Carly Phillips - Simply Sinful

“Was she arrested?”

“No. The owner refused to press charges. He gave her a job washing dishes instead. The point is, I didn’t do my job, but looking back, it wasn’t mine to do. Just like the minute I walked out of that hotel room, I wasn’t yours to look out for anymore.”

“I agree with you about Catherine. As for me, I was still on a case.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Sleeping with me was work-related?”

“Don’t twist my words.”

“Then let the guilt go.” Kayla couldn’t reach him if he hid behind his job and sense of duty. “Look, when you were a teenager, did you ever get in an argument with your mother, then storm out into the street?”

He met her question with a vacant stare.

Curious she pushed on. “At that point, there wasn’t anything she could do to stop you from getting into trouble.”

“There wasn’t a damn thing she could have done about anything. She was dead.”

Her mouth opened and closed again just as fast. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t waste your time feeling sorry for her. She killed herself. Took herself out of the game.”

Leaving her child behind. Kayla knew better than to voice pity for the boy he’d been. She was grateful enough for the revelations. She wasn’t about to discourage them by suffocating him in emotion. “And your father?” she asked.

“Took a hike when I was five. Is there a point to all this?”

A smile tipped the edges of her mouth. “There was, but you’ve cut off every one I was about to make.”

Kane let the tension ease out of his shoulders. She didn’t treat him with the sad look or pitying expression his friends, teachers and the authorities had used in his youth. He hadn’t voiced his story again until now, but wasn’t surprised he’d confided in Kayla.

He’d known many women. None affected him on any level other than physical. None attempted to challenge him. He’d met his match with Kayla and he respected her for it. Respected her far more than women who played the weak heroine to get his attention and into his bed.

He’d begun having sex early in his teens, too often he’d come to realize. Later he’d become smarter, more discriminating. Only one thing remained constant. He came and went with no thought to looking back or revealing inner truths. Not so with Kayla. After all she’d been through-thanks to him-she deserved a little honesty.

But that wasn’t the sole reason for his confidences now. He didn’t want to think about why he wanted to share the most painful parts of his life with this woman.

She shifted, the movement revealing pale skin and an expanse of thigh that aroused him in an instant.

“My point is you aren’t responsible for me,” she said, meeting his gaze.

Primitive possession flooded his system. “The hell I’m not.”

In the face of his roar, she didn’t blink.

He admired her spunk. “You’re my responsibility at least until this case is over, so let’s drop that part of the conversation now.”

“Okay.”

He hadn’t expected her to give in without an argument. “So you aren’t angry?”

“Not about the initial investigation.”

“And what came after?”

“Pheromones,” she explained.

“What?”

“Two people attracted to each other by stimuli they can’t control.” He’d forgotten the intellectual side of this beautiful woman. “A chemical reaction,” she went on. “So if you’re still blaming yourself for losing focus, don’t. I’m equally at fault.”

“Meaning?”

“I wanted you, too.” She fiddled with the hem on her jersey without meeting his gaze. This was the Kayla he’d first met. The innocent that threatened to chip away at his heart, if he let her.

Which he wouldn’t. But he couldn’t let her last statement go unchallenged. He had to know. “‘Wanted’ as in past tense?” he asked.

She shrugged and leaned back into the pillows. “Why ask? You’re a man of your word. You said it won’t happen again. Does what I want really matter?”

He could drown in emotion, in her. “Everything you want matters.”

Her expression grew still, then a tear spilled from the corner of one eye. “No one’s ever said that to me. I’m thankful for you, Kane.”

A low growl escaped from his throat. “I don’t want your gratitude.”

“Then what do you want?”

“That’s a loaded question.”

“I know. That’s why I asked.” An impish smile played around her mouth, even as she wiped away a tear.

Kane knew what he wanted. Kayla, soft and giving beneath him. But she was right. He’d laid down the law. It wouldn’t happen again. But he knew what Kayla needed-to be reassured that she counted. It was the only thing he could offer her.

He looked into her eyes-eyes that displayed her soul and mirrored his need. He braced his hands on either side of her face. He caressed her cheek, careful to keep her head steady. “Are you sure you want to know what I want?”

“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.” She touched a hand to the stubble on his face and ran two delicate fingers down his cheek. “You count, too, Kane. I wonder if anyone’s ever told you that before.”

No one had. No one would again. He leaned over and covered her mouth with his. To block out the truth…and to accept it at the same time. Her lips opened and her tongue sought his, not hesitant but eager. She licked his lips, ran her tongue over his teeth, learning and growing bolder with each taste.

He craved her. She was a drug he couldn’t get enough of. He threaded his fingers through her still damp hair, then eased his lower body over hers. His arms shook with exertion, from the need to keep a safe distance between them, else he lose control and hurt her more.

Her hips jerked upward without warning. She brushed his erection with nothing more than the flimsy cotton he’d found in her drawer. He exhaled a harsh groan and eased himself on top of her, settling himself between her thighs.

It wasn’t enough. He was too damn hard. He wanted to rip off those panties and…A soft moan penetrated the haze of desire. He flipped over fast. Damn but he’d made a mistake.

It wouldn’t happen again. Yeah, right. One battle lost, Kane thought, but the bigger war raged on. He rolled onto his side and glanced over. “Are you okay?”

“Too much too soon,” she whispered, echoing his earlier words.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. Once again, his need had gotten in the way of common sense. “Get some rest,” he said in a voice rough with unslaked desire, and self-disgust.

“I’m sorry.” Her shoulders remained stiff.

“For?” He worked the muscles beneath his fingers, kneading her soft skin. As a distraction, it didn’t work. He had a sexy woman in his arms and his body knew it.

“I’m a lot of things, Kane. But I’m not a tease.”

“Did I say you were?”

“No. But I’m sure you’re thinking it.”

He sensed the source of her concern was based in her past and understood. “As a matter of fact, I’m not.”

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

That she didn’t need to dig into her old insecurities. Not with him. He respected everything about her. “That I pushed myself on a poor, frail, injured woman,” he said with a crooked grin.

She laughed. His attempt to lighten the mood had obviously worked. “No, really.”

“That I wasn’t in the mood anyway.”

This time she treated him to a snort of disbelief. “Seriously.”

“I was thinking,” he said, pausing to smooth her hair and inhale the fragrant scent that was Kayla. “That what just happened…”

“Yes?”

“Was the best almost sex I ever had.” Just being with her was beyond good. Kane accepted how much he needed her, even as he knew he’d ultimately let her go.