“I think Lake had other things on his mind.”

A killer. A woman. Sex.

Kenton had always been easy for her to read. “Stay on him, okay? I don’t want this going down like the one in Jasper.” She could still see Sam’s pale face.

Samantha Kennedy. She’d been so carefree and happy before. Then a killer touched her. Broke her.

“Not like Jasper,” she said again. “You can tail anyone.” One of his specialties. “Make sure he’s safe.” She’d have to get another agent in for backup. Two sets of eyes on Kenton. And she’d keep working the profile.

Something would give. A mistake would be made and she’d find a link. It was just a matter of time. “Make sure he’s safe,” she said again.

And the sniper smiled. “He won’t even know I’m there.”

“It’s not him I’m worried about. I don’t want our killer to know.” Because if they could lure him out and catch him—

Game over, Phoenix.

The doorbell rang, and Lora’s heart slammed into overdrive. She rose, the robe shifting lightly against her thighs, and she hurried for the door. Lora pressed her eye against the peephole and saw her late-night visitor.

After one glance, she jumped back and flipped the locks. Eyes narrowing, she wrapped her fingers around the knob and yanked the door open.

“Are you insane?” she snarled, glaring at Kenton. “Or do you just have a death wish?”

His brows rose. “Guess you caught the news.” Then his eyes raked down her body, and his lips parted. A soft sigh. Then, “Damn.” Appreciation flavored the curse.

She grabbed his shirt and hauled him inside. “What were you thinking?” Lora slammed the door behind him, barely hearing the groan of the wood. “Were you thinking? Do you want the freak to target you because you pissed him off? Do you want—”

“Yes.”

Insane. The guy was certifiable. “Run that by me again,” she snapped, her voice cracking with anger.

“I want him coming after me.” His eyes lifted back to her face, and yeah, she recognized lust when she saw it. Her fingers shook a bit when she tightened the belt on her robe. Not that there was whole lot to the robe. “I want him coming after me”—his voice was gruff and deep—“instead of trapping some poor bastard in his fire and letting him burn.”

“Do you want to burn?” Lora asked. Kenton didn’t know what it was like. When the fire came and it kissed you, and the pain stole your breath even as you tried to scream.

“I know the game. He’s not going to get me.” His head lowered. She saw his nostrils flare. “But I’ll get him.”

She hoped. God, she hoped. But she’d already seen one lover die.

“I got your address from your records.”

Her eyes widened. Oh, right, she’d forgotten to tell the guy where she lived. Luckily for her, he was a special agent man.

“You said… Christ, you smell good.”

Raspberry body wash. It’d been a gift last Christmas from Amanda Adams, the only other female fighter at the Bringham station.

Kenton cleared his throat. “You said tonight… after…” His fingers tightened around her. “You said—”

Just me and you. My place. Tonight.

But that had been before. When the need was high and the lust was beating in her blood. Before—before he’d gone on TV and challenged a killer.

I won’t lose another lover.

Didn’t he understand what he’d done?

If she had to drag his body from the flames…

Their eyes held. His body pressed against hers. His lips were so close.

Dammit. Damn him.

She grabbed the back of his head and yanked him toward her. Their mouths met, no tentative touch. No light caress.

She was angry with him. Furious at the risk he was taking. She was angry and afraid, and she wanted him.

The press of her lips was hard against his. Demanding. And he met her—dead on. Lips, tongue, tasting, taking. His hands were on her, lifting her and shoving her against the wall. He pushed between her legs, his c*ck heavy and full and riding high at the top of his pants.

His fingers tangled in her robe and jerked it free while his mouth stayed locked on hers. He kept thrusting that tongue deep, even as his chest eased back, even as his fingers wrenched the robe away and left her—

Naked.

His head snapped back. “Fuck.”

They’d be getting there, soon.

His hands closed over her br**sts, cupping the mounds, stroking the ni**les, and her head tipped back against the wall. This, this was what she needed. The heat of her blood. The tight yearning in her sex.

“Bed… or I take you here.”

Tempting. Especially when his dark head lowered and his lips closed around her right breast. He took the nipple into his mouth, sucking and licking—

“The first room…” She choked back a moan when she felt the edge of his teeth. “Top of the s-stairs… right.”

He growled. Pulled back. Started stripping. Nice.

The jacket first. Then—

Weapon. Gun.

His hand went to the holster. He secured the weapon and seconds later, his shirt hit the floor.

Bare chest with muscles gleaming. A light covering of dark hair.

Better than nice.

She slid away from him. Being na**d had never bothered her. So she lifted her head and smiled at him when he froze. She said simply, “Come get me.”

Then she was gone. He’d follow, she had no doubt. And she’d be waiting in bed.

Lora ran up the stairs, her feet thudding on the steps. She heard Kenton behind her, the rasp of his breath and the hungry whisper of her name.

The light from the hallway spilled inside her bedroom. She’d barely stepped over the threshold when he caught her. Kenton spun her around and yanked her up in his arms. Two steps, and they were on the bed. Crashing down. Falling hard into the soft mattress.

He caged her arms over her head, holding them with one hand even as he took her mouth.

That other hand—yes!—drifted down her stomach and pushed between her legs. He’d find her wet, she knew it. One kiss, and she’d been wet for him. Creamy, hot. Ready.

So long.

All those nights. Staring into the darkness. Wanting.

Alone. But not tonight. By God, not tonight.

It might be wrong. Might be too fast. Might be a million things—

She didn’t care. Screw reason. She’d tried to be a good girl and go that route. She’d never been into the whole good-girl scene.

His fingers parted the folds of her sex. His thumb pushed against her clit, and every muscle in her body tightened. “Easy.” His whisper in the darkness.

But she didn’t want easy. She wanted hard and fast. She wanted pleasure.

She shuddered against him. “No.”

Kenton stilled. “What? Lora, don’t—”

“Not easy.” She lifted her head and bit his shoulder. She tasted the salt on his skin. “Hard. Wild. Give me everything.” Because that was what she wanted.

He pushed up onto his elbows, and his eyes gleamed down at her. “Be careful what you ask for.”

“I know what I want…” His hand was between her thighs. That thumb pushing against her cl*t wasn’t enough, not even close. She wanted—

He drove two fingers into her. Then pulled them back and drove deeper.

Yes.

His mouth took her breast. Licking. Sucking. The peak was so sensitive that it almost hurt, but the pleasure, yes, it was there, pulsing through her, heating her, driving through her blood.

She tore her hands free of his hold and raked her nails down his back. He still had his pants on. She wanted them gone. Wanted his c*ck out, slamming into her while she held on for the ride.

“You’re tight… Damn, sweetheart, you’ll be—”

Those fingers plunged again. A slow swipe of his thumb over her clit.

“More!” Not a whimper. Not a plea. A demand.

The stubble on his cheeks rasped over her flesh as his mouth moved down her stomach. Wait, no, what was he—

He withdrew his fingers and parted her thighs. Wider. Opening her fully.

No, she didn’t want that. She just wanted sex. Hot. Dirty. Fast. Not—

She stiffened when he put his mouth on her.

This room, right here, the last time, it had been—

“Stay with me.”

Her eyes flew open. She hadn’t realized she’d shut them.

“Stay with me.” A snarl from Kenton, and she realized he knew.

She’d slipped into the past. Another lover’s arms. Oh, no, she hadn’t meant—

He rose up and kissed her. Fury and lust.

Her fingers caught the front of his pants. She wasn’t going back. Couldn’t go back.

Kenton. She wanted him.

She yanked the clasp, and a button popped free. His zipper came down with a hiss. No underwear.

Lora almost smiled. Almost, but the moment was too tense.

His eyes were on her.

His body surrounding hers.

Her legs were still open. Her br**sts tight and aching.

She closed her fingers around him and pumped, base to tip. The guy was impressive. Long, thick, easily wider than her wrist and—

He yanked out his wallet.

“Wh—”

Condom. “Put it on,” he told her.

She licked her lips.

“Hard and fast, right?” His voice rumbled, dark with lust and fury. “I’ll give you what you need, sweetheart. But you’ll remember it’s me.”

Lora took the hit. Using him. No, that’s not what she’d been doing. Not really. She—

She tore open the condom and rolled it down his hard flesh. And squeezed, because she liked the way he sucked in his breath when she touched him. “I want you,” she said. Stark. And not a lie. She’d ached for him since that kiss at the precinct.

The cream between her legs wasn’t a lie. The tightness, the yearning in her sex was for him.

Not for the ghost who haunted her.

“Then you’ll have me.” He leaned over her and turned on the light that sat on her nightstand.

She flinched against the brightness, turning away.

“And you’ll know it’s me.” Her gaze snapped back to him.

She could see him. All of him. Rippling muscles. Heavy cock. Strong thighs. All that power—hidden beneath the suit.

His hands caught her thighs again. His eyes lowered as he licked his lips. “Now let’s f**king try this again.”

Lora knew, he was going to—

He parted her folds, and he tasted.

Her breath choked out at the first touch of his mouth. Wet and warm.

Her fingers dug into the covers, and she closed her eyes.

“No, Lora.” His breath blew against her flesh, and her eyes flew open.

“Watch me.”

She shoved up onto her elbows. When her gaze met his, those gray eyes narrowed. “Good.”

Every muscle in her body tightened when she felt the wet lick of his tongue. Right on her clit, stroking that tight nub and making her breath shudder out.

The need wound up inside her as her heart raced, and she lifted up against his mouth, because the man knew how to work his lips and tongue, oh, he knew.

Such pleasure.

Kenton eased back, just a little.

“Kent—”

Then his tongue drove into her sex. His name tore out on a moan. And she came. A hot explosion that rocked through her and she watched him, watched him lick and suck and taste her as she came.

Kent!

Even as her sex convulsed, he rose, swiping his tongue over his lips. His c*ck pushed against the entrance of her sex, just nudging inside.

She kept watching him, and as his eyes held hers, he plunged inside.

It was a tight fit. He was big, and it had been a while for her. Lora’s sex was swollen and sensitive from her cl**ax.

He started to pull back. Probably to give her time to adjust to him.

Her legs rose, clenching around his hips. “Don’t stop.” An order. She wanted this. More pleasure. Him.

Demanding? Greedy? Yeah, that was her.

His lips curled. “Not a problem.” He thrust into her and plunged deep. So deep.

The bed creaked while the lamp cast a soft light on them.

Thrust. Withdraw.

Thrust. Deeper. Harder.

Just what she wanted.

Lora’s hands reached for him, wrapping tightly around his broad shoulders, her nails biting into the flesh. She arched her h*ps against him, driving up to meet him with her breath heaving and her heart racing.

Pleasure was so close. Her sex squeezed him, and she shivered at the rush of sensual sensation. The release was so close. She’d come again, a fierce blast that would make her vision dim, make her body quake and—

Make her forget.

“Say my name.” His hands dug into her hips.

“Kent—wh-what—”

“Right.” His c*ck drove balls-deep into her.

Good, good, better than good, it was—

He rolled them over, a fast, hard roll across the bed.

She slammed her hands on his chest, shooting up, straddling him, and taking his c*ck in even deeper.

Her knees dug into the mattress, and his fingers curled tight around her ass.

And that cock—so far inside her. Her sex flexed around him, clamping tight, already milking him.

“Fuck,” he groaned out the word.

Yeah, that’s exactly what they were doing.

She rose up and slammed down, taking control of the rhythm away from him. Up, down. Again, again.

His h*ps pistoned up to meet her. Powerful, hard thrusts that had her sex throbbing. Her body heating. And need tightening in her gut.