His eyes darkened, narrowed. She looked away and inhaled slowly. Lord, his gaze made her nervous. He let a second pass before standing and heading into the hangar.

“I’m back. What’s going on?”

When Francesca called, it always meant business. She made the no-nonsense side of the P.I.E. roommate triangle and paid little attention to anything that wasn’t work-related unless Kensie dragged her into it.

“Christian wants to see you.”

“Did you tell him I’m working on my assignment?” And hell if I know what I’ll say to him if I see him now.

“Of course. He’s in a god-awful mood. Says you need to come in as soon as you safely can.”

Tess choked. “Yeah, right. Safely to him means before he takes his next target practice. Which is what, every six hours?”

“Like clockwork. You’ve never had trouble coming in before when you’re on assignment. Is something wrong? Do you need some—”

“No, Francesca. You know I don’t need help. Nothing’s wrong.” She watched through the glass wall as Hugh closed up the hangar, locking them inside. Just the two of them. Alone. “I’ll be in tomorrow. I’m in the middle of something now that could prove valuable to my investigation.”

Or her libido. The two were intertwined, weren’t they?

“Don’t screw up again, Tess. I’m afraid of what will happen if you do.”

“Thanks for that. Your vote of confidence is awesome. Do I sound like I’m going to do something foolish? I’m handling my mark just fine. Tell Christian to chill and I’ll be there when I can.”

“Tess—”

“Tomorrow. I promise tomorrow morning.” So much for flying the friendly skies with Hugh.

“Fine. Stay safe.”

“I always do.” She stowed the phone back in her bag just as Hugh’s broad shoulders filled the doorway to the reception area.

“Finished?” he asked, a rascally look on his face.

Dammit. She’d forgotten about that hearing of his. Had he listened in? She decided to play it like he hadn’t. “Yep. Why’d you close up the hangar? I thought we were flying out as soon as the weather improved.”

He looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself. Sit on the couch? The coffee table? Keep standing? Move behind the desk? “We are. It’s easy to open up when we’re ready to leave. I closed it for security reasons.”

“You afraid someone might steal me?” A week ago the idea of Hugh—of anyone— keeping her safe would have riled her. Now the thought didn’t bother her so much.

“Something like that.”

“What are we going to do until it’s time to go?” The memory of what they’d started earlier ambushed her. Being alone with him, she ached for his touch all over again. For those few minutes in his bedroom, he’d made her forget her job, their agenda, everything. And she so wanted to stop thinking. She got up from the couch, letting her purse fall to the floor, and moved around the coffee table to check out the reception area. “How about a tour of your office and a lesson in aviation?”

Translation: do me in every room and take me higher than I’ve ever felt before.

Her cheeks flushed. The dirty things going on in her mind were new to her. Hugh was new to her. Feeling a tug so strong, a desire so fervent, was new to her. The steady feet she’d had when she stood started to fail. Probably because all the blood in her body was rushing to certain parts of her anatomy that she didn’t want to think about, but couldn’t stop thinking about.

She held herself up by putting her hands atop the reception desk with her back to Hugh.

“We could do that,” he said coming up behind her. He braced his arms on either side of her sensitive body and rested his palms on the desk.

And once again, she found herself in the delightful position of being tucked into him.

“Or we could do this.” He kissed the side of her neck and sparks, yes sparks—the kind at the end of the sparkler sticks she used to light on the Fourth of July—went off in her body.

Then he kissed her earlobe, tugged on it with his teeth. Went back down to her neck and dropped achingly soft kisses there.

“What do you say?” His whisper sounded better than her favorite song.

“This.” The word came out breathy. “I say we do this.”

For one night, she planned to let herself go. Forget about investigations, about her past, about revenge. She’d relinquish the control she so carefully maintained. Overlook the vulnerability that scared the shit out of her. Tonight she’d be a woman who took what she wanted.

She’d never been just that before.

What she did for a living, the job, had always defined her. Always been the reason, the foundation, for the person everybody saw. Even alone with Jason all those years ago, she wasn’t the person he’d met in foster care. She’d hidden from him too and he’d never questioned her, never seemed to see any change in her after they’d reconnected. How disconcerting that he’d been in love with a woman who wasn’t at all what she appeared to be, and he hadn’t noticed.

Hugh knew more about her than anyone else. Knew she’d killed.

And still he wanted her.

The urge to get physical with him, to shed everything and wrap herself bare around him, made everything inside her come alive with bone-melting mania. She spun around and kissed him. Hard.

By now, they knew each other’s mouths well and the kiss quickly escalated to tongue and lip locks that made her heart pound in double time. She gripped the back of his shirt and yanked him closer. Nestled his thigh between her legs and shamelessly rubbed against him. Tingle after tingle rushed to the juncture there. She remembered his fingers and how he’d stroked and grazed her sensitive skin over her panties.

He pulled back, sucking, then lightly nibbling her lower lip just like he’d done earlier. “If you don’t slow down this is going to take all of two minutes.”

“I don’t want to go slow this first time.” She nibbled back.

“First time?” He lifted her hand to his mouth and dropped kisses on each of her knuckles.

“I want this all night. I want you all night. Now stop talking and get my clothes off me.”

The hunger in his eyes stripped her of any misgivings. She put her hands on his face and lavished him with kisses that fueled cravings she didn’t know she had. She wanted to crawl inside him. Wanted so much more of him.

Pressed up against the tall reception desk, she felt his hands reach for the button of her jeans and excitement stormed through her. His fingers moved with dexterity and her pants slid down her legs. She marched in place to assist in their removal, eager to get beyond where they’d been earlier. It made kissing more difficult and they bumped teeth. A giggle escaped her mouth. His lips curled up in a smile she felt pressed against her own happy face.

When the jeans reached her ankles, she remembered she still had her shoes on. Without breaking the ridiculously hot, heart-stopping lip connection, she let go of his face and tried to reach down. But with her pants that low, it was impossible to lift a leg to meet her outstretched arm. Hugh sucked, nibbled and tasted the whole of her mouth one more time before pulling away to lift her in the air.

“What are you—”

He planted her on top of the desk, her bottom on the solid surface while her legs dangled down. His gaze raked over her thighs before he tugged the jeans from her with one easy swoop, shoes and all.

“Oh,” she said, turned on by his strength and impatience. “Is it hot in here?” The ten-second kissing reprieve didn’t squelch the heat coursing through her blood. Nor did the way he contemplated every teensy tiny bit of her exposed flesh as if he were trying to figure out where to conquer first.

“Very,” he mused back, dropping his mouth to the inside of her thigh.

That’s a good place to start.

An involuntary shudder swept through her as his lips caressed her thigh with so much care the clamp on her heart weakened. She didn’t have to like him, didn’t have to think him the best thing since red velvet cupcakes, to have sex with him.