Evidence of Passion (Shadow Agents #7)(8)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Then she heard the distinct thud of his footsteps as Dylan rushed after her. He’d better be coming to apologize.

Right. She’d never actually heard Dylan apologize for anything.

His fingers curled around her arm. He spun her back to face him. “Your last lover was a killer. I’d think that you’d want to—”

“You’re wrong!” The words erupted from her.

And something strange happened to Dylan’s face. They were right under the streetlight, so it was incredibly easy for her to read his expression. Surprise flashed first, slackening his mouth, but then fury swept over his face. A hard mask of what truly looked like rage. “You’re involved with someone else? You’re sleeping with someone?”

Since when did she have to check in with Dylan about her love life? “He wasn’t my lover.”

His hold tightened on her. “What?”

“Adam. Jack. Whatever he’s calling himself. He. Wasn’t. My. Lover.” There. She’d said it. It felt good to get that out. “We were going away together that weekend. We hadn’t…” Rachel cleared her throat. “He wasn’t my lover.” She yanked away from him, angry now, too. “Not that it’s any of your business who I’m sleeping with—”

“It is.” He snarled the words and he yanked her up against his chest. “It shouldn’t be…but it is.”

And his mouth took hers.

Chapter Two

He shouldn’t have kissed her. Dylan knew that truth all the way down to his soul. His hands were supposed to stay off her.

But instead, he was pulling her as close as he could get her.

He’d fantasized about her mouth too many times. Red, bow-shaped lips. That plump lower lip. He’d wanted her mouth on his. Wanted her.

Now he had her.

Her taste made him drunk. It gave him a far better rush than the whiskey. Her br**sts were pressed against his chest. His h*ps pushed against her.

And the woman had to be feeling just how turned on he was by her. When Rachel walked into a room, hell, he got turned on instantly. There was no stopping his reaction to her.

She didn’t shove him away again. He expected her to push him back, but she didn’t. Her mouth opened slightly and her tongue slipped out to rub lightly against his own.

Every muscle in his body tensed.

Rachel.

His hold hardened on her. He licked her lips then took the kiss deeper, sampling her, savoring her. His heartbeat thudded in his ears. The thunder of that beat drowned out the sound of traffic on the nearby street.

She was the only thing he felt.

The only thing he wanted.

His fingers slid down her back, curved over her h*ps and brought her even closer to him. He didn’t want any barriers between them. He wanted her as wild for him as she was in his dreams.

His.

A soft moan slipped from her lips, and he drank it up, greedy for more. He wanted everything she had to give. He’d take everything.

But not there. Not on the street. Not with all of the eyes and ears that could be on them.

And with Jack out there, waiting to strike?

His mouth lifted from hers. He stared down at Rachel, watching as her eyes slowly opened. She blinked up at him.

She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

What have I done?

He forced his hands to free her, when he wanted to hold as tightly to her as possible. “I should apologize,” Dylan began.

She pushed back her hair. The dark mane that he wanted to see spread out on his pillow.

“I should,” he continued, voice rough with desire, “but I’m not.”

Her breath seemed to come in fast pants. She wasn’t the only one breathing too hard. Dylan felt as if each breath he took sawed out of his lungs.

“We’re not on duty,” he said. “And I’ve been wanting to taste you for too long.”

Rachel backed away from him. “You can’t do this now. You can’t.” She spun on her heel and started marching down the street. Her steps were fast and hard.

Dylan followed right behind her, but his pace was much slower as he tailed Rachel back to her apartment building.

Rachel’s apartment was on the second floor, and she hit the stairs leading up to that level at a near run. Dylan lifted a brow at her haste, and then he headed up after her, taking his time.

At the top of the stairs, he turned to the left. Rachel’s apartment was the one on the end. The one that gave her a perfect view of the rising sun. Not that he’d ever been there to watch the sun rise with Rachel…

Maybe one day.

Rachel unlocked her apartment. The security alarm began to beep. Dylan followed her inside and shut the door as she reset the alarm. He propped his back up against the wooden door frame and waited for her to erupt.

In his experience, Rachel liked to do her eruptions in private. She wasn’t the public drama type.

Only she didn’t erupt. She wrapped her hands around her waist, and she stared up at him.

Rachel appeared…lost. Afraid. Of him?

The look in her eyes actually hurt him. He jerked away from the door. “Rachel—”

“I don’t expect an apology,” she said and the words came out too quickly. “Especially since I was kissing you back.”

Yes, she had been. And she’d just been adding more fuel to his fantasies.

“But…why?” Her question was stark. “Why now?”

Because jealousy had clawed into him when he’d thought that Rachel might be involved with someone else. He’d been at her side, working day and night with her for three years. He’d wanted her that whole time.

He’d never thought another man might take her away from him…

Until tonight.

When he’d walked in that pub and seen the blond eyeing Rachel like she was the best candy he’d ever seen, Dylan realized that Rachel could slip right through his fingers. Fear had grown with him. Then, outside, when he’d confronted Rachel on the street—

You’re involved with someone else? You’re sleeping with someone? His own furious words seemed to blast back at him.

And, deep inside, Dylan wondered just what he would have done if Rachel had been involved with another man.

“Rachel…”

Her rough laughter cut him off. Rachel didn’t laugh often. In fact, he had to fight in order to get her to ever lower her guard enough to laugh just a little with him. When she did laugh, the sound was light. Soft. As beautiful as she was. Not mocking and cold.

“Mercer,” she said, giving a hard nod of her head as if she’d just figured out a challenging puzzle. “You went to see him tonight, didn’t you? Before you came to look for me.”