Chapter 6
Chapter Six
“I will protect my partner. Always.” – Gray Stone
He was a stalker.
Gray knew it. Understood it. Should probably change his actions and be less of a stalker, but that shit just wasn’t going to happen. Ever since that night in Briar, Tennessee, when a killer had put his hands on Emerson, Gray had turned into a full-fledged stalker where his partner was concerned.
His protective tendencies had only amplified after the painted message had been left in Emerson’s motel room. Gray was worried. Every instinct he had screamed an alarm.
You’ll die. Those words in Emerson’s room haunted him. They also pissed him off. No one would hurt her. Not on his watch. Screw that shit. So…
He’d begun to stalk her. To make certain she was safely home at night. To make certain no predators were hanging around her place. To make certain…
There are no threats.
And, yes, he’d been testing her. He’d needed to make sure the woman could shoot to protect herself. Sure, he’d seen her files. Knew that she’d passed the shooting drills before, but he’d wanted to see her skills up close and personally.
He’d been impressed when he’d watched her fire at the target. It took a lot to impress him.
Then, there had been the morning when he’d had the total jackass idea of sparring with her.
Just to make sure that she’d be able to hold her own against a bigger opponent.
But the instant he’d seen her in those short shorts— hello, torture— his dick had saluted, his mind had gone dead silent, and he’d had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms.
So, he’d taken her down on the mat. She’d escaped his hold. Again, impressing him. Then she’d taken him down.
Turned him on even more.
When they’d regained their footing, she’d stood before him, beautiful, determined, and she’d just boldly announced that she wanted him. He’d tried to warn her away. Done his damn best. But…
She hadn’t backed down.
Rylan had interrupted before things went too far. Rylan who always watched her a bit too much. Like I’m one to judge. Rylan who always lingered around her a bit too much. Again, who the hell am I to judge?
But…
He didn’t want Rylan around her. Truth be told, Gray didn’t want any other guy putting his hands anywhere near her.
So, yes, his stalker skills had been activated. He’d followed the group to the bar when he realized Emerson was accompanying them. He could have lied to himself and said he followed to make certain that she was safe. But this particular stalking adventure wasn’t about safety. It was about jealousy.
She’d gone to the bar with Rylan.
Watchful, fun, and ready-to-entertain-her-at-any-moment Rylan.
Getting the drop on the group had been too easy.
Seriously, too easy. They were Feds—fine, Feds and one consultant.
They should have been aware of their surroundings at all times.
But, instead, they’d been gossiping about his past, and they hadn’t been aware when he’d snuck in the back door literally feet away from them.
Amateur mistake.
And…now…
She’s chasing after me. He’d turned when he heard Emerson call his name. She’d darted through the crowd. He couldn’t even see the table of Feds behind her. They were blocked by a line going to the bar. But Emerson?—
She barreled toward him. His coat was tucked under her arm. She’d shivered, so he’d given her the damn coat to wear, not to carry around. His hands reached out and curled around her shoulders. “Did I forget something?”
“Yes.” Very definite.
Oh, he had? What had he forgotten?
“Me.” Her hands fisted in his shirtfront even as she shot onto her toes, and she kissed him. Holy hell, she kissed him. In the crowded bar. A bar with FBI agents.
She. Kissed. Him. Open mouth. Teasing tongue.
He stiffened. Even as lust and longing poured through every cell in his body, his muscles tightened.
Her mouth was soft and sweet, and he wanted to savage it with his raw need and lust. Wanted to damn the consequences and any watchers and kiss her the way he wanted.
I want to kiss her. Fuck her. Claim her.
Emerson whipped back, as if just realizing what she’d done. “You…aren’t kissing me. Not, uh, back, I mean, and I’m—I’m sorry! I—I shouldn’t have chased you. I shouldn’t have kissed you!”
Screw it. He took the coat from her.
Emerson blinked.
He moved behind her. Put the coat on her shoulders.
“What is happening right now?” she whispered.
“You’re coming with me.” Gritted. Speech was nearly impossible.
He put his arm around her shoulders. Pulled her against him.
Took her out of that bar. His expression must have been helluva fierce because everyone got out of his way, immediately, and then he was outside.
They were outside. The busy Atlanta street seemed to hum with energy.
He turned to the left, his arm still around her shoulders.
Gray guided Emerson away from the bar’s busy entrance.
To the side of the building on a much quieter street.
He turned. Pinned her between the building and his body. His hands flew up to cage her.
“I…probably should not have done that.”
There wasn’t much light on the side of the building. The darkness surrounded them. Pulled at him. “Yeah, you definitely shouldn’t have. Too late now, though.” He leaned closer. “Do it again.”
“Wh-what?”
“Do it…again.” He should not. Hell, no, he should not but…
“Kiss me again.” Kissing her was not the way to stay platonic partners.
He’d intended to keep his hands off her that night.
Actually, his hands weren’t on her. They were flat against the brick wall behind her.
It was his mouth that was about to be on her.
Jealousy seethed inside of him. Because when he’d gotten to that bar, Rylan had been sitting right beside her. Rylan’s arm had been brushing against hers. Rylan had been leaning into her, practically kissing her cheek.
Sonofabitch. I’m jealous of a green agent. And it sucked. It freaking sucked. He wanted Emerson, and he didn’t want to share her with anyone. Ever.
Her hands rose and pressed to Gray’s cheeks. A silken touch. He leaned toward her. She rose up. She. Kissed. Him.
They were alone. No prying eyes. No Feds at a nearby table. Just him. Just her. Just the darkness.
His mouth opened. Her lips parted. His tongue sank into the sweetness that waited for him, and every cell in his body seemed to become electrified. His dick was already saluting her. Need burned beneath his skin. A hungry desire to take and take and take.
To take until the desperate lust eased.
Until he stopped dreaming about her. Waking up at night, her name on his lips, the sheets tangled around his legs and his dick hard and aching for her.
You can’t go back from this.
Did he want to go back? Or did he want to grab tightly to her and never let go?
Danger. Serious fucking danger.
He hauled his mouth away. She cried out in protest. He wanted to put his mouth right back on hers and drink up every single sound she might make but… “Why the hell did you kiss me, in there?”
“Because it seemed like a really good idea at the time.” Husky. Sexy.
His back teeth clenched. “You know that we could have been seen,” Gray gritted out.
Soft laughter trickled from her. He was pretty sure that he might have stopped breathing.
I love the sound of her laughter.
“Being seen was the whole point,” Emerson confessed.
His hands pressed harder against the wall as he fought the impulse to touch her. To drag her close.
“Though the crowd did get thicker than I anticipated. Can’t be certain that we were seen,” she mused. “I did try, though. Maybe an A for effort, am I right?”
She might drive him insane. And he might enjoy the ride. “Why did you want to be seen kissing me?”
“Because I wanted everyone to understand that I was the one pursuing you. You weren’t applying pressure, using your big, bad clout at the FBI to get impressionable me into bed.”
He snorted. Impressionable, his ass.
“You weren’t getting me to do anything I didn’t want.
By kissing you there, in front of everyone, I was making it clear that you were the man I was choosing.
” An exhale. “Even if you weren’t choosing me back.
You rejecting me right in the middle of the bar was a major possibility.
And, FYI, you kinda did reject me. So if any of the team saw us, they probably have no idea if we’re making out or if you’re currently kicking me out of the Bureau.
Not like you kissed me with mad passion in the bar. ”
It had taken all of his willpower not to literally gobble her up. “You shouldn’t play dangerous games with me.”
“Why not? They’re the only kind of games that you like to play.”
He wanted to kiss her again. No, he wanted to do one hell of a lot more than that.
He wanted to completely devour her. He wanted her mouth.
He wanted her naked. He wanted his hands on every inch of her body.
He wanted his mouth on every inch of her.
He wanted to lap her up and have her shudder and buck against him as she came.
“Giving you the green light,” Emerson said. “In case there was any confusion.”
Fuck me.
“I made my choice. Partner or lover? That was the question you posed to me. Well, I choose both. I’ve never been an either- or kind of girl. I take what I want. I want both options with you. And I think we can have them.”
He should unclench his jaw. Move away from her.
“This is the part where you respond,” she prompted. Her voice trembled a little bit. “The part where you have to say or do something.”
Usually, he was the chatty one, at least chatty by comparison to his very small group of real friends. His Marine buddies, all lethal bastards who would gladly bleed for each other in a heartbeat. But, right then, with Emerson, he wasn’t sure what to do.
Or what to say.
I want her. I want to take and take.
But…