“I don’t mind getting up early,” she told him as they headed for their respective bedrooms. “I’m just glad I’m not so sore tonight, I need your help getting my clothes off.”
O-kay. That definitely didn’t come out the way she intended.
Braden gave her a hurt look as they stopped outside their rooms. “What? You didn’t like the way I undressed you last night?”
“No. I mean yes!” she said. “I loved it. You can help me undress any time you want.”
Braden lifted a brow, his dark eyes dancing with amusement.
Dreya felt her face heat. “That didn’t come out any better, did it?”
He chuckled. “I know what you meant. If it helps, I have to admit that I enjoyed helping you get out of those clothes. So, if you decide you ever need help getting naked, all you have to do is ask.”
Dreya opened her mouth to make some crack about partners being there for each other, but the sexy glint in his eyes robbed her of the words.
He was right there, standing so close she could feel the heat coming off his body. Maybe it was the relief of finally having another person to share her secret with. Or the way Braden didn’t run screaming when he saw her claws and fangs. Heck, maybe it was three days of living this close to a really hot guy who liked to take her clothes off. Whatever it was, she was going to kiss him.
Braden must have decided to do the same to her, because his mouth was coming down on hers even as she reached out to tug him against her.
The sensations hit her all at once, eliciting a moan from her throat. The hunger of his lips as he devoured hers, the sweetness of his tongue as it dipped into her mouth, the solid strength of his chest muscles as they pressed against her soft breasts.
She buried her hand in his hair, yanking him down harder, wanting to make sure he didn’t go anywhere. His hand found its way to her lower back, fitting her more tightly against him and letting her know just how excited he was.
When that hand on her back slid lower, firmly caressing her ass, she didn’t complain. This was absolutely insane, but she wanted him all the same. She barely knew him. He was a cop who had tried to put her in prison three days ago. On top of that, he was her new partner. Those were all good reasons to avoid any romantic entanglements. But none of that seemed to matter as their kiss burned hotter.
A quiver started to build in the pit of her stomach and then pooled lower. She was so turned on, she was surprised she didn’t combust. She only prayed her fangs didn’t slip out—she didn’t want to bite him.
She pushed that worry aside and focused on something else instead—like the fact that Braden was as turned on as she was. She could smell his arousal in the air, taste it on his tongue, and feel it in the hard-on pressed against her stomach. Sighing, she reached for the buttons on his uniform top, but he broke the kiss and took a step back.
She blinked up at him in confusion. There was no mistaking the same lust she was feeling mirrored in his eyes. He wanted her as badly as she wanted him.
“We have to get up early for training tomorrow,” he said in a ragged voice.
She let out a sound that was half growl, half purr and closed the distance between them. “I don’t care about tomorrow.”
Braden stepped back again, like they were doing a complex dance step. “You need to care. Tomorrow is only day four of the deal you made with the DCO. You can’t afford to screw up and blow this chance. Not after everything you’ve made it through already.”
The urge to say the hell with the DCO was overwhelmingly powerful. Dreya had never experienced anything like it. She’d been with guys before, but she could take it or leave it with most of them. With Braden, she was hungrier than she’d ever remembered being.
But he was right, and she knew it. She’d just told him she wanted to be here. She hadn’t proven anything to the DCO yet and didn’t want them changing their mind about her.
She forced herself to step back and put some much-needed space between her and Braden. “Thanks. It’s good that at least one of us has some control left.”
He nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Dreya got ready for bed quickly, refusing to let her mind wander in a sexual direction as she showered off, then hurried into her room. But then Braden hit the shower right after her, and she was forced to hold her breath to avoid inhaling his amazing scent. She didn’t know how she could smell it under all the body wash he dumped on himself, but she could.
Knowing he was right there, barely ten feet away, wet and naked, made her want to caterwaul in frustration. The urge to walk into the bathroom and slip into the shower with him was nearly impossible to resist. But she did, because she needed to focus on doing well in training tomorrow and impressing the people who would decide if she was going to work for them.
She hated having to be all mature and adult about crap like this.
Dreya pulled on her Betty Boop sleepshirt, biting her lip to keep from moaning out loud as the cotton fabric rubbed against her tingling nipples. Then she climbed into bed and lay there under the covers, trying to think of something—anything—other than the kiss she and Braden had shared. Just the thought of that kiss had heat swirling between her legs.
What was it about Braden that got to her so much? Yeah, he was attractive and muscular and smelled amazing. But it was more than that. Part of it was the way he looked at her like he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, not just when he’d been helping her get naked, but back when he’d been interrogating her at the police station. Something told her it wasn’t simply her body that he was attracted to either. It was all of her.
That was when it hit her. Braden had looked at her the same way right before they’d kissed…after he knew what she was. He knew she had fangs, and he still wanted to kiss her. That was incredible and arousing on a level she’d never experienced before.
The shower turned off, and Braden came out of the bathroom a few minutes later to turn off the lights. The scent rolling off him was almost enough to send her chasing after him. She was so excited, she wanted to jump him and sink her fangs into him. Dreya gripped the edge of the comforter, forcing herself to stay where she was.
