“Why in the hell would Carrie want that? She likes…liked Darci. Damn it, it’s still too hard to believe,” she muttered, rubbing her temple. “But she liked her. She’d tell anybody that. Even if Darci did run her mouth a lot.”

Kellan laughed. “Della, I never thought you were naïve enough to believe everything somebody tells you. Now…I know people pretty well,” he said, tossing his pen on the table. “And I can assure you, Carrie didn’t have fond feelings for Darci. She hid it well, but she did not like Darci. At all.”

With a brittle laugh, Della demanded, “How in the hell do you know?”

He shrugged. “Same way I know Carrie didn’t like you either. You two women are things Carrie wasn’t…vibrant, passionate women. Everywhere you two go, people like you. People want to be like you. People flock to you,” Kellan said. “In order for Carrie to get people to like her, she had to lie, make them think she was something other than what she was. She was a tired, bitter old woman.”

Her hands started to shake. Minutely shaking her head, drawing on her cigarette. “That’s not true,” she finally snapped, her voice rising.

“Yes, it is,” he said, cocking a brow at her. “And you’ve suspected it for a long time. You just don’t want to admit it-because then you’d have to admit why Carrie went out of her way to befriend you from the get-go. She wanted to use you. Now, that, normally, wouldn’t be unusual-I think a lot of people have tried to use you-you’re famous, talented. But you’re also smart, and quick. Usually you can spot a user from ten miles away. But not with her-you let her use you. That must really burn.”

“Fuck. You,” Della said coldly, enunciating each word slowly and carefully. Smashing her cigarette down into the ashtray, she stood and stomped out of the room. “Let yourself out.”

Strike two, Kellan thought wearily, rubbing his eyes.

He headed down River Road, telling himself to stop getting so antsy.

Darci was fine.

She had a deputy there watching the house, and she’d call if anything seemed the slightest bit odd.

No reason for him to go by the house.

Except for the fact that he had to see her. Touch her.

It was close to seven-thirty, which meant the deputy would maybe want a bite to eat.

But Kellan hadn’t planned it that way. Well, not completely.

As he pulled into the driveway, he ran his tongue over his lips, remembering the way she tasted, how she felt. How she had burrowed against him and pressed her breasts up against his chest, so that he had felt the hard nubs of her nipples stabbing into his flesh. The way her belly had cuddled his cock. The hungry little moans in her throat.

He paused by the deputy’s car and knelt down. “I’ve got to talk to Miss Law some more. You want to go grab you a bite to eat, Hank?”

The older deputy slid Kellan a telling glance, but he didn’t say anything, just lifted his stooped shoulders in a shrug. Nodding at Kellan, he started the car and shoved it into reverse, an odd smile dancing on his mouth.

“I’m as transparent as glass,” he muttered, straightening back up and pushing his hand through his hair.

Kellan glanced down at his clothes and then scowled as he realized what he was doing. The button-down and blue jeans were standard work clothes for him, topped with a blazer when he absolutely had to. If it was good enough to wear to work, then it should be good enough to go and talk to somebody related to his case.

Related, my ass. You just want to get your hands on her body again. Well, yeah. He knocked on the door and tucked his hands into his pockets so that he wouldn’t grab her the second she opened the door.

Still, when she glanced through the window and he saw that smile bloom on her face, he still had to fight not to grab her. She was too damned adorable for words, so soft and sweet and sexy. All big eyes, kissable mouth, and soft skin.

All he wanted to do was bite her.

“Hey,” she said quietly, leaning against the doorjamb, folding her arms under her breasts. Kellan’s eyes lingered on the smooth swelling mounds, the little nubs of her nipples pressing against the thin, white fabric. His mouth was watering. And if he didn’t do something or say something, he was pretty sure he’d be drooling in a few more seconds.

“Hi. I let Hank go get a bite to eat. Mind if I come in?” he asked. He even managed to keep his voice halfway level.

“Sure. Don’t suppose you’ve got anything new, do you?” she asked, standing aside and letting him move past her. Heat sizzled up his arm as his biceps brushed against her breasts. Her eyes flew up and met his. Electricity flew between them.

Reaching behind him, Kellan closed the door, watching as she braced her back against the wall with her hands tucked behind her. His eyes dipped once more to her breasts and he swore roughly. “If I tell you that I’m not here about anything related to the case, are you going to kick me out?”

One black brow rose and she shrugged. “Well, that depends. On exactly why you came. If it’s because I didn’t pay a couple of speeding tickets, then yes, I’ll probably kick you out.”

He grinned at her as her lids drooped low over her eyes, a cat’s smile dancing on her lips. “A lawbreaker, huh? Always knew there was something shifty about you, Miss Law,” he murmured, bracing a hand on the wall beside her head and leaning down to stare into her eyes.

She widened her eyes and gave him an innocent stare. “I’m really sorry, officer. If I promise not to do it again, will you be gentle with me?” she teased, her pretty green eyes sparkling at him.

He smiled as he lowered his head, slanting his lips across hers and pushing his tongue into the sweet cavern of her mouth. As she moaned, he breathed the sound in, reveling in the soft female pleasure it implied.

Pulling her against him, he pivoted so that his back was braced against the wall and the soft weight of her body was leaning into his. Pulling back just a little, he whispered, “I don’t know. Hardened criminals emerge all the time because somebody decided to be gentle with them, instead of giving them their just punishment.”

Sharp little teeth nipped his lip. Kellan groaned as he buried his fingers in her hair and whispered, “I think that’s assaulting an officer of the law, Darci.” All playfulness left him then as he brought her mouth back to his and feasted on the soft silk of her lips, drowning in her sweet taste.

His cock throbbed like a bad tooth, aching and sore. The scent of her rose in the air, hot and female. Running his hands down her back, he cupped the round curve of her ass in his hands. She moaned-a broken, hungry little sound that echoed in his ears.

Moving his lips to her ear, he whispered, “I’ve been driving myself crazy, wanting you the way I do. I’m tired of fighting it.”

Darci laughed as she pulled back just a little, running her widespread palms down his chest, toying with the buckle of his belt. “Well, I’d hate to be responsible for driving anybody crazy.”

With a chuckle, he murmured, “Now why don’t I believe that? I think you enjoy knowing you drive people insane…” He caught the hem of her shirt and pulled upward slowly, keeping his eyes on hers, watching as he slowly bared the pale skin of her torso. That hot female smile lingered on her lips and she stepped back, lifting her arms over her head and letting him tug the shirt away.

Her breasts lifted and fell as she breathed, her hands hanging relaxed at her sides. Small, round little globes, topped with deep pink circles. Lowering his mouth, he traced his tongue over first one pink nipple and then the other, smiling against her flesh as she trembled.

“You taste good,” he whispered.

“So glad to hear that,” she said, her voice trembling as she reached up and cupped the back of his head in her hands, holding him against her.