Page 36 of Fast Justice

Rowan tested the word as she clutched the edge of the table, denial shrieking in her head and her heart slamming against her ribs. Busted, she stared at him, unable to think of a single thing to say in her defense.

How?Howhad he seen through her, realized the truth when even she hadn’t until the moment he’d said it?

Malcolm prowled toward her slowly, that dark, magnetic gaze impossible to break, his intense expression so full of hunger that it made her knees wobble.

Hell yes, she’d been afraid. Spooked by what he’d made her feel, and even more terrified of risking her heart and having it broken down the road. Because Malcolm would have broken it in a way that her ex never had. She’d never truly loved Carter. But Malcolm? No, he had the ability to tear her heart out.

Right now, facing off with him in his dark, quiet kitchen, she was more vulnerable than ever, the invisible barrier between them gone, destroyed by his uncanny insight.

Malcolm came right at her, stopping mere inches away from her. Close enough for her to breathe in his addictive scent and feel the heat of his body licking along the front of hers. He stared down into her eyes, this powerful, magnetic man who held the power to break her if he so chose.

She held her breath as he raised a hand, brushed a lock of hair away from her hot cheek, her pulse thudding hard in her throat. “You’re shaking,” he whispered.

Automatically she locked her knees and clamped her jaw to stop the embarrassing tremors. She didn’t dare touch him, didn’t dare act on the need humming through her. If she did, there was no going back.

“I’m only gonna tell you this once, so listen up,” he murmured, the pads of his fingers skimming down the side of her face, raising goosebumps all over her body, tightening her nipples to hard points under her tank. “You don’t ever need to be afraid with me. Not of anyone ever hurting you. And never of what I make you feel.”

She swallowed and stared up at him helplessly, all her senses on overload, unable to form a single coherent response. It took all her strength not to reach out and take what was right in front of her.

Those deep brown eyes delved into hers for a long, breathless moment before they dropped to her mouth. He stared at it intently, dragged the pad of his thumb across her lower lip, making her whole body tighten with need. She vividly recalled how he’d turned her inside out with his kisses. Was dying for him to do it now, aching to finish what they’d started so long ago, what she’d only allowed herself to imagine with him.

“No more running,” he said, taking her face between his big hands. “I won’t let you this time.”

Even if she wanted to, there was nowhere to go, trapped against the table by over two hundred pounds of smoldering, protective male. But she didn’t want to run. She wanted Malcolm.

She choked back a moan of pure need as his lips molded to hers and let go of the table to grip his wide shoulders, her fingers digging into the powerful muscles there. He held the back of her head in one hand, slipped his other down her spine to press on her lower back, pulling her tight into his body.

Her insides clenched at the feel of the thick, hard length of his erection pressed against her belly. So many times she’d fantasized about what it would feel like to have him inside her, feel the weight and strength of his body as he pinned her in place and buried himself in her.

All her thoughts scattered at the heat and hardness of him, the hungry, almost desperate kiss. Malcolm made a low, hungry sound and kissed her senseless, nibbling at her upper lip, sucking at the lower one before stealing his tongue inside to stroke hers.

She came up on her toes, arching into him with an incoherent sound muffled by his tongue. He stroked hers, sucked it, tightening her nipples, the blazing heat deep in her belly spreading to the pulsing throb between her legs.

All too soon he broke the kiss and buried his face in her hair, breathing hard.

Rowan couldn’t catch her breath, her heart racing, pure need thrumming through her veins. He still cradled her head in his hand, the other dipping under the edge of her tank to caress the sensitive spot at the small of her back.

The last functioning bit of her brain warned her that they were on the brink. One more move by either one of them, and they would wind up naked on the kitchen floor.

She shook the tempting image away. Too soon. Way too soon when there was still so much unresolved between them to take that disastrous step.

Malcolm drew in a deep breath and pressed his cheek to hers, his body eerily still, tensed, the muscles under her hands coiled as if he was about to pounce. Or explode. “God dammit. I didn’t want this,” he whispered in a ragged voice. “Swore I wouldn’t fall under your spell again.”

At that, the haze of arousal evaporated like fog under a blinding ray of sunlight. She stiffened, tried to push away.

“Don’t,” he said, his hold tightening. She stilled, closing her eyes to better absorb the feel of him. It would be so easy to give into this need. But it would be another mistake.

After a moment she found her voice. “So what happens now?” she whispered.

It was as if her words broke some spell they’d both been under. Malcolm straightened and released her, taking a step back to put some distance between them. In the dim light filtering through the kitchen windows his expression was unreadable.

“You go back to bed and get some sleep,” he said gruffly, as though he hadn’t just made every nerve ending in her body come alive. “If you want to go to the hospital we need to be there early, before the shift change.”

Before she could answer he turned and walked away, leaving her body and heart crying out for him.

Chapter Twelve

In his private office at his estate, Manny locked the door so no one would disturb him and turned to face the window that overlooked the pool and garden, the mountains a pale gray-green in the distance. He tightened his grip on his cell phone and sought the inner well of calm that seemed to have deserted him.

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