This conversation was weighted with things I wasn't sure I should know.

She reached into her small clutch and handed me a card. "Let me know if you'd ever like to chat."

I took it, glancing at the card and back to her. "I will."

The rest of the evening was less eventful. I didn't stray much from Adriana's side. We played well off each other, and the people we spoke to seemed receptive to hearing more about all the great things Reilly Donovan Capital could do for their portfolios.

On my way home, I called Reilly.

"How did the cocktail go?"

"It went really well. I think we connected with some promising prospects."

"Good to hear."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

Silence stretched between us, and I struggled over my next words.

"Have you rethought things with Darren? I feel terrible about all of this. He was being really emotional, which really is my fault-"

"I'm not pressing charges, if that's what's been worrying you."

"Thank you." I exhaled a relieved sigh.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Vanessa."

DARREN.

I sat at the lieutenant's desk, working through the paperwork that was piling up when someone knocked.

Ian opened the door and paused at the threshold. Vanessa moved around him and into the room.

"She said she wanted to see you," Ian said.

"Thanks," I muttered.

Ian closed the door, but I barely noticed. I was too busy trying to pick my jaw up off the floor.

Vanessa was radiant. Sex and elegance and luscious legs in a sleek red dress. Hopefully no one had seen her come in because she couldn't have stuck out any more. We weren't supposed to have guests at the station, but if I was going to make an exception to the rule, this seemed like as good a time as any.

"What are you doing here?" I finally found my voice.

"I tried calling you," she said.

I patted my pocket for my phone, but I'd left it downstairs. I'd been ready to throw it at the wall after talking with my father.

"Sorry," I said, looking her over as she moved into the fluorescent-lit room toward my desk.

"Is this your office?" She ran a finger over the cheap metal chair that sat across from me.

"No. I'm covering for the lieutenant tonight."

She nodded.

"It's nothing special. Just a bunch more paperwork." I moved to the front of the desk, sat on the edge, and shoved my hands in my pockets. Needed to keep my hands off of her. Easier said than done. Watching her move around the room in those heels was giving me a hard-on.

Every time we were in the same room, I felt like I was in a tornado, wrapped up in emotions I had no idea what to do with, wanting the damn woman more than I wanted air.

"We're not really supposed to have visitors."

She turned to me and leveled me with those green eyes. "Do you want me to go?"

"No." Hell, no.

"I talked to Reilly tonight. He isn't going to press charges."

"Lucky me."

"It is lucky. It's not like him to let something like that go. You really shouldn't have done that." Her lips were a thin line.

I winced, remembering Reilly's unwanted visit and the resulting conversation with my father. I hated the whole fucking thing. All because I couldn't stand to see the way Reilly was treating Vanessa. Seemed like I cared more than she did, which pissed me off even more.

I straightened. "My dad is helping fund his little venture. Pays to know people with deep pockets. I suppose you know that."

Her brows wrinkled, but I was already winding up.

"Yeah, I saw your boyfriend today. He told me all the good news."

"My boyfriend?" She moved away from the chair, coming closer to me. Her heels clicked on the concrete floor. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Means you're on your way up, red. And I like it right here where I am. If I wanted to compete with dirtbags like Reilly, I'd have done everything my parents wanted me to do. I'll stick to bringing the bums off the street back to life and running into burning buildings. Maybe that's not the life everyone wants, but it's my life."

"You're not competing with him."

I stood, ready to lay it all out for her. "No? He puts his fucking hands on you, and you've made it clear that's not a problem. I mean, what really happened with him out there? I feel like maybe I'm not getting the whole story."

"Stop it."

"Then tell me what's going on here. Explain to me how you justify working for a guy like that if you're not in it for something else?"

"It's my job." She leaned in and her skin glowed, turning from soft peach to a glowing pink. "You can look down on me all you want, but I'm good at what I do. I'm trying to build a career and-"

"And you could be doing anything else but this."

"I'm not like you, Darren. I don't have rich parents to fall back on. It's easy enough for you to turn your back on everything they offered you, but I never had that luxury. So don't judge me for finding my own way."

"You think you've got it all figured out, don't you?"

"And you do?" She put her hands on her hips.

"I like my life."

"Me too!"

A weak laugh escaped me. "Do you?"

"I liked it a lot better before you decided to punch my boss. You can't go through life doing whatever you want, Darren. The world doesn't work that way."

She was shouting, and I wanted to shout back. My blood boiled when I thought about what Reilly had said. I inhaled deeply. I had to get her out of here before I lost control and did something stupid like tell her I loved her again. Lot of good that had done for me.

But before I knew what I was doing, I captured her arms and pulled her against me. Heat and anger pulsed between us.

Her gaze flickered to my mouth as she swayed toward me. "What are you doing?"

"Whatever the hell I want."

Chapter Seventeen.

VANESSA.

Before I could speak, his mouth came over mine in a bruising kiss. His taste was rough and masculine.

He was pissed off. So was I.

I met his fervor, burying my fingers in his hair and tugging him to me, even as his nearness made my senses spin.

"Damn it," he muttered.

He hoisted my dress up my thighs and shoved me up on the desk in one fluid motion. Something crashed to the floor behind me, but I couldn't see it and Darren didn't seem to care.

I was anchored to him by his savage kisses while he went to work, tugging down the sleeves of my dress. My breasts spilled out, and he squeezed them, pinching my nipples until I whimpered. Then hard sucks at my breast lit fire under my flesh.

I wrapped my legs around him until our hips met and his erection strained against my thigh. Heat arrowed to my core where I pulsed for him.

Reaching between us, I fumbled with the button on his pants. I didn't give a damn where we were or what the rules were. I had to have him. Right here, right now.

Every touch was intense, making me edgy and hazy all at once. The thin straps of my thong cut into my skin as he ripped it off. Then he was on his knees. He lathed his tongue over my aching clit, mingling my moisture with his. The sensation was heaven. My hips seemed to move of their own accord against his touch. Even as I wished this could go on, the torrent of desire pulsing through me demanded more.

"Darren. Now, hurry."

He left me long enough to fish a condom out of his wallet. Shoving down his boxers just enough, he hastily rolled it onto his thick length. He pushed the head against my slick entrance, and I braced myself to take all of him at once. If his tight grip on my thighs was any indication of what I could expect, he'd be fucking me hard and long this way.

With one hand steady at my hip, he curled the other behind my neck and tangled into my hair. He held me that way for a moment, gazing into my eyes. His lips were wet with my arousal, his breath a warm whisper against my skin. Then he began to push into me slowly, fusing us together.

I closed my eyes with a shaky sigh.

No matter how angry I was with him, I couldn't deny how we fit. Moments like these brought us together and convinced me that Darren was the only one I could ever love. He'd wanted to ruin me, and he had.

Liquid and molten, I was melting into him, becoming his...irrevocably. Warmth snaked through me as he rooted deeply, stretching my sensitive tissues until I trembled. A mist of sweat swept across my skin. Already I was on edge, craving the next invasion, ready to succumb to the intoxicating rhythm our bodies created together.

He pulled back and thrust, a measured stroke that had my sex rippling around him. He traced the bow of my mouth with his thumb before pushing it past my lips. I licked and swirled my tongue around the rough pad, sucking the salt from him.

He closed his eyes and shoved again so deep I cried out.

Holding me close against him, he set a rugged pace. "Tell me what you want. I'll give you anything. Anything, baby."

I clung to him, struggling to take him deeper, to find places where our flesh could meet and crush together. "Darren..." Every breath was a desperate sound as he pumped into me.

"Tell me...Tell me, Vanessa."

"Darren...I..." I love you. God, I love you.

The words rang in my mind, punctuated by the fierce thrusting of his hips against mine.

Now, even when my love for him seemed to move like honey through my veins, swimming with my desire, mixed up with my anger and frustration, I couldn't form the words out loud. I couldn't tell him like this, in the heat of it, when everything else was such a mess. My courage deserted me, and I fell back on the lust that was ripping me apart.

"Fuck me. Fuck me, please. I need you."

That need was a knot of heat buried deep. Only he could reach it and satisfy the violent craving that rocked me.

A flicker of emotion passed behind his eyes before he withdrew and turned me around to face the desk. He licked up the column of my neck and nipped hard at my ear.

"If that's what you want..."

With his hand firm on my back, he bent me forward over the desk. My thighs pressed hard against the cold metal edge. Hauling my hips back, he slammed home abruptly, reaching the deepest part of me.

A scream crawled up my throat. I found the edges of the desk to brace his punishing drives, but I was entirely as his mercy.

My desire climbed like a raging fire under my skin. When I thought I couldn't last a minute more, he withdrew.

His palm came down hard on my ass. I jolted, but the desk under me allowed no room to escape. The smack echoed off the walls. Heat radiated from the place where he'd made contact. My pussy tightened, aching for his cock inside me again.

Another one fell in the same spot.

The pain was sharp, sizzling through me all the way to my toes and lifting me higher. He slapped the spot again and the world spun. The higher I flew, the more I wanted.

"Darren. Please..." I said his name like a prayer. I needed release.