“I don’t want them off.” Soft. Husky.
Did she know that he was hard for her? Simply being near Maisey made him hard. Her scent. Her touch. Everything about her sent him into overdrive. She had, from the very first.
“I like it when you touch me,” she told him. “I actually like everything about you, even your overprotective ways.”
Good to know. Because his overprotectiveness? Not going anywhere, not when it came to her. In a short period of time, Maisey’s life had come to mean more to him than anything else.
“What is it?” She rocked toward him. “You aren’t thinking about what Clay said, are you? Because you’re not a burned-out anything, and I know you aren’t stringing me along. He was trying to mess with us, just like we were there to rile him.”
Like Odin gave a flying fuck what the other guy believed. “He can think I’m burned out. He can think I’m an amateur who has no clue what he’s doing. I don’t care.” He was staring at the person who mattered. “Not gonna change anything for me. I will do the job. I won’t ever back down or give up.” Not when Maisey needed him.
I think I will always need her.
He wanted her. Wanted to strip her and take her. Feel her against him and know she was safe.
But he stepped back. “It could be a while before my contact gets back to me. She’s good, but there are still plenty of records to search.” He inclined his head toward Maisey. “Jinx is gonna keep watch on Clay’s place. Clay won’t move without us knowing. So if you want to rest, now’s the time.”
“I’d like to shower.” Her face scrunched. “I think I’m covered in dust from the storage room, and I probably smell terrible.”
“You smell delicious.” An automatic reply. “Like strawberries and cream, and it makes me want to eat you up.” Like the friggin’ big, bad wolf that I am.
Maisey licked her lower lip. “Ah…”
He took another step back. “Go for your shower. I’ll have a turn when you’re done.”
“I have two showers. You can use the one in the guest bath.” She held his stare. “Or you could just join me.”
His fingers fisted. Released. Fisted again.
“If you wanted,” she added uncertainly.
There was nothing he wanted more than her naked with him. “I’m in the shower with you…” His voice deepened even more than normal. “Then I’m in you.” No way could he hold back if she was naked and wet in front of him.
“Yes. That’s kind of the idea, isn’t it?” Maisey seemed to hold her breath. “I’ll just go get the shower started. If you want to join, follow me.”
He’d follow her anywhere, any damn day.
Maisey turned away, and he took a step after her.
His phone rang. It buzzed and vibrated and he yanked it up to see Jinx’s grinning image on his screen. Odin shoved the phone to his ear. “What?” he barked.
Maisey stopped. Glanced back.
“Well, hello to you, too, sunshine,” Jinx drawled in his ear. “Did I interrupt something?”
“Is there a problem?” Odin demanded. “Is Clay on the move?”
“No. Take a breath. I’m just checking in.”
He lowered the phone. “It’s okay,” he told Maisey. “Go ahead.”
She hesitated, but finally nodded. She headed for the bathroom. Where she’d be getting naked and wet while he talked to Jinx.
Freaking Jinx. Odin put the phone back against his ear. “Make your check-in fast.”
“Grumpy.” A sigh. “And here I am, out doing the grunt work. Hiding and staring at a house all night while you’re snug and cozy in there with Maisey.”
“PI work is grunt work. It’s doing the dirty deeds so you get the case closed.” He couldn’t see Maisey any longer. “Maybe it’s not the line of work you want to get into.”
“I don’t know. Perhaps if I were the one close to the hot client, it would be different…”
“Jinx. Do not go there. Ever.”
“Check. She’s off-limits. I meant another hot client. I’m sure there are others, you know. Not like you magically got the only one in the whole world.” A pause. “But I’m off topic.”
“You are.”
“Learn anything useful on the visit next door?”
“I learned that Clay Prescott has a boat somewhere. A boat I didn’t discover on my first hunt. I’ve got Ali looking for it.”
Silence. Huh. He’d finally managed to shut up Jinx?
“Didn’t know you were still working with her.” Mumbled.
“Ali is freelance, and you know hacking is pretty much second nature to her. War had me pull her in for a few jobs, and the relationship has been good. So far.”
“Has she mentioned me?”
“Why in the hell would she mention you?” He did not have time for this shit. “Look, I have to go. I have—” A hot, naked Maisey. “Something waiting. You see activity on the house next door, you call me. I’m afraid Ramsey is gonna be closing in, and the last thing I want is for the guy to kill our suspect before I can get to the truth.”
“Fine. I’ll make sure Ramsey doesn’t kill him. But if Ali mentions me, I want to know it.”
What-the-hell-ever. He hung up. Tried not to run down the hallway. He flew through Maisey’s bedroom, then drew to a quick stop. The bathroom door was shut, but when he approached, he could hear the heavy stream of the water. Maisey was in there. Naked and wet. And she wanted him with her.
He put the phone on the table near the door. Lifted his fingers to knock. Holy hell. Were his fingers actually shaking?
Yeah, they are. Because you want her so badly you can barely hold back. He knocked lightly.
“It’s not locked,” Maisey’s voice called out.
He grabbed the knob. Twisted it and threw open the door. Steam drifted in the air. And Maisey, completely naked, with the water rushing around her, stood in the shower. She’d left the glass door open, and he had a perfect view of her.
She smiled at him. Her dimples dipped in her cheeks. “Now, we’re even.”
He barely heard her words. His heart jackhammered too hard in his chest and echoed in his ears. He grabbed for his shirt. Yanked it over his head. Kicked off his boots and socks and tossed away his jeans.
Her gaze slid down his body. Widened. There was a gleam of feminine appreciation in her eyes that had him surging toward her. He stepped into the shower with her. Hauled the door shut behind him and pulled her up against him. The water poured on him. Slid over his skin. Maisey’s hands curled around his shoulders as she tipped back her head.
He took her mouth. Thrust his tongue inside even as his leg moved between hers. He lifted her up, had her riding his thigh as he kissed her with fierce demand.
Maisey.
He loved the way she tasted. Loved the way she smelled. Loved the way she felt against him.
Love the way she feels when I am balls deep in her.
He wanted to drive into her until she was screaming and he was coming as the pleasure lashed them both.
But Maisey pushed against him. “We…need to get clean.”
Did they? He was in the mood to be dirty as hell.