“I’m simply asking the question.”

“No, you’re not. You’re trying to find something wrong with me.”

“I am not!”

“You are too! You know as well as I do that I got off the fucking transport yesterday. Petrov was killed…what? Two days ago? You know it wasn’t me. And I would hope you thought more highly of me than that. Especially since you just fucked me.”

“All I know is that you’re not exactly human. And I only recently found that out.”

“Bullshit. You know me better than anybody else, Dez. You’ve always known I wasn’t exactly human. Didn’t you?”

“What I do know is that it all makes sense to me now. You. Your sisters.”

“We’re naked. We are never to discuss my sisters when we’re naked.”

She stood up. “You know, they actually said I wasn’t good enough for you. For you!” Dez pointed at him. “You’re a freak.”

“And you reek of normal. You surrounded yourself with a shitload of guns and the world’s largest dogs so no one will get near you, and the first male that does, you accuse him of being a murderer.”

“I didn’t accuse you. I made a suggestion!”

The two glared at each other. Mace could feel and smell Dez’s rage. He also sensed her fear. Yet he now knew it wasn’t because of what he was, but her own fear of being hurt again. Of having anyone get close enough to touch the woman she had buried underneath her Kevlar vest. But he didn’t have time for her bullshit. He was crazy about the woman. Madly in love with her. Probably from the first time he saw her all those years ago. So she would simply have to get over whatever little “issues” she had.

“Come here, Dez.” He didn’t mean to spit that out through clenched teeth.

“No.”

“Come. Here.” Well, that sounded like an order. Probably not good either.

“Fuck. You.”

Well, this wasn’t working. He watched her glare at him from no more than five feet away, but it felt like a two-hundred-mile chasm. His need to touch her became almost overwhelming. The desire to stroke her flesh. To lick that little pulse point on her neck. To kiss her. God, did he want to kiss her.

Mace leaned forward and gently grabbed hold of her hand. He gave a tug. “Come here, Dez.”

Her anger receded as quickly as it came. She rewarded him with a shy smile. “Why?”

He tugged again. “Please.”

Dez slowly moved toward him. He pulled her until she sat on his lap, facing him. Her strong legs straddled his thighs.

“The condoms are upstairs,” she reminded him softly.

He pushed her thick silky hair off her face. Ran his hands across the soft flesh of her cheeks. “We don’t need ’em for this.”

Dez let Mace pull her toward him, his eyes on her mouth.

Could she be more of a bitch? No, she couldn’t. Why else would she accuse the man of being a murderer? She knew he wasn’t. A predator…definitely. A well-trained military killer…absolutely. But to gun someone down in cold blood? Nah. If for no other reason, Mace simply wouldn’t bother. He simply didn’t like or dislike most people enough to get up the emotion necessary to blow their brains out. He was a cat, after all.

“I’m sorry, Mace.” The words were out of her mouth before she could hope to stop them. “I should have never said that to you.”

He smiled and she almost came from the sight of it. “You’re right.” He ran his big hands through her hair and she moaned at the contact. She never believed hair could be an erogenous zone. Man, she’d been wrong about that. “You should have never said that to me.”

“Can I make it up to you?”

“We’ll have to see, now won’t we.”

As soon as his lips touched hers, a jolt went right to her pussy, causing her clit to actually spasm. From just a kiss. She never thought that possible. At least not for her. But with Mace, anything seemed possible.

He pulled her closer, his tongue sliding across hers, his strong hands moving across her back. She kept waiting for more, but he kept kissing her. Only kissing her. That’s all he wanted. She sighed and melted against him.

Nope. She couldn’t deny it. This man rocked her world. Her universe.

She squirmed against him. That flash-flood warning problem happening again. Her nipples were so hard they hurt. And Mace kept on kissing her, his hands never leaving her back or going below her waist.

Man, she was in over her head.

“You keep squirming, baby. You okay?” He licked her collarbone, but she could feel his smile against her hot flesh.

“Mace?”

“Yes?”

“Stop messing with my head.”

“I didn’t know I was. I’ve just always wanted to make out with you. It’s a fantasy of mine. I figured this was as good a time as any.”

She wanted him so bad she wasn’t sure how much more she could take. “Well, it’s not. So get on with it.” Mace pulled back from her, and Dez groaned in disappointment. “What, Mace? What?”

“I’m enjoying the fact you think you can order me around.”

She really did not like the sound of that. “Uh—”

“Put your hands on my shoulders and lean back a bit.” Dez placed a hand on each shoulder and leaned her upper body back. Mace’s right hand slid down between her breasts, across her stomach, pausing at her crotch. His thumb right above her clit. Without thinking, her grip tightened a bit on his shoulder.