Page 56 of Toxic Vengeance

“Even better, that driver’s going to be all over that intersection camera footage for me to look at,” Amber replied.

“Everyone okay?” Trinity asked.

“Yes,” Eden said.

“Good. Pull over, give Bennet’s phone and wallet to Jesse, then you and Zack go back to the house. Amber and Jesse will meet me at RV point Charlie to go through the phone, surveillance and traffic cams. I want to know who our killer is and find out who the hell that driver was working for.”

“Roger that.” Zack drove for a couple minutes before turning onto a quiet side street and pulling over. Eden got out and handed over Bennett’s stuff, then they swapped cars. By the time she and Zack got back to the safehouse in Jesse’s rental, the adrenaline crash had hit her.

“You all right?” Zack asked as the garage door closed behind them.

“I’m okay.” Just tired, and right now she needed distance from him. “I’m gonna take a shower.”

Inside she stood under the hot spray, letting it ease the tension in her neck and shoulders. Her palms stung from where she’d scraped them on the pavement, and she was going to have a few bruises as well. That rear-ender had been far more than a love tap. She was gonna feel it in the morning.

Leaving her hair to dry naturally, she pulled on a sweater and a pair of yoga pants before walking into her bedroom. She stopped a foot past the bathroom threshold, her heart doing a terrified backflip.

Zack stood between her and the bed, his stormy eyes sweeping over her like a physical caress.

They stared at each other, the space between them suddenly filled with erotic memories. They pressed in on her along with the quiet, making her pulse thud in her throat.

Say something, she silently ordered him.

“For those first few months after you left, I saw you everywhere,” he said, his deep voice stroking over her skin. “On the street. In airports. Restaurants. Once I even ran out of a meeting because I thought I saw you on the sidewalk outside.”

His words made her feel small. “I’m sorry I hurt you.” She hadn’t wanted to.

He came toward her. Eden forced herself to remain still, holding that molten pewter gaze.

Don’t touch me. Please don’t touch me.

She was weak where he was concerned. If he touched her, she didn’t think she had the strength to pull away. And that would be a disaster, for both of them.

Stopping inches from her, taunting her with his scent and nearness, he lifted a hand to cup the side of her face.

Eden sucked in a breath as a thousand tingles raced over her skin, scattering her thoughts and pulling her nipples into hard points.

“We both lied to each other back then,” he murmured, his face inches away. “But for me what we shared was real.”

She scrambled to shore up her defenses, growing weaker with each heartbeat he stood so close. This was too dangerous. They’d both been hurt too much already, and this could only lead to more heartbreak.

“I can’t give you what you want,” she whispered back. “I can’t give you normal.”

His eyes darkened, the pupils expanding until they almost swallowed the irises as a solid arm locked around her waist. “I don’t want normal. I just want you.”

His mouth came down on hers, obliterating everything as a sudden tidal wave of need crashed over her.

Chapter Fifteen

Eden stiffened, fighting the onslaught of need pumping through her in a last ditch effort to pull away. But instead of devouring her mouth as she expected him to, Zack wound his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, crushing her to him.

Her hands stilled on his shoulders. He was holding her so tight. As if he was afraid she would be torn from him at any moment. Eden closed her eyes, her heart twisting. Against her better judgment she leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. His heart thudded beneath her cheek.

“Imissedyou,” he whispered. “Missed you so damn much.”

Oh God. She hadn’t expected this. Had no defense against it, his words piercing her.

Unable to say it back to him, she slipped her hands around his ribs to his back and held him to her, telling him how she felt without words. Her chest felt tight, his desperation taking her completely off guard. She’d never imagined she’d affected him this much. Had never guessed he’d truly missedher, and not just the sex.

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