“Do you know what you’re doing to me?” Evyn growled softly. “What I want right now?”

“I want to kiss you,” Wes said.

“I want more than that.” Evyn’s lips skimmed Wes’s. Sweet, hot, urgent. “Say yes, Wes.”

“Yes.”

Instantly, Evyn’s mouth covered Wes’s. Thought fled, instinct ruled. Wes slid her arms around Evyn and dug her fingertips into the hard muscles along Evyn’s spine. A pulse pounded in her clit. Groaning, she parted her legs and Evyn’s tight thigh wedged between hers. Wes arched. She wanted—needed—more too. “Yes.”

Evyn took the kiss deeper. Her tongue was sweet and sure, sweeping over the inside of Wes’s lips, probing lightly in her mouth, teasing her to surrender. Wes rode Evyn’s thigh, hips pumping, each thrust sending spirals of pleasure twisting along her spine. She heard a whimper. Registered distantly the sound came from her.

Pulling her head back, Evyn gasped, “Wes.”

Evyn’s voice grated, a register lower than Wes recognized, urgent and hungry. Evyn’s need made her burn. Wes twisted a handful of Evyn’s shirt in her fist and yanked it from her pants. Evyn found the buttons on her shirt, impatiently worked them open, slid her hand over Wes’s bare belly. Wes jerked at the sudden flash of heat. Her nipples tightened. Need gripped her like a hard hand between her thighs. She moaned. She was burning.

“Wes, God. Where’s the bed?” Evyn’s mouth seared Wes’s neck. Her fingers slipped down Wes’s belly, restlessly searching beneath the waistband of Wes’s pants. “I don’t want to take you against this fucking door, and if we don’t find a bed soon, I’m going to.”

Wes dragged her hands down Evyn’s back, squeezing her ass, and thrust her hand between their bodies. She flicked a button on her pants and pushed the zipper down. “Don’t move. Right here. Do it. Just do it.”

Wes’s command sent rockets flaring in Evyn’s head, blinding her to everything but Wes. She buried her face in the curve of Wes’s neck and breathed her in. Her vision tunneled. Her head reeled with the woodsy scent that seduced her to touch, to taste, to take. She panted, couldn’t get her breath, couldn’t find her focus.

Wes’s fingers wrapped around her wrist and pushed her hand into the front of her open pants. Evyn’s mind went white. Wes was wet against her fingertips, slick and hot and hard. She skated over Wes’s clit, squeezed quickly, and Wes jerked upright with a strangled cry. The sharp edge of Wes’s pleasure cleaved Evyn’s control and her clit pumped to the brink of exploding. She pushed deeper, each stroke of her fingertips wringing another sharp cry of pleasure from Wes. The ties on her restraint unraveled and her orgasm boiled closer. “God, no, I’m gonna come soon.”

Wes’s nails raked her skin. Evyn cupped Wes in her palm, squeezing her, teasing her.

“Don’t hold back,” Wes groaned in her ear, her hold on Evyn’s arm like iron.

Evyn thought she’d wear the marks of Wes’s fingertips for days. The image drove her crazy. She loved Wes’s urgency, her need, thrilled to the power of being wanted, being needed. She thrust deeper and Wes’s other hand found her breast. Fingers closed around her nipple and she threw her head back. “Oh, Christ. Wes. You feel so good. I can’t hold it much longer.”

“I need…” Wes’s eyes opened, impossibly green, impossibly beautiful. “I need you to make me come.”

Evyn’s clit twitched hard. She dropped her forehead to Wes’s. “Hold me.”

Wes’s arms came around her waist, steadying her. Evyn pumped inside her, rolled her palm over Wes’s clit. With every thrust, Wes’s groans urged her on. Evyn rocked on Wes’s thigh, climbed closer to exploding.

“Yes, yes. You’re going to make me come.” Wes rode Evyn’s hand, short hard strokes. “Now, Evyn. You’re making me come.”

“Hold me. Wes. Please.” Evyn hovered so close—so close, drowning in the sound of Wes’s pleasure, on fire with the sensation of Wes pulsing around her, slick and hot. She needed to come. Needed it, needed it so bad. “Wes, please. Help me.”

Wes bit her neck and Evyn came, the orgasm thundering out of nowhere.

“Oh my God!” Stunned, Evyn collapsed into Wes, her hand crushed between them, buried between Wes’s legs.

“Yes. Yes. Yes,” Wes groaned, flooding Evyn’s fingers, coming on them again.

Evyn’s breath shot out in sobs of wonder and relief. She never wanted to move. She never wanted to break the connection. She just wanted more. Her heart thundered in her chest. Her stomach rolled with need. She kissed Wes’s throat, the line of her jaw, her mouth. “You’re so beautiful. So amazing.”

Wes’s hands caressed her shoulders, her back, stroked her hair, clasped her neck. “That’s okay,” Wes murmured. “That’s okay.”

Evyn raised her head. Dazed, unfocused. “What?”

Wes brushed her thumbs over Evyn’s cheek. “You’re so beautiful…Thank you.”

“What?” Evyn felt the tears Wes wiped away. Her tears. What the fuck was wrong with her? She looked at Wes. Wes’s shirt was open, her pants around her hips. She was still mostly dressed. What was she doing? She’d just fucked Wes against a goddamned door. She didn’t remember how they’d gone from keeping their distance to this. She could only remember want and need, desperate need. And now she was crying? That just never fucking happened. Not to her. She never lost control. Confusion, uncertainty, sheer panic choked her.

“Are you all right?” Wes asked, her hand cradling Evyn’s chin.

What next—would Wes be asking her if she needed to process? “I’m fine. I’m not the one up against the door. You okay?”

The cloudy haze of pleasure cleared from Wes’s eyes in an instant. Her focus sharpened, narrowed. Evyn felt naked with all her clothes on. She couldn’t imagine being any more vulnerable.

“Evyn,” Wes said, steady and strong. “There were two of us here. I wanted what happened to happen. Do you hear me?”

Evyn licked her lips, a little disoriented. She’d made the first move, hadn’t she? She always did. What the hell happened? Where—when had she lost it? “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“No,” Wes said softly. “No. You were wonderful.” Her gaze dropped down Evyn’s body. “I don’t think I held up my end, though. I’ve still got some things to learn—”

“Believe me, you don’t need to learn anything.” Evyn shook her head. And she was no teacher, that was for sure. “I don’t usually lose it like that.”

“Are you all right?”

Evyn backed up a step, tucked her shirt back into her pants. “Sure. I’m great. The sex was great—I don’t guess I need to say that.”

Wes zipped up, not bothering to button her shirt. Evyn looked spooked. Uneasy. Almost battle shocked. “Why don’t you sit down? I really will make some coffee.”

“I need to go. It’s late.”

“Evyn, I’m not asking—”

“You don’t get it, Wes.” Evyn shook her head. “I don’t do serious.”

“Okay,” Wes said, the familiar ache settling behind her breastbone. “Is that what this was? Serious?”

“I don’t know what this was,” Evyn shouted. She pushed her hand through her hair, wanted to pull it out. Wanted some real pain to block the awful dread in the pit of her stomach. “No, that’s a fucking lie. This was amazing. You’re beautiful, sexy as fucking hell. And you make me crazy. I can’t afford to be crazy.”

“Tonight was my fault,” Wes said.

“The hell it was,” Evyn said sharply. “There’s no fault here, okay? It was just…I don’t know—hormones. Pheromones. Something. God, I can’t be anywhere around you without wanting you.”

“Which I take is a bad thing?”

“I’m sorry.” Evyn looked around the room as if she had never seen it before. Her gaze settled on Wes’s face. “You deserve a lot better than this—” She waved at the door. “More than a fast fuck.”

Wes swallowed the pain. She didn’t beg. Ever. Not for anyone or anything. “Look, let’s not make this an issue, okay? We’re adults, we acted on instinct, we both wanted a fast fuck, as you say. Now it’s done. We’re over it—we move on.”

Anger flared in Evyn’s eyes and Wes nearly buckled under a wave of need. She wanted Evyn naked. She wanted to be inside her. Evyn made her want things, things she’d never thought she needed, things Evyn didn’t want or need from her. “If you’re sure you don’t want coffee…”

“No, I’m good,” Evyn said.

“Okay then.” Wes turned away, busied herself getting Evyn’s coat, settled herself. “You’re okay to drive?”

Evyn took her jacket. “I’m fine.”

“Good night then.” Wes opened the door.

“’Night,” Evyn said softly and slipped by without touching her.

Wes turned out the light and walked to the window where her mother thought she should put a plant. Evyn was a dark shadow disappearing down the street. Now she knew. Being alone with Evyn Daniels was dangerous. She understood just how dangerous now and wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

*

Lucinda answered her phone on the first ring. “Washburn.”

“I thought you might still be in your office,” Cam said.

“We’re two days from Christmas Eve—busy time around here.”

“I know. You got a minute?”

“Where are you?”

“Outside the door.”

“Come in.” Lucinda replaced the phone and got up. A muscle in her back reminded her she’d been sitting too long. She rubbed it quickly. Cam walked in, closed the door. She wore jeans and a black crew neck sweater—unusually casual for her. Cam looked tired—her eyes were clear, but dark circles shadowed her cheeks. Her always carved features looked sharper, knife edged, and Lucinda realized she was seeing Cam on the hunt.

“Sorry to show up unannounced, but I didn’t think this could wait,” Cam said.

“You have something?” Lucinda asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Lucinda’s breath caught on a wave of excitement. They’d all been casting in the dark for weeks, too many bits and pieces, too many fragments of facts and non-facts to shape into a coherent pattern. Directionless in the face of unseen enemies, she was left impotent and, deep inside, afraid. She couldn’t afford to be afraid. Andrew refused to be intimidated, to be deterred, and she needed a clear head and clearer vision to see that he was safe. “Tell me.”