He had to give her credit. She put up a good fight. She’d tried to say she could go to a hotel but when he’d asked her if she would rather be alone she admitted she wouldn’t. “I wasn’t kidding about the second bedroom. Unless you’ve got some friend you’d rather stay with?”

He watched her scowl. “No, it’s too late to call anyone.”

“Okay, you can stay here until they get your windows fixed.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I’m a good guy. Does there have to be a better reason?”

“I guess not. I’m not...”

“I don’t have any expectations, Candy. I’m just helping out because you are in a tough spot.” She looked like he’d just asked if she wanted to buy a bridge. He held up his hands and laughed. “Okay, I’m no saint and yes, I was hoping this evening would end differently but despite what you think of me, I am a marine. The corps has its ways of making sure we treat a woman right.”

He tossed her bag on the bed in his guest room.

“I’m sorry, this is all just so overwhelming.”

“I know, which is why there is no way I’m going to take advantage of your confusion. But fair warning, I was never a boy scout so our next date will end differently.”

That made her laugh but the laughter didn’t quite reach her eyes. He was surprised he noticed, but more surprised by the way he wanted to put laughter there. To see her lit up and glowing. “If you need anything I’m down the hall on the left. Bathroom’s in there.” He pointed to the door behind him. “I’m going to turn in. ‘Night.” He kissed her hand. Mostly because he needed to touch her, even if he wasn’t gonna get to do anything more.

“Thank you Jameson.” He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her again but the timing was all off and she was exhausted. Maybe they could do something together tomorrow, it being Saturday? Yeah, she’d love going to the gym. He snorted at the craziness of the idea. “No, I mean it. I don’t know why you are being so nice but thank you,” she said in reaction to the noise.

“I wasn’t... never mind. You’re welcome, it will be nice to have someone else rattling around here besides me. See you in the morning.”

He waited outside her door for half a minute, waiting for what exactly? Her to come out and say she’d rather share his bed? There were half a dozen good reasons that wouldn’t and shouldn’t happen. And he was one of the good guys, he needed a distraction. The shower turned on and his gut seized from the sucker punch of imagining her standing naked under the warm water.

“Fuck.” He needed to do something. It was too late to work out, giving orders would have to do it. He jabbed at his phone. “Axel, I need some recon.”

“Hello to you too. Do you have any idea what time it is? You need this now?” He heard some feminine noises and Axel grunting.

“No, not right now but first thing tomorrow. I want you to poke around find out everything you can about the South End neighborhood, around the park on Bishop.”

“Isn’t it a little late to hunt up real estate?”

“I’m not looking to move. Candy lives down there.”

He could almost hear the kid snap to attention. She’d been there a week and already most of the guys trailed after her like stray dogs, of course she kept feeding them. “Something is going on down there. Crime has spiked, nobody hurt, mostly pain in the ass property damage. Most of the neighbors don’t even bother calling the cops or their insurance so it is way under reported.”

“So if I help out you think there is any chance of her making something special, just for me?”

He stared at the phone a second, was the kid for real?

“How the hell am I supposed to know if she’d bake you something. Just get me what you can, yesterday.” He grunted as he shoved the phone in his pocket. He’d almost yelled that Candy was his but she wasn’t. He smiled to himself. “Yet.”

He’d tried counting sheep, then doing that thing where you try to relax each body part, still not sleeping and getting more pissed by the minute. He was already on high alert so the snick of the door opening had him sitting up quick. The light from the hall shown through her long nightgown outlining every curve. The damn puffball pigtails were in place. How the hell could those even be sexy? But they were fucking catnip to him. He willed away his reaction and blew out a breath. She still hadn’t stepped forward, but she hadn’t walked away either.

“Something you need?” She shook her head no but in a way that said she didn’t know the answer, her face half turned into the light, that was when he saw the shiny tracks of tears on her cheeks. Fuck, bullets did less damage. “You coming in or just enjoying the scenery?”

He hoped he sounded like he was teasing her and not threatening, right now it was a toss-up with the way he was growling. He wanted her to step forward but the smart play was to tell her to go back to her room. She stepped forward and closed the door so the room went tar black. He smelled the scent of her before anything else, sugary sweet, almost caramel and something else. Damn, now his mouth was watering. His brain knew she wouldn’t actually taste the way she smelled but his body wanted to test the theory anyway.

“I…” She huffed in a breath and blew it out. “I don’t want to be alone, right now.” Then he felt the bed dip. His eyes adjusted to the dark so now her nightgown nearly glowed. The cotton was virginal white and dipped off one shoulder. That shoulder transfixed him. “Never mind, I’ll go.” She moved to get up but stopped when he took her hand.

“Don’t. I wasn’t sleeping anyway. Did you want to, I dunno, talk?” She half laughed half snorted at him. “Yeah, I wouldn’t pick me to talk to either. What will help?”

“Could I, I mean, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea but…”

“You want to sleep here.” She nodded. “But you don’t want...” She wouldn’t look him in the eye but she nodded again.

He growled to himself. Fuck it, he wasn’t sleeping anyway. “Fine, but no complaining I snore.” He meant to just lay back where he’d been but he ended up on his side facing her. The little ribbon on the neck of her gown had come untied and she kept running her fingers over it. Then she took a deep breath and lifted the covers. The woman was about as relaxed as a tripwire. She’d made it pretty clear she just wanted to be near someone but not that close. Then he heard the sniffling and the bed shudder.

“Fuck.” The word was out before he could contain it.

“This was a mistake. I’ll go.”

“Just come here.” He gave her hand a half-hearted tug, it wouldn’t have taken anything to shake him off. She hesitated a fraction of a second and then rolled toward him. After burrowing into his chest she started shaking again. What the hell could he say, so he stroked her back and tried to remember why she was there. Whatever the reason, she felt damn good in his arms. “Whatever happens you’re not alone.” Her head snapped up. What the hell had made him say that?

“What?”

“I just mean, you know, everybody will pitch in, we’ll figure out who’s doing this, make’m stop.”

“So now your agency is my own personal army?”

He shrugged.

“Maybe. Maybe you just need an army of one.” Jesus, what the hell was wrong with him? Next he’d be spouting poetry or some shit. Still it made her smile and that was easier to look at than her crying. He wiped her tears off with a corner of the sheet and started to let her go.

“Oh, you probably want to sleep?” Except she didn’t look like she wanted to move. Conveniently enough he didn’t want her to move either.

“I’m fine with you staying where you are.”

They both hung there for a minute. She didn’t want to leave, neither did he but he’d made a promise to himself that she was off limits, at least for tonight. Then she ducked her head. With her face a hair’s breadth from his skin, she inhaled and let loose a feminine moan that had him rock hard.

Boom. His promise detonated like a grenade in his chest. He’d make it up to her, every way he could, all night if it took that long.

He tugged on the ribbon that wound through the neckline of the gown and she sucked in a soft breath. Her shoulder glowed creamy white in the darkness of the room. She might have been carved in butter her skin looked so soft. He dropped a soft kiss there. Her breathing went shallow. He kissed her neck and could smell the sweet caramel smell of her shampoo. Her hair was still damp behind her ear. Candy made a kind of cooing noise.

He was a bastard but he couldn’t resist teasing her. He let his hand caress her side, not grabby, but the invitation was clear. Then she growled at him. Damn, it was like a mating call. She was far too comfortable for his liking. Dragging his teeth lightly over her skin where her pulse kicked made her squirm in his arms.

“Sweetheart, the things I want to do to you.” Her eyes opened then, between the dark and her being turned on they were jet black.

“You mean like touch me?”

“If that is all you want. See, after I got over the fact that my legs didn’t work I figured out two things. My being like this weeds out the pretty girls with no imagination. So I gotta ask, how’s your imagination?” He knew he’d hit pay dirt when she gulped her next breath. The way she heated in his arms made him wonder just what that imagination of hers had come up with.

“Wh, what was the other?”

“Gotta punch your ticket and ride to find out.” She damn near melted next to him. “But the thing is…” Damn, he was an evil bastard but it was just too irresistible. “I’m just a dumb grunt, babe, so I need very specific instructions in simple words I can understand.” He realized he was holding his breath and let it out slow.

“Touch me.” A whisper would have been a shout compared to the words she spoke.

“Here?” He stroked the back of his fingers over her cheek. He wasn’t the kind of guy who had silky anything but this was what he imagined angels felt like. There was that growl of hers he liked too damn much. Okay, maybe she wasn’t so angelic.

“No. Lower.” This time he trailed his fingers over her collarbone. Another growl, this one sounded like it had teeth.

“You know what I mean.”

“Sorry ma’am, us jarheads follow orders as directed.” He watched her eyes narrow and her lips go tight. He couldn’t have kept the smile off his face if she had a gun to his head.

“I want you to, touch me, there.”

“‘Fraid I don’t know where ‘there’ is, ma’am?” Okay he was laying it on thick but she hadn’t left yet.

“You want me to say it, in words you’ll understand?”

“I’m just following orders.” He watched her chew the inside of her cheek while she considered her next words. With his luck they were probably going to be ‘go to hell’.

“I want you to touch my labia.” It took a coughing fit to cover his laugh. He could feel her go hot from embarrassment. She would burn to a crisp if she knew he was just getting started.

“Sorry ma’am, the corps taught me lots of things but I don’t know big words like that.” He ducked his head so she couldn’t see his shit-eating grin. When he almost burst out laughing he buried his face between her shoulder and chin sucking on the soft skin and making her moan.

“You are an awful, evil man.” If she said she wanted out, he’d let her go in a second. Then kick her out of his bed because he was so hard he’d need to rub one off or die now. But he could feel her heart pounding, feel her warm with arousal. She might be a little embarrassed but she was a lot turned on.

“They don’t call us Devil Dogs for nothing. So you gonna say it?”

“You want me to talk like they do in my books.” He hadn’t thought of that.

“Yeah, I guess I do. I want to hear those naughty words coming out of those sweet lips.” He gave her a quick peck in case there was any confusion.

“Fine.” She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out like she was gathering herself to take a body blow. “Jameson, I want your fingers in my pussy.” Her eyes were closed and she looked like she’d snap in two as a bolt of hot lust raced through him. Fuck, he’d been half joking but holy hell that hit all the right buttons. “And then—”

He cut her off with a kiss.

He was done talking. It was time for action.