Dangerously Hot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#4) by Lynn Raye Harris Page B

it. That little bit of consideration made her heart pinch.
    His mouth left hers, slid hotly down the column of her throat, and then fastened over one tight nipple. Lucky gasped at the heat and sensual shock. Her fingers curled into his shoulders as she arched her back, thrusting her breasts toward his mouth. She wished she could feel his tongue on her naked flesh instead of through the cotton.
    But oh, it was wicked good to feel his mouth at all.
    He nipped and sucked, softly, and Lucky realized she was making little panting noises. He stopped and lifted his head, his blue eyes lasering into hers.
    “I thought you didn’t want me.”
    She gripped his shoulders harder. “I don’t.”
    It wasn’t true and he knew it. He laughed softly. “No, you definitely don’t. If I slid my hand into your panties, what would I find?”
    She lifted her chin. “I imagine you know very well what you’d find.”
    He kissed her again until she was soft and pliant and clinging to him. She felt the change come over him, felt him fighting with himself. “We can’t do this,” he said against her ear. “It’s wrong.”
    She wanted to howl. She knew why Kev thought it was wrong, and she knew she should think so too. But she didn’t. Not anymore. “It’s not.”
    Kev took a step back until they were no longer touching and stood there with his brows drawn low and his chest rising and falling as if he’d just run a marathon.
    “Marco was my best friend.” He shoved a hand through his hair, his eyes growing wild. “I can’t want his wife. I can’t want to do the things to you that he should be doing.”
    Her heart hurt. How could she tell him that Marco hadn’t wanted to do those things to her anymore? That it had been over? To admit that would be admitting there was something wrong with her.
    And she just couldn’t do it. Not now.
    She crossed her arms and hugged herself, sinking down on the bed as she did so. “He’s not here anymore, Kev. He won’t ever be here ever again.” She swallowed. Tell him. “And even if he was, you have no idea what our life together was like or what path we were going down. Don’t make assumptions.”
    He looked angry. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
    She ought to be offended, but in truth she was just tired. So tired. She’d spent months running away from herself, from her feelings, from the crumbling foundations of a marriage that had been going wrong long before her husband went on a mission that cost him his life.
    “It means there are things about my life—and Marco’s—th…that you don’t have a right to know.”
    She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t tell Kev that Marco had wanted free of her. She didn’t blame him because she’d wanted free too. But what did it say about her that the man who’d married her and wanted to take care of her—put her on a pedestal, as Kev thought—had changed his mind?
    Kev looked confused. And then he grew angry again. He was so beautiful it hurt to look at him. His eyes were clear and hot, his shoulders were broad, and a wave of inked muscles flexed in his arms as he curled his fingers into fists. “It’s clear we can’t work together anymore. If you don’t ask Mendez for another bodyguard for this assignment, I will.”
    Her stomach twisted. She knew he was right, that she should ask for one of the other guys—but she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. “If that’s what you want, go ahead. But you’re the only one I trust.”
    It was the truth.
    He swore softly. “That’s not fair.”
    “Life isn’t fair. If it was, Marco would be alive and Al Ahmad would be dead—and all those innocent people he killed would still be alive too.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. How had she let this degenerate into such a mess? “I’ll go after him no matter who Mendez assigns to guard me, because he has to be stopped. But I want it to be you. You’re the one I know best, the one I’m not afraid of being alone with.”
    And that