Control.
He was losing more of it by the second.
He spun the SUV to the left. They were out of the Quarter and heading down a lonely, oak-lined street that would have to do for now. He slammed on the brakes and turned on her. “What the hell was that?”
Moonlight spilled through the windows. Onto her face. Made her look as if she were glowing. Beautiful. “I-I don’t know, the fire came back to me and—” Her voice was all but humming with excitement.
She’d saved his ass back in that alley. No getting around it. But she’d also scared a good ten years off his life when she sent that fire blazing out, missing his body by, oh, about two inches as she aimed it into the alley and at all the pricks who’d waited in the darkness.
“A little warning next time would be good,” he managed to snap. Enough of a warning that he could jump out of the way and not get singed.
Her head tilted back. More moonlight fell on her. Damn. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but don’t worry. There isn’t going to be a next time.” Then she shoved open the passenger side door and jumped outside.
What the hell?
He pushed open his own door and followed right after her. Tanner caught her almost instantly, and pushed her back against the side of the SUV. “You walked right into that vamp’s trap.” Yeah, he was pissed over that, and would be for the next year or so. The bastard could have drained her and tossed away her broken body.
“I could have handled him!”
With her fire? With her stake? Didn’t she get it? “Baby, when there are enough of them . . .” Six to one odds. It still had his stomach clenching. “They can take you out.” Especially if they sank their fangs into her and drained her until she was too weak to fight back.
But then Marna drew in a ragged breath and said, “I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”
He wouldn’t have been more shocked if she’d stripped right then. Tanner forced his back teeth to unlock as he said, “And I don’t want you dying when I can keep you safe.”
Their eyes held. The night seemed so still. And she . . . f**k, she was even prettier by moonlight. How the hell had he managed to walk away from her before? Had he really left her alone in bed? Some days, he could be such a damn idiot.
I knew playing the gentleman wasn’t my bit. But he’d still tried. For her.
“There are times”—Marna paused and her tongue swiped nervously over her lower lip—“when we have to fight our own battles.”
She wasn’t doing this alone. The angel needed to think again. “You forget, this isn’t just about you.” And if that tongue of hers swiped out again, he’d pounce. Simple fact.
A furrow appeared between her brows. “But I thought—”
The murders were being pinned on her, but this thing stretched far wider than that. “If there’s some rogue Fallen in the city, I need to know.” Because he had to be ready to deal with the bastard. Fallen weren’t easy to kill, but luckily he had the particular skill set—claws and fangs—to get the job done.
Marna shook her head. “A Fallen didn’t kill the demon in the alley.”
Maybe. Maybe not. The knife attack sure hadn’t fit a Fallen’s usual MO, but maybe their killer was just trying to throw them off the scent.
It wouldn’t work. If there was one being who could track a scent better than any other, it was a shifter.
He caught her hand, lifted it up. Her palm was soft, small, and her eyes seemed to reflect the moonlight. “You been holding out on me?” he asked as his fingers rubbed lightly over her palm.
She swallowed and seemed to shiver. The night wasn’t cold. “N-no. It just happened. Wh-when I saw them go after you . . .” Her breath whispered out. “I wasn’t going to let them hurt you.”
He could take down six vamps, any day of the week. Sure, they’d gotten their claws into him, but he’d been well on his way to kicking ass by the time her flames erupted.
Still, she’d saved him. Other than his brother, Cody, he’d never had someone try to look out for him before.
Back when he’d been a kid, he’d had to learn early how to take care of himself. In those days, everyone had tried to pound the shit out of him.
So he’d started beating back.
He bought her hand to his lips. Pressed a kiss to her palm. “Thank you.” Because he couldn’t help it, he tasted her skin with a slow lick of his tongue.
Marna sucked in a sharp breath. “You . . . you said . . .”
Take.
The panther clawed inside of him. Tanner growled out, “I said I wouldn’t f**k you.” No, he hadn’t said that. He’d said if he did, there’d be no escape for her.
Already, he needed her too much. He could smell her scent, sweet, but rich . . . with arousal.
She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. That didn’t make things easier. It made him just want to f**k her all the more.
Tanner grabbed the reins of his control and pulled back. Turned away. “We need to get the hell out of here.” Before some dumbass came driving up, offering to help because he thought they were broken down or—
Marna grabbed his shoulder and spun him back around with surprising strength.
“Marna, look—”
She rose onto her toes and yanked his head down toward her. Her lips pressed against his, and the lady sure didn’t kiss like an angel.
More like a woman too used to sin. The sensual press of her lips and the silken glide of her tongue had his whole body burning with lust.
Her taste . . .
He pulled her closer. Two steps, and he had her pinned against the vehicle. She’d been warned. She knew the risk.
He kissed her harder. Deeper. Took in her sweet taste. And realized he was starving for more.
Her br**sts—nipples tight—pressed into his chest. He wanted them in his mouth again. More, he wanted his mouth on the heat between her legs. Nothing had ever tasted so good to him.
Marna.
He began to kiss his way down her neck. Her head tipped back, and he scored the flesh with his teeth in a light bite. Mine.
“You’re . . .” Her voice was husky, heavy with desire that made his c**k swell bigger. “You’re better . . . than the fire.”
He wasn’t sure what that meant, but Tanner wasn’t gonna argue. His hands went to the snap of her jeans. The zipper eased down with a hiss. Then he slid his hand inside, pushing his fingers under her panties.
“Tanner!”