East Bound by Nana Malone (big ebook reader txt) 📕

need to get everything we can get on Warlow and Theroux. East, as soon as you hear from Theroux, let us all know."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm on it."

Nyla inclined her head toward the hall, and I followed her. “So I’m going to go.”

"You should crash here tonight. I don't want you going back to your flat by yourself. Especially not with Denning and his penchant for breaking in."

She laughed. "Oh no. No can do."

"You want to be by yourself? We were just shot at."

"Yeah, and again, I have a license for a concealed firearm. I didn't give it back. I can protect myself. It's fine. You don't need to worry about me."

"I'm not worried about you."

"Oh, that's right. You don't care about me at all. I remember. You made it perfectly clear."

"That’s not what I meant, damn it."

"Um, you know what? I'm too tired for this conversation. I really am. So, let's just forget what happened. I need to soak in a hot bath and catch up on about three days of sleep. The adrenaline coursing through me was more than I had planned on tonight.”

"Nyla…"

"No, I get it, East. Persona non grata. Honestly, I even understand why it has to be like this. I just... I'm tired. God, I am so fucking tired. I want to know who was shooting at me. I want to know why. I want to know what I've done to deserve this. I want to know why Interpol is after me, or Theroux, or whoever the hell it was. I want to know it all. But I'm not going to get answers tonight, so I'm going to go and have a bath then get to bed."

"At least let me get you a car home."

For a moment I thought she was going to argue. But then her shoulders sagged, and she nodded. "Yeah, that would be great."

She looked tired. Worn out. The instinct to hold her hit me hard and strong, and the words tumbled out before I could stop them. “Look, why don't you head to the guest loo to take a bath. My tub is bigger than yours and has jets. You really look like you could use it.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to call them back. What the hell was I thinking? I was inviting her to strip down naked, in my penthouse. The words my brain couldn't ignore were naked and wet.

How the hell was I supposed to concentrate knowing she was just down the hall wearing nothing?

Walk away mate.

As dumb as I was, as shattered as my mind was, there was no way in the world I expected her to say yes.

“I’m… You know what? I’ll actually take you up on that. Have a good cry in private.”

My brows furrowed and my gaze pinned to hers. “Nyla…”

“Oh relax. I’m only taking the piss. I’m going to have a soak then go home and not wake up for two days.”

What I should have done was walk her to the first guestroom down the hall and show her where everything was. What I did instead was incline my head in the general direction of the loo. “You know the way.”

Her sigh was soft and exhausted. The full weight of the day was evident on her sloped shoulders. “Cheers.”

I swallowed hard, my mind offering up all sorts of images of Nyla naked and wet, with her thighs spread, her fingers under the water on her sweet pussy, taking away some of the tension of the day.

I swayed toward her and had to lock my jaw before I said something truly daft. She smelled so damn good. Her honeysuckle scent made me weak. With a sharp snap of my head, I lurched back. “Brilliant.”

Real loquacious. But still I forced my body around her. One step in front of the other. I could do this. I was walking away. I was choosing sanity. Another step. Wasn’t I a grown up? So impressive.

Except on the third step, when my brain gave the command, I couldn’t follow. With a deep breath I tried to concentrate again.

You’re pussy whipped. You might as well do what you want.

But it wasn’t about what I wanted; it was about what I needed. There was no staying away from her. With a feral growl, I turned around.

East

It was automatic, this need to take care of her, this need to make sure that she was safe and happy and cared for.

Because you are a glutton for punishment.

Son of a bitch.

I had extra towels and a robe for her. When I knocked lightly on the door, Nyla called out, "Yes?"

"I've got a robe for you. Extra towels, too."

"Just a sec." When she opened the door, she already had a towel wrapped around her, and I could smell her skin. With the bath already running and the steam filling the loo, the scent of honeysuckle was strong. Oh God. I could do this. I could hand her this robe and walk away. That part would be easy.

Lies.

I quickly averted my eyes because that was what you were supposed to do. But what I wanted to do was pin my gaze directly to her tits. To the soft swell of skin pushing up over the towel. I knew all it would take was one small shift and I'd be seeing nipple. And if I saw nipple, it was going in my mouth. So there was that.

"Oh, uh, thanks."

Like an idiot, the sound of her wary voice had me automatically shifting my gaze to her.

Rookie mistake.

Her eyes were wide, dragging me into their hazel depths. And Christ, all I wanted to do was lick her. Kiss her. Make her mine. All I wanted to do was sink into her and never come back out.

"Nyla."

She swallowed hard. "East. I'm—"

And that was it. The soft whispering of my name on her tongue, and I didn't know what to do with myself. I couldn't function. I couldn't focus. And so I