After The Dark. Cynthia Eden

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СКАЧАТЬ moment to lift her up and shove her into his waiting car. Dazed, she didn’t even fight him.

      This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening.

      “I got to thinking...” He cranked the car. “She’s going to need more than a bottle of champagne to realize the hunt is on. She’s going to need a victim.”

      Tammy tried to grab for the door handle.

      And that was when his hand flew out, and the knife came toward her.

      * * *

      BLAKE STOOD AT her front door, staring down at her. He’d brought her back from the police station. The ride had been quiet, intense. Too many emotions had seemed to fill the air between them.

      Danger was waiting. Samantha could feel it in the air. A killer was coming. There was no more hiding.

      Her breath eased out. “Thank you for the ride.”

      He growled. That was the only word for it—a growl. Rough and animalistic, and the sound made Samantha’s heartbeat quicken.

      “You think that’s the way it ends? I bring you home and I just walk away, knowing some bastard is out there? Someone who seems to be after you?”

      She didn’t want him to walk away. Samantha’s hand lifted and pressed to his chest. “Blake—”

      “Screw that.” His words were ragged. “I’m not playing by the rules any longer. You matter too much.”

      And then...Blake was kissing her. Samantha’s hands flew up and flattened against his chest. She could feel the strength of his muscles beneath her touch. She intended to shove him back. After all, they were partners and they couldn’t—

      We’re not partners, not any longer. I’m not FBI. I’m a civilian. There’s no line that we can’t cross.

      Her hands pressed to him, but she didn’t push him back. She’d thought about his mouth for a long time, wondered how he would kiss, how he would taste. Wondered what it would be like to just let herself go with him.

      She didn’t have to wonder any longer. Samantha’s lips parted beneath his, and when his tongue thrust into her mouth, a low moan built in her throat. She found herself rising onto her tiptoes, leaning toward him, wanting more of his kiss.

      Still waters run deep. That was the old saying. She’d always suspected he had some very, very deep waters. Deep water, deep passion. If he just let his control go, if she let hers go...

      No.

      Samantha stepped back, sliding from his embrace. Her heart was thundering in her chest, and her breasts—her nipples—were tight with arousal. All from one simple kiss. Blake Gamble was dangerous to her. Another truth she’d always known. She felt too much with him. Too much, too fast.

      “I’m not going to apologize for that kiss.” His voice was a sexy, rough rasp that sent a shiver down her spine.

      “Don’t remember...asking you to do that.” She remembered kissing him back with a wild hunger. “We’re adults. We can—”

      “I’ve wanted you from day one.”

      Her breath whispered out. She’d seen the desire in his eyes, burning hot in that green gaze. But he’d always kept his control around her.

      “I played by the rules.”

      Because he seemed to be the rule-following sort.

      His jaw tightened. “And now I’ve fucking brought a killer to your door.” Anger was there, deepening his voice, letting the hint of his Texas drawl slip out.

      “Blake, it’s not—”

      “My fault?” His gaze burned. “You don’t need to lie to me. I keep telling you that. When will you believe it? I can handle your truth. I can handle every single secret that you have.”

      No, he couldn’t. He didn’t know about her past, and he didn’t know everything that had happened the terrible night she realized that Cameron was a killer. If he did know, would he even want to touch her? Would he look at her as if she were the monster?

      “I’m not going to stand back, not any longer.” The heat from his body seemed to wrap around her. “I want you. I’m not going to let that sick son of a bitch out there—whether it is Latham or someone else—I’m not letting him get you. I may not be your partner anymore, but I’m here. I will always be here for you.”

      The hero. He had that complex straight to his soul. Too bad she wasn’t built the same way. There was a darkness in her, one she’d always felt, like a constant companion who shadowed her every step. Cameron had said she was made for the dark. We both know you like the dark... Isn’t that your name? His voice floated through her mind, the way it often did. Little things, replaying in her head. I always said you had that killer instinct. How many times had she found herself looking over her shoulder in the past few months, certain that Cameron would be there?

      “If you don’t want me to touch you again, you say the word.”

      She wanted his touch right then. Wanted to drag him close and kiss him and forget everything else. She’d been playing by the rules during her time at the FBI, and what had that good behavior gotten her? Blame and a swift kick in the ass on her way out of the door.

      “But I’m not leaving,” he added, when she remained silent. Mostly because she wasn’t sure what to say. “And the killer out there? I will hunt him down. I’d just rather do it with you at my side. Because, despite the bullshit that EAD Bass said about you, I know you’re the best. We can work together again. We can take this bastard down.”

      Tempting words. But she already knew what she had to do. “I’ll help you find him.” Stopping the killer was as necessary as breathing. She couldn’t let a predator like him hunt. The image of Kristy Wales flashed through her mind. The woman had been terrified, and her blood...it had sprayed so wide when her throat was cut. “We’ll make our own rules from here on out.”

      So she’d be back to working with Blake, temporarily. And the desire that was between them? The need that kiss had just proved was still as hot as ever? What were they supposed to do about that?

      Ignore it, the way they’d done before?

      I won’t pretend. “I want you,” Samantha said. She could give him that truth. “I just don’t know what to do about that need.” Another quiet admission. She did want him, so very much, and that desire terrified her.

      Her last lover had turned out to be a serial killer. Since then, she hadn’t been willing to lower her guard and trust another man with her body. But if she could trust anyone...shouldn’t it be Blake?

      She turned away from him, fumbling with her door. It took three tries to get the lock open, then she hurriedly disengaged her security system. She went inside, but...Blake wasn’t following her.

      Samantha glanced back.

      His hands were clenched at his sides, and his eyes glittered with unmistakable desire. Her breath hitched as she stared at him, and need twisted deep inside of her.

      “I СКАЧАТЬ