Page 62 of A Shot at Love
“No, I’ll help.” She shrugged and picked up her plate and utensils. “There’s nothing else to do.”
She washed while he dried, both remaining silent.
When the kitchen was cleaned and everything put away, Gemma leaned against the sink and sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Ky asked, standing across from her, his hands dipped into his pockets.
Her full mouth pulled down into a frown and her arms crossed over her chest. “What if he isn’t caught?”
“Ritandi?”
She nodded. “What if your men can’t locate him?”
“They will, believe me. The access to his money has been cut off. His passport has been rescinded and he’s been tagged by the FTA both here and abroad. We know his closest contacts and they’re being watched. Believe me, he’ll be found.”
“But when?” She yanked the headband from her head and scrubbed her fingers into her temples. Her bangs swished back across her forehead, perfectly aligned once again, the peak hidden from view. “It could take years. Am I supposed to spend the rest of my life running from him? Hiding out? Not able to work? Never seeing my family?”
He told himself it was because her voice broke on the last word that he moved toward her and pulled her into his arms. She looked so forlorn, all he wanted to do was comfort her, keep her from falling apart. The moment she slipped her hands around his waist and laid her head down on his chest he knew he’d told himself yet another lie.
He shouldn’t touch her. He knew it. But the need raging within him to offer whatever he could to this woman was beyond something he could fight.
“I can’t live like this,” she mumbled against his shirt. “This isn’t my life. I’m not the criminal, but I’m the one caged and cut off from the world. It’s not fair.”
Because he agreed, he whispered against her temple, “No, it isn’t.”
The delicate aroma of cherries drifted up from her hair. Ky closed his eyes and rubbed his hands down her back. She felt like a piece of porcelain against his fingers, delicate and fragile, her skin smooth and soft wherever he rubbed. But he knew the strength under that velvet covering, the backbone forged in steel. In all the time they’d been forced together, from the initial attack in her apartment, to the gun spree at the safe house, she’d never cracked. Even now, when he’d expect any other woman to dissolve in tears or rant and rave at the situation, Gemma was angry more than anything else.
Well, he could deal with anger. He didn’t know what he’d do if she ever fell apart.
“I promise, we’ll get him.”
Gemma pulled her hands from around him and shifted back. Her gaze scrutinized his face, darting back and forth between his eyes, looking for what, he didn’t know. She seemed fascinated with his mouth all of a sudden, her attention focused on the lower part of his face.
Her tongue slipped out and fanned her bottom lip while she regarded him. Why hadn’t he noticed before how it was so much plumper than the top one? It glistened with the moisture her tongue had drawn across it. Ky tensed, every nerve in the lower part of his body firing with longing.
He knew he shouldn’t, but the need to know what she tasted like was too powerful a temptation to defy. Ky bent, just a fraction, as Gemma pushed upward toward him, their gazes locked.
With eyes wide open, his lips pressed against hers, gently, just a slow, thoughtful graze. He thought she’d push him away, verbally castigate him—or worse. But she didn’t. She leaned into the kiss. Soft and smooth and warm, the feel of her lips pulled him closer. He wanted more than just a simple taste he realized in that moment. He wanted to devour her.
A tiny sigh pushed from somewhere deep within her. Gemma slid her hands around his waist again, her lips exploring his—sampling, wanting.
He could feel her heart jackhammering against his chest, or was that his own pounding against her?
A quick swipe with his tongue and she opened for him, inviting him in, the warmth of her accepting response urging him on. He tasted spice and sugar, arousal and need all mixed together in a heady blend that had him reeling.
The hands at her back slipped down to cup her perfect ass, molding her to his body, showing her everything that was happening to him. He nipped at her mouth, skimmed his lips down her chin, across her jaw. He swallowed a chuckle when she palmed his head between her hands and dragged his lips back to hers, telling him what she wanted without words.
