Her 24-Hour Protector(50)

He positioned himself between her legs, his knees opening her thighs wide, and with one sharp thrust, he was inside her. Jenna gasped, arching her back as her body accommodated him, and she smiled against his mouth. “Mmm, that emcee sure wasn’t kidding about your loaded weapon, agent,” she murmured, moving her pelvis against his.



He watched the upstairs window from the bushes.

He knew they were in there. He’d seen their shadows against the blinds earlier, before the agent came outside to drink beer.

Probably screwing each other now.

The idea agitated him, made him hard. Hot.

It had taken him some time to get around the highway pileup she’d left in her wake. Bitch. He’d guessed she would run straight here, to her cop. Well, she got away this time.

He’d have to find another way now, be smarter. He grew even hotter, harder at the thought—because when he did get her, he was going to do a lot more than just kill her. He was going to have her just like that cop was probably doing her now.





Chapter 10




Jenna met his fervor, arching her pelvis to him as he thrust deep into her, heightening every nerve in his body, driving him higher, hotter, until she stiffened suddenly, then shattered around him with a cry, her nails digging into his back. It drove Lex past the point of restraint—he yanked her hips up hard against his, and released into her, his vision spiraling in a wild vortex of dark sensual pleasure as she wrapped her legs tight around him.

They lay hot in the moonlit shadows, tangled in sheets, entwined with each other, Lex going soft inside her. And in his heart he felt whole. At the same time, he knew he’d failed.

He’d allowed himself to be sucked over the cliff edge, and he was wildly free-falling. Because now that he’d done this, now that he’d made love to Jenna, he wanted more.

He wanted it all.

And that scared him. Because maybe she didn’t.

The darkness turned to dawn, and the morning sun began to stream lemon-yellow through the blinds, another hot desert day dawning, and Lex had to get to work. He was going straight to talk to Quinn and have himself removed from this homicide investigation. Lex prayed it wasn’t too late already, that he could still hide from Quinn, from prosecutors and defense lawyers down the road, what had transpired between him and Jenna Rothchild while he was still assigned to the case.

He’d tell Quinn he’d elicited information from Jenna about her father that would secure a warrant to search Harold Rothchild’s estate and bring him in for further formal questioning. Quinn would be good with that.

And Lex would need to step back from Jenna for a while in order to maintain the charade.

But at the same time, she was going to need him. The road ahead was going to be real rough because she was going to be a witness to the fact her father was obstructing justice. Lex couldn’t leave her alone now as much as he had to step away for the case to proceed successfully.

He cursed to himself.

Excusing himself from this high-profile homicide investigation was also going to be a career killer. That he’d have to swallow. But Jenna, he had no idea how to handle. He swore again—what in the hell had he done?

One choice was clear—the first move. Get reassigned.

“Jenna—”

She opened her eyes, smiled up at him, brown eyes twinkling. Sated, naked, warm and beautiful. In his bed, his home. And she’d sneaked her way right into his heart—jaded old fool that he was, Lex couldn’t believe he was daring to hope.

“What is it, Lex?”

He was going to tell her he wanted to make a go of it. But suddenly anxiety wedged into his throat, and he didn’t know how to say it all and felt like an ass. What if she really wasn’t on the same page as him? Maybe she was too young for him, had too much life in front of her yet to commit to him. And how stupid it would sound to tell her he loved her after a few days. Who fell in love after a few days?

Seems he did.

He got up, wrapped a towel around his waist, sun already warm on his skin. “Want some breakfast?” was all he could think of to say.

Something shifted in her eyes. She watched him, as if waiting for him to say something more, deeper, something about what had transpired physically between them. Anything.

“I need to get dressed,” he said, instead. “Got to get into the office.” He wavered. “I make a good omelet—” But before he could complete the sentence, angry barking erupted from downstairs. They both looked at each other, shocked almost, to remember that Napoleon was still in the house. Jenna jerked up in the bed, pulling the sheet over herself. “Napoleon?” she called.

He growled and barked again. Jenna’s eyes shot to Lex. “Someone’s down there. Naps never barks like that unless something has spooked him.”