Her legs trembled this time, and she flashed back to when they’d been wrapped around his strong hips. “I want you, but I think we should handle some of the anger between us first.” She wasn’t a complete dumbass.

“Oh. I can fuck you with lies between us but not anger?” A muscle ticked in his jaw.

Yep. That aroused her even more. She was so screwed up. “Tell you what, Ace. A small wager, if you will.” Her voice came out all breathy, darn it. She angled into the living room.

“What’s that?” Excitement darkened his high cheekbones.

“You have five seconds to catch me. You win, do what you want with me.” Even the words weakened her knees. “You lose, and we sit and talk out your feelings for an hour. A full hour.”

“My feelings? I’m pissed. There they are. All out.” He leaned back against the counter in a casual move. “But I like the first part of the wager. So, I’m in.”

“Good.” She moved farther away, putting the sofa and coffee table between them. “Go.”

In a surge of graceful power, he came right over the sofa, as she’d known he would. Instead of dodging to the side, she lifted the cheap table, let him plow into it, and shoved him back onto the sofa. She paused in one second of triumph before pivoting to run, making a fatal mistake. In one smooth motion, he flipped the table over, came at her, and pinned her against the wall with the table legs on either side of her. “Five,” he murmured, his face close to hers.

Her heart hammered so quickly her skin hurt. “I think that was six.” It wasn’t. It was five seconds.

For the briefest of moments, those dark eyes softened. “We both know it was five seconds, Brigid. No more lying.”

“Fine,” she burst out. “No more lying. But no stupid spanking, either.” The words were sexy, the reality not so much.

“You said I could do anything with you,” he reminded her, his breath minty on her face. “Remember?”

She winced, even as her body went full burn and ready for him. Think, damn it. “We have a dangerous mission tomorrow. Surely you don’t want to spend tonight in such a way?”

He threw the table to the left, where it hit the wall by the door and splintered into several pieces. “No. I want to spend it like this.” Moving in, he took her chin and leaned down to kiss her. Hard and fast, anger and power in the movement. In the firmness of his touch and the depth of his kiss.