His eyes. They burned with a passion beyond desire, beyond longing, beyond anything physical or passing.

The wise thing to do would be to disentangle her shivering body from his, but instead she gripped his taut shoulders and fought for an explanation. “Must be the … shock.”

His heat singed her, made her yearn to feel it up close, to be burned to a million ashes.

“Shock. Right. Hell.”

Neither of them moved.

She didn’t know whose breath was shallower. Whose body felt tighter, hotter, against the other’s. But she didn’t want to stop, didn’t want to start thinking that no no no she shouldn’t be kissing a man right now, shouldn’t be squirming against him, but nothing had ever felt as good as he did. His mouth. The voracious, unchecked way he kissed her.

Blood thrilling in her veins, spiced with adrenaline, lust, and something indecipherable, she slid her shaking hands down the solid wall of his chest. He inhaled sharply, nostrils flaring, as he watched her with wild, flaming green eyes.

“Paige?”

He sounded puzzled. And he was firm and long and he was pulsing against her stomach. He smelled of sex and wanting. Darkly, avidly gazing down at her as no man, ever, in her life, had looked at her before.

The taut, bunched muscles of his body against hers sent dabs of fire across her belly, little devils of temptation licking her to sin.

She couldn’t voice what was happening to her. “I just … want … to … to kiss you more.”

As though losing some kind of internal battle, he tangled his fingers in her hair. “Christ, come here.”

Positively melting, Paige obeyed. Their lips latched, and they kissed. He groaned. She moaned.

Caressing the back of her head with his fingers, he took a breather for less than a second, realigned their heads, then covered her lips and they kissed some more. Kissed until she didn’t know if days had passed or minutes. Kissed until her mouth was hot and burning from his kiss and the rest of her body rivaled it.

His hands cupped her waist and then didn’t move, only held her still as his mouth did everything. His head moved, his lips moved, his tongue moved. Paige burned to bare her breast to him and ask him to lick it, burned to bare her soul to him and ask him to take it.

“Need to go.” His chest heaved roughly as he spoke. “Need to make you safe.” Setting his forehead against hers, he reluctantly rolled his head. “Just … give me a sec.” He took two, three, four breaths releasing another sound of frustration as he pushed away. “Argh. Okay. Let’s go.”

Even minutes later, when they were in his car, Paige couldn’t stop shaking. Zach was speaking to Nordstrom at police headquarters, briefing him on the happenings. Driver wore a black mask, widely built, definitely male, he said.

Paige hadn’t been able to see one whit, had been blinded by the headlights, the fear.