Page 3 of Falling Fast

He smothered a laugh, but she didn’t see any of this as funny. It had been a bitch of a night so far, and he wasn’t making it any better. She’d rather he’d just hugged her and kept his damn mouth shut.

Before she could decide whether to blast him or spin around and head for the house, he took her completely off guard by cupping the back of her head with one hand and bringing his mouth down on hers. She sucked in a swift breath and put her free hand on his chest, ready to shove him away.

Jamie wrapped his free arm around her waist and hauled her tighter up against him, his quiet groan setting off a burst of heat low in her abdomen. The kiss was urgent, needy, making her mind go blank as pleasure speared her.

He’d kissed her before, but this was the first time he’d been the aggressor.

That night back in April outside the club, he’d merely followed her cues and given her a taste of what she’d wanted while pinning her up against the brick wall outside. But she’d sensed far more in him.

An unyielding dominance that he’d kept ruthlessly chained. The opposite of her usual type, yet for some reason she found it insanely sexy on him. He was a challenge she hadn’t been able to ignore. Still was.

And she’d thought far too much about pushing him to the breaking point over the past few months.

Now he was the one in control, and this was more than a kiss—he was staking a claim. And Charlie thrilled in it, the strong, independent part of her be damned. She didn’t even care that he was making out with her on the lawn within sight of the house. Everyone was too preoccupied to even notice them.

More sirens sounded to the west, where they’d just come from, breaking the spell. He broke the kiss and stared down at her in the dimness, the raw heat in his eyes stealing her breath. He looked at her like he wanted to eat her up.

“Cavalry’s finally here,” he murmured, breaking the seething physical tension, and rubbed his thumb over her cheek.

She straightened and licked her lips, a little smile tugging at the corners of her mouth to make it seem like she wasn’t still reeling from that kiss. That he hadn’t just tilted her world on its axis. It felt like she’d just ridden a damn rollercoaster. “Late as usual.”

“Mmm,” he agreed, and dipped his head to kiss her again. Softer this time, a tender brush of his lips over hers. Making something flip low in her belly. She’d wondered far too much about what he’d be like in bed. These two sides of him, forceful and tender, would be a lethal combination if used together. “Let’s get back to the house before they come looking for us.”

The moment Charlie walked into the house, her father and two of her brothers were there to hug her. Then the questioning began. The Feds split everyone up to get their individual stories while other agents and local cops searched the property. One agent took Charlie into the dining room to talk to her alone.

“The man who ordered the attack,” he began when they were settled at the large farmhouse table. “You know him?”

“No, but I know his name. Brandon Gallant.” Now in custody. Her brothers had tracked him down and cornered him. “He’s a drug dealer who had a vendetta against our friend Piper’s ex.”

He nodded. “Greg Rutland.”

“Yes.” Who was now dead, killed by either Gallant or one of his men. “Gallant wanted money and information that Greg apparently stole from him. Greg hid cash and a flash drive in some old furniture Piper stored out in our shed. We think Greg kept it as collateral, for protection from Gallant.” Little good it had done him.

The agent wrote it all down. “Tell me about the man you and agent Rodriguez chased through the woods.”

Charlie took a deep breath. As she answered, cold began to seep into her again. She wrapped her arms around her middle and curled up tighter in her chair as she recounted those final moments that had ended with her pulling the trigger. The dead man’s face was crystal clear in her mind.

“You want a blanket?” he asked her, noting how she’d started to shiver.

“No, I’m fine. It’s just…I’ve never had to do anything like that before.” And she never wanted to have to take a life again. She didn’t know how her dad and brothers handled it.

“I understand. I’ll make this as quick as I can.”

“The threat to my family. Is it over now?” That was the most important thing to her.

He met her eyes, paused a moment. “It’ll be a few days before we can get a better handle on that. But with Gallant in custody and the flash drive and money turned over to us, the direct threat to all of you has been eliminated.”

But whoever Gallant had worked for was still out there. As well as the rest of the cartel.

She shelved that thought and focused on the rest of the questions. By the time they were done, it was two in the morning and Charlie was having serious fantasies about falling into her bed upstairs.

Too bad Jamie wouldn’t be with her.

Exhausted, she flopped down on the couch in the living room and rested her head on her father’s shoulder with a sigh. She wasn’t in any trouble for killing the shooter but she couldn’t get his face out of her head. Those staring eyes.

Movement in her peripheral vision brought her head up a moment later. Jamie, heading for the front door with his duffel in hand.

Walking out without even saying goodbye after everything—after the way he’d kissed her earlier?

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