Lorie O - Strong, Sleek and Sinful

“Dani!” Perry exploded, coming forward on the couch and practically knocking Dani onto the floor.

“It’s okay.” Kylie held her hand up, grateful for his outburst so the focus wouldn’t be on her while she struggled for an answer. I just want to fuck him as much as I can before I leave . That wouldn’t be an answer Dani would tolerate. Hell, Kylie was having trouble tolerating that conclusion.

“You want information from me. Well, I want answers, too.” Dani adjusted herself on the couch, facing forward now so she could look at her uncle before returning her attention to Kylie.

“You’re out of line, young lady,” Perry said, his tone cool and reprimanding. “You will answer any questions we have. They are imperative for an investigation and you know that. As for-”

“I’ve already lost a father and I will not lose my uncle,” Dani cried out, jumping off the couch and trembling. She balled her hands into fists at her sides, obviously a lot more upset about this than Kylie originally thought.

Kylie hurried off the couch, pulling Dani into her arms, in spite of Dani stiffening at first. “You won’t lose your uncle, not ever.”

“You can’t swear to that,” Dani said, suddenly very quiet. She’d been traumatized and now was on house arrest. It made sense she would strike out in the only avenue that appeared safe.

“I can swear that you won’t because of me.”

“But you like him.”

Kylie sucked in a breath, all too aware of her backside tingling from Perry keeping an attentive watch on both of them yet remaining quiet and observing.

Kylie nodded, unable to lie to Dani any more than her job required her to. “Yes, I do,” she whispered.

Dani pulled out of Kylie’s arms, wiping her face and brushing her hair behind her shoulders as she straightened and stared Kylie in the eye. “If he got a girlfriend he wouldn’t be over here all the time. Mom couldn’t raise us without him. She wouldn’t ever admit it, but it’s true,” she whimpered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I don’t have any family, not like you do,” Kylie said, the words spilling out of her before she gave them much thought. “If, someday, I committed to a relationship, having a guy with a ready-made family would be pretty cool.” She straightened, sucking in a breath and keeping her focus on Dani even though she felt the heat burning her alive from Perry watching intently behind her. “But there are complications,” she began, swallowing the lump in her throat. They were thoughts she would swear were on Perry’s mind as much as hers. And they needed to be voiced. She would take advantage of his niece’s outburst and say out loud what needed to be said. “So many complications they might not be able to be overcome.”

“Like what?” Dani’s face lit up.

Kylie stared at her for a moment, the silence in the room growing. Perry wasn’t going to jump in and help her here at all. Exhaling, Kylie decided she could go out on a limb fairly safely. She wouldn’t insult Dani’s intelligence but felt safe that her next comment wouldn’t jeopardize anything.

“The FBI have ordered me to stay away from your uncle,” she said quietly.

“What?” Dani howled, her milky green eyes growing as large as saucers as a slow smile spread over her face. “You’re breaking the law being here? And why would anyone care if you saw Uncle Perry?”

“I’m not technically breaking the law,” she conceded, just risking her entire future. That wasn’t something she would explain, though. “The FBI is involved with this case, too, apparently. And like you, I’ve been questioned. They believe the man who is kidnapping teenagers in town, Peter, might be a cop.”

“No way!” Dani jumped back as if Kylie just slapped her, and gawked at her and then her uncle. “My uncle isn’t guilty of shit!”

“Watch your mouth,” Perry growled, speaking for the first time.

Kylie jumped to the side, too, unaware that he’d moved off the couch and stood behind her.

“You’re right. I’m not,” Perry said, his voice still low and menacing-sounding.

Kylie risked looking into his face and lost her breath when she drowned in his smoldering gaze.

“I never would have pictured you as a bad girl, Kylie.” Dani was grinning from ear to ear now, no longer shaking and noticeably calmer. Painting herself as a rebel made her cool in the teenager’s eyes.

“I didn’t know he was here when I headed over here,” Kylie announced.

“Would you have stayed away if you knew?” Perry demanded, his baritone sending chills rushing over her flesh but at the same time creating a heat inside her she ached to have him take care of.

“Probably not,” she said truthfully, still staring at him.

“God, you don’t need to feed his ego.” Dani rolled her eyes and walked around her uncle, returning to the couch. “You know a guy gets off when a girl breaks rules to see him.”

“And how would you know that?” Perry was wound tighter than usual when he snapped his attention to Dani.

She seemed to notice that as quickly as Kylie, because she didn’t throw her usual smart-mouthed comment in his direction. “Everyone knows that, Uncle Perry,” she said softly.

“No rules are going to stop me from seeing Kylie,” Perry announced, facing Dani, who sat on the couch again staring at him wide-eyed. “And furthermore, you’re not going to bully her into not coming around.”

Kylie wasn’t going to wait for silence to build between her and Perry again. Especially with him standing so close she could feel the tiny hairs on her body standing at attention. Even with the words he had just stated ringing in her ears, she fought desperately to move the conversation over to something that wouldn’t cause her heart to race so fast she couldn’t breathe.

“Dani, would you tell me what happened last night? You were so upset I didn’t want to press, but I would love to hear the details.” She followed Dani with her eyes when she jumped off the couch and headed out of the living room.

Kylie started after her when Perry grabbed her arm. “Give her a minute; she doesn’t do well when embarrassed,” he said, almost whispering.

“Dani embarrassed?” Kylie said, hoping she wouldn’t blush when she offered him a sly grin. “I’m not the best at laying my feelings out on the table, either.”

“It was so hard for you to admit you like me?” He moved his rough fingertips over her pulse on her wrist.

“I guess not.” She straightened but didn’t have the strength to pull her hand from his. Worse yet, the urge to walk into his arms and stretch against that body of steel also made it impossible to move.

“What complications were you talking about?” he asked, keeping very little distance between them as he stared deep into her eyes, while continuing to brush his thumb over the inside of her wrist.

She swore she would break out in a sweat, start salivating or even panting with the close proximity between them. The distance she would need to clear to touch him was driving her crazy. Bad enough she could barely organize her thoughts to answer his question, it was on the tip of her tongue to deny any complications.

“You know what I was talking about,” she said, biding time and finally looking away from his face. Staring at his muscular chest didn’t help matters much, though. He didn’t say anything and she knew he was staring down at her. Something told her pulling out of his grip wouldn’t be as easy as it appeared. She sucked in a breath, filling her lungs with him, and fought for an answer that would sound relatively coherent. “I think we both like being employed,” she muttered.

He took her chin with his free hand and lifted her face so she was forced to look at his face again. Kylie closed her eyes, knowing it would be a hell of a lot easier taking on a mouthy teenager than it would be Perry.