Jase’s burning gaze went from hot to shuttered. “Do a little hunting, tail him, figure out his movements. With any luck it won’t take too long.”
“Fine, let’s get started.” Walking ahead, she cast Jase a glance over her shoulder. “The sooner we get what we need, the sooner you can take me home.”
Every muscle in Jase’s big body tightened. The heat was back in his eyes as they headed out the door.
Jase managed to talk Kate into letting him do his job on his own—at least until he had the info they needed on Zepeda. No way was he going to be able to track the guy, follow his movements and find his lair, with a sexy blonde bombshell glued to his side.
He dropped Kate off with a vow not to go after Zepeda without her. He didn’t want to take her into a dangerous situation, but he understood her need for justice—he had lost three friends in Afghanistan. He’d gotten justice for his brothers on the battlefield. It wasn’t as personal as he would have liked, but at the time, it was the best he could do. And ending a bunch of terrorists in some way balanced the scales between right and wrong.
Jase spent the rest of the afternoon prowling the bars in Old East Dallas, talking to people without being too obvious. Amazing how many answers you could get with a few greenbacks scattered here and there.
Once it was dark, he was able to move around more freely. He spotted Zepeda outside the Sunshine Motel, but Eli didn’t stay long. He was driving an older model cherry-red two-door Cadillac convertible, pretty much a pimp cliché, which made following him almost too easy. Jase wondered how many hours his women had spent on their backs to pay for it.
Jase tracked him to the low-rent apartment building where he lived a scumball’s idea of the high life in a two-bedroom flat on the fourth floor. He discovered that Eli parked in the rear parking lot and went in through the back alley entrance with two other men. Jase was tempted to go in and just get it over with. But as much as he’d like to end the guy, he wasn’t ready to commit murder—unless it was self-defense.
He ignored the rush that thought gave him.
Armed with the info he needed, he drove back to Kate’s. It was way too late, nearly two in the morning. It was beyond rude to wake her at this hour, expect her to welcome him into her bed. He tried to convince himself to just go on home, get some sleep, call her in the morning.
Instead, here he was, standing in the lobby, probably making a fool of himself.
“You’re Maddox?” the guard behind the front desk asked.
“That’s right.”
“Just go on up. Ms. Gallagher left word you’d be coming by late.”
His pulse jumped. Kate was expecting him. He didn’t know if that was good or bad. Sure he wanted to see her, but he didn’t want her to think it meant more than it did. He wasn’t a commitment kind of guy, never had been. Until Chase and Harper, he’d never really seen it work.
It’s not a problem, he told himself as the elevator door slid closed and the car swept up to her tenth floor apartment. They were in lust, and both of them were okay with that. Besides, he had news. Tomorrow night, if they could formulate a workable plan, they would deal with Elijah Zepeda.
In the meantime, he would be spending the night in Kate Gallagher’s bed. The simple truth was, Jase realized, there was no place he would rather be.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kate’s stomach contracted when she heard the buzzer on her front door. Jase was here. Slipping out of bed, she grabbed her pink silk robe and slid it over the matching sheer nightgown she had put on just for him.
She tried to calm her nerves as she crossed the living room. As the night had lengthened, she’d figured he’d decided not to come.
She pulled open the door and stepped back to invite him inside. “I’m glad you’re okay. I was worried.”
“Were you?” His eyes ran over her sexy lingerie. “I’m fine. Didn’t run into any problems.” He moved closer, until their bodies were touching full length. One big hand slid into her hair, and he tipped her head back. “I’m glad you waited up.” Then his mouth came down over hers.
No man had ever kissed her the way Jason did, as if he couldn’t get enough, as if she were part of him, as if he could go on kissing her forever. She gripped his muscled shoulders and clung to him, kissed him back with the same hungry need.
The kiss changed, deepened, turned her insides to mush. She felt his lips on the side of her neck as he lifted her into his arms and strode down the hall to the bedroom, her nightgown draping over his arm like something out ofGone with the Wind.
“Jase...” His name whispered out as he set her on her feet beside the bed and began to take off his clothes. She just stood there watching, mesmerized by the sight of all those glorious muscles, hypnotized by the way they flexed and moved. Naked and fully aroused, he turned to her, stripped off her robe, but left on her sheer pink nightgown.
His eyes ran over her, hot and a darker shade of blue. Hungry. “I love looking at you.” He reached out and wrapped a thick blond curl around his finger. “All that golden hair, those long legs and that pretty little tattoo on your ass. I could just eat you up.”
She whimpered. Jase eased her nightgown off her shoulders, and it pooled at her feet. His hand cupped her breast; he bent and took the fullness into his mouth. Her mind went blank while her body burned.
She didn’t remember much after that, just the constant rush of heat, the need scorching through her, the feel of his mouth on her most sensitive places. Pleasure that seemed to have no end.
She moaned as he moved on top of her, drove deep, took and took and gave and gave. Hours later, relaxed and boneless, she fell asleep beside him. When she awoke the next morning, the bed was empty, just as before. She didn’t like the way it made her feel.
Then she heard sounds in the kitchen and her heart leaped. Jason was still here.
