Bullshit. He laughed. “I know you fucked me to gain some kind of twisted leverage in this investigation. I also know you’ll use that and any other innuendo you can dredge up, like that trumped-up story you just related, to blackmail me, or to try to. It won’t work. Unlike you, I do have principles.”
“Actually, Tanner”—she looked him up and down then smirked—“all I did was lure you into a compromising position. You stuck your dick in me because you wanted to. Or maybe it was all those principles that compelled you to do it over and over again.”
He grabbed her by the chin, unable to restrain the punishing hold. Never in his life had any woman made him feel so out of control. So damned desperate to dominate her. “Take the deal or take the fall. I’m good with either choice.” As angry as he was at that moment just being this close, just touching her, even like this, reminded him of hot, graphic sex. Made him want to repeat that insane mistake over and over again.
“You know what gets to you the most?” she whispered, then wet her lips.
That he followed the move with such avid interest enraged him all the more.
“You want me even now,” she taunted. “That’s why you’re so pissed off.”
“I don’t want you,” he snarled. “I despise everything about you.”
She grabbed his cock and squeezed. “Yeah, I can tell.” That was when he recognized the one glaring difference between them. His whole body pulsed with lust. And she ... she remained a block of ice ... of sheer indifference.
“I’ll give you that.” No point denying it. He wrenched her fingers free of his dick. The feel of her skin burned his hand. He let go of her wrist. “But at least I’m capable of feeling something.”
“Now you get the picture.” She tugged her chin loose from his cruel grasp and smiled. “Did you really think you could touch me like that? No man, certainly not you, has ever had the power to make me feel anything at all.”
It required every ounce of determination he could rally, but he backed off. He was done. “When you’re prepared to discuss a deal on my terms,” he said, his breath ragged, his tone raw, “you give me a call.”
She held her ground as if she was confident she owned this little tête-à-tête. “I’ll tell you what, Mr. District-Attorney-to-be, just because we have so much in common I’m going to give you a peek into the future. If my prediction proves accurate, you have to listen to what I have to say.” She dared him with her eyes. “Really listen.”
Not about to entertain any more of her groundless threats, he went on record. “I think you’re bluffing. So don’t waste your breath.”
A soft laugh quirked her lips, drawing his reluctant attention there yet again. “Why don’t you save your deductions for after you’ve heard me out? Isn’t that the standard procedure?”
He crossed his arms over his chest to ensure he didn’t do anything else stupid, like haul her ass to the street. “I’ve made my position abundantly clear.”
Undeterred, she spelled it out. “Today Zac Holderfield’s body was discovered. His father will be next.”
Whoa. Carson searched her eyes, her face. Those instincts he relied on so heavily sounded an alarm, igniting the coals beneath his hibernating reason. “Don’t think for a second I won’t inform the investigator in charge of the Holderfield case of your remarks.” Was she for real? Jesus Christ. “Give due consideration to my offer, Ms. Baxter, before it’s too late. Your friend Fleming isn’t likely to take our collusion so well. I wouldn’t want to be you if he discovers you’ve been unfaithful.”
“Really, Tanner,” she argued, not shaken in the least. “Why would I tell you something like this if not to help you? I have nothing to gain by taking this risk.”
The lady had missed her calling. She should have been an actress. “I don’t operate the way you and your friends do. In my world, we have laws and ethics. Unless you’re willing to work within those boundaries”—he pointed to the street—“you can go.Now.”
“We operate in the same world, Tanner. On my side of the legal line, we’re just a little more up front with our tactics.”
The desire to shake the hell out of her was nearly overwhelming. He curled his fingers into his palms, kept his arms tight against his torso to prevent doing exactly that. “You have one chance to save your ass, Ms. Baxter. I’d suggest you take it.” Even as he said the words his mind conjured the image of her high, tight ass. His fingers squeezing those firm mounds. Idiot.
“You’re the Avenger,” she urged fearlessly. “The guy who stands up for the innocent and the defenseless. Don’t you want to have truth on your side? To do the justice thing? I’m giving you advance knowledge. The rest is up to you.”
He felt sick with disgust at the way his body betrayed him even now. His cock was hard as a rock at just being close to her. Her fearlessness fueled that attraction. Not being able to control this thing between them—knowing she was using him, knowing what she was—made him all the angrier. She represented some kind of challenge he couldn’t seem to resist.
“What I want to do,” he growled, “is to take you down. What you need to understand is that Iwillmake it happen.”
Having the last word should have given him one hell of a rush. But it didn’t. He’d gotten to her, but she’d gotten to him first ... and last.
He headed for the house. Enough had been said.
“You really have no idea what you’re dealing with, do you?”
He shouldn’t have paused. Shouldn’t have looked back.
When he did their gazes locked, imprisoned by an intensity he couldn’t quite label.
“One last piece of advice, Tanner,” she said, her posture every bit as determined as her tone. “Don’t trust anyone and watch your back.”
