please don’t tell them.” She wasn’t prepared to answer questions like, “Where did you go on your first date, and what does Kane do at the Department of Defense?”

Well, our first date was at the hospital because I got caught in the middle of a break-in and hit my head, and then I had a nightmare, and then the date went to hell. And as for work, he’s some sort of super soldier with a bionic leg who can take down and disarm two grown men with a simple kick in a matter of seconds.

And what would she say if someone like Evangeline, who was nosy as hell, asked how Kane kissed or if he was good in bed?

Beth’s ache to gather data on those scenarios and give a full and accurate report had been building for weeks, but she couldn’t allow the pulsing beat between her thighs to guide her decisions. She knew what people said behind her back. Even though their words were hateful and ridiculous, she hadn’t figured out how to penetrate the part of her brain that believed the devil’s voice.

It’s not my fault those men died. I’m not cursed, and I don’t deserve to be punished for God only knows what I did or didn’t do.

Still, she had to tell Kane about her tragic past before he heard it from someone else.

Rita patted her arm. “Don’t you worry. I won’t say a word to your parents. Are you and your man going to the party tonight?”

“Yes.” Beth bit her lip. “But…”

“Don’t worry about that either. Jerry and I won’t let any of those busybodies say anything to your man about anything. If one of the coiffed banshees so much as casts a glance his way, I’ll drown her in the punch bowl.” She rubbed her hands together. “Oh, butI hope I catch Judy Martin running her mouth. That woman thinks she’s better than everyone in this town. Just the other day, she was bragging to the cashier at the supermarket about her daughter, Evangeline. Are you still friends with that girl?”

“We were friends.”Until she blamed me for Danny’s death. “We’re more like colleagues now.”

“Good. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Rita waved her hand. “Anyway, when the cashier mentioned her daughter goes to the community college, Judy, in her most condescending tone…you know the one.”

“Oh yeah, I do.” Beth seethed inside. “She rolled out that tone at Danny’s funeral when she offered to pray for my soul.”

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