Page 38 of Merrick

He had to hold onto her to keep her anchored to him.

Lifting his mouth from her nipple, he fisted his hands into her hair and dragged her mouth to his. “More.” He whispered harshly.

“Damn you.” Her body was still vibrating. “I can’t.”

“Take more.”

She cried out when he reached between them and rubbed the swollen flesh. The shocked look on her face as she went underagain, snapped every bit of control and had him going under with her.

She collapsed against him, her face buried in his throat, her eyes squeezed shut.

As soon as he stopped shuddering and he could command his weakened limbs to move, he shifted so that he was lying down and cradling her on top of him. For several minutes, they did not move or speak.

She felt the soothing movements of his hands roaming up and down her back and wanted to weep. She had entered this assignment with her eyes wide open, with the intention of standing for the victims and that was still the plan.

But it had changed. She wanted him to be innocent. The thought of him being involved with killing people for profit was something she could not bear.

And being with him for the past few days, instinct told her that he would never be involved with anything like that. But she needed proof. She also had to put away the troubling thought of what his reaction would be when he found out what she had done. She could not bear thinking about it.

The assignment had become distasteful to her, and she wanted it over and down with.

She wished she could tell him what was going on.

But she could do the next best thing. She could free him from all suspicions. And hope that he did not hate her too much when the truth was revealed.

With that in mind, she lifted her head to look at him and felt the familiar ache starting inside her heart. His hair was delightfully mussed, and his eyes had a luminous quality that changed the color to a fascinating kind of smoky gray.

“What?”

“You look so pleased with yourself.”

“Shouldn’t I be?” He was still buried deep inside her and planned to stay that way for a while.

“We’re going to end up killing each other.”

“What a way to go.” One hand came up to cup the back of her neck. “I would like you to meet my family.” He grinned wryly when she jolted. “Just dinner, this Sunday.”

“No.”

“Baby, listen to me.” He gripped her neck to prevent her from moving away. “I’m not pressuring you into anything. It’s just dinner…”

“With your family.” She pointed out.

“Yes.” He agreed. “I want you to meet them.”

“Why?”

He gave her a frustrated look. “You already know the answer to that.”

She moved restlessly and the thought came to her that this was an opportunity to get an opinion on his family, especially the nephew in whom she was interested.

Jason Pendergast had skirted the law since he was in his teens and was worth more than a second look. He was also a drug user, something the family, especially his father had tried to cover up.

“Okay, fine.” She grumbled, making it appear that she was agreeing under extreme duress. “But that does not mean we are in a relationship. And no talk about where this is going.”

He gave her a cool look that had her lifting her brows.

“Anything else?”

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