"Don't stand there looking hurt because I didn't confide in you." The words come out harder than I intended. "We're not friends. I don’t owe you anything."
She flinches, the implication clear. We might have slept together, once, but we’re not a couple.
“That’s not what I mean…” The guilt twisting in my gut makes me feel like shit, so I do what I do best. I shove it down and let the anger take over, even as the look on her face makes my bear howl in pain. “I have other people to think of.”
My instinct might be to tell her everything, but then she’d find out what we are, my family’s secret. And when we’re not even together, it’s too big of a risk to take.
Lisa’s expression softens for a second but true to form, she doesn't stay wounded for long. Her spine straightens, her chin lifts, and when she speaks again, her voice is deathly serious. "I want in."
Absolutely not. Over my dead body. "No."
Did she not listen to anything I just said?
"This is my case, Beau. Amber is my responsibility,” she insists.
Shaking my head, I push down the violent reaction I get just imagining her anywhere near these men.
"Even if I was looking into this case privately in my capacity as a fully licensed investigator, which I’m not saying that I am, you cannot be involved."
Panic claws at my insides. They'd hurt her. Take her and put her in one of those disgusting auctions. No way.
"Can't?" She steps even closer, getting right in my face. "Or, you won't let me?"
I inch forward, closing the distance completely until I'm looming over her, using every inch of my height, our bodies touching.
"Both."
She glares at me but doesn't back down. Of course, she doesn't. This woman has never backed down from anything in her life.
"It's too dangerous," I whisper, needing her to understand.
I breathe her in without meaning to, and it's like a shot of adrenaline coursing through my veins. My fingers find her hip, then my palm is pressed against the curve of her waist, the thin fabric of her dress the only thing between my skin and hers.
She doesn't pull away.
"I'm the one with the badge here, remember?" she says, breathless now, but her tone still hasn't lost its sharp edge.
I dip my head closer, looming over her, pressing her back against the side of the bar.
She lets me.
"You're so cocky," she whispers, eyes finding mine in the darkness as she builds steam. Her dark lashes flutter as she looks up at me, lips parted. "You're insufferable." Her body sways toward mine, the contact scrambling my brain and sending more blood straight to my already swelling cock. "You're overbearing."
She's getting more animated as she warms to her theme, placing her palms flat on my pecs but not pushing.
"You have some nerve trying to act like you're protecting me when this is literally my job. You're the newbie… I should be worried about you."
She pauses for breath. "But then again, you're quite something, aren't you? Not just your average man."
I freeze. The comment is casual enough to brush off, but the way she's looking at me when she says it isn't casual at all.
“You know I won’t stop. You may as well just let me…”
Done with all the pretense, I kiss her. I grab her hands and snatch them away, eliminating the barrier between us as I pin her to the wall, letting my body weight settle against her.
It's the only way to shut her up. That's what I tell myself as my mouth crashes into hers, my tongue sliding between her lips, silencing her, claiming her. Swallowing her stunned gasp, the sound goes straight to my cock.
She hesitates for barely half a second, then she's kissing me back like she's been missing me, craving me, as much as I’ve missed her.