Page 26 of When He Defends
Tackle me. I dare you.“You made sure Misty and Timothy would be secure. You’re helping them. Because you’re a protector.”
“Pretty sure that her ex would call me something else.” A cold smile came and went on his face. “So would Jake Waller.”
Jake Waller was being held without bail. And currently being charged with eight counts of murder and kidnapping.Eight.The toolbox had helped them to discover the other victims.
Gray was clearly not going to admit that he’d gone the extra mile to help Misty, so she’d try another tactic. “Where is your father, Gray?” she asked.
He began to circle her.
Dammit. She started to circle him, too.Circling each other.Tension slithered beneath her skin.
“In the grave, rotting.” A roll of one shoulder. “Or maybe in hell, burning. Either way, win for me.” His gaze didn’t leave her. “My father was an abusive bastard. Sadistic. Narcissistic. No empathy. No remorse. But the guy was utterly fantastic when it came to manipulation and deceit. And really, really good atthe old superficial charm tricks. Good when he wanted to be, anyway.”
Goosebumps rose onto her skin.
“Classic psychopathic personality disorder. And, of course, seeing as how you’re a doctor, a psychiatrist, then you know that some say there is plenty of evidence to suggest that can be inherited, too. Nature or nurture. But sometimes, they both fuck you over.” Gray flexed his wrist. “You know, it still hurts from where you broke it.”
Horrified, her gaze jumped to his wrist. Shehadbroken his wrist, a while back, on their first case. But only because she’d been trying to save his life, and she’d slammed her body into his in order to protect him from a hail of bullets. But if the injury still pained him… “We shouldn’t be fighting! I don’t want you to hurt it again and?—”
He’d gotten too close. His leg swept behind hers. She was falling down, again, dammit. But she grabbed him and twisted on the way down. If she was going down, then Emerson intended to take Gray with her.
He landed first. She fell on top of him.
“I lied,” he told her. Gray’s hands locked around her hips. “It doesn’t hurt at all. See, I’m good at manipulation, too.”
Emerson blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. “Tell me something that I don’t already know.”
“I’m not staying out of your bed because I’m worried you might be like your father. I can assure you, I don’t think about your father at all when I look at you.”
Her lips parted.
“I’m staying out of your bed because I lose control too easily with you. I don’t believe I would be a safe lover for you to have.” His hold tightened on her wrist. “And I think you crave safety. Despite the fact that you spend your days and nights trying to understand killers, I think—at your core—that safety is whatyou want most. Maybe that’s the whole reason you do try to understand the monsters out there. You want to stop them, don’t you? To save the world.”
“The victims,” Emerson whispered. Her legs had slid between his. She levered up, pushing her hands against his chest. “I want to save them.”
“Sometimes, we’re too late for that, and all we can do is stop the predators.”
Her gaze fell to his mouth. No more sexy smile. No taunting grin. She could remember, all too easily, what it felt like to have his mouth on hers.
“Don’t,” Gray warned.
She inhaled and forced her stare to rise and hold his. “Am I supposed to act like I don’t feel the giant cock shoving against me?”
He cursed.
“Because I do feel it. Super hard to miss it, in fact.”Because it is super hard.
His hands immediately let her go.
She rose, slowly. Maybe she deliberately slid her body against his.
He hissed out a breath. “Mistake.”
Was it? “I was supposed to give you my decision, remember? Partner or lover? Wasn’t that the big question that you posed in Briar?”
“Forget that.” He was on his feet, too. His body seemed extra tense. “Partner. I am yourpartner.”
“I don’t like either-or situations. Why does it have to be one or the other?” She didn’t circle him. Just held her ground. “I’m sure there is some HR paperwork somewhere I can sign that says things between us are one hundred percent consensual.”
