Asa (Marked Men #6)(25)

Asa wanted me to know that even though he wanted me, he wasn’t ever going to go there even when it was just us, alone in his apartment. His point had been made in a startlingly clear and vivid way, and now I had to get away even if I would never, ever forget the images he had imprinted on my mind forever.

Of course the phone had a password on it, which just amped up my frustration even further. I stared at it blankly, trying to figure out my next move, when his fingers wrapped around my wrist and he pulled the useless device out of my hand. He spun me around and absently tossed the phone back onto the table. He was glaring down at me, which maybe would have been intimidating—after all, I didn’t really know Asa that well—but he hadn’t bothered to put anything on, not even a towel. He was standing way too close and was way too naked for me to feel anything other than the damn lust he seemed to own as it rushed back to the surface.

We glowered at each other, his fingers wrapped around my pulse where it thundered under his touch. His mouth was in a hard line and water was running down his temples and across the smooth plane of his chest. Asa was a beautiful man when he was wearing worn jeans and an old T-shirt; naked and angry, he looked like an ancient Greek god visiting amongst us mere humans.

I jolted in surprise when he used his other hand to reach up and pull out the tie that was holding all my hair on top of my head in a messy knot. The tangled strands fell haphazardly around my shoulders and I tilted my head back to look at him.

“You have no idea what you’re getting into with me, Royal.” His voice was always so rich and full of warm southern tones. Right now he sounded gruff and there was a tremor in it that made my heart stumble over itself.

“Yeah, well, I’m a big girl, Asa. I should get the option to figure that out without you deciding it for me.”

His fingers fluttered over my wrist, then moved up to my elbow, traveling farther up so that his palm smothered my shoulder, and then he was cupping my jaw in his hand while rubbing his thumb along my bottom lip.

“You’re a cop.” Like that was reason enough for him to keep fighting against this vortex of want and need that pulled at both of us.

I blew out a breath and lifted my own hand to wrap around his wrist. “I know, but that’s not all that I am.” The surrealness of having this conversation, finally, while he was naked and while I was still pretty pissed off at him, made me dizzy. Maybe he was right. Maybe I didn’t really understand what I was trying to get into with him.

A smirk kicked up the corner of his mouth and he took a step back from me. He looked devilish and far too tempting. “You’re mad at me.”

I nodded in agreement. “I am. That stunt in the shower was a dirty trick. I know you planned it out. You wanted me to see you. You wanted me to know that even though I’ve been chasing you, have made it clear that I want you … that you aren’t going to cross that line with me. That was a total dick move.”

At first I wanted him because he seemed like the perfect distraction to all the other stuff going wrong in my life. Then I had wanted him more because he was making it impossible to get him. Now I just wanted. That was a whole lot of sexy, naked man standing in front of me, and any reason I might once have had for wanting to be with him seemed frivolous when faced with all his ridiculous masculine beauty.

He tilted his chin down just a hint, just enough to let me know that I had hit his motivations right on the mark. He held his arms out to the side, lifted up both of his blond eyebrows in challenge, and told me in a silky and seductive tone, “It should’ve been enough. Too bad it wasn’t, because I was thinking about you the entire time. I don’t know if we’re lucky or doomed that I never seem to be able to do the right thing for very long. You’ve been after me for a minute, Red. I’m not gonna cross the line, but if you want to, I’m not going to stop you anymore.”

I bit my bottom lip and watched his reaction flare in his eyes. “What happens after I do?” There were threads of hesitation in my voice and I knew he could hear them. He let his arms fall and he turned back to the unmade bed.

I hadn’t really thought very far ahead when I had my hands down his pants in the parking lot or when I was purposely pulling my clothes off in front of him on the dance floor at the Bar. All I knew was that he was the first guy to ever make me want, really want, and he was the first man to ever make me chase him. I never stopped to consider what was going to happen if I actually caught him.

“I can’t answer that, but if I had to guess I’d say it’s probably going to end in destruction and heartbreak. That’s usually what happens when I get something good in my life.”

He crawled up on the bed and then turned on his back and stacked his hands behind his head. “If you want the code on my phone, I’ll give it to you so you can leave. If you want to stay, hit the lights and crawl up here. I promise to behave … for now.”

I looked at him, looked at the phone on the table, and sighed. Really there was only one option and it had nothing to do with him behaving or me leaving. He told me the line was mine to cross and that’s exactly what I intended to do even if it did indeed lead to destruction and heartbreak.

I ran my fingers through my hair trying to untangle it, kicked off my sneakers, and hit the lights. The tiny apartment was immediately lost in pitch blackness and the only thing I could see was the glint of Asa’s blond hair, and I could swear his eyes shimmered in the dark even though I knew that was impossible. Maybe because there was no light, maybe because I knew I had to be all in this time with him or I would never get another chance, but instinct told me that if I wanted to prove to him that the line didn’t exist for either of us anymore, being as naked as he was when I crawled into bed with him was a surefire way to do it.