Lorie O - Strong, Sleek and Sinful

“What did I tell you about playing private detective?” Perry growled. He looked pissed, but there was something else smoldering in that dark gaze that heated her insides to a dangerous level so quickly that she couldn’t think of a good answer. “This isn’t a game.”

“I’m not playing.” Her voice cracked when she spoke and she cleared her throat, daring to stare him down in spite of his intimidating glare. “What happened to her?” she asked before she could stop herself. For a moment he looked as though he would growl. A small muscle twitched along his jaw next to that hairline scar of his. “I was across the street. You saw me. I was curious just like everyone else,” she added quickly.

“Someone raped a young girl and beat her so badly that it will be hard for her family to recognize her, I’m sure,” Perry told her, his voice rough with emotion while his gaze moved slowly across her face. “We’re not positive yet, but it appears she collapsed where she was found and possibly laid there for a few hours before she died.”

Kylie saw that he told her these details to terrify her. He didn’t speak as one professional would to another. But then, he didn’t see her as a professional. She bit back the foul taste of frustration that she couldn’t question him the way she wanted, and instead found herself staring at his mouth. If he had killed Kathleen Long, describing how she died, what was done to her, might possibly get him off as much as the act of raping and sodomizing her had. That would make him one hell of a despicable man, and Kylie wondered for a moment if she’d become too jaded from so many crime scenes, so many deaths.

“Who would do something like that to a child?” Kylie heard her mother’s words, arriving in her mind at a rather inopportune moment. If she were searching for her sister’s murderer, she’d searched for too long. Because as she stared at Perry, at his hardened, brooding expression, fire ignited inside her even when she reminded herself she could be staring at a killer.

“A sick and dangerous person.”

“Obviously.”

“Why are you here?” he asked again, and let go of her arm. Instead of stepping back, though, he touched her neck and pushed under her chin with his thumb, forcing her to tilt her head back and stare more directly into his eyes. “This isn’t the closest grocery store to your house. Tell me the truth, Kylie.”

“I already told you. I was across the street at the bookstore,” she told him honestly. “I saw you head over here. I saw the lights and the crowd and was curious,” she said, trying to shift her attention past him to see who might be watching them, other than his partner. She hoped Chief Radisson still wasn’t on scene.

His fingers tightened around her neck until she couldn’t suck in a breath. Staring up at Perry, unable to swallow, she grabbed his hand, scratching to get her fingers between his and her flesh.

“Promise me that’s the last lie you’ll tell me,” he growled, and released his grip but moved so that his lips brushed over hers. “I’d rather hear that you don’t want to tell me than hear a lie.”

“What makes you think I’m lying?” she asked, feeling the roughness of his unshaven face under his lower lip. “I saw you and I followed you.”

“Do you always chase flashing lights?” This time, instead of making her come up with an answer to a ridiculous question, his fingers tangled in her hair and he kissed her.

He parted her lips with his tongue and dipped inside, filling her and turning her world sideways. With her eyes closed she still sensed his strength, incredible domination, and a predatory possessiveness. His hands moved to her back, and strong arms wrapped around her, becoming her world.

Kylie had never known a man who could so easily sweep her off her feet and demand her submission. Worse yet, his style, technique, made it damn simple to let go, allow him the control he demanded. Even though her eyes were closed, she sensed his aggressive, dominating, and predatory possessive nature seeping deeper inside her, wrapping around her. If she didn’t break the kiss, he’d be holding her up, because her legs were damn near giving out under her.

His hands moved over her back, and powerful arms enclosed her tighter. He pinned her with muscle, strong like steel. Her insides quickened, his sensuality creating a heat that burned deep in her womb. It was a fire she knew wouldn’t simmer out anytime soon.

And that sucked. As easy as it would be to let go, there wasn’t any way she could let down her resistance. Years of training barely allowed her to hold on to her resolve. But something deeper, engrained in her soul, let out a warning. Let go, and she’d never be able to return to where she stood right now. In his arms or not, Kylie was still in control. She had to be.

Kylie couldn’t let go of the hard, cold fact that Perry could be her killer.

Turning her head, she broke the kiss and sucked in a breath. She filled her lungs with the smell and taste of Perry Flynn. A mixture of danger and domination made for an alluring and way too tempting combination. One that would destroy her if she allowed it.

“Your partner is waiting for you.” She tried sliding away from him.

Perry straightened but gripped her arms, refusing to let her move out from between him and her car. “I’ll be at your house at five this evening. We’ll talk more then.”

“Talk?” She dared him with a sharp gaze. It was imperative that he see, right now, that she wasn’t an idiot, and although letting him see how strong she really was might not be her best move at the moment, staring him down was impossible not to do. “If I’m done by five, I’ll be there.”

“We’ll talk, and anything else you want to show me, you can.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers, sealing his words with a promise that surged through her like an electrical current. “And you’ll be there.”

Perry headed out of the station around six. It didn’t bother him that he wasn’t at Kylie’s at five. She wouldn’t have been there. He saw it in her eyes after he kissed her. Kylie felt power in knowing she held on to some sense of control in her mind. The way she stared at him, determination and resolve lining her pretty face, gave him more insight into her nature than she probably intended for him to see.

“We should have autopsy results tomorrow,” Rad said, catching up with Perry in the parking lot. The worry lines were deeper than usual around his eyes. “This makes girl number four.”

“We’ll get him.” Perry wouldn’t bother pitching for the case. Whatever Rad’s agenda, Perry knew what he needed to do to work the case, and he had every intention of doing it. “That autopsy will hopefully give us more on our perp. We’re building a psychological profile and that’s more than we had yesterday.”

“No more deaths,” Rad insisted, as if Perry could make the call on that one.

But he nodded once and turned toward his Jeep. “Works for me.” Then glancing at Rad, Perry decided to suggest, since he hadn’t heard that anyone had done it yet. “I’ll interview the family and her friends.”

Rad studied him with shrewd gray eyes. There was something more in Rad’s attentive stare than what Perry normally saw. It almost looked like hesitation or lack of trust. He was a pretty good judge of character but knew he was as tired as Rad probably was. And what Perry saw could be the exhaustion, mental and physical, that he felt as well. “O-kay,” Rad said slowly, drawing out the one word. Rad seriously hesitated, but he gave his consent.

Perry didn’t blink. Hiding his surprise wasn’t easy. Rad hadn’t been himself the past day or two. But having a rapist in town was enough to wear on anyone’s convictions. And one preying on teenage girls made the situation even more draining. They couldn’t waste one moment. Perry’s girls moved in the same circles as the victims who had been abducted, beaten and tortured, and then killed had moved in. No one would touch his nieces. No one!