Page 35 of Too Lethal to Love

Just this once.

Flattening her other palm over his tattoo, she pressed against his heart. It sped as fast as hers. She was still mad at him, but her anger at his self-appointed protector,bodyguard, keeper, or whatever status made her want to flip their dynamic. Touching him may be as slippery as the shower floor, but she wouldn’t let her heart tumble. Chavez and her curse may have stolen her hard-won independence, but right now, they wouldn’t deter her from claiming what she wanted.

He gathered her hands in his. “Beth, stop.” He squared his shoulders as if reminding himself of his purpose. The movement tugged her against him. “We have confirmation someone watched you through the city’s surveillance cameras at the liquor store. And someone is trying to hack into the cameras in this house.”

Steam from the shower fogged the mirror and warmed the windowless room, but she shivered anyway. The information chilled her to the core, but he was here to guard her in all his super soldier glory. While she balked at his overzealous protection sometimes, she couldn’t deny he made her feel safe, even with the threat of her stalker, Chavez, or perhaps both watching her. But being watched was an old story that didn’t scare her as much as it used to, especially not with Kane standing before her looking as enticing as a new book she hadn’t ordered but couldn’t help reading a chapter before she returned it.

She pulled away from his grip and skipped to the good part. Sliding her fingers down his torso, she outlined each hard ridge. Delighted in each string of soft, sultry moans and harsh inhales. Relished the ache his reaction ignited in her body until she reached the delectable indent at the waistband of his jeans.

He hissed and grabbed her hand. “Get in the shower. When you come out, get changed in here. I don’t want you naked in any rooms where there are windows or cameras.”

The protective edge in his gaze and the hint of jealousy darkened to predatory. The brutal intensity of the metamorphosis flamed her need for control.

And him.

He let her go and stepped back. Swallowing, he raked his gaze over her nearly-naked form. “Listen to me, Beth.”

Oh, she was listening to every nerve in her body screaming to be touched.

Licked.

Fucked.

That’s all she could have with him. No strings, no attachments. And no feelings beyond the white-hot lust coursing through her veins. She could do that. She’d been doing it for two years. Kane was no different than the other men she’d been with. A willing, temporary lover.

He nudged her toward the shower. “Be reasonable and do as I ask. Please.”

His gritty, impatient demand, tempered by his plea, skimmed down her belly and settled between her legs. An ache to beunreasonable, to push him until he gave her what she craved, streamed through her veins in time with the water pounding the shower floor.

She speared her hands into her scalp and yanked at the frustration she felt from the depths of her core to the tips of her hair. “Don’t you understand, Kane? I’ve been painfully aware of every move I’ve made for a long time. I don’t do anything without thinking about it. Preparing for it. I’m so freaking tired of beingreasonable,but at least I’m in control. After Danny was killed, I cowered in my house, crying and terrified for weeks, but I forced myself to be a functioning member of society.Imade decisions as though there wasn’t a psycho at large who could return at any time and terrorize me.”

He opened his mouth, but she held up her hand.

The towel at her breasts loosened. She didn’t make a move to tighten it. “And then my cake was stolen and nowyou and your super alpha buddies, hell, even Scarlett, keep making decisions about my life without my input.”

“Because you are in danger.”

The truth rumbled between his gritted teeth, low and frustrated, like she was a child that didn’t understand consequences. She understood repercussions all too well, but his rules didn’t apply to this room. “Look around, Kane. No windows to spy through. No cameras to hack. Just steam and…” The towel slipped lower. She grazed her knuckles along his steel thigh. “The strongest man I’ve ever met.”

His gaze didn’t leave hers. The primal look in his eyes receded as he shook his head. “Not as strong as I should be when it comes to you.” He turned to go.

She fingered the knot at her breasts. “Not so fast, cowboy.”

As he spun back, she let the towel fall to the floor.

Kane didn’t say a word. The charged silence skimmed over her breasts and settled between her legs. An ache to feel his hands, his lips, on her body consumed the reasons she couldn’t, shouldn’t drop her defenses.

She reached for him. He held up his hand and stared as if contemplating whether to bolt or pounce.

“Beth, we…we can’t. You’re my responsibility. And I promised Chris and Scarlett I wouldn’t touch…” He laced his hands on top of his head. “You should tell me to get the hell out.”

She should. All the way out, like out of town and out of her life, yet she couldn’t ignore the powerful hum in her veins. “Shut up and touch me, Kane.”

Indecision flashed in his eyes. He backed up a step. “You’re killing me, sugarplum.”

She rubbed a bead of perspiration pooling between her breasts, caught in the most exhilarating moment of her life.

It only took a split second for the predatory glint in his gaze to flare hotter than before.

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