Page 43 of Blood Money

She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

The minute she started kissing him back it was all he could do not to rip that sexy little nightie off her body with his teeth. He hadn’t wanted to stop. He’d been out of control, and it wasn’t like him. It was like some unseen force obliterated every ounce of common sense in his stupid brain and made him push her up against the wall. And when she wrapped her legs around his waist, that same unseen force had him pressing his raging hard-on against her wet panties. God, when she began to move against him, his body blazed with the need to be inside her.

Somehow, common sense had intervened just in time, reminding him that Alex was a cooperator, and he’d managed to rein in his libido. It had to be the intensity of the circumstances, and it angered him that he would even think of bedding a woman he didn’t completely trust.

He shook his head, knowing in the depths of his soul that didn’t make sense. If he really thought she’d betrayed him, no way could he still feel anything for her. Then again, it could just be that damned physical attraction between them.

Somehow, he always knew this was how it would be between them. Hot. Passionate. Making him crazy with need. At least that’s what he imagined after that night he first kissed her.

Again Gray glanced over his shoulder, making sure no one was following him. It also gave him the opportunity to look down and make sure his brainless, ever-hardening dick wasn’t visible beneath the baggy coveralls. Thankfully, it wasn’t.

A speeding taxi blew by him, sending a gust of much-needed, though exhaust-filled, cold air into his face.

After leaving Alex standing against the wall in her bedroom with her nightie askew on that incredible body, he had tried unsuccessfully to get some sleep.

With a full-on boner? Not a chance.

When he’d dragged his ass from the sofa that morning, he couldn’t bring himself to use the same shower Alex used—the one where she stood naked, letting soap run down the valley between her breasts, between the cleft in those delectable ass cheeks, between her long, smooth legs… So he’d folded the linens and dressed faster than any man in history.

Fuck. Me.

His brain might know that he had to keep his randy paws off her, but his body didn’t give a shit. He knew his words had hurt her last night. He hadn’t meant to be unkind, but he’d had to say something to erect an impenetrable wall between them. Now she hated him. She’d made that clear as ice when she told him not to touch her again. Part of him breathed a sigh of relief, while the other part mourned the loss of something he couldn’t identify.

While he’d waited for her to come from her bedroom this morning, he’d called Lt. Frye to notify him of the meet tomorrow at noon, along with the location near JFK Airport. He assumed the Pyramid had a specific reason for choosing that area. Whatever it was, Gray had no choice in the matter. Since he’d be tied up today driving Nicky to Hopewell Springs, Lt. Frye and Dom would organize and notify essential teams for the briefing at One PP tomorrow before the meet.

When Alex had finally emerged from her bedroom, she’d been dressed in conservative clothing. Dark slacks and a light blue V-neck sweater. If only that damned sweater hadn’t clung to her beautiful breasts quite so enticingly.

Before bolting from the building this morning, he’d given Alex strict instructions to head out at the usual time to get Nicky to school, take the usual subway route, and he would pick her up in an unmarked car topside when she got off the subway. Dom would trail them in a separate vehicle until they could be certain no one was following them to Hopewell Springs.

Lt. Frye approved the move and was pleased that Alex kept her cool and remembered to tape the incoming call from the Pyramid. Dom planned to use his contacts to analyze the voice for racial identity, including what country the speaker was from. Gray was ever-amazed at the connections his partner had, not only with other agencies but with his old military contacts.

As planned, Dom was waiting three short blocks from Alex’s apartment. Gray opened the passenger door of the tan Dodge Durango and fell onto the seat. Without a word, Dom pulled into traffic and headed for Gray’s apartment. Gray noted dark circles under his partner’s eyes. Golden-brown stubble shadowed his face, as if he hadn’t shaved that morning. Hell, if he didn’t know better, he’d say Dom hadn’t even made it home last night.

“Damn, partner. You look like shit.” Gray expected Dom’s usual witty comeback, but all he got was silence. “Get any sleep last night?”

Dom grunted as he turned left onto Gray’s block. “Not really.”

“Did you hit the bars after you dropped Alex’s friend off?”

“No.” Dom blew out a harsh breath.

A long moment of silence stretched between them. Not unusual, since neither of them were ever full of details about personal stuff, but Dom’s hard-edged response made Gray think something happened last night that got his partner in a jam.

“You good?” he asked as Dom doubled-parked in front of Gray’s building.

Dom dragged a hand down his face. “Did something stupid last night.”

“What?” Gray already sensed where this was going. “Did you get Daisy home all right?”

“Yeah, I got her home all right. Problem is, I didn’t leave right away.”

Gray chuckled as Dom confirmed what he’d already guessed. “She’s a handful, isn’t she? Doesn’t hurt that she’s a knockout.” Dom said nothing, but there was something his partner wasn’t copping to. “So what’s eating your ass?”

Dom began shaking his head. “Damn. I didn’t know… I didn’t expect to…to…”

“Like her?” If Gray didn’t have his own problems, he would have laughed outright. Dom was notorious in the precinct as a love ’em and leave ’em kind of guy. This reaction was so out of whack it wasn’t funny.

“It’s more than that.” Dom looked up at the ceiling of the Durango’s interior. “But I can’t go there again. You know that.”