Page 31 of A Touch of Crimson
“Bullshit. You’re going after information. You want to see if you can pick up anything around the scene where your friend was killed. And if you find something, you’re not just going to call it a day and come home. I don’t need training to be helpful. I’m lethal already.”
“With the element of surprise,” he qualified. “In hand-to-hand combat, you’d be dead before you could blink. And when word gets out about you, you’ll be hunted. You’re not ready for that yet.”
“No one can be totally ready for that. And when my time comes, it comes. Everything happens for a reason.”
“Now I’m calling bullshit.”
“You have to take me with you,” she said in a voice that brooked no argument. Then she slid him a come-hither glance from beneath her lashes.
She wasn’t above using her feminine wiles to get her way.
He smiled. A full, seductive smile that rocked her back on her heels. “You can’t manage me, Lindsay. I’m more than happy to be the recipient of your persuasive skills, but not if you’ll be pissed off when it doesn’t get you what you want.”
That smile was kicking her ass. Crackling electricity raced across her skin, making the hair on her nape stand on end. “Adrian?—”
“No.” The curve of his mouth straightened abruptly. “I won’t make a tactical error because of my craving for you. My mission—and, most of all, you—are too important to risk.”
The tightness that constricted her chest was fueled by respect. She had a sudden, crazed desire to crawl all over him naked. “I have responsibilities, too, Adrian. I know those things are out there. I wish I didn’t. I wish I couldn’t feel them coming. But I can, and there’s an accountability that comes with that curse. But that’s all about what’s in it for me. For you, I can be useful. I can watch your back.”
“I’m a Sentinel. I can take care of myself.” As firm as his voice was, it was softened by the warmth in his extraordinary eyes.
“I won’t stay here if you won’t let me come. Childish, I know, but it’s all I’ve got as leverage.”
“You’re blackmailing an angel.”
She shrugged. “So sue me.”
“I can detain you.”
“And then my father will create a big stink about me falling off the face of the earth, and you’ll have even more trouble on your hands.”
His wings materialized, flexing along with his jaw.
“Hey—don’t get your wings in a twist,” she teased. “It was partly your idea to keep him in the loop. Besides, I know you want to catch the ones responsible, and every day that passes, the trail grows colder. I don’t know if you have the same sixth sense I’ve got, but if not, we both know I can find them real quick. And they won’t see me coming. I’m just an average, everyday artery to them.”
“Blackmail works both ways, Lindsay. I want something in return.”
“Oh?” She was instantly on alert. The glimmer in his eyes was too…triumphant, almost as if she’d played right into his hands.
“Your reason for hunting—the someone you’re avenging—I want to know who it is.”
“I was talking about a generalized ‘someone,’” she prevaricated.
Adrian studied her for a long moment, then said, “Very well. I’ll take something else, then.”
“What?”
“This—”
He was kissing her before she could blink, having moved so fast it felt like she’d missed entire frames in a film reel.
She was shocked into stillness. He sealed his mouth over hers, his firm, sensual lips pressing softly. The gentleness was unexpected, considering the tightness with which he cupped her face in his hands. His tongue slid along her bottom lip, then slipped inside. The silken caress in her mouth made her shiver, then moan.
Adrian kissed with the leisure of a man who took his time making love, which was a luxury she’d never had time for. Sex was for scratching an itch and for feeling human for a few stolen moments. It had never been this slow, deep melding. And this was only a kiss.
What the hell would he be like in bed?
Her toes curled. Her hands caught his waistband, hanging on for the ride. Behind her closed eyelids, she absorbed the taste and scent of him, the feel of him so close.
