Her mouth was soft, as were her hands as they delved into his hair, as was her body. He felt terrifyingly, gloriously masculine pressed against her. A need he hadn’t been aware of exploded into bloom. His briefcase hit the floor with a thud as she wrapped herself around him.
He was no longer thinking. A man would starve to death after only one taste. A man would certainly beg for more. She was soft and strong and sinfully sweet, with a flavor that both tempted and tormented.
Heat radiated between them as the sauna-like air sealed their kiss. The din of nearby street noises, horns and tires sounded around them, along with her dazed, throaty moan.
He pulled back once to look at her face, saw himself in the cornflower-blue eyes, and then his mouth crushed hers again.
No, this wasn’t going to be a one-time deal.
He pulled back again, staggered by what had ripped through him in so short a time. He was winded, weak and the sensation infuriated as much as baffled him. She only stood there, staring at him with a mixture of shock and hunger in her eyes.
“Are you crazy? Anyone could have seen us.”
“I know.”
“Cops use these stairs and so do my coworkers.”
“I know.”
“But you didn’t care?”
“No. Not at that moment.”
Voices echoed in the stairwell and Kate extricated herself quickly and started down the stairs. He picked up his briefcase and followed her, wanting to reach out to capture her tumbling hair. He was disappointed that she’d bolted. He knew there was a daring woman inside her, longing to get out. He wanted that woman.
But he understood her more than she knew. It was hard to let yourself feel, once you’d stuffed it so deep inside that you’re afraid you couldn’t find it again.
He’d done that when he’d worked at his uncle’s law firm and saw the inequities every day until he couldn’t stomach it anymore. Now in court, he could let his passion show. He could do something about the lying scumbags who filed through his courtroom on a daily basis. People like Danny Hamilton who were too cowardly to admit to what they had done. Hiding behind his handicap wasn’t going to save him. He could get to the truth by digging as deep and as long as he wanted.
And he intended to prove that Danny Hamilton killed Marie LePlante.
* * *
The man was insane. That was the only explanation for kissing her like that in the stairwell. And she was skirting along the sanity line herself. She’d lost herself there in the stairwell. She hadn’t been able to breathe. For the first time in her memory, she could do nothing but feel. And the feelings had come so fast, so sharp and strong, they’d left her in tatters.
She wanted to get these fingerprints read and to get Jericho out of her workspace before she did something completely foolish.
Eric was standing next to the computer screen, leaving the chair open for her. Kate sat and looked closely at the fingerprints. Her heart sank.
“Do they match?” Jericho asked.
“Yes. Danny touched the candlestick.”
Jericho put his hand briefly on her shoulder and squeezed. She turned to look up at him, and the compassion in his eyes made her want to curl up in his arms.
Danny had his hand on the candlestick. There was no mistaking the print that was taken when he was booked and the one that was lifted from the metal of the candlestick. She would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that Danny couldn’t hurt anyone. Ever. It shook her resolve. So, Mrs. LePlante may have been struck with the candlestick, but that didn’t mean that Danny had strangled the woman in her own bathroom.
Why would Danny hit her in the first place? It didn’t make sense to Kate. Danny was a gentle soul. She’d seen him pick up a stray kitten once and he’d been as gentle as a child. What could have led him to pick up the candlestick and hit Mrs. LePlante?
The answers to those questions could come from only one source. Danny himself. Kate needed to talk to him.
“I’ll get this information to Parker and Sanders,” Eric said as he exited with copies of the prints.
“This pretty much seals Danny’s guilt,” Jericho said.
“Mrs. LePlante didn’t die from the blow.”
“No. True. She died from strangulation.”