"It does?"

"Yes."

"Did you say my voice is gravelly?"

"Yes, I did."

"All right then. And how do you know you're getting hot for me?"

"Hot for you?" Audie laughed and then sighed deeply. "Mmmm. Well, I start to tingle all over and I feel all warm inside. My stomach does a little flip. I want to touch my own breasts." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Then I feel myself getting wet and slippery and I start thinking about how I'm going to get something big and hard inside me."

She heard Quinn take a loud gulp of air. "Holy God in heaven, that was a fine answer."

"Ask me some more."

"Whoa," Quinn whispered. "So when you're like that-all hot and slippery-goddamn!" He turned up the air conditioning another notch. "What do you imagine happening first? What would you want to start off with?"

"Are we talking about right now, with you? Can I answer it that way?"

"Yes."

"I'd like to start with a long, slow kiss. Then lots more of them, because I really like the feel of your mouth on mine-have you noticed we seem to fit really nice on each other?"

Audie heard Quinn gulp. "That I have. And as I recall, my mouth fits real nice in a few other places you got."

"I know it does," she breathed.

Quinn was quiet for a moment, trying to get his synapses to fire. "OK, so we've kissed. What next?"

"Next I'd want you naked, Detective Quinn. I'd want to take your clothes off-with no help from you-and watch your expression when I look at all of you for the first time… when I put my hands on you."

"That could be arranged."

"Because you've seen a lot more of me than I've seen of you."

"True enough."

"And then you'd take off my clothes."

"Yes, I would."

"And you'd put your hands all over me."

Quinn sucked in air.

"Keep asking. I'm liking this."

"I noticed." He sat for a moment just listening to the sound of his own blood pounding in his ears. "What makes you come, Audie?"

"Wow. That's a complicated one." She turned in the seat to get a good look at him. His face was very serious and his jaw was tight and hard above his collar. She wondered what else of his might be hard. "You want the honest answer?"

"Honesty is good."

"Well, honestly, it doesn't happen all that often. It can take some time and a lot of direct attention, you know?"

"I do know."

"I think you were on the right track the other night."

"Without a doubt."

"But every once in a while it just happens all nice and mellow for me."

Quinn turned to her with a smug little smile. "That's all going to change, Homey."

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, what you just described doesn't sound all that tremendous."

"It can be nice."

He chuckled lasciviously. "Nice is nice, but here's what I want to know: Has it ever been so fucking hot that your screaming made the neighbor lady call the cops?"

Audie's eyes flew wide. "Um, not that I recall."

"I think you'd recall something like that."

"I guess I would."

"Well, that's the part I'm gonna change, Homey."

She laughed.

"Or die trying."

She laughed again.

Quinn checked the road, then turned to face her, waiting until their eyes locked in the faint light. "Tell me how you like it, Audie."

"Like what?"

He stared at her, and his voice came out rough and low. "Tell me how you like your sex."

"Oh, boy." She whipped her head around and looked out her window. She wondered if anyone else driving on the Dan Ryan Expressway at nine-thirty on a Sunday evening was having this discussion, in just this way. Somehow, she doubted it.

"I wasn't expecting that one."

"Too bad. You wanted direct questions-I'm asking them."

She turned toward him slowly, and she could barely get the words out. "I've been thinking about this a lot since that night on my couch."

"Me, too. Nonstop, really."

"And I just want the sex to be with you, Quinn."

"Great. Now exactly-"

"Wait! Here's Lake Shore, but you're in the wrong-"

He squealed across three lanes of traffic to make the curved exit ramp, little electric sparks flashing as the front left bumper scraped along a retaining wall.

"Sorry."

Audie hooted. "Man! This is great! OK, next question?"

Quinn shook his head, his heart slamming against the inside of his ribs. "No way. No more questions-I just want the actual sex now."

"But-"

"I need to get inside you-right now."

She couldn't stop laughing. "That doesn't sound safe."

"You'd better not be yanking my chain, woman, because I've got no more gentleman left in me."

She was quiet for a moment, then said, "Oh, Quinn. It's ten minutes to my place. Do you think you're gentleman enough to wait that long?"

"That I can handle." He looked over to see her smiling quite brightly. "Have pity on your man, Audie. There's not enough blood in my brain to carry on this conversation."

"That's OK." Audie reached out and touched Quinn gently on the side of his face, trying not to panic at the way his words had just slammed into her heart-your man, your man-trying not to panic at how much she wanted him, all of him, everything he had to give her, everything he'd show her.

She let her fingers trail along his jaw to his throat, and she hooked her fingers inside his shirt, circling in the soft down below his collarbone.

"How about I ask the questions now?" she whispered. "I think we've got time for a few, all right?"

The silky touch of her finger caused tiny flashbulbs to pop in front of Quinn's eyes, making driving an even greater challenge. "Just make 'em easy-like ones I can answer with a grunt."

She giggled. "Okay. Here's one I think you can manage." She leaned over and put her lips against his ear. "Are you hard right now, Quinn?"

He swallowed. Her hot breath made him shudder. "God, yes, I'm hard."

"How hard?" She brought her lips to the tender spot under his jaw and kissed.

"Extremely hard."

She scraped her teeth along his neck. "As hard as that night on the sidewalk?"

"Harder."

She bit his earlobe. "As hard as that night on your deck?"

"Harder."

She flicked her tongue under his jaw. "As hard as the other night on my couch?"

"Harder. Longer. Thicker. I've been saving up."

"Excellent," Audie breathed, flopping back against the passenger seat. "That does it for my questions."

They barely looked at each other and they didn't speak and they didn't touch-not while they parked the car or rode the elevator to the twenty-eighth floor or walked down the hallway and opened the door to Audie's place.

They didn't talk as they entered the apartment or when Quinn put his hand over Audie's to stop her from flipping on the light switch.

They said nothing to each other as Quinn took her by the hand and led her to the huge black windows overlooking the lake and the northern edge of city lights-the John Hancock Tower, Water Tower Place, Michigan Avenue, all spread out before them like diamonds tossed on black velvet.

Finally, Quinn smiled down at her and broke the silence. "We're going to finish what we started."

She stared into his eyes, bright with reflected light and intense desire.

"I'm going to take down your hair. Then I'm going to kiss you."

Audie nodded helplessly. He wasn't asking her if he could do any of these things-he was telling her. That worked for her.

Quinn released the clasp she'd used to pull back her hair for the soccer game. The heavy waves now tumbled onto his wrists like warm satin, and he breathed her in. She smelled like spice and flowers and musk. She smelled just like she tasted, if he recalled correctly.