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“Under that reserve, you’re like your family, ready to claw anything or anyone to get what you want.”

“And under that make-believe charm, you’re nothing but a bastard,” she spat out.

“I’ve been called worse. Much worse.”

Jerking her back when she tried to pull away, he then slid his hand under her hair, holding her in place.

“What’s the hurry? Afraid of being so close to me?”

“I’m not afraid of you!”

“You should be. You should be very afraid.”

He brought his mouth to her ear and could feel her trembling in his arms. “Why are you shaking?”

“Because you won’t let me go.”

“I’m only protecting myself from you hitting me again. Unlike you, I have survival instincts.”

“Let me go. I promise I won’t hit you again.”

“I’m just supposed to take your word for it?” Desmond let the tip of his tongue come out to trace the shell of her ear.

“Quit playing with me. Let me go.”

“If I were playing with you, you would know. I’m not playing.”

“Then what are you doing?”

When she turned her head away so he couldn’t have her ear, it brought them face-to-face, their lips barely a centimeter apart. And when she licked her lips in reflex, Desmond took advantage, pulling her tongue inside his mouth.

What in the fuck was he was doing? He should put her ass back in her seat, drive back to Queens City, and figure out another route to finding the missing Sherguevil Island inhabitants. However, what he should do and what he did was the direct opposite.

Tugging her closer, he deepened the kiss, expertly twisting his mouth over hers, sliding his tongue alongside of hers, exploring the deep recesses of Haley’s mouth.

She tasted like fine brandy. The delicate taste disarmed him as he slowly kissed her, savoring the slow burn then the escalating heat that was setting his cock on fire.

Nuances of citrus and flowers wrapped around him, making him want more. The heady sensation was something he had never experienced before with any woman. He had felt passion and desire before, but this was different. It was a yearning to discover more, to become oblivious to anything but this moment.

“Stop, Desmond!” Tearing her lips away from his, Haley arched her head away so he couldn’t resume their kiss.

Lifting her off him, he placed her back in her seat before starting the car.

While they drove back to Queens City, neither one talked. Desmond couldn’t find the right words to say, planning to drop her off at the apartment and never see her again. She was useless to him now, so there was no further need to see her or employ her.

The plan lasted about a quarter of a mile until he licked his lips and tasted her on them again. The next mile was spent planning how he was going to manage to get himself in her apartment and kiss her again. By the time they arrived at the apartment, he had determined just how he was going to seduce the accountant and find out how she tasted on his tongue from other areas of her body.

Instead of pulling in front of the apartment to let Haley out, he drove to the parking garage. “I’ll walk you up.”

“There’s no need.”

As soon as he parked the car, she was out, striding toward the lighted entrance.

Getting out, he followed behind her. “Haley, there’s no need to run. I’m not going to attack you.”

She stopped short of the door. “I didn’t think you would.”

“Then why are you running?”

“To get my computer, to get Rhone Rivera’s private number so I can call him,” Haley stated, rushing again.

Her answer stunned him. What was so important that she had to talk with Rhone now?

“Are you coming or not? Why aren’t you more excited? I think we just found your missing villagers.”

Eighteen

“You have Rhone’s private number?” Desmond asked as he closed the apartment door.

“Yes, he gave it to me when I worked for him,” Haley casually answered, not looking up from her computer.

Desmond watched as Haley sat on the couch with her computer on her lap, then as she started keying the numbers on her cell phone.

“Why not just keep it on your phone?”

“This computer isn’t wired to the Internet. I promised not to let his number get out. He only lets friends have access to him.”

“He actually gave you his number?”

“Yes. Why are you acting so weird about a phone number?”

“Probably because I consider myself a good friend of Rhone’s, and he hasn’t given me his number.”

“Did you ask for it?”

“Several times, as a matter of fact.”

“Then I guess you’re not as friendly as you thought you were.”

“I guess not. Did you ask him for his number?”

Taking a seat on the couch next to him, she set the computer on the coffee table. “No, he offered it to me when he asked me to work for him.”