An Excerpt From... Walk Away

Leila almost smiled at the memory. Rod Voss had been a nasty pig, but just for once, he hadn't been lying to the authorities. She'd been the liar. She'd never forget the first time she'd seen Dek turn. One minute he'd been another victim for Rod to pick on, and the next he was a big bad wolf who'd almost gobbled down the little piggie. Too bad she'd walked in before he'd finished the job.

Then again, her timing with Dek always sucked.

“Little Red Riding Hood, did you think taking a shortcut would save you?”

Leila jumped. She'd slowed down, getting lost in the past. He hadn't gotten lost, though. He'd honed right in on her because there he was, leaning up against her apartment building, looking too casual and too beautiful to be believed. Damn it. Not only could he follow her physically, he was already back to walking into her brain and picking up her thoughts.

Busted. There was no way to escape Dek once he was on the hunt.

“I should have known.” She was proud that her voice didn't shake. Then again, she never let anyone see what she really felt. Not even Dek. Especially not Dek. “So, Big Bad Wolf, you're back again.”

“Yeah. And this time you're finally all grown up, Little Red.” The wide, predatory smile was still the same, even after all these years.

“I'm grown up enough to know I'm not interested in a quickie this time.” So what if she lied while her legs shook and her pussy clenched with need? The important thing was to get rid of Deklin Kinkaid.

He reached out for her arm. She tensed, prepared to fight if he pulled her close. Instead he turned her wrist over and gently traced the veins under her skin with one roughened fingertip. His finger tickled. It aroused.

“Your wrists are still tiny. Damn, you're so dainty.” His voice roughened almost to a growl. Then he bent his head and licked the pressure point where her wrist beat wildly. His rough tongue scraped against her vulnerable pulse. He looked up at her, those blue eyes impossibly hot. “I'm interested in something that would take a long, long time, Leila.”

Oh, Jesus. She was toast.

But before she grabbed him, she remembered. It wasn't just her. She had someone else to watch over.

Good girl. She was a good girl now.

“I'm not interested. At all.” She enunciated clearly and pulled her arm away.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“You smell interested. All hot and spicy.”

Leila cursed those hot, spicy feelings that were running through her, filling up the air. Damn pheromones. The way she felt, she probably reeked of sex to him.

“So I'm interested in sex. What of it? That doesn't mean I'm really interested in you. Maybe I just like a guy who can do it doggy-style. Any guy.” Leila edged toward the street. Much more of this conversation, and she'd be underneath Dek with her clothes ripped off. She'd been there before.

God, she wanted to be there again.

“Call me shallow. I can live with that, as long as I'm the guy on top of you, making you howl.” Dek's voice was impossibly low, incredibly sexy. “I can do that, Leila. Remember?”

“Listen. I said no. You left last time. You'll leave again whether I say yes or no. It's going to end the same way, so can't you just accept my answer and this time go before we have the sex?” Leila crossed her arms tight against herself, refusing to let the need overwhelm her. She was stronger and smarter and had more to lose now. She could fight this lust.

What was wrong with her? She wanted him. She wanted sex. Every millimeter of his body was in tune to what she was screaming for. He tasted it, smelled it ... he just couldn't see it. Even though his eyesight was blurring a little from the haze of raw desire coursing through him, he saw her crossed arms, that rigid stance. He had learned to read human body language, and Leila's body was sending up the message like a big flare in the night sky.

No. Not now. Not ever.

Damn it, why?

The animal in him wanted to fuck the “no” out of her. It wouldn't take much to have her whimpering under him, writhing, wanting him again. She loved him being inside her. He remembered those scratches and bites she gave him when they fucked, the cries to keep going, to go faster, harder. He could hear Pleeease, Dek like she was groaning it in his ear right now. Her ass grinding against him, her breasts jiggling, demanding his hands all over them ... Dek forced himself to stop the crackling-hot replay in his head. But, dear God, sometimes he'd thought he really had met his mate after a bout with her. He'd never met anyone else who came close.