Mine to Crave (Mine #4)(17)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“H-how?”

“Kiss me.” He didn’t think she would. He just—

She leaned up on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

“No, princess, not like that.” He tipped up her chin and he took her mouth. Deep, thorough. Rough. “My way.”

Her breath rasped out against him.

“Every time you lie to me,” Drake told her, aware that his voice had thickened, “you pay for it.”

Her gaze searched his. “I probably should confess…I lie a lot.”

“Then you’ll pay…a lot.”

Her hands pressed to his chest. But she didn’t push him away. Instead, it was more as if she were trying to get a feel for him. Testing his strength.

“Who sent you to the Arrow? To me?”

“You’re a man with enemies. Maybe you can figure that part out yourself.”

“What’s your role? Seduction?”

She pushed against him. Hard. A shove. But he didn’t step back so much as an inch.

Jasmine swallowed. “I told you before, I’m not a whore. Don’t ever make the mistake of calling me that again.”

“There’s a difference between seduction and prostitution. From where I’m standing, seduction seems to be one of your key talents.” She sure had made him want her easily enough.

Red lit her cheeks again. “Don’t.”

“You used your body to get to me before.” When she’d seemed so eager for him back in his private lounge. “Don’t like being called on it now?”

Her lashes lowered, shielding her eyes. “I wasn’t going to have sex with you.”

“But you knew I wanted you. You used that. And I’m betting you’ve used men’s desires against them plenty of times.” The thought had his muscles clenching. He didn’t want to think of any others in Jasmine’s life.

“Weaknesses can always be exploited.”

His hand slid down her neck. Her pulse raced frantically beneath his fingertips. “You’re too delicate for the danger you seek.”

“Looks can be deceiving.”

No, in her case, they weren’t. A twist of his hand, and she’d be dead. Maybe he should tell her about his past.

But…

No.

“I don’t know why you’re wasting time with me. Don’t you have a flight today?” Jasmine asked him as her pulse kept racing beneath his fingers. “I remember reading someplace that you were working on some big casino deal in New Orleans.”

“The eyes do help you play innocent,” he allowed as he studied her. “But that innocent routine doesn’t really work for me.”

Her gaze held his. She seemed to come to some decision as she told him, “Take some advice from me. You need to pay attention to what’s happening down in New Orleans. You’ve pissed someone off, and that particular person isn’t going to stop until he gets his pound of flesh from you.”

His fingers tightened around her throat. “A name, Jasmine. That’s what I want. Neither of us will leave this room until I get it.”

“Elvis Presley.”

He growled.

“That’s a name. My favorite all-time performer.”

He didn’t move.

“Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.” Her pulse kicked up even more. “Do you know what will happen to me…if I talk?”

“Nothing.”

Her lips twisted, but her smile was sad.

“I’ll protect you,” he added. With his resources, protecting her would be easy.

Her smile slipped. “No, you’ll throw me away. Because you’ll have what you need from me. I know how it works. I’ve been a tool before.”

“What were you supposed to steal from me?” Drake demanded as his patience fled.

Her breath whispered out. “The plans for the casino expansion in New Orleans. The projections for your future projects in Biloxi. You’ve got some competition…someone who wants to cut you off at the knees.”

And things started to click into place for him. “That’s what you do. You don’t take jewels. You’re an information thief.”

“Ah, I prefer the term…information retrieval specialist.”

His jaw nearly dropped.

“It sounds better.”

He could only shake his head.

“It does. It sounds a lot better than thief.”

“The cops are after you in Texas.” He freed her and stepped back. “Hell, you’re wanted and that bounty hunter—”

“I’m not wanted because I haven’t been caught before!”

His gaze pinned her. He’d caught her.

“You were the first,” she allowed, obviously reading his thoughts. “No one else ever held me.”

“Then the others were idiots.”

She looked away from him. “Maybe.”

He just couldn’t figure her out. “You were hired to do a job. You didn’t do it…because you saw a wedding photograph.”

“I just changed my mind, that’s all.”

Lie. “You’ll pay for that one,” he promised her.

She tensed.

He didn’t go to her and collect. Not yet. She’d revealed good information to him, and he just had to work this situation out in his mind.

Casinos…it was about the business. His business. Someone wanted him to crash and burn financially.

Hell, there was quite a list out there for that. When it came to the casinos, Drake didn’t exactly play nicely. Playing nicely wasn’t part of his vocabulary.

But Jasmine was afraid of the person targeting him, and Drake didn’t think Jasmine scared easily. He knew that she didn’t.

So it was business, and it was personal.

He watched her. Waited. Narrowed down his enemies. Someone tied to the casino industry. Someone who would be willing to destroy a man’s life in an instant. Someone he’d recently pissed off…

Luckily, that list was fairly short. At the moment. “Maxwell Case,” Drake threw the name out as a test.

Her chin notched into the air. “Is that name supposed to mean something to me?”

He was on her in a flash. “That’s lie number three. Collection time.” His mouth sank on hers. Damn but he liked her taste. Liked the way she gasped and arched against him. Liked the sting of her nails along his shoulders.

His tongue thrust into her mouth. He savored her. He wanted to taste every single bit of her. He’d gone too long without a woman. Need rode him hard. Only…