Raw Redemption (Crossing the Line #4)(15)

She started to open the passenger side door, but Henrik’s hand slapped onto the car’s exterior to stop her. “I’m not a cop. I told you that up front, and it wasn’t a lie.”

“But you did lie about meeting me before.” Trying her best to ignore the way his body heat seemed to increase as he crowded her against the car, Ailish searched his expression. “You do remember seeing me that day, don’t you?”

His head fell forward. Both hands lifted as if they were operating against his will to cage Ailish between his body and the truck. “I remember.”

Pain sparked in her chest. “I’m just supposed to believe it’s a coincidence that you’re here now? After you were watching me in the park?”

“That’s not…no. It wasn’t like that.” His shoulders were bunched, laden with tension. “They stripped me of my badge after I saw you in the park. But instead of prison time, I was put to work on the squad. I never…actively worked on your or your father’s cases prior to now. Even now, my involvement is unofficial.”

Had he moved closer? Like…way closer? She couldn’t breathe without getting a nose full of man. Maybe she should stop trying to store it away like a squirrel stocking nuts for the winter. He was a possible enemy, and she should not want him to keep on crowding her.

“Look at me, Ailish. I’m on your side. If you don’t believe anything else, believe that one thing.”

She wished like hell she could just trust him, but she’d already decided on the best course of action. This taste of freedom had addicted her, and she wouldn’t give it up. Wouldn’t lose the ability to make her own decisions because of one beautiful man. “Was there a please in there?” she murmured.

Henrik’s eyes closed, but when he opened them again, a fire had lit in their depths. “Fuck, baby.” His belt buckle pressed against her belly button. “I don’t know if I can keep myself from kissing you much longer. Not with all that sweet coming out of your mouth.”

“Maybe you should wait until we get home.” She arched her back, letting Henrik see the points of her nipples, reveling in his groan. “In case you get carried away and need somewhere to lay me down.”

His breath heaved out. “Stop talking like that.”

Ailish made a figure eight with her hips. “If you kiss me, you’ll want to get your hands under my skirt. You can’t do that in the parking lot.”

“I’d like to prove you wrong.”

The thickness in his voice settled in her belly like syrup-soaked marshmallows. God, she wanted to provoke him more. Her nature was singing and pawing, trying to get loose. But in order for her plan to work, she needed to be home. Needed to be with him in private.

Ailish crossed her wrists behind his neck. “Take me back to the cabin?”





Chapter Five


Jesus. If any more of Henrik’s blood ran south, he’d be seeing double.

Ailish sat beside him on the bench seat of his truck, her hand resting on his inner thigh. Her breast flattened against his right triceps. They could both see the tented fly of his pants, so there was no pretending it didn’t exist. It was right. There. Growing more swollen by the minute, as if trying to tempt her hand into making that final journey and giving him a good hard stroke.

The morning had not gone according to plan. Their encounter in the park had been months ago and so damn brief, no one should remember it. No one, save himself, who’d read between the lines of her statement and heard a cry for help. A cry he’d been powerless not to answer. Now he knew why. Some intuitive part of him had seen the goodness inside her. She couldn’t hide it. The very idea of her behind bars with hardened criminals turned him inside out. Thank God he’d gotten rid of the evidence against her. That was the only sentiment he could muster.

Unfortunately, the girl was pissed as hell at him, despite her attempts to prove the opposite, by all but climbing onto his lap and giving him the world’s most brutal erection. Even worse, he’d set himself way back in the trust department by not admitting he remembered seeing her in the park that day. He had a lot of work to do, especially if she was going to feel secure enough to testify.

As of now, Henrik was pretty sure Ailish was compiling a mental list of ways to leave him sputtering like an * in the dust, so returning to Chicago with her in tow seemed unlikely. But he would do his job and protect her until a decision was reached. There was a twisted part of him that hoped Caine would send a couple more men their way, just so he could send the man a message. No one touched Ailish on his watch. And someone would be paying for her black eye. Since the man who delivered the injury was dead, it would need to be Caine. The man who’d sent violent men to retrieve his own daughter.

Henrik released a pent-up breath. If he allowed his protective streak toward Ailish to build, there wouldn’t be a hope of resisting her when they got back to the cabin. And his dick needed to stay where it belonged. Inside his pants. Already she was suspicious of his motivation, and sex would only increase that distrust. Make her question his intentions.

What exactly are your intentions?

As they pulled into the rental campsite, Ailish’s hand inched higher on his leg. “Almost there.”

You’re telling me. “I told you last night, Ailish. We can’t.”