Mesmerized by Lauren Dane

nodded.
    “Alone?”
    “I travel too much to have a pet.”
    She snorted a laugh and belatedly realized she’d been fishing to see if he was with anyone. He could tell her he was. She’d back off, being an honorable woman. Without the temptation she presented, he could finish the job without any entanglements.
    “There’s no one else,” he found himself saying, instead.
    Her smile was his reward, he supposed. “Good.” She nipped his chin, and he realized he was setting a bad example to let her get this close.
    Though he had no plans to make her stop.
    “There’s no one for me either. No one else, that is.”
    He shouldn’t care. He should actually be happy that she had someone. But he was selfish, apparently. And petty, because it made him happy to know.
    “Why did you leave? I understand your life, our life, was hard. I don’t fault you for getting out. I just want to know why.”
    He swallowed hard. “They made me an offer.” He shrugged. “It was a dead end here.”
    “Don’t be flip about it.”
    Her voice was sharp, the fingers she’d threaded through his hair tightened and then she yanked. He growled, moving forward, his body against hers, pressing her back into the bedding. Instead of anger on her features, that slid away, revealing raw desire that tore at him.
    “I’m sorry.” He tipped his forehead to hers again. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight.
    “All right. Andrei?” She looked into his eyes, her face, her mouth so very close to his.
    “Yeah?”
    “I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re alive.”
    Anyone else in the Known Universes, and he’d have been able to bat it away with a cool response. But not her. Not Piper, because Piper got to him. Understood him even without having seen him for years.
    He didn’t trust words, so he kissed her.
    Which, he thought as her lips met his and sent electric arcs through his system, was stupid. Her taste wended through him, owning him, marking him, making it impossible for him to do this with anyone else and not feel as if it were a sad parody.
    Her tongue traced the seam of his lips, inciting him. Heat banked in his belly, turning his limbs to lead. There wasn’t a single place in all of creation he wanted to be more than right there, right then.
    Her mouth was hot, wet and sweet as she teased his tongue, sucking it, stroking the underside with the tip of hers.
    It was only because his hands gripped the bedding so hard that he hadn’t ripped her clothing from her body. Each time she arched against him it sent shock waves through his brain.
    “Are you happy?” she repeated when he managed to drag his lips from hers.
    He blinked to clear his head, and Piper couldn’t stop her laughter from bubbling up. “In your life, I mean. I hope you’re happy right now. Part of you is anyway.” She canted her hips forward, grinding herself against his hard-on.
    “I’m good at what I do.”
    This was important to him. She could tell by the way he tipped his chin as he said it.
    “What is it you do exactly?”
    A hint of a smile flirted at the corner of his mouth, but he didn’t give in.
    “Come on, Andrei. You know I’ll pester you until you tell me. Save us both the effort.”
    The right corner of his mouth quirked up briefly.
    “I’ll let you see my tits.”
    His amusement darkened into something else. Something raw and starkly sexual. Appraising.
    That expression unsettled her. Reminded her she wasn’t playing flirtation with some silly boy from town. The man she wrapped about like a wanton was dangerous. He was a predator as clearly as the day was long.
    The intensity of their chemistry hummed between them. The playfully sexual nature of the moment melded into something headier, thicker. The humming between them became a throb, stealing her breath.
    “You should go back to your room, Piper.”
    She paused, mulling over how to respond. All the while lost in his eyes. That pale blue had darkened with emotion.
    “I’m