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“Annika!” he shout-whispers at me, I want to chastise him for using my name but I’m on a mission. I take the path I’d seen the two goons take, my heels clicking loudly on the polished floors. “Stop,” he tries to command me but screw that. He grabs my wrist and yanks me to a halt, spinning to face him. I’m ready to rip him a new one for touching me, but I’m met with pure rage, and it takes me off guard. I’m not afraid, just surprised. No one directs their anger at me. But Javier Campos is fuming. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Why does the danger in his eye send a not entirely unpleasant shiver down my body?
It takes me less than a second to blink away the unwelcome feeling and control my features. “I’m finding out why that sadistic, misogynistic, vile, piece of shit is here,” I hiss.
“I told you to stay fucking put,” he snarls through clenched teeth. His hand is still wrapped around my wrist and he takes a step forward to crowd me. Typical man intimidation technique but I’m not some cowering little woman, I lift my chin defiantly and narrow my eyes.
“And I’m not yours to command,Detective. If you think—”
His hand clamps over my mouth and before I can register what is happening, he pushes me back into a small alcove and has me pinned against the wall. I am incensed, my eyes widening in indignation but the look he gives me tells me to stay quiet. Voices travel along the narrow hall as I try not to think about his skin against mine.
“Remind me why we’re here again,” the first masculine voice says.
“Boss’ orders. That’s all you need to know,” the second grumbles.
“All this just to get in some chick’s head?” The first guy sighs.
The smell of cigarette smoke wafts our way, the two of them clearly not willing to go out into the rain to get their nicotine fix. I guess that answers the question about why they slunk off.
“Boss ain’t stupid, he’s got a game plan. We just got to do as we’re told and watch as the bitch sweats.”
They’re talking about me. My heart is hammering with the adrenaline being pumped around my system. I’m pissed, and if Harvey wasn’t holding me completely still, I’d probably storm over there and stab each of them with the knife I have strapped to my thigh.
“Still, you gotta admit she is fine as fuck. I bet that pussy can take a sweet pounding,” the first prick says with a laugh, and I barely suppress my growl. I look at Harvey, feeling slightly embarrassed that he can hear someone talking about me like this. His nose is scrunched in disdain and the muscle at the back of his jaw ticks. Not looking me in the eye, he stares at a spot on the wall just above my shoulder.
The second goon snorts. “You think with your dick too much.”
“You honestly telling me that you wouldn’t split that cunt in two?”
For the first time, an unease takes root in my stomach. I’m used to men thinking less of me because I’m a woman and Iknow what they must say behind my back. But hearing the crude words of a man who doesn’t even know me, who doesn’t see me as anything but a walking vagina, takes me to a dark place. One that keeps me up at night. I swallow hard, willing away the blackness. Harvey’s eyes snap to mine. His hand loosens from around my mouth, cautiously, as though waiting to see if I’ll make a sound, but I stay quiet. He doesn’t back away though, the hand that was around my mouth rests on the wall beside my head and the other one is curled around my hip, keeping me pushed against the cold wall. His face is only a couple of inches away from mine and his breath skims across my lips.
We are staring into each other’s eyes, something unspoken screaming between us, but I still can’t understand it. I’m not sure what I was about to do but I definitely feel interrupted when the voices slice through the moment. “I’m honestly telling you that you need to get laid and then maybe you can be ruled by the right brain, arsehole.”
They’re coming this way; the second guy’s voice gets louder toward the end of his sentence. Before I can think, Harvey slants his mouth over mine, pressing in to kiss me. My eyes widen and all the muscles in my body seize.What the hell is he doing?
His eyes stay open, too, looking at me with dark ferocity. When I don’t kiss him back, he growls in annoyance into my mouth. With rough hands, he grabs at my bare thigh through the slit in my dress forcing my leg to wrap over his hip and pushes against my core with his pelvis. My gasp gives him the opportunity to slide his tongue through my parted lips and tangle with mine. My body seems to overtake my mind as my eyes fall closed and my arms move to drape over his shoulders, fingers stroking through the short hairs on his nape.
Another growling noise comes from Harvey’s throat, this one without the anger but no less heat. I think I whimper, but I’m too lost in the feel of him, the taste of him, to say for sure. Hisfingers are digging into the flesh of my leg with such force, I’m pretty sure I’ll have bruises where my sensitive skin rubs against his rough palm. With each stroke of tongues, I feel him growing between my legs and I find myself wriggling my hips to find pressure against my core where I need it.
Footsteps shuffle against the polished floors and come to a stop just a few feet away. When Harvey wrenches himself away from me, he looks as shocked as I feel, although his is for show. “Oh shit, sorry fellas.” He gives them a smug grin, his lips painted with my rich red lipstick, while I look away, heat flushing my cheeks and I try to wipe around my mouth to remove any wayward lipstick off my own face. “We thought we’d found a quiet placealone; didn’t realise you were here.” Harvey entwines his fingers with mine and pulls me back into the main corridor. “Come on, babe. Let’s get out of here.”
He positions us so I lead the way out to the main ballroom, and he is at my back, letting go of my hand, he stays between me and the goons. Warmth spreads on my skin where his hand rests on the small of my back over the soft satin of my dress. Through the main doors, the party is in full swing, couples dancing while the band plays. I can see people trying to make eye contact, to pin me down for some kind of conversation but I’m too frazzled to even brush them off with a tight smile. I march through the crowd to our table where my shawl is draped over the back of my empty chair, I grab it along with my clutch and head for the door. I can feel Harvey’s steady presence behind me the whole way, despite trying to ignore it.
I’m vaguely aware of Harvey speaking behind me, not to me, he must be calling Dooley to meet us out front. Out of the ballroom, the air is much cooler in the lobby, a relief to my fevered skin. I can still feel his kiss on my lips and my heart hasn’t stopped its erratic rhythm since I saw the look in his eye the second before his mouth met mine. It may be summernow but being gone eleven-thirty, the air is cold and damp from the earlier rainfall, I shiver as we step outside. Seeing the car rounding the corner a little way up the road, I prepare to wait for it with my back to the man next to me, but he has other ideas.
One hand curls around the back of my neck, pulling me to face him until we are nose to nose. His other hand reaches behind my back to hold the opposite wrist in a firm grip and I fist my free hand in his jacket, trying to push him away but his hold is too strong. “What the fuck was that?” he snarls.
“Excuse me?” I glare, in response.
“I told you to stop following them.” He’s so angry, his eyes have turned almost entirely black and colour is rising from his neck.
“And I don’t take orders fromyou,” I hiss through gritted teeth.
“Yes, you fucking do!” His face is so close now that our noses touch and the look in his eyes is wild. If I were anyone else, I may even be scared. As it is, I’m seething. When I open my mouth to fire his arse, he slides his fingers into the hair at my nape and grips it so tightly the sting brings tears to my eyes. “Nah ah, no arguments,rainha. Whether you like it or not, you hired me to ensure your safety. That means, when it comes to security matters, you listen tome.”
“Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me.” My chest is heaving, my skin prickling, a tremor racks through my body and I try my damnedest to attribute it to rage and not the strange reaction I’m having to the way he’s holding me, the one creating that strange fluttering in my belly.
His hold tightens. “You are an infuriating woman,” he growls. The way his lips hover over mine, I’m certain he’s going to kiss me again, and not for show this time. My heart is making quite an effort to jump out of my chest and the shocking realisationthat I want his lips to lower to mine comes just a split second before we’re interrupted.
“Ma’am?” Dooley steps out of the driver’s side of the car, which I hadn’t even noticed pull up to the kerb.
