“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Do you know what it means to keep someone in the loop?”
A muscle jerked along his jaw.
“This…” She motioned between them. Her bracelets jingled on her left wrist. “This is the loop. You and me. You’re supposed to keep me in the loop. That means you are supposed to tell me what’s happening. I can’t work with you if I don’t know what the heck you are doing!”
His nostrils flared. “You smell fucking delicious.”
“I—” Maisey shook her head. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Hell of a lot. Space. I was trying to give you space by staying outside but that shit is over. I won’t make the same mistake again.” His eyes glittered. He stepped closer. “Like glue.”
Her throat was very dry.
“You want the full loop details?”
“Yes, I would like that very much.”
“During the day, I was following up leads. Working the case. At night, I was making sure you were safe.”
She could not look away from his stare.
“I screwed up earlier. That is on me. I underestimated the danger. If I’d been a few minutes slower in that garage, you’d be gone.” His hands lifted and closed around her shoulders. “You would be gone.”
He pulled her closer. His grip was strong, but he wasn’t hurting her. He was very careful. There was a heat, an intensity, in his touch that swept through her. Maisey couldn’t look away from him. The air was tight and thick. She was dimly aware of her own thudding heart beats. Mostly, though, she was aware of Odin. He pretty much overpowered everything else.
Maisey knew this was not the time to tell Odin that he was hot. That he was so gorgeous that she was having trouble breathing. She knew she was obviously going through some sort of emotional meltdown because of the attack. Anything she said or did would be influenced by her ricocheting emotions. But—
“You are so sexy,” she whispered.
His eyebrows shot down. “What?”
“Thank you for saving me today.”
“It’s my freaking job to protect you.”
No, it wasn’t. She’d hired him to find proof of Clay’s guilt or innocence. Odin staking out her place… Odin saving her from an attacker…that was beyond the scope of their initial deal.
“You shouldn’t have been in that situation. That’s on me.”
“Why are you blaming yourself? You’re not the one who tried to take me.” Had he missed her thank-you moment? She was grateful—beyond grateful—because he had saved her ass.
“You’re my client. I will keep you safe, I will—fuck.” He hauled her against him. “You scared the hell out of me.”
This was the second time he’d mentioned being afraid. Before she could press him about that…
His mouth took hers.
Surprise held her immobile—for like, all of two seconds. Then she was throwing her hands around his shoulders and holding on tightly even as she pressed up to get even closer to him.
Odin.
He lifted her up. She loved it when he did that. Lifted her up and held her against his body and made her feel all delicate and feminine against him while he was hard strength and power. His tongue thrust into her mouth, and she didn’t even try to hold back her moan. This, this was what she wanted. This surge of desire that made her feel reckless, wild. Alive.
Her nails bit into his shoulders. Her mouth met his in a greedy explosion of need and hunger. This reaction didn’t normally happen to her. When she kissed a man, she didn’t go from a peck on the lips to wanting to tear the clothes off the guy’s body within about a minute.
Not normal. At all.
Maisey had always thought normal was way over-rated.
One of his big hands was sliding under her shirt. She loved the feel of his fingers on her skin, and if she and Odin could get more of the clothing out of the way, that would be great.
Vaguely, she became aware that he was moving. Turning his body, turning them, and heading maybe…to her bedroom?
Her legs wrapped around his hips. The better to hold on. She didn’t stop kissing him though. She caught his lower lip, gave it a sensual tug.
“Maisey…”
She had never particularly liked her name. But when Odin said it…all deep and gravelly and hungry-like…
She rubbed against him.
He lowered her onto the bed.
Wait, the bed?
He caught her hands. Pressed them against the mattress. Loomed over her. The trip from the den to the bedroom was kind of vague for her. Her heart thundered, and her gaze locked on his.
He wasn’t kissing her any longer. Just staring at her with eyes gone stormy from need.
She licked her lips.
“That…wasn’t supposed to happen,” Odin said.
What wasn’t? Him kissing her? Or them winding up in her bedroom?
“You need to sleep.”
Sleeping was the last thing she felt like doing. Her body was screaming with energy. “No.”
His hands were still around her wrists. Her legs weren’t around his hips any longer. They dangled over the side of the bed. Actually, they dangled and spread and he was between them. His hips were lodged between her open legs, and there was no way on earth that she could miss the heavy arousal pressing against her.
“I don’t want to sleep,” Maisey told him. She was afraid that if she slept, she’d have a nightmare. A flashback to the stairwell and garage. Doing podcasts about historical crimes was different from actually being a victim in a current crime. Being a victim made everything different.
“I want you,” Odin gritted out.
She sucked in a breath.
“But not like this. Not when you’re scared and you’re looking for an outlet.”
Still reeling, Maisey gazed up at him.
“And not when I’m so pissed I can barely think,” he added gruffly. “Not when I keep thinking about how I want to find that sonofabitch and rip him apart.”
Her heart jolted. “You saved me.” Her hand lifted and touched his jaw. She could feel the stubble beneath her fingertips. “I don’t…do this.”
He tensed. “Do what?”
“I don’t meet a guy then stumble into bed with him the next day.”
“It’s not the next day. It’s been several days.”
Her heart slammed into her chest. “I just…I don’t want you to think this is normal for me. I-I feel…”
“Adrenaline. Fear. An emotional tornado that’s about to blow you apart.” His jaw flexed. “Got it.” He let her hands go. Shoved up.
She scampered up, too. She pushed to her knees and grabbed his arm. “Stop. You don’t know what I feel.” She barely knew herself. “Every time that you kiss me, I get so turned on that even breathing seems hard.”
He didn’t move.
“I don’t react that way to most guys.” How about…to any other guy? “I’m not one for pretending or being coy…” She wouldn’t know how to be coy to save her life. “I say what I think. I want you to know—” Deep breath. “The way I’m reacting with you, this isn’t normally me.”