“It should. It should make you want to kiss me.”
Christ. His cock swelled, pushing against his fly. The word “kiss” coming from those plump red lips shot him full of lust. His body remembered all too well how they’d felt smoothing down his length last night, drawing hard on their way back up. “You and I will never be able to kiss in public. Both times I’ve tasted your mouth ended in us both coming. I don’t see that changing any time soon.”
A breath shuddered out. “So much for me distracting you.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
She glanced toward the massive stone structure that was Cook County correctional facility and shook her head frantically, blond strands flying around her face. “Too many doors closing behind us. Too many people looking. They’ll check me for weapons with their sweaty cop hands.”
Connor experienced a wave of self-disgust. Since they were going into the prison as guests, not inmates, it hadn’t occurred to him that she’d get spooked. Idiot. Of course she would. He’d been so focused on the more immediate threat to her, he hadn’t even thought of it. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I’ll come back a different day without you.”
“No,” she hurried to say. “I’m going to help in my own way, all right? I’ll meet you back here in an hour.”
Denial speared him. He couldn’t let her out of his sight this soon. Too soon. Already the calming effect she had on him had started to dissipate. “Erin…”
“Go, Connor.” She gave him a look that said, please trust me. “It’ll be okay.”
Lead in his stomach, he looked her over one final time before heading up the walkway toward the prison. He’d only taken three steps when she jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. His eyes slid closed as she nuzzled his neck with her mouth. Her weight felt so good. Like he’d been walking around untethered all morning until that very second.
“I went to a diner and had chocolate chip pancakes with Polly, who I think maybe has a secret life after dark. One that involves glitter lotion. After that, I took the bus to the mall and carved my initials into a tree waiting for it to open.” Connor knew what she was doing, and it made his chest hurt. Feeding his need for control, for peace of mind, simply by telling him where she’d been since leaving him. It comforted him like crazy. “I shopped in the junior’s section of Macy’s and rode the kiddie train because the girl running it gave me the evil eye. You would have been so proud.” She planted a kiss on his neck and inhaled deeply. “I’ll see you in an hour, baby.”
She slid down his back. He groaned at the feel of her breasts dragging over his muscle, needing to breathe deeply and get a handle on his desire before facing her again.
But when he turned around, she was gone.
Chapter Ten
The first time Erin was in Dade Correctional, one of the guards had taken a shine to her. If groping her every time he did a bed check counted as “a shine.” Greasy Gunther, the other inmates used to call him. It would have eventually gone further if she hadn’t blown that Popsicle stand when she did. Gunther had even warned her he would find a way to get her alone. That warning had been an impetus for her to plot escape. She hadn’t known how she would react if a man forced himself on her. Would she freeze up at the sensation of hands on her body? Would her fight-or-flight instinct kick in? The unknown wasn’t good enough, so she’d gotten out of Gunther’s reach before he could extend it.
Even the other guards had been aware of his fascination with her. They would rib him every time she passed by in the yard, elbowing him and reminding him he was married while he ogled her, adjusted himself in his trousers. One afternoon in the cafeteria, Gunther had gotten bold and pinched her ass while she stood in line for food. His guard buddy had come up behind them and muttered, “Man, you’ve always had a thing for crazy *, haven’t you? It’s going to get you into trouble someday.”
She hadn’t been offended, mainly because she’d erected a shield that caused everything the guards said to bounce off. But she’d never forgotten that statement. She’d let it settle in her mind and she’d played with it, wondering if it were true. If her personality, which seemed to send most men packing with a quickness, could attract a different type at the same time. If a certain amount of them sensed something inside her and were attracted by it, rather than repelled. When she’d experimented with sex before…before she’d been cast into the darkness…she’d learned the answer quickly enough. Three men had approached her at a bar, one asking if he could buy her a drink. Her reply had been, “Sure. Petrol, please. Unleaded.”
Two had walked away laughing and shaking their heads. The third had stepped closer.