Vengeful Shadows by Bronwyn Green Page B

managed to fight the urge.
    Instead, he worked the hem of her shirt free of her skirt and slid his fingers against the warm skin of her back. She shivered under his touch. Her eyes opened, need flickering in their depths. He circled her navel with the pad of his thumb and her lips parted on a breath. Desire turned into a full-fledged ache as she pushed her hips into his. Her eyes widened in surprise when he groaned and tightened his arms around her. He cupped the back of her head, angled his mouth over hers and delved inside, tasting her with wild abandon.
    It wasn’t enough.
    Dimly, he registered the rattle of the door as it opened.
    “You’re still out here?” Aidan stuck out his head. “Monique’s been looking for you.”
    Tessa stiffened and pulled away. Zander stared at her soft, slightly swollen lips.
    “Spoil-sport,” she muttered, glancing at Aidan. Zander expected to see embarrassment or anger at being caught in a compromising position. Instead, laughter shimmered like crystals in her liquid-blue eyes as she adjusted her shirt.
    “I think this is our cue to leave,” he said.
    Holding onto her hand, he guided her through the French doors and around the perimeter of the crowded room. Monique met them in the foyer and apologized profusely when she heard about the door locking behind them on the balcony.
    Tessa reassured his boss, thanking her for a lovely time. Even with her rain-wet clothes and hair plastered to her head, Tessa was the most beautiful woman there. The most beautiful woman he’d ever known, he corrected himself.
    She’d seemed completely at ease with his colleagues, never batting an eye when they’d launched into a lively discussion of the amount of food-delivered poison needed to kill off an entire room full of people. She’d even volunteered that her cooking could do it without using poison. His coworkers had laughed, and Zander had defended her culinary skills as if they were a real couple.
    Now, Tessa remained conspicuously silent as they drove home. She’d effectively distracted him from discovering the real reason she’d slugged Aidan, but he still wanted answers. He glanced at her, expecting she’d be as forthcoming as usual.
    Had the kiss meant anything to her, or had it simply been a means to stop his questions? He remembered the warmth of her mouth as it traveled across his. Her soft breath had caressed his face. As far as distractions went, it was a good one.
    Shivering, she rubbed her arms, trying to warm them. He cranked up the heat and directed the vents at her.
    “It should warm up in a minute,” he offered.
    She shrugged. “If not, I can think of other options.”
    He hit the brake. Had she said what he’d thought, or was it his hopeless imagination? He wanted her with the desperation of a teenager with his first girl.
    He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She’d stopped trembling and looked like the serene, composed angel he was used to. Not like the woman who had made a suggestive comment a moment ago or the storm-drenched siren hell-bent on seduction. He shifted in a discreet attempt to adjust his slacks. So much for the control he’d thought he had over his hard-on.
    He parked, and they exited the car in silence. Following her up the dimly lit hallway to her apartment door, he steeled himself to say goodnight and walk away. She slid her key in the lock and twisted the handle.
    Uncertainty flitted through her eyes, and she shifted in obvious discomfort. “Quit looking at me like that.”
    “Like what?”
    She shoved her wet hair off her face. “Like I’ve grown an extra nose. Or like you’ve never seen me before.”
    He studied her, feeling almost as though he’d been kicked in the gut. Maybe, he hadn’t ever seen her before. Maybe, he’d simply been content to exaggerate her angelic qualities and construct an insurmountable pedestal for her, ignoring the flesh and blood woman.
    She shivered. Now wasn’t the time to determine if his defense