With Blaze’s touchy flirting and gentle advances, I’d felt nothing more than annoyance and a jolt of panic at the associations that came with that kind of come-on. Talon’s dominating presence provoked a completely different sensation, something that made me want to grind against him in an embarrassing way.
I reined in that ridiculous urge and turned my head to the side, allowing my lips to hover a mere breath from his as I spoke. “What a testament to your skills: fighting and winning against an injured opponent. You must be so proud of yourself.”
All at once I was aware of his pulse thumping through his body against me, picking up in tempo. He wet his lips. How would it feel if he pressed that mouth against mine? Would they be as strong and firm as the lean muscles that pressed into my body, or would they be cold and sharp like his icy eyes and terse responses? What would it be like to have a man like this work over my body as skillfully for pleasure as he did in combat?
Would it be so awful to find out, if it was what I wanted and not something being forced on me?
My pussy outright throbbed. Talon’s gaze seared into mine, no longer so icy after all. In that instant, I thought I might actually get to find out.
Then his arms shifted around me, and his elbow tapped the most painful spot on my ribs. My head jerked down, a hiss of pain escaping me.
Talon let me go immediately. “Sorry.” He stood tall, the artificial light gleaming off his shaved scalp and chiseled features. Another flicker of heat flashed in his eyes before fading away.
It seemed like whatever had happened between us in that brief moment hadn’t only gotten to me.
I cleared my throat. “I’d like to try that again when I’m fully healed. I always appreciate a challenge.” I knew I could take him when I wasn’t held back by unwanted handicaps. He moved quickly and swiftly, but so did I.
“It won’t make a difference,” Talon replied.
“Who’s confident now?” I said, grinning.
But he didn’t reply, just picked the mitts off the floor and tossed them back into the trunk. Apparently sparring practice was over.
I eyed the punching bag, but I was bored with it now—and maybe I’d made some headway with Talon that would get me something else I wanted.
I set my hands on my hips. “So where did everyone else go while they left you to babysit?”
Talon didn’t look at me. “It’s official business.”
“Yes, I realize that. They’re still working on tracking down those pricks who murdered Anna and her family, right?”
He turned to face me then, his eyes narrowing. “Official. Business.”
“Buzzkill,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I might be able to help.”
“Stop,” he demanded.
“Are they looking at the crime scene again? I could check out the house itself, put on a more thorough disguise if you’re so worried. Maybe I’d—"
“I’m not talking to you about an ongoing investigation or making any decisions about your involvement,” he said, slowly and firmly. My heart sank. Every word felt like a new, sturdier wall he was erecting between us.
I thought I’d gotten somewhere with him, that he was starting to respect me.
“You can’t really think I’m incapable of contributing after the things I spotted around the property today,” I insisted.
He sighed and motioned toward the bedroom I’d been using. “I think it’s time you went to bed.”
I gaped at him and folded my arms over my chest. “Excuse me?”
“Go to bed,” he repeated forcefully.
“That’s what I thought you said.” I took a step toward him, staring him down. “I don’t care if you’re a cop, a military man, or a damn alien. You will not order me around like that. I am not a child.”
His gaze darted down over my body, lingering for just a second on the curves of my breasts and hips. When he met my eyes again, my skin tingled with more unsettling heat.
“I’m well aware of that fact,” he said, in a tone that drew my eyes back to his mouth with the thought of the other uses it could be put to. Then it pressed flat before he said, “But I’m still telling you it’s time to turn in for the night. Our apartment, our say goes.”
I scoffed at him. “You and your whole damn team are insufferable.” But I didn’t really want to be out here with him if he was going to be such a prick about it. I spun on my heel and marched into the bedroom. The door closed with a kick and a thud.
I sank down on the bed. My gaze fell on the tote bag on the chair, and all at once my fingers itched to dig inside it for the stuffed tiger, to hug it to my chest as I curled up on the bed. As if I really were a kid again, trying to drift to sleep in my lonely rooms in the household.
But I wasn’t that kid anymore. What was wrong with me?
I lay down on the firm mattress with my back to the chair, but a ghostly impression of the toy tickled my arms as I tucked them in front of me. Some small part of me, one I squashed deep inside but that I couldn’t totally ignore, did feel like a little kid again. A confused, lonely kid far from home…
Even though this was the first time I’d been away from the household without knowing exactly where I was and what I was meant to be doing, something about that sensation was so familiar. How could that be?