I gasp at the sudden emptiness. My orgasm scurries away and it takes everything inside me not to protest. I hear his zipper and his belt, and then he curls one hand around so he’s gripping my chin. He turns my face to the side and growls, “Don’t move.”

Then he fucks me.

Right there against the counter.

Hard and fast.

Primal. Raw. Gritty.

Bliss.

* * *

“Wine, ma’am?”

I stare up at the waiter and smile. “Yes, please.”

He pours the red wine into my glass and then hands us a menu. “Call me when you’d like to order.”

I nod and turn back to Raide, who is staring at me. His eyes are roaming over my face, and he’s got a lazy smile on his face. “What?” I ask, blushing.

“You look great just fucked.”

“Raide!” I scoff.

“You do.”

“This is a nice place,” I say, changing the subject.

“Yeah, Benny told me it was the place to be.”

I chuckle softly. “Benny knows all the moves.”

“You sayin’ I don’t?”

I grin and my cheeks heat once more. “Oh, you’ve got the moves.”

His lips tip up and he leans forward. “What are you going to eat?”

“I don’t know,” I say, barely having glanced at the menu. Raide is far too distracting. “You?”

“Seafood pasta.”

“Oh, yum!”

“It’s awesome.”

I raise my brows. “You’ve been here?”

“Yeah, I came here with Kelly before she died.”

My features soften. “Did you do that a lot?”

He smiles. “Yeah, as much as we could before she met Dean.”

“It sounds like you two were close.”

He nods. “We were.”

“Where was she buried?”

He jerks slightly. “Southside.”

“Can we visit her sometime?”

Something warm washes over his features. “Why would you wanna do that?”

I stare at him, confused. “Why wouldn’t I? She’s your sister, Raide. She’s the only thing you had left and she was taken from you. We should visit her grave.”

He studies me and after a long moment, he says, “What the fuck did I do to deserve you?”

I grin. “You skipped bail.”

He chuckles low and throaty. “I won’t be doing that again. If they’ve got crazy stalkers like you as bounty hunters.”

I gape. “I was not stalking you, Raide Knox!”

His eyes are twinkling with humor. “That’s not how I remember it.”

“You remember it wrong,” I scoff.

“Do you dirty dance with all your cases?”

I cross my arms. “Maybe.”

His eyes grow dark. “Better not happen anymore.”

“Are you going to follow me for every case I get?”

He crosses his arms and leans back. “Maybe.”

“Raide…” He’s teasing, I can see it in his eyes. Jerk. Time to change the subject. “What about you? What are you going to do now.”

“Got a job as a construction worker.”

I blink. “Pardon?”

“A construction worker. I was doing that before I was arrested. Got friends, made a call, got a job.”

“You … build things for a living?”

“Yeah, lady.”

“And you got a job?”

He smirks at me. “Is that so shocking?”

“You just got out of prison.”

He shrugs and takes a long swig of his beer. “I have friends.”

“Apparently.”

“Got a place, too.”

I blink some more. “A place?”

“Are you going to ask a question to everything I say?”

I pout. “Who got you a place?”

“Mandy.”

My chest tightens. “Mandy?”

He grins, because he knows that makes me a little … jealous. “Yeah, Mandy. She has friends. Benny told her I was getting out and needed a place. She secured one before I was even out.”

Oh. Right. “Is there anything you can’t do, superman?”

He winks at me. “Nope.”

I roll my eyes. “And this place? Is it close to mine?”

His eyes twinkle and he leans forward, putting his elbows on the table. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” I whisper.

“Maybe. You’ll have to wait and see.”

My lips twitch. “You’re proving to be very secretive, Mr. Knox.”

He reaches out, cupping my cheek. “I swear, you’ll know everything there is about me in no time at all.”

“Is that a promise?”

He grins. “Yeah, lady, it’s a promise.”

I think we’re going to be just fine.

Chapter Thirty-five

Three months later

“Seriously, Peter, running isn’t going to solve this.”

Peter, who is more hobbling than running, is trying to disappear down the side of some large buildings. He’s my seventh case since I’ve been back on the job, and as always, proving to be a challenge. I’m glad, though. I’ve missed this. I’ve missed the chase. I’ve missed the adrenaline. I’ve missed feeling strong and determined.

“I’ll shoot you, Peter,” I say, sighing as I pick up my pace to a jog.

Peter rounds the corner and when I skid around after him, he’s disappeared. I take a step and he leaps out from behind a massive bin. He tackles me to the floor and I land with a thump. Dammit, I washed my hair this morning. Now it’s in the freaking mud. I bring my knee up and drive it into whatever I can. Peter rolls off me with a grunt and I flip my body over onto his.

I whip my gun out and press it against his chest. “Now, we can do this the hard way or the easy way.”

“Get off me!” He squirms. “I didn’t do nothin’.”

“Peter,” I sigh, “you skipped bail.”

“Didn’t mean to, it was an accident.”

Well, that’s a new one. “And how exactly do you accidentally skip bail?”

“I didn’t do it, they’re tryin’ to lock me away for no reason.”

I raise my brows. “Is that so?”

“Yeah, didn’t do nothin’. Never even done drugs in my life.”

I snort. One look at him tells me that’s a lie. He’s scrawny, his eyes are bloodshot, he’s got track marks up his arms, and he’s got sunken cheekbones.

“You a fan of giving blood, then?”

He stares at me blankly and I nod to his arms. “Don’t know how those got there.”

I laugh loudly. This is why I love my job. “Up, Peter, I’m taking you in.”

“Didn’t do nothin!” he bellows.

I struggle to get him to his feet, but eventually manage. I cuff his hands behind his back and push him out to the car where Raide is sitting in the front seat, talking on the phone. He often comes along for the ride and waits while I bring them in. I think it’s his secret way of making sure I’m okay, even though he doesn’t interfere.