Page 27 of Convincing Alex (Stanislaskis #4)

She had her legs crossed under her, up on the chair. The way her shoulders were hunched, he imagined her muscles would complain

loudly the moment she came back to earth.

She was wearing a skirt again, a little leather number in bold blue that was hiked high up on her thighs. The hot-pink blouse

she’d tucked into it should have clashed with her hair, but it didn’t. The blouse looked like silk and was carelessly shoved

up to her elbows. A half-dozen gold bracelets clanged at her wrist as she worked. Rings flashed on her fingers, and the big

Gypsy hoops she wore at her ears peeked out of her tousled hair.

His heart ached with love for her. And his loins... Alex let out a little breath. He wanted, quite simply, to devour her.

Inch by delicious inch.

What the hell was he going to do, he wondered, when she tried to slither out of his life? He was sure she would, as she’d

done with others before. He could lock her up, carry her off. He could beg or threaten. He already knew he would do whatever

he had to in order to keep her in his life.

What had ever made him think he would one day find some nice, pretty woman with simple tastes and a quiet style? Someone who

would be content to sit home while he worked his crazy hours? Who would have and help him raise the houseful of children he

so badly wanted?

With Bess, nothing was simple, nothing was quiet. She would never be content to sit home but would badger him incessantly,

picking at him until he gave in and talked about the darker aspects of his work, those pieces of his life that he wanted to

keep locked away from everyone who mattered. As for children... He didn’t know how the devil to get and keep a ring on

her finger, much less ask her to help make a family.

Being in love with her left him helpless, made him stupid, brought him a kind of fear he’d never faced as a cop. Not fear

for his life. Fear for his heart.

He could only take his own advice and leave things as they were. Handle each day until she was so used to him she’d want to

stay.

As he watched, she stopped typing, lifted a hand to her neck for a quick, impatient rub. Her skirt hiked higher as she shifted.

It took all his control not to lick his lips. She punched a few buttons, had the machine clicking. A moment later, the printer

beside her began to hum.

With a smile on his face and lust in his heart, Alex closed the door quietly at his back. Locked it.

She jumped like a rabbit when his hands came down on her shoulders. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you to sit in a chair?”

“Alexi.” She pressed a hand to her galloping heart. “You scared—Oh...” Her sigh was long and heartfelt as he massaged away

the aches. “That’s wonderful.”

“You’re going to do permanent damage if you keep sitting like that all day.”

“I was planning on soaking in a hot tub for two or three days.” She leaned into his hands.

“Where’s Lori?”

“She wasn’t feeling too terrific.” As the printer continued to rattle, Bess closed her eyes. “I told her I was leaving, too.

Then I snuck back. I wanted to make a few changes for tomorrow.” She brought her hand up to one of his, skimming her fingers

over it to the wrist. “You said you might have to work late.”

“Lead fizzled. We’ll work on tracing the heart necklace down, but that’s better during business hours.”

“Trace it down?”

“Hit the jewelers,” he explained, “see if we can track down to when it was bought. Long shot, but...”

“Do you think the heart has a personal meaning for him?”

“Like some woman broke his heart, so he gives them a symbol of it before he whacks them?” He gave a little grunt as he continued

to knead her muscles. “It’s a little too obvious to dismiss. Psychiatric profile figures him as sexually inadequate on a normal

level, so he pays for women to perform. He wants them and detests himself for that, as much as he detests them for being available.

The fact that he goes through a short courtship routine shows that—” He broke off as she reached for a pad. “Hold on, McNee.”

He gave her shoulders a hard squeeze. “I don’t know how you do it. One minute I’m thinking about getting you out of these

clothes and the next you’ve got me talking about a case.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “No notes.”

Her fingers retreated from the pad, but with obvious reluctance. “I like hearing you talk about your work. I want you to be

able to talk to me about anything.”

“Apparently I can. Even the stuff I don’t want you to hear. I’ve got a problem with you, Bess. You won’t let me tuck you into

that nice safe corner where I want you to be.”

“You only think that’s where you want me to be.” Smiling, she tugged his hand around so that she could kiss it. “You like

me right where I am.” Turning his hand over, she pressed her lips to his palm. “I’m going to stay there.”

She felt his fingers tense, then relax slowly as he spread them over her cheek. “I was watching you while you worked.”

A rippling thrill raced through her at the words and at the shimmer of desire she heard in them. “Were you?”

“And thinking.” His hands slid down over her breasts, sampled their weight, molded them. “Fantasizing.”

Her head fell back against the chair. Her breathing quickened. “About?”

“The things I’d like to do with you.” Through layers of silk, he caught her nipples, tugging gently. “To you.”

When she tried to shift in the chair to face him, he increased the pressure, held her still. Her dazzled eyes focused on the

monitor. She could still see the ghost of herself there, and his hands moving. Sliding. Stroking.

Impossibly erotic to see, and to feel. Dry-mouthed, she watched his fingers undo her buttons and saw the dark shadow of his

hair as he pressed a hot mouth to her throat. She lifted a hand, hooked it around his neck as she tilted her head to offer

more.

“I can shut down in thirty seconds.”

He bit her lightly, just above the collarbone. “I’m not going to give you a chance to shut down.”

She laughed shakily, even as she lifted her other arm to capture him in a reverse embrace. “I meant the computer.”

He would have laughed himself, but he’d stopped breathing. “I know what you meant.”

“But I—” He slipped a hand under her skirt, and it was so sudden, so searing. Before she could gasp out in shock, he had driven

her ruthlessly to the peak.

“I watched you.” Each word burned his throat as she poured into his hand. “I wanted you.” Half demented, he whipped her up

again, pressing his face into her neck as her body shuddered. “Do you remember the first time I found you here?”

“What?” She couldn’t remember her own name. There was only this need he was ruthlessly building inside her again. “Alexi,

please. Come home with me. I need—” This time she cried out as the third high, hard wave swamped her.

“I wanted you then.” In one violent move, he spun her chair around and dragged her to her feet, and her already weakened system

went limp at what she read in his face. “Let me show you exactly what I wanted.”

This wasn’t the smooth and patient lover of the night before. This man with the fierce eyes and bruising hands wouldn’t cuddle

her and whisper exotic endearments. This was the warrior she’d only glimpsed. He would plunder. Whether or not she was ready,

he was showing her that dark, reckless side of him that he kept so tightly controlled.

In the moment when he stared at her, the look in his eyes hot and concentrated, she understood that excitement took a twist

into the primitive when it carried a touch of fear.

He fisted a hand in her hair and yanked her against him. His body was like rock, vibrating from deep within, as if from an

erupting volcano. For that moment, there was only the strength and the fury of the inevitable.

His mouth burned over hers, his tongue diving deep, while his free hand tugged the snap of her skirt free. He wanted her flesh,

craved it. That heated silk, those alluring curves and taut muscles. Time and place had lost all impact. There was only here.

Only now. Only her.

Shivery fingers of fear ran up her spine. She hadn’t known what it was to be wanted this way. It was so huge, so violent,

so glorious. Before, he had given her more than she had ever dreamed of. Now, he seemed compelled to give her more than she

had ever dared dream.

Beside them, the printer stopped its practical clatter and dropped into a hum. The low, waiting sound was drowned out by the

thundering of her heart. The bright working lights overhead seemed to dim as he took her hips and pressed her hard against

him.

“You make a war inside me,” he muttered as his teeth scraped roughly down her throat. “There’s no end to it. No peace from

it. Say my name. I want to hear you say my name.”

“Alexi.” When his lips crushed down on hers again, he felt her breathe it, warm, into his mouth. “Take me. Now.”

The wild need slammed into her so that her mouth was as turbulent, her hands as frantic. Dozens of tiny explosions burst inside

her body, merging into one huge tumult of sensation that battered, bruised and bewitched. She was all but sobbing with it

as she tugged and pulled at his clothes.

She was quivering for him. Couldn’t stop. The power and pressure growing inside her was all but unbearable. And the heat,

the furnace blast of heat, had her skin slicked and her head spinning. Glorying in it, she brought her mouth to his bare shoulder,

savoring the taste of flesh. His busy, bruising hands had her bearing down with teeth and nails. His breath hissed in her

ear as she reached down to curl impatient fingers around him.

Confused and tangled phrases whirled in his mind. He heard them burst from his lips to hang on the thick air as he fought

to catch his breath. On an oath, he gripped her shoulders and hauled her back.

Her face was flushed, her eyes were glowing. He’d marked that ivory skin. He could see where his fingers had pressed, where