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“You’re a little buttoned up tonight, Lieutenant Hughes,” I said, sliding back into the sensual tone that told him exactly where I wanted to go. “Maybe a couple of those could, I dunno, pop off.”
Panther glanced down at his shirt and then back to me, and the frustration from seconds ago vanished, a lighter emotion now filling those blue eyes of his. “Just pop off, huh?”
I leaned back in the booth and shrugged. “Or, you know, I could rip ’em off.”
Panther’s mouth curved as I lowered my eyes to the buttons of his shirt.
“You like that idea? Me ripping your shirt off?”
Panther raised his beer to his lips. “I don’t hate it.”
I reached for a chip and scooped up some salsa. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, you know, for later.”
“Later?”
I swallowed my mouthful and then leaned forward, my eyes locking on Panther’s so he didn’t miss my meaning when I said, “Unless, of course, you’re not hungry anymore…”
Panther’s eyes narrowed, and the intensity in that gaze was so potent that I had to reach between my legs to readjust myself.
He hadn’t said a word and my cock felt as though he’d just wrapped his fingers around it and given me a nice, long stroke.
“Oh, I’m hungry.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. When Panther got like this, like he was that first night we’d met, I was lucky if I could form a coherent sentence. It was like a switch flipped and all of his hang-ups, all of his worries vanished, and he embraced that arrogant attitude that suited him so damn well.
“You are?” I managed, though how, I had no idea, since all of the blood in my head had now gone south.
“I am. But not for anything on that menu.”
I licked at my suddenly dry lips, and when Panther’s eyes followed the path, I groaned. “Are you serious right now?”
The expression on his face left little doubt he meant what he said. His lips were pulled taut, his cheeks were slightly flushed, and there was a slight twitching in his jaw. All signs that he was as on edge as I suddenly was.
“Don’t I sound serious to you?”
“You sound like you’re offering to eat me, so if that’s not what’s on the table, you need to stop teasing me right fucking now.”
The sinful smile that curved Panther’s mouth was something straight out of every fuck fantasy I’d ever had of him. It was cocky as hell, and when I cursed beneath my breath, he chuckled.
“Hmm, and here I thought you said you didn’t like things easy.”
That was it. I slid out of the booth, and as I got to my feet, I didn’t bother trying to hide what he’d done to me—and I was happy to note Panther didn’t bother pretending not to look.
I tossed a couple of bills onto the table then leaned down until my mouth was hovering only inches from his. “I don’t. I like them nice and hard. Exactly the way you’ve got me right now.”
Panther’s eyes flared as I glanced down at his lap.
“There’s a hotel at the far north end of Boundary. When you think you’re able to walk out of here, come meet me there. Actually, don’t come—do that when you meet me there.”
I straightened, about to walk out when Panther grabbed my hand.
“What makes you think I’ll be there?”
I smirked as I pulled my hand free. “Because, like me, you can’t stay the fuck away.”
32 Panther
I WAS DOING this.
I was throwing every ounce of caution to the wind and giving in to what I wanted and not what anyone else wanted for me.
Would what was about to happen come back and bite me in the ass? Maybe. Probably. But I was much more looking forward to a certain someone biting me in the ass…
I pulled into the hotel’s parking lot, spotting Solo’s motorcycle right away. I chose a spot in the adjacent lot, out of view of passing cars, just in case. It wasn’t likely anyone we trained with would be out this far, but you could never be too careful.
Once I’d shut off the bike, I checked the text message Solo had sent with the number of the room.
Solo: 323
I made my way through the lobby toward the elevators, feeling like there was a bright spotlight on me, like everyone knew why I was there, when no one was paying me any attention at all.
Paranoid much?
Taking in a deep breath, I walked into the elevator and punched the button for the third floor. As the doors closed and I removed my jacket, I asked myself one last time if this was a good idea. But I didn’t have time to debate, because as the elevator reached the third floor and the doors opened, the sight of Solo leaning casually against the doorframe and looking good enough to eat clinched it.
