Hotter After Midnight (12 page)

Emily blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the sudden change. Colin stared down at her, and his eyes—they were filled with hunger.

For her.

“I’m not going to do it this time, Doc.” He was staring at her lips now. Gazing at her with those hot, shining blue eyes.

Was it her imagination or were his eyes really, really bright right then?

His words registered after a heartbeat of time, and she didn’t understand. “Do what?”

His arms snaked out, caught her around the middle, and pulled her ever closer to his body. She was trapped now, caged between the bathroom sink and Colin’s equally hard body.

“Kiss you.” He leaned forward, and his breath blew lightly against her. “I’m not going to kiss you. Unless you ask.”

His lips were so close to hers.
So close.
But she hadn’t come into the bathroom for this, hadn’t followed him inside because she wanted
him,
had she?

“Come on, Doc. It won’t be as hard as you think.” There was nowhere for her to go, but Emily still tried to stumble back. She slipped against the edge of the sink.

Colin caught her before she fell. Lifted her up, sat her on the cold, granite vanity. Her legs were spread, and he inched forward, pushing right between them. The thick length of his aroused flesh pressed against her. The hard muscles of his thighs seemed to burn Emily through her clothing. She squirmed against him, and instead of working herself free, she just rubbed against him, rubbed against that heavy arousal.

Her sex clenched as a wave of raw hunger rocked through her.
No, this isn’t what I planned.

But it was exactly what she wanted.

“Do it.” His voice was a rough rumble of temptation. His fingers were locked around her waist. She wanted him to lift his hands and cup her breasts. To push her shirt aside and take her nipples into his mouth.

“Ask for my kiss…” His breath blew against her lips.

She could already taste him. Her lips trembled, parted, and she heard herself whisper, “Kiss me.” But she wasn’t asking. She was demanding.

For an instant, his lips curled in a satisfied smile, but then the hunger in his eyes flared even brighter. His fingers tightened around her.

And his lips claimed hers.

He wasn’t gentle. He wasn’t cautious.

His lips took. His tongue probed, drove deep into her mouth. He tasted, seduced,
claimed.

A growl sounded low in his throat. The sound was stark, animalistic. It should have scared her.
He
should have scared her.

But the sound just made her hotter. Made the liquid heat between her thighs pulse even more.

Her hands were wrapped around his arms, digging into the tight muscles of his biceps. Her mouth was open wide, her tongue rubbing, thrusting against his.

She loved the way he kissed her. Hard. Hot. Wild. Yes, most definitely wild.

He kissed her like he couldn’t wait to get her naked beneath him. Kissed her like he had to have her.

Kissed her like no other man ever had.

His fingers brushed against the underside of her breasts. They rose slowly, then his hands were cupping her, his thumbs brushing against her nipples.

His mouth continued to feed on hers. His fingers—long, strong fingers—stroked her breasts, teased the aching peaks of her nipples.

She tore her mouth from his, moaning softly. She was still sitting on the sink. Her legs were spread wide. His thick arousal pushed against her. Her fingers itched to touch him, to stroke him.

This isn’t like me.
Emily fought to regain her control in the maelstrom of lust that was overwhelming her. She wasn’t one to be driven wild with passion. Not her. Never her.

She was the calm one, the controlled one, the six-dates-before-third-base one.

But there was something about Colin, something that was driving straight past her barriers.

“I want to feel you,” he muttered, the words hard, nearly indistinct. He caught the hem of her shirt, jerked it up and over her head.

Colin tossed the shirt onto the floor. She heard the soft swish as it hit the tiled floor.

He was touching her now. Skin to skin. His warm fingers, slightly rough, were smoothing up her abdomen, inching closer to her breasts.

A thin black bra covered her. Her breasts pushed against the silky fabric.

Colin licked his lips.

Emily knew she should stop him. The logical part of her mind was screaming at her to push him away.

Not the time. Not the time.

Things were moving too fast between them. But, God, she wanted him to touch her.

She wanted to let go of her control for just a moment. She wanted to
feel.

Yes, part of her was screaming that she should push him away, but part of her was also demanding that she pull him even closer.

His fingers slipped under the edge of her bra. Stroked, then found her nipples. The nubs were tight, hungry, and when he shoved the bra to the side and lifted her breasts in his hands, she could see the dark pink of her aroused flesh.

“I’ve got to taste you.”

His head lowered toward her breast. His mouth opened; she felt the hot stir of his breath against her, then his tongue, God, his tongue swirled around the areola. A long, teasing lick that had every muscle in her body tightening.

“Oh, that’s good.” He drew in a deep breath, then his tongue rubbed against her nipple. “Damn good.” He took her breast into his mouth, sucking strongly, drawing the peak deep inside and using his tongue, his teeth.

Her hands rose, fisted in his hair. She pulled him tighter to her, loving the demanding pull of his mouth.

Her hips were rocking against his cock. Riding him. She could feel a warm wetness on her panties. Damn. When was the last time she’d gotten turned on like this? So fast?

Never.

His left hand lifted, lightly pinched her nipple while his mouth kept working her other breast.

Oh Jesus.

She squeezed her thighs around him.

A hard coil of tension tightened inside her.

Colin lifted his head. Her fingers were still buried in the thick, black mane of his hair.

He kissed her, thrust his tongue deep. His right hand gripped her thigh, his fingers so close to her mound that she trembled in anticipation.

The drumming of her heartbeat filled her ears. Her breathing was coming hard and fast. Her body felt too hot, too tight.

And she realized with a sense of dazed shock that she was moments away from having sex with Colin.

His lips were glistening. And behind his lips, just for a moment, she caught a glimpse of…fangs?

Fangs?

She yanked her hands away from him.

“You want me,” he rumbled, and she saw his nostrils flare. “I can smell your need.”

Not the most flattering comment, but one that was damn true. She did want him. Wanted him so much she’d soaked her panties.

Wanted him so much that she was minutes, hell, maybe even seconds away from coming.

Emily glanced down at her legs. His hands were on both thighs now, the warm weight of his fingers seeming to scorch her through her pants.

His nails…they looked longer than before. Sharper.

Of course they look longer. The man’s a shifter, for God’s sake. You know the beast likes to play during sex.

The beast was always close to the surface during sex. That was why shifters were so notoriously sexual.

She was about to have sex with a
shifter.
A shifter she still knew
damn little
about.

“I’ll make it good for you, Doc.” Colin growled the words as he lowered his head to her neck. She felt the rough rasp of his tongue on her throat, and a shiver skated over her.
Oh yeah, it’d be good between us. I don’t doubt it.

His mouth pressed against her, the sharp edge of his teeth grazing her skin.

“Stop!” Damn, but that word had been hard to say. And instead of coming out as a shout, it sounded as a hoarse whisper.

Colin froze.

Emily drew in her breath, held it. Her body was still screaming for release, but her mind had finally taken control again.

She couldn’t do this, not yet. There was too much she didn’t know about the detective.

His hands tightened around her thighs. “You sure that’s what you want?” His voice was gravelly, hard with lust and need.

She wanted him to drive that long, thick cock into her. She wanted to shut off her mind and just feel.

It was too late now. The voice of reason in her head was screaming at her, and she couldn’t ignore the voice. Dammit.

The last time she’d ignored that little voice, she’d fallen for the wrong man and ended up unconscious on the floor of Paradise Found. Then she’d had a not-so-nice two-week stint in the hospital.

Colin was just as strong as Myles, she’d bet her life on it. Shifters didn’t have demon levels, but they had their own power scale.

She’d seen the way he’d taken down the demons who attacked them.

And when a guy was that strong, he was also very, very dangerous.

Her hands pushed between them. She crossed her arms over her chest, covering her breasts.

Colin drew in a long, hard breath. A muscle flexed along his jaw, and she saw the struggle for control flash in his eyes.

After one moment, two, he lifted his hands, stepped back.

“Like to tease, do you, Doc?”

His words lashed right to her heart. They should have pissed her off, but she knew that he was right. She had teased. Gotten them both ready, minutes from release, then pulled back. Emily wrenched her bra into place. “Things got”—
wild, hot—
“out of control.”

Colin’s hand ran through his hair.

Emily slid off the sink. Water was still pouring behind her. With slightly shaking fingers, she jerked the handle, stopping the flow.

“You wanted me.”

She couldn’t very well deny that. She’d been clawing the man, moaning, rubbing her body against his.

“You still want me.” His knuckles grazed down her bare arm. “Don’t you?”

Emily lifted her chin. “Sometimes we don’t get what we want.”
Because what we want may not be good for us.

She swallowed, fought to hold tight to her own newly found control. How could she hunger so much for someone that she feared?

“Sometimes we do.” But his hand dropped away. “Sometimes all it takes is a little waiting.”

Emily scooped up her shirt. “I didn’t mean for things to go so far.”
So fast.
She hadn’t realized need would explode with the touch of his lips, his hands, against her.

“Then how far did you mean for them to go?” It was then that she heard the icy edge in his voice that alerted her to his rage.

Well, hell, what had she expected? That the guy would be all thrilled that she’d stopped their lovemaking? Not likely. She jerked on her shirt.

“Tell me, Doc. I really want to know.” He rolled his shoulders back, and the muscles in his chest rippled. “How far did you want to go? A few kisses? A few feels through your clothes? One lick on your breast?”

A flash of heat stained her cheeks. Oh yes, Colin was definitely pissed.

“So I’m good enough for a little light play but not good enough for a fuck?”

Okay, enough was enough. Emily’s eyes narrowed on him. “I don’t know you well enough for a fuck, Detective.” She sure as hell didn’t go around giving those out to strangers.

His lips thinned.

“And for the record, I’m not a first-date-screw type of woman.” Despite what she’d just done. Emily shook her head. “I want you, yes, I won’t deny it, but I’m not screwing you tonight.” No, she wasn’t about to make herself that vulnerable to him, not until—

“Sonofabitch.” Understanding flashed across his face. “You’re scared of me.”

Not of him so much as what he was. Time to cut to the chase. “What kind of shifter are you, Colin?” He had claws, sharp teeth.

She’d seen both of those telling changes. Ruled out snakes. And it hadn’t been the look of a bird or even a bear.

His hands fisted at his sides. “So that’s what this is about. You don’t want to screw a shifter.”

“No.” Her back teeth were beginning to ache from the whole grinding exercise she was doing. “It’s not that.”

“Isn’t it?” There was a sharp bite to his words. “You’ve been acting skittish around me from the moment we met, from the moment you realized what I was.”

“I’m not saying no because you’re a shifter.” Confession time. “I’ve actually been with a shifter before.” The affair had been very, very brief and back when she’d been a grad student.

“Then what the hell is it?”

“You’re going too fast!” Everything was going too fast. “I just met you a few days ago and—” Damn, why stop now? “I’m not sure I can trust you, Gyth. Shifters have a reputation.” Some would say a very well-deserved reputation. “And while I don’t know what beast you carry, I think he’s strong, and he’s dangerous. And before I crawl into bed with you, I want to
know
more about what’s going on in your head.”
And in the head of the beast you carry.

Because there was a chance, a very definite chance, that Colin was one of the shifters that folks knew to give a very wide berth. A panther. A cougar.
A wolf.

“You wanna know me?” The force of his feelings, his anger, his need, his…fear, lapped at her. “Then why don’t you just take a peek inside my mind?”

Oh, she was tempted. It would be so easy. But…

It would also be wrong. Because once she stepped inside his mind, she wouldn’t get a glimpse of just his life. No, if she went in, fully in, she’d see everything. Every secret. Every lie. Every fear.
Everything
.

And she didn’t think that either of them were ready for that.

Emily shook her head. “That’s not the way for us.”

“Then what is the way?”

She stared up into his eyes. “To take some time.”

“Shit.” His hands slowly unfurled. “I’m not good at being a gentleman, Doc.”

Yes, she’d rather figured that one out already.

“But I’ll do it.” He reached out, stroked her cheek. “For now.” The rage had dimmed in his eyes, but the hunger remained.

His hand felt so warm against her.