Suddenly bone-weary, he stared through the windshield and sighed. “I have some experience dealing with nervous, hostile interviewees. You’re going to have to trust me to ask the right questions and draw the right conclusions. All I want is the truth. I don’t have any interest in hanging these murders on anyone except the actual murderer.”“I know you don’t.” Her fingers tightened on his arm again. “I’m just trying to explain that she’s scared and defensive.”Impatient with the whole situation, he asked, “What’s a scared, defensive woman from the expanse of Paliparan doing working as a Phoenix Club stripper? And why the hell would you enable her by filling in?”Anaisse let go of him as if he’d stung her. “Besides the fact that if I didn’t fill in, we’d be homeless?”“You’ve got a home in Paliparan, Dasmariñas City.”“Annabelle’s a dancer. She’s trying to achieve her dreams and become a star. That won’t happen for her in Paliparan.”“She’s off to a hell of a start.” Anaisse scowled at
She squeezed his hand. “Well, still, I’m very grateful. I wish there was something I could do to make amends.”The perfect entry to his next topic. Linking his fingers a bit more tightly with hers, he replied, “Your wish is granted.”She shot him a wary look. “You want me to continue dancing for you, so you can keep putting yourself out as bait.”“Yes, but there’s more. We need to up the stakes or this charade isn’t going to work. Both Alex and Carlton manhandled Annabelle—for want of a better term—and created a scene. That’s the next step. I think if we stage an altercation at Phoenix Club, it will trip this guy’s trigger. He’ll come after me.”The fingers between his went stiff and still. He pulled his attention from the road briefly to see her reaction. Eyes full of fear and dread stared back at him.Her concern warmed something inside him, deep in his chest, even as her reluctance made him want to tear out his hair. After steering the Land Cruiser through a turn and onto his stree
“God, sweetie. I’m better than okay. My leg is fine, hasn’t felt this good in weeks. Give me one second and then I’ll take care of you.”“Relax. I’ll take a rain check.”“Excuse me?”“You heard.” “Well, sorry, Detective, but you’ve got the wrong idea. I don’t issue rain checks. This is a onetime offer.”The mattress creaked again as bodies moved. Someone got up from the bed. “Nah, I don’t think so. See, Annabelle, I’m onto you. Whether you know it or not, you’re trying to pin me into a catch-22. You won’t trust a man unless you can lead him around by his dick. But as soon as you can, you lose respect and interest. Me, I plan on holding your interest.”“That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. For the record, I’m not the least bit interested, and your dick just missed out on the best ten minutes of its sad little life.”“We’ll see.” Anaisse couldn’t quite suppress a smile at how confident he sounded. Then her eyes rounded as he went on. “Just to establish some all-important t
Stomach churning with dread, she made her way across the still-crowded club to the VIP room and tried to mentally prepare for the next phase of the plan. She took a deep breath and slipped inside. There he sat, looking so big and tough and good, she suddenly longed for the days when all she had to do was straddle his lap, strip off a few articles of clothing, and touch him to her heart’s content. When their eyes met, his darkened, hinting maybe he had the same thought.Then he began a long, slow perusal of the slutty schoolgirl, starting with her patent leather Mary Jane platforms, ascending along her black thigh-high stockings, sweeping up the twin bands of skin exposed between the tops of the stockings and the bottom of her very short pleated plaid skirt.She sauntered over and straddled him with a bravado she didn’t feel. His gaze snagged on the hot pink panties visible beneath the hiked-up hem of her skirt, and despite her worry over this so-called plan, her trigger-happy hormones
Tommy hated emergency rooms. He hated getting scanned and stitched. He hated concussions. Most of all, he hated Ryan telling him the perpetrator got away.The only thing he didn’t hate was having Anaisse glued to his side whenever some nurse, doctor, or technician wasn’t shooing her away so they could inflict more torture on him. Of course, he gladly would have traded her worry and guilt for less tear-inducing emotions, but one thing seemed fairly obvious to him, even with his somewhat fuzzy head. She cared a lot, whether she liked it or not.By the time the ER finally spat him out, the sun had dawned skull-splittingly bright against a cloudless, electric blue sky in the City of Dreams. Despite his protests, he found himself propped between Anaisse and Ryan and walked to the curbside pickup/drop-off zone like a ninety-year-old invalid. Seeing the yellow Bug pulled up to the curb improved his mood slightly. He liked his ride home, at any rate.Anaisse ran around to the driver’s side wh
Shaking her head, she hugged his shoulders and pressed her lips to his neck, his jaw, along his cheekbone, and finally, unbelievably soft, delicate kisses around the edge of the bandage at his right temple. Suddenly feeling incredibly alive, he raised his chin and intercepted those restless lips. Their mouths fused, and she stilled, sighed brokenly, and sank into him.Within seconds, they were panting and pulling at her clothes. He dragged her wet shirt over her head and tossed it. It landed with a slap against the tiled floor, but he barely noticed. He was too absorbed in the sight of her—her breasts encased in a wet, white, completely transparent bra. When he cupped those breasts and lifted them, taking their weight, her head tipped back and her thighs tightened around his hips.Needing to taste her skin, he popped the front clasp and watched warm, smooth flesh burst free of the sodden confines. “Closer,” he whispered, and with an arm behind her back, he brought one straining pink n
Tommy was the one who had suffered a concussion, so Anaisse wasn’t really sure why she felt so light-headed. But she did. From the moment she’d seen him standing beside the tub, all roughed up and naked, he’d stolen her breath and left her equilibrium asking which way was up. Even now, lying beside him in his big bed with her head cushioned in the curve of his shoulder and afternoon sunlight filtering in through wooden shutters, she couldn’t seem to draw the right amount of air into her lungs. Her head felt as weightless as the dust motes floating in the sunbeam slanting across the foot of the bed.After mind-blowing sex, he’d switched things up, holding her captive with his molten gaze while his hands traveled intimately, yet innocently, over her skin and hair, bathing her. She’d returned the favor, reveling in the vitality of his body.She could happily revel forever, drifting along blissfully as his fingers threaded lazily through her hair, and his heart pounded strong and steady b
By the time she pulled into her driveway, she’d figured only one thing out—the questions were too complex to resolve during a drive home, especially with her nerves shot and her body craving sleep. The rest of the day would be quiet and calming, she promised herself as she trudged upstairs. Her heart leaped into her throat when the front door suddenly swung open and she confronted a lean, muscular chest encased in a dark blue T-shirt. A quick tilt of her head brought Ian’s amused face into view.He stepped out onto the landing. “Hey, Anaisse . How’s the patient?”Dazed by his presence, she traded places with him. “Fine. Um, resting comfortably. Is Annabelle okay?”His grin stretched into a wry smile. “She’s a little pissed. Probably my fault. Don’t worry though, she’ll level out once she realizes I’m right and stops fighting the inevitable.” He jogged down the stairs, calling, “See you later.”“Later,” Anaisse parroted, still bemused by his presence and his strange, cocky pronouncemen