“And you’re the reason we don’t do this quietly,” I reply, standing up so I’m on her level—taller, towering over her. It isn’t what I meant to do…but I want her to understand how serious I am.
“Butwhy?”
“Because quiet only protects the person with power. I refuse to let that be me.”
She twists her mouth into an annoyed pout, frowning more deeply than I think I’ve ever seen.
Then she lunges forward, grabs me by the collar, and kisses me.
Here. In my lab. In myoffice…
…where anyone could see.
CHAPTER 24
LYN
I don’t even thinkabout it before I kiss him.
No…of course I don’t, because I haven’t had a single rational thought in my stupid little brain ever since this man—this infuriating, perfect, honorable, reasonable,absolutely perfect man—found me coming on the floor of his lab. All I’m thinking as I look at him in that office is that he actually gives a shit about me.
He gives a shit. He’s given a shit for years. He’s been obnoxiously careful and cranky and mean because he wanted me safe and he…he respects me.
And good lord, is there anything sexier than a man who respects your work?
No. There’s not.
And now?
Now I want to fuckhim.
And apparently, I want to do itright now, in his office, on this very desk.
He only kisses me back for a splits second before he yanks his face away, his tendrils flicking against my cheeks, my neck, like even though he’s holding his composure he just can’t stop himself from caressing me. I ignore his hesitations, putting oneknee on the desk, then the other, kissing down the column of his throat, dragging my tongue over his pulse?—
He takes my face in his hands and pulls me away, looking me in the eye.
“Lyn,” he says.
My breath catches. “...I love it when you say my name like that.”
That clearly catches him offguard. “You—what?”
“Like you’re mad at me,” I purr. “Like…like you’re gonna tell me what to do. Like you’re gonna punish me.”
“You’re filthy,” he rasps, but I don’t miss the smile curling the corner of his lips.
I smile back, reaching down to find exactly what I expected. “And you’re hard.”
He groans as I palm him through his slacks. His eyes flutter shut for a fraction of a second before he forces them open again, like he’s trying to reassert control.
“Walker,” he says, even as I keep stroking him…even if he doesn’t stop me. “I won’t keep you a secret. If you…fuck, if you do this—if we do this right now, I’m telling the department right away.”
“Freaky,” I laugh. “You’re gonna tell them you fucked me while your dick is still wet?”
Thatmakes him grab my wrists with one hand, keeping the other on my face. He acts like he’s keeping a rabid animal at bay.
…he’s not entirely wrong.
