Dungeon Games (Masters and Mercenaries #6.5)(18)

Stop. Halt. Cease that line of thought.

She just managed to not trip on the curb as she walked toward the door to her building. She couldn’t think that way. This wasn’t some date. Brighton wasn’t coming over for dinner and a movie and a heavy make-out session. He was coming over because they were working together and the minute the case was over, he would be out of her life, so she needed to be a smart girl and stay the f*ck off his lap. Even though it had been a ridiculously nice lap. He had the sort of lap made for a sub to spend hours over with her bare ass in the air. Some Dom’s laps were all knees and bony thighs, but Brighton had strong legs. He was big enough that she’d been comfortable lying there.

And the way he’d manhandled her afterward. He’d just picked her up and flipped her over without a single strain in those muscular arms of his. For that one moment, she’d felt delicate and lovely and petite against him. She wasn’t a small girl. Never had been. She’d always carried a little extra weight, but Derek hadn’t seemed to notice.

She stopped in front of the door and took a long breath. Liam and Sean were still in her apartment. She couldn’t walk inside all hot and bothered. They weren’t dumb men. They would know what had happened, and she really wanted to keep that private.

A little glint came off the door handle as she went to open it and Karina stopped, all thoughts of Brighton fleeing in an instant.

She was being watched. Yes, that little glint of light could have come from the sun hitting the metal in the early evening, but she doubted it. It had been the faintest hint and was gone in an instant. If there had been anyone else in the parking lot, she would have thought it was someone opening and shutting their car doors, the mirror catching the light and reflecting it to the handle she held.

Or someone was using binoculars and they had briefly caught the sun.

Karina always followed her instincts. She’d learned far too often that things went poorly when she didn’t. Oh, sometimes they turned out to be wrong, but it was way better to be safe than sorry.

Someone was watching her and she needed to get to a place where he couldn’t. As calmly as she could, she opened the door and strode inside, walking for the elevator that would take her to her floor. Her heart was racing, adrenaline starting to pump in anticipation, but she took a deep breath to try to quash it. She couldn’t go after him at this point. If she turned and looked around, trying to figure out where the watcher was, she would definitely tip the f*cker off that she was on to him. If he had half a brain, he knew she was a PI. While he might find the chase exciting, he also might back off and go after weaker prey if she showed strength too soon in their game.

The elevator dinged and she got in, pressing the button for the tenth floor.

How much did the unsub know about her? How much had he known about any of his victims? Had he known Amanda was a cop? It was still so difficult to think about her being gone. She hadn’t been kind, but Karina wouldn’t wish her fate on anyone.

Had the four victims had anything in common beyond their interest in BDSM and attendance at clubs? There had to be something more. The guy had come out of nowhere and suddenly had four kills to his credit. If he was truly a serial killer, he would have killed before, perfecting his method over time.

She needed to read Eve’s profile.

The door opened and she walked to her apartment, already thinking up a million and one arguments in case Derek tried to keep the profile confidential. She wasn’t going to be left out. If she was a member of the team, then she was going to force him to treat her like one.

She opened the door and walked inside. Of course, Derek could see arguing as disobeying his rules, and she would find herself over that supercomfy lap of his, taking his discipline. His cock would pulse against her belly almost as if it were connected to his hand, both finding a rhythm of arousal that would get her hot and wet in an instant.

“Karina? Did you run up the stairs?” Liam O’Donnell stood in her living room, shaking his head like a disappointed father who caught his daughter coming in after curfew. “Because you’re flushed. Otherwise I might wonder why you’re blushing.”

“Yep. Gotta get in my exercise.” She lied without a single qualm. Settling the groceries on the counter of her small kitchen, she frowned at the layer of dust she found there. How long had it been since she’d actually been in the kitchen?

“Liar,” the Irishman shot back. “I put a camera on the stairs. You came up the lift. So what’s that blush about, girl? Brighton already making you crazy?”

There was a low laugh as Sean Taggart stepped out of her bedroom. “Ten bucks says Brighton’s already gotten her naked. At least partially. The last time I saw him, he was ushering her into his office and shutting all the blinds.”

Li shook his head. “Karina isn’t giving in so easy.”

“Karina isn’t giving in at all,” she said, completely unwilling to go into her love life with two men who treated her like a kid sister. “Karina is working a case and unlike the two of you, I know how to keep business and pleasure separate.”

Let them stew on that for a while. They had both met their spouses during ops.

Li’s eyes widened. “Shit. You already let him play.”

Sean laughed as Karina shook her head. “Don’t even try it. You always get prissy when you’re trying to deflect. And I can smell the bastard’s aftershave on you from here.”