Page 42 of Blood Money

He tugged her silk sheath higher until the rough hairs on his thighs brushed against the soft skin near her mound. The friction grew, and Alex found herself grinding against the full length of him.

I want this. God, how I want this. More than anything. This was how it should be. All heat and desire. Bodies touching, merging until there was no space between them.

His tongue slipped between her lips as he kissed her, groaning deep in his throat.

When her hands slid down his back, thick muscle rippled beneath her fingers. With a passion she didn’t know existed within herself, she undulated against him, wetness flowing and dampening her panties.

Gray hooked her thighs around his waist, pushing her against the wall. His long, thick erection pressed intimately against her throbbing sex, and she couldn’t stop herself from rubbing against him.

When she opened her mouth and moaned, he thrust his tongue inside and again kissed her deeply. Her stomach muscles tightened. Her nipples hardened, aching for his touch. If he didn’t put his mouth on her breasts soon, Alex thought she would die.

As if reading her mind, he slid one hand down the side of her rib cage, feathering her breast, then cupping it lightly until his fingers found the hardening bud. She gasped at the lightning-sharp zing that lit her up from head to toe.

Moaning even more, Alex sifted her fingers through Gray’s thick hair. His kiss deepened, their breath mingling. She wanted him inside her. Deep inside her.

Alex eased her fingers beneath the elastic waistband of Gray’s skin-tight shorts then slid her hands around to cup his ass as he rocked against her. Suddenly, he stopped kissing her. His chest rose and fell. Their hearts beat in tandem, racing wildly.

“Alex.” Gray’s breathing was ragged. He released her gently as her legs slid to the floor. He shut his eyes and dragged his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not?” As he stepped away from her, cool air washed over her heated body. She gasped for air, her heart still hammering.

He took another step backward. “This can’t happen between us.” She watched in shame and horror as his expression changed from one of regret to unconcealed anger. “Ever.”

Alex pressed her hands to her cheeks. She couldn’t believe this was happening. A moment ago she was practically naked in his arms, offering her body to him, and he was rejecting her. “Why not?” She thought he’d wanted this as much as she did. Hell, she’d wanted this long before he’d kissed her so passionately outside her door.

“You’re a cooperator.” Gray clenched his jaw, the muscles in his face flexing. “A police cooperator.”

Alex shut her eyes for a moment. There it is. My new reality. I’ll never be anything more to Gray than someone he needs for his investigation.

It was probably for the best. As much as she wanted to tell him everything, she’d never be able to. If he didn’t believe that she hadn’t been using him, he certainly wouldn’t understand the rest of her past. The part she still hadn’t told anyone.

Even while the throbbing between her thighs eased, she knew he was right. It would only complicate an already far too complicated situation. He would always think of her as someone never to be trusted, never to be touched. The lingering physical attraction he must have for her was to blame, nothing more. But damn him for making her feel things for him and for starting something he had no intention of finishing.

Heat rose to Alex’s face. It took all her composure not to yell and scream at him, but she didn’t want to wake Nicky. “You’re right,” she said in a voice calmer than she felt. “This can’t happen between us.” Not as long as you don’t believe in me. “Get out. And don’t ever touch me again.”

Gray exhaled heavily. “Try to get some sleep.” He grabbed the recorder from the bedside table. “Tomorrow we’ll take Nicky to Hopewell Springs.”

Boneless, Alex slid down the wall to the floor. Touching herself lightly, she flinched at how sensitive she was between her legs, and her panties were drenched. Her body might still be on fire, but her mind was numb.

It really was over between them. Even if they’d made love, she knew he would walk away in the end.

And her heart would shatter into a million pieces.

Part of it already has.

Chapter Eleven

The rear door of Alex’s apartment building slammed shut behind Gray as he exited into the alley. With his coveralls back on and a duffel slung over his shoulder, he looked like a typical New York City laborer heading to work.

He glanced behind him to verify he wasn’t being followed. In the event that Alex and her apartment were being watched, the plan was to make it appear that business would go down as usual. He didn’t want to tip anyone off that either she or Nicky were going on a little trip. With that in mind, he’d emptied his own duffel bag and instructed Alex to pack it with enough clothing, toys, and any meds Nicky needed for at least two weeks.

A gust of wind shot down the alley, nearly dislodging his ball cap. The wind also brought with it the fetid smell of waste from the garbage bags piled high in both dumpsters adjacent to the building. Ironically, the nasty stink had him thinking about how good Alex smelled and how incredible her lips and mouth had tasted.

Christ, he was an ass and an idiot to boot. He never should have touched Alex last night. Never should have wrapped his arms around her to comfort her, and he sure as hell shouldn’t have kissed her.

At the end of the alley, he hung a right onto Broadway and blended in with the morning rush to the nearby subway entrance. A pedestrian banged shoulders with him as he crossed the street, but he hardly noticed. The only thing he felt was his body still craving the overwhelming need to bury himself in Alex’s hot, wet heat. The second he’d looked into her watery eyes, he’d been defenseless. They had been like a shifting, Caribbean-blue tidewater of emotions that spoke directly to his heart.

Gray snorted. For a hardcore detective, you’re turning into a total sap. When a guy starts talking all poetic-like, he’s in deep, deep shit. The emotions he’d witnessed, anger over her child being threatened to absolute fear, undid every stitch of restraint. And he could see it in her eyes…