To my surprise, he stepped back. Then he studied me, his gaze probing and oh-so-damn blue. “You don’t know me anymore.”
The words, although they’d been said by my sisters as well as myself, still pierced with a truth that shattered the make-believe world I’d created years ago about him.Starringhim. “You don’t know me, either,” I whispered. “I don’t need saving now. You do.”
“You keep investigating this case, and youwillneed saving,” he said evenly, the Irish lilt disappearing again.
“From you?”
“No.” He exhaled, frustration drawing his brows together as he ducked his head and studied his boots. “How can I get through to you?”
I held up a hand. “I get it. You want me to stay away from you.” Even though he was barely more than a stranger now, the idea still hurt.
His head snapped up. “Oh, baby. I’d like you to get as close as you can to me. Just drop your investigation. Let somebody else take those chances, and you stay safe.” Those eyes deepened along with his voice, which now held the low seduction of an Irish brogue. Full and thick with promises of stormy nights and raw passion.
Warmth spread through me like a heated port. There was nothing sexier than a bad boy bent on seduction, and I knew it. “I’m sure sleeping with the prosecutor would help your case. Nice try.” My voice remained shockingly steady.
His cheek creased. “Who said anything about sex?”
“Sweetheart,” I murmured, “I’ve dreamed of sex with you since I was sixteen years old.”
He blinked.
Yeah. I’d learned early on that the truth, the real truth, was often more surprising than the best crafted lie. “Same with Dean Winchester, who also doesn’t exist in real life.” My imagination didn’t keep me warm at night, but it was still a heck of a lot better than reality, apparently.
“Oh, I exist.” Aiden stepped in again, his hand clasping my waist and resting heavily on my hip. He smelled of leather and man, and the warmth he brought covered me head to toe. His hold was gentle but his strength obvious, and my breath shallowed out.
Touching him, being this close to him, was a mistake beyond simple words. But something in me, maybe the whole of me, didn’t care. I should have. I know it. But finally, after all of these years, Aiden Devlin was close enough to kiss.
As if reading my mind, he drew even closer. “I’ve thought a lot about that kiss the other day. You?”
I lifted my head to meet his gaze. “Yeah. I think you should’ve asked first.” My voice was throaty. Husky. My chest felt heavy, my breasts alive.
This was a new feeling. Completely.
Challenge crossed his high cheekbones, as obvious as an oncoming storm over the mountains. And his drawl. Well, now. That was all male. “I see. Can I kiss you now?” His lips were close enough that his minty breath brushed my mouth.
I’d never backed down from a challenge my entire life. Yet finally, a threat of caution ticked through me. Oh, not enough. But I did hesitate, and the wind brushed my hair across my chin to fall back to my shoulders. “Yes.” Then I held my breath, expecting him to move.
He didn’t. Not at first.
His lids lowered to half-mast, and his gaze ran leisurely across my face. The wind blew in from the side, against us, but I couldn’t move.
His hand slid down the door and then cupped my jaw, his palm warm and calloused. “I wondered about you. Through the years,” he rumbled.
I breathed out, the nerves in my torso, just beneath my skin, all but vibrating. His thumb brushed across my bottom lip; his touch soft. His chin lifted just a fraction as he watched his finger on my mouth, his eyes flaring, his shoulders squared and blocking the rising moon. “Aiden,” I whispered, wanting him with a depth that should’ve scared me.
“Yeah,” he said, as if talking to himself.
I jerked my head, dislodging his hand, and then levered up and took his mouth in a kiss, my hands curling over his broad shoulders and into his T-shirt.
He drew air in, from my mouth. His broad hands on my back pressed me up and closer to him.
Then he took over, going deeper. My eyelids shut as sensations rippled through me, so hard and fast and deep I stopped thinking. Gravity pulled me down, and he lifted me back up, kissing me deeper, all but surrounding me with male power and strength.
He shoved me back against the door, one hand planting next to my head, his mouth driving against mine in a way that was all pleasure.
I forgot that Aiden Devlin was kissing me and just felt. Hot and needy and somehow powerful. So many feelings rioted through me, and I chased each one. He moved against me, his mouth dropping to my neck to place hot kisses along my throat and then farther down, his lips warm along my collarbone and lower.
The second he hit upper breast, I gasped, my eyelids flying open.
