Temptation Rising (27 page)

Pounding into her Rome could think of only one thing—she was his. Every part of her belonged to him. He would never let her go. Never.

She wrapped her legs around him, locked her ankles, and met him thrust for thrust. Her nails scored his back through the thin cotton of his shirt. Pulling out then sinking back inside her was addictive—it was enticing and mind numbing. His breathing was ragged as he stroked her, loving the feeling of her walls constricting around him, her arms holding him close like she was afraid to let him go.

The scent came slowly; like a light breeze, a soft musky aroma filtered through the air. Inside his cat roared and Rome’s thrusts came faster. Kalina’s thighs began to shake around him and he held her tighter as her release took over.

He stroked deeper, his entire length buried firmly inside her. The scent filled his nostrils, and his muscles bunched. He wanted to cry out, to roar with the power that surged through him; instead he opened his mouth, sinking his teeth into her shoulder until the tang of blood touched his throat. With his tongue now thick with anticipation he licked over the spot, licked and licked until her taste was embedded in his senses.

At that precise moment heat laced through his spine, shooting to his tightened balls, his release filling her in fierce spurts.

She was like jelly in his arms, relying on him to keep her from falling over the desk. And Rome held her there, loved the feel of her in his grasp. He was still inside her, his sex refusing to leave the pleasurable abyss. Her legs had unwrapped from him to fall at his sides. As he pulled back to look at her Rome received one final jolt to his system.

Her eyes.

They weren’t the normal gold-flecked hazel they’d been when she’d walked in. They were all-gold with a tiny black dot in the center. They were cat’s eyes and they were staring right at him.

*   *   *

“Have dinner with me tonight?” Rome asked, his voice still husky from the moaning and groaning of their tryst.

Kalina was stepping out of the bathroom, where she’d splashed soap and water on all the vital places, and straightening her clothes. “We should talk,” she said. “I mean, really talk.” She couldn’t do this any longer. How did she investigate a man she thought she was dangerously close to falling in love with? How could she try to convict him when she knew he was innocent? She wouldn’t find Cortez’s name anywhere in Rome’s financial records. For one thing, he was too damn smart to ever implicate himself in such a juvenile manner. And for another, he wouldn’t do business with a cartel.

In the time she’d been looking over his records she’d seen that Rome was very generous in his contributions, selecting causes that she suspected meant something to him, the Every Child Needs Someone Foundation being one of the largest donations on behalf of the firm. She’d seen the receipts in the computerized ledgers and knew the foundation well because it was one she donated to regularly. While her donations in no way matched Rome’s, it didn’t matter to her; just the fact that he’d thought about those children endeared him to her.

But as they’d come together today, on his desk of all places, she’d realized that while she still didn’t understand this attraction between them and she had more questions than answers, the connection between them was stronger than anything she’d ever encountered in her life. A connection she wanted desperately to hold on to. He hadn’t left her this morning—that’s what he’d said. He’d gone down the hall in his larger-than-life house to a meeting. Who does that, and what kind of meeting was he going to at the crack of dawn? See, more questions.

However, before she could demand the truth from him, she had to come clean about her own part in this charade. She also had to find out the truth about her assignment. All this time there’d been something bothering her about the way the DEA had come for her, of all the other cops in the narcs division. There were certainly some who had more experience than she did, more years on the force, and wanted to get out just as badly as she did. But they’d chosen her. Handpicked her, as her lieutenant had said. And they’d kept Ferrell in the loop. Why? Ferrell was a detective and had some years on her in the unit, but he didn’t do fieldwork, hadn’t in years. Still, he was the front-liner from the MPD, and she’d only met the DEA rep once. That just didn’t seem right. She’d buried those facts in the glossy glow of being needed, wanted for something. But now she was seeing things clearer, as if this time with Rome had opened up some kind of locked door inside her. She felt invigorated and ready to unleash … what?

“I’ve been known to have a lasting effect on females, but this ignoring my question is a bit new for me.”

She heard his voice, then her gaze snapped back to his. Kalina didn’t know how long she’d stood there thinking, but he had obviously said something to her. “I’m sorry, daydreaming I guess. What did you say?”

He came to her then, wrapped his strong arms around her, and she felt that sensation once more, the one where something inside her reached for him. It was a yearning that came only when he was near, and when he touched her it pumped up a notch until she could barely think beyond him. She’d been afraid of this feeling before, but now she embraced its welcoming sensation.

“I asked about dinner and you said we should talk.”

She nodded. “Right, we should.”

“So we’ll talk at dinner?”

“That’s fine,” she said accepting his kiss. “But I should really get back to work.”

“I have to ask you this again. Are you sure you don’t have any idea why those men would be following you?”

She shrugged. And wondered if she should mention what had happened to her two years ago, or even the pictures. Thoughts about those incidents being linked had lingered in her mind. But there was no telling Rome part of that story. Once she opened her mouth she’d have to tell him everything. That was her intention eventually, but there was more she needed to find out first.

“I don’t know them or why they would follow me.”

“Ezra, that’s my man,” he said matter-of-factly, “will be with you at all times.”

She moved out of his grasp, not sure she liked that idea. A trip to the station was needed, and she certainly didn’t want Rome’s man going with her.

“I don’t need a bodyguard, Rome. I’ll be fine by myself.”

He had moved behind his desk, was opening up his drawer and dropping something inside when she turned to him. “I appreciate your concern, but—”

“He’s staying with you. Until I find out who they are and why they’re interested in you, he’s sticking close.”

Kalina opened her mouth to argue, then thought better of it. He looked like he wasn’t going to be talked out of it, and pushing the issue might make him suspicious. And well he should be; she’d been sent to find evidence to have him jailed for the rest of his life. He should probably have kept her locked up when his man had kidnapped her before.

“I’m going back to my desk before Dan starts looking for me.”

“Wait,” he said, then crossed the floor to where she stood. “Go this way.”

Taking her by the elbow, he led her back into the bathroom to a door on the far side of the shower stall.

“You can take the stairs from here. That way no one will see you leaving my office.”

As she looked into the stairwell, Kalina wondered just who Rome Reynolds really was. What kind of attorney needed a hidden exit?

“Use this often?” she asked almost casually.

“Only when needed” was his serious reply. “Keep your eyes open, Kalina. Something’s going on that I’d rather you not be a part of.”

He’d rather she not be a part of it but Kalina had the sinking suspicion she already was. “What’s going on?”

Rome looked as if there were words he wanted to say, things he wanted to reveal. She knew that look because it matched the feeling brewing inside her.

He leaned forward, brushing his lips over hers. “Tonight,” he whispered. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

She accepted his kiss, let the warmth it exuded encase her for just a few minutes more, then slipped through the door.

Chapter 18

This was the last thing X had expected to uncover. He and Nick had already discussed checking out Kalina Harper. With the Elder’s accusation that she was a shifter, he’d gone directly to his office to speed up the background check. He should have known there was a reason his original search attempts had been blocked. But once he’d gotten into the correct databases, forging clearance for some higher-level areas—it was really baffling as to why this seemingly average woman’s file would be that buried—he’d hit the jackpot.

Leaning back in his chair with the sun setting through the window behind him, he cursed, long, slow, and fluent.

Rome was going to go ballistic when he found out.

And if Kalina was his
companheiro,
the shit was definitely going to hit the fan.

Dropping the reports onto his desk, X dragged a hand down his face, feeling tired and ragged. All sensations he was used to, but they tended to keep him going nevertheless. It was the desolate feeling, the creeping up of a hunger that worried him. He usually kept it at bay, going on with his life as normally as possible, but lately it had been gnawing at him, pressing for release in a world that frowned upon such actions.

From his hip the cell phone chirped and he hurriedly answered, welcoming the distraction of outside conversation. Trying to convince himself that he didn’t need what his body craved was becoming monotonous.

“Is this line secure?” the voice on the other end asked before X could say anything.

“Hold on,” he said. He walked to the door, locked it, and returned to his desk. There was a small radio in the corner near his computer; X switched it on and leaned forward so he was closer to its speaker. He worked for the FBI so he was well aware of how easy it was to place a bug in an office without anybody noticing. He normally swept his office every week to make sure it was clean, but he knew who this was on the phone and knew that if they were calling it was urgent. He didn’t have time to do another check, but would use precaution instead.

“I’m here. What’s going on?”

“I looked into that thing at the lab like you requested.”

There was silence on the line.

“And?” X prodded.

“It’s not good.”

He let out a breath. Was this the day for bad fucking news or what? “‘Not good’ means what?”

“It means we’re probably about six months, give or take, away from being found out.”

“How?”

“You should know. It’s the ones you’re working for that are on our backs. Somebody tipped them off so they’re looking into the possibilities.”

This was not what X wanted to hear, especially not after what he’d found out about Kalina. “The feds are looking into the possible existence of shifters?”

“You got it. They’re asking questions so I gotta think somebody out there’s giving up some answers.”

Rubbing his free hand over his bald head, X ran scenarios through his mind as if there were a central computer planted inside his brain. None of them had a good outcome.

“And X?”

“What?”

“They’re close. So close we need to be looking over our shoulders at every turn from this minute on. Tell the FL there and I’ll let Sebastian know. They need to decide what to tell the Assembly and how to prepare the other shifters before the shit goes downhill.”

As X disconnected the line, he figured it was probably too late for that.

*   *   *

He hadn’t slept at all last night, his own demons picking that time to come out to haunt him. But Nick wasn’t afraid of those demons, or any others, either. He wasn’t afraid of anything, couldn’t afford to be.

So what if he was at work? He’d been here since six this morning, with a sour attitude. It didn’t matter because so far the only person he’d taken his bad mood out on had been the guy at the coffeehouse on the corner who had gotten his order wrong a record number of three times and had the audacity to catch an attitude with Nick when he called him on it and demanded his money back.

It was now just about closing time and he wasn’t particularly looking forward to going home alone. He was sitting back in his office chair with one hand on his black address book and the other rubbing along his chin as he considered what type of company he was in the mood for tonight.

There was a knock on his door, an almost silent one that he probably would have missed if he didn’t have the heightened senses of a shifter.

“Come in,” he said wearily, hoping that whoever it was would state their business and get out in the quickest amount of time possible.

“Hi, Mr. Delgado. I just have a few letters that need to go out today, and Mr. Reynolds hasn’t been in. I figured I’d bring them to you to sign.”

Rome’s assistant, Melanie something or other, came right in, bringing the letters up to his desk and dropping them down in front of him all while she spoke in that quick, efficient manner of hers.

Nick didn’t even blink, just picked up his pen and began looking over the letters before signing.

“Mr. Reynolds wasn’t in the office today,” she said again. “I would usually have all the mail signed and out by now, but when he called this morning to say he wasn’t coming in I had some appointments of his to reschedule and some other things to handle first. It’s so unlike him to not come in, especially when he has things on his calendar.”