“You know how it is when you get in tight with friends, people who’ve known you, like, most of your life? They want you to stay in their tidy box, keep with their perception of you. Sometimes you have to pacify them with proof you’re still a part of the gang, you know?”
To distract them both, she pulled away a bit to run her hands up the delicious, hard expanse of his chest. “Why are we wasting time talking about this? Let’s move on to more exciting subjects. Like, say, how you look naked?”
3
JESSE SWORE his heart stopped. All blood rushed from his head to his…well, other head. Damn, he’d never been as turned on or as unable to do anything about it as he was right this minute. Audra, with her promise of hot, sticky-sweet pleasure, was technically off-limits.
But her hands were doing incredible things to his body. Long, delicate fingers traced a path from his shoulders, over his nipples and down to his belt. Jesse wanted to say screw police procedure and guide those fingers lower. He breathed in the rich scent of her perfume and tried to remember she was still a suspect.
And after her comments, especially her confession of gang affiliation, Jesse knew she was Davey’s crime ring connection. And it was his job to find out exactly how she fit into the organization and use it to break the case. He might prefer to do that job behind a computer, but there were definite benefits to this unfamiliar fieldwork. The temptation of Audra’s body pressed against his was proving to be an almost irresistible benefit.
“So tonight was the first time you’d met that guy?” he asked. “He seemed a little overwhelmed when he saw you.”
Not that Jesse was surprised there. Davey was a dork, sure. But Audra was the kind of woman that would overwhelm any guy, present company included.
“He was a bit freaked, I guess,” Audra said distractedly. Her attention was focused on the soft, damp kisses she was scattering over his jaw and throat. Jesse’s eyes fluttered shut as his body, already turned on by their kiss and the feel of her pressed against him, went into overdrive when she reached the open collar of his shirt and trailed her tongue across his collarbone.
“Why don’t we take this inside,” she suggested in that husky lisp.
“Back in the club?” Maybe that would be safer? She’d still be temptation in spiked heels, but at least he’d have a crowd to remind him why taking those heels off to nibble on her toes was a bad idea.
“In the car.”
His eyes flew open. He looked at her. Huge doe eyes stared back at him. Her lips were damp, a sleek, succulent red and it was all he could do not to sink into their ripe promise. He tore his gaze from her mouth to glance at her compact silver car.
“That’s a little cramped, don’t you think?”
“Let’s find out.”
With that, she nudged him aside and tugged the passenger door of her toy-like convertible open.
“I think this probably isn’t such a good idea.”
Audra tilted her head to the side and arched one perfect brow. “No? I think it’s a great idea. I think maybe you’re just a little…reserved.” She pressed against him again until he felt the edge of the door frame against his calves. “I think maybe you’re not used to being seduced.”
“Is that what you’re doing? Seducing me?”
Had he ever been seduced? Jesse flipped through his mental database of his past encounters. He’d had his share of flings, a few deeper relationships and one lady he’d been serious enough about to bring home to meet the family. He wouldn’t call any of the women repressed, by any means. But, he realized, he’d always been the aggressor. The go-to-it guy.
He couldn’t remember ever being in the passive role of seducee. Most women he’d been with were happy to let him lead. Hell, he’d discovered getting a woman to even voice what turned her on was a major accomplishment. And Audra wanted to seduce him? Oh, yeah, baby.
“I’ll bet I can seduce you with words alone,” she suggested softly.
“Just words?”
“Just words. You, of course, are free to touch. I, though, won’t use anything but my voice.”
Jesse grinned. That sounded safe enough. Her touch, he was sure he couldn’t resist. But words? Hell, words wouldn’t be a problem for him.
“You’re on,” he said.
“Have a seat, then.” She gestured to the open door.
Jesse sat, swinging his long legs into the small car. He was enveloped in her scent, seeped as it was into the smooth leather seats and gunmetal interior. Giving him an excellent view of her smooth cleavage under the neckline of her top, Audra leaned down. Her face almost in his crotch, she reached between his legs. Jesse’s jeans grew tight and he caught his breath as anticipation hammered through him. “What happened to just voice?”
She turned her head, the parking lot lights making the magenta tips of her hair glow. She gave him a grin and he heard a click. Then the seat slid back. She rose with a wink and, leaning across him so her breasts were at eye level, she flicked off the interior light.
“Just making sure you’re comfortable,” she said. Then with a twist, a little shimmy in that tight black leather dress, she sat on his lap so that her back was to the driver’s seat and her deliciously long legs were resting on the open door’s armrest.
The nearest light was a half dozen or so cars away, and the parking lot deserted, so they had the illusion of privacy. But it wasn’t private, and the door was wide open. Maybe if Jesse repeated that to himself a few dozen times, he could find the strength to care.
The temptation of those legs, encased in silky black stockings, was too much for him. Reveling in the feel of her toned limbs, he slid his hand down her thigh.
“Mmm, you have good hands. I’ll bet you can work wonders with those fingers of yours.” She laid her hand over his and guided it back up her thigh, just to the edge of the butter-soft leather hem. A hem that was inches, bare inches, from the promise of heaven between those glorious thighs. “I’d like to feel those hands on my body. You could start by unzipping my dress. All I’d have to do is stand up and it would slide to the ground, leaving me in silky little bits of nothing.”
“Computers,” he blurted.
“Beg your pardon?”
“I work with computers. That’s how I keep my fingers limber.” And how he’d dulled his social skills. Damn, could he sound any more stupid? Maybe he could sweet-talk her with some HTML code next? “Are you much into computers?”
Maybe that was her link with crime ring? Although with Davey on board, they probably didn’t need any hacking help, as the dork was second only to Jesse himself in computer expertise. Nah, she had to be the handoff.
“Computers? I know about enough to turn one on.”
“I’ll bet you do,” he murmured.
“I suppose that explains it,” she mused.
He gave her a questioning look.
“Under that hunky exterior, you’ve got a brainy thing going on.”
“Brainy?” Dammit, why brainy? Not that he sucked at attracting women, but there was always that layer of intellectual connection. His family was dead set on reducing him to a brain, albeit a handy brain when they needed heavy furniture moved. His coworkers and captain in Cyber Crimes valued his brains, counted on them to break the hardest cases. But the last thing he wanted to be noted for when he had the sexiest women he’d ever met in his lap was what was in his head. At least, not the one on his shoulders.
But, hunky? He knew it was immature, but his biceps clenched