“We’re old friends,” Devin continued, “Could you tell her Drake is here?”
Jones considered, then with a long sigh he rose and headed past the barricade intended to keep civilians out.
“Where do you know Rachel?” Miranda asked, her tone uncharacteristically casual. She didn’t meet his eyes.
“We served together.” Was she jealous? His grin was predatory.
“Oh.” Her words were clipped.
Devin drew closer, though he made sure to keep careful distance as he crossed his arms. “Do I detect jealousy?”
Her eyes snapped to him, burning straight into his soul. Infernal take him, he was half hard already.
“Of course not,” she defended, though it was much too forceful to be true.
“Jealous or not, Rachel is merely an old friend. I assure you, she has more interest in proper table settings than she does in me and she abhors frivolous rituals. So there’s no need to worry.” He took another step, encroaching on her territory as he leaned in to whisper, “I am entirely yours, Mira.”
She pushed his shoulder—the bad one—and he reeled. Pain hissed from his mouth. “Please. You’re dreaming if you think you can charm me into letting my better judgment slip again. I told you, that was a singular mistake that I won’t make twice.”
The pain had done wonders to cool his ardor, though he was hardly out of the game yet.
She looked away. “But…sorry. I forgot about your shoulder.”
He rotated his arm, but it still throbbed. “Who said I was trying to charm you?” He met her stare, grinning as her jaw fell open. “Mira, I will make you a promise, I’ll not push or pressure you into anything you’re unwilling to do. No more riling you. No more goading.”
She raised her chin. Her tell that this was more bravado than anything else.She was a goner.
“Perfect. Thank you.”
“However,” he continued, eyes dangerous and his voice saturated in unbridled intent, “Shouldyougive me even the smallest indication that you want me to continue, should you attempt to push at boundaries, know that I will no longer beexercising restraint.” Her eyes grew wide, her teeth sucking in her bottom lip. “I will not hold back.” He watched her thighs rub together, just the barest hint of movement, but it was more than enough. “And I will not stop until you are entirely spent.”
She swallowed, drawing his eyes to her throat.
He could hear Jones returning and his smile shifted to a jovial grin, his sinful focus masked behind a chipper veneer.
“Yeah, she’ll see you.” Jones unlocked the door to allow them through. “Up the first stairs on the right, she’s in the Captain’s office.”
Devin’s tone was bright and airy as he gestured with a bow. “After you, Miss Wilde.”
She did not move for several moments.
“Is there a problem, Miss Wilde?” He pressed. “Anything you wish to request, perhaps?” Her eyes rounded on him as she stalked forward and he raised his arms in submission. “Only an innocent inquiry, I assure you.”
He followed her through the door.
Inside Captain Blair’s office was a blonde woman with pale skin and sharp blue eyes who was grumbling as she shuffled amidst a sea of papers, garbage, and various clutter.
“Rachel, he does not deserve you,” Devin started, fixing himself in the doorway to lean against the frame.
Miranda was not sure what to make of the new I’ll-not-tempt-you Devin. She was wary, of course, because he was an ass who tended to be his own worst enemy. But his apology at her house had felt real and, while she had bristled and sneered, she’d believed him. She was beginning to see new facets anddepth that peeked through whenever his defenses were down. The romantic whose hands stroked her arm and asked if she was alright. The honor hidden beneath swagger when he’d waited for permission before testing a boundary. And the pain he worked so hard to hide.
Still, while his promise had sounded genuine, she knew he intended his choice of words to lure her back into his arms. He made the offer thrilling, enticing, and hard to resist. And while the sensible voice in her head had cheered at his promise to behave, her body had purred. Hummed. She felt his words in places she now knew could be so exquisitely pleasurable. It might not have worked, except that she very much wanted to be lured.
He had not made a single comment on the walk up here and his eyes—which she had felt crawling over her skin like a trail of fire since leaving her house—had not once wavered. But did she dare tempthim? Did she dare test his promise to not hold back?
Miranda pulled her eyes away from Devin with a sigh.
Did she dare risk falling deeper?
