26

Selena

Deadly allure.

That’s exactly what Joshua had in spades. The danger surrounding him was real and it was terribly exciting. While he was afraid of being alive, I reveled in the electricity, hungry for more. That terrified me as well.

The man had been smiled on by the gods, so perfectly created with his chiseled jaw and hard muscles that even now my stomach was in knots thinking about him. What troubled me wasn’t only how my body had betrayed me but also that I felt myself slipping further into the dark abyss of his dangerous world. Meaning I could do even more inappropriate things to keep him from prison.

The fact his body had intricate ink in the most delicious places was equally as attractive, a bad boy personified. I had to wonder whether he owned and rode a Harley. I laughed softly, brushing the back of my hand down my neck, tingling from the filthy thoughts that lingered. Even though he was polished, riddledwith understated elegance, there was a rough edge about him, his insatiable need for me uncharacteristic for a man who exuded control.

Everything about him and my attraction confused me. If I were older, I’d say I was having a midlife crisis but that certainly had nothing do with it. What I hated the most was that I was physically hurting. Not from the limited spanking from the night before but because he wasn’t close. He wasn’t touching me. Kissing me.

Fucking me.

Groaning, I fingered my phone, longing to tell someone about my awful secret. I pulled my fingers away before I did something I’d regret. Getting Jenny involved in my sordid mess wasn’t fair by a longshot. Plus, she’d only chastise me as much or more than I’d been doing with myself.

As she should do.

Hell, if she was truly an officer of the court, she’d turn me in, finding a way to have me disbarred.

I rubbed my jaw, tapping my finger against my lips, which did little more than remind me of his extraordinary kisses, the way he held me in his arms. Laughing softly, I could almost hear the tickle of the ivories from his magical performance. He left me breathless like I was under water.

We’d even danced together, enjoying the moment of feeling free. The time spent had been crazy and romantic, passionate and amazing.

Butterflies tickled my stomach for a few seconds, my longing to be with him again building to a crescendo. I rolled my eyes. Iwas almost twenty-eight years old. I’d worked my way up from an intern at nineteen, graduating the top of my class, to closing in on District Attorney and here I was thinking and acting like some college freshman ogling my professor. It needed to stop.

The only trouble was I wasn’t certain how. Even worse. I really didn’t want to. I tried to break from the lurid thoughts, but it was almost impossible.

Rain.

I stared out my office window at the torrential downpour, still lost in the moment of being with Joshua. Just thinking his name, exaggerating the syllables until they rolled across my tongue provocatively created another wave of heat. I’d felt that way since waking up next to him at the crack of dawn, shaken from the fact that I’d not only allowed myself to fall prey to his tactics and his method of seduction but also that I’d dared spend the entire night.

Who was I kidding? I’d enjoyed the moments, the lack of sleep the only downside to the passion that had erupted between us several times. There was nothing romantic about what we’d shared, the man taking me on the couch and the floor, shoving me up against the window, whispEricag dirty words about people being able to see me. We’d wrestled and I’d taken some control only to have it ripped from me again.

His commanding way had me locked up in a prison without bars or chains, his possessive needs and the way my body responded something I would never have anticipated only a week before. Hell, I’d never let Matt take control. Not once. Maybe that had been part of the problem. As Joshua had told me during one of our heated sessions, all men with balls larger than peas needed to dominate a woman.

How often and for how long had I balked against the notion completely? I’d been so dead set on performing like a man that I’d forgotten how to be a woman. Except when I was with the powerful, savage, dark, and delicious criminal. What did that say about me as a woman? Maybe he’d been right in that I’d been hiding from my true self my entire life.

I couldn’t think straight, the pelting rain having the same kind of hypnotic effect as his eyes had had for the entire night. Now I was pressing my legs together for fear I’d gather a whiff of my lingEricag desire. Or maybe I was concerned that my shower gel hadn’t been strong enough to mask her feral scent. I could certainly still smell our sex. Maybe that’s why I’d remained in my office, forgoing more than a single cup of coffee.

How many times had he said that I belonged to him? I should have escaped his lair. I should have pushed him away with everything I had.

Shoulda. Woulda. Coulda.

I’d never felt this so out of my control or uncertain of what to do in both my personal life and my professional one. What I did know continued to nag at me.

One: I wanted the man. Plain and simple. Maybe I was as obsessed with him as he was with me.

Two: Whoever was trying to frame him had used the fact he’d come into Louisville for an unexpected takedown of the Voltair regime. I was fairly certain I was right about that aspect. However, it was finding out who it was and how far reaching the attempt the secrets and lies went. How many people did it involve? Who could be trusted?

That was part of the problem. Was this all political or something more damaging? That was the crux of my problem. If I wasn’t careful, I’d venture into the kind of investigative territory that would become dangerous in a different way. However, I wouldn’t be able to look myself in the mirror if I didn’t learn the truth.

Could I trust Joshua implicitly, or was I fooling myself? He could easily have sent his soldiers to handle the murders. I’d tried to research who they were but couldn’t find anything on their identities. That meant they could have gone behind Joshua after he used me as a mark, killing Ronald and Fiona Voltair on his orders. That still made him very much a murderer. I doubted men like him got his hands dirty anyway.

Fuck.

This was bad, so very bad. I hadn’t worked on his case, still finding it impossible to believe I was in this predicament. God. What was I going to do? I slowly lowered my head into my hands, hating everything about my life.

When I heard a knock on the door, I stiffened, immediately jerking my head up. Seeing Christine’s pensive face was enough to pucker my asshole. She closed the door behind her, walking to my window, staring out at the rain as I’d just done.

“Is something wrong?” I finally asked. A few seconds turned into a full minute, the tension becoming thick.

“When I was growing up, my father used to remind me that it was a man’s world. He was a chauvinist in every way. I didn’t know that until I was a teenager, telling my father I wanted to become an attorney and maybe president of the United Statesone day. Do you know what he said?” She turned her head, studying me as if she no longer knew me.

“What did he say?” I’d never felt so uncomfortable around her.