“I didn’t want it. I was sick of it all. Sick of the administrators who would just as soon have slapped his hands and said ‘No-no,’ than have the department’s corruption exposed.” He heaved a sigh. “So I left and came here, where I might still do some good.”
“You’re a man of integrity.”
“Or a fool.”
She looked up at him with unwavering, unqualified admiration. “A man of integrity.”
“Thanks.”
She kissed the pink scar in his side. “They tried to kill you, too, didn’t they?”
“Yeah. The same night they shot my partner.”
“And that’s when your wife left you?”
“She issued me an ultimatum. If I went back on the case, she would leave me.” He stroke
d the top of Sunny’s head. “I couldn’t just walk away and leave it unfinished. I had to get to the bottom of it.”
“Why didn’t you bring her here with you when it was all over?”
He tugged on one of Sunny’s curls. “By then I realized we weren’t right for each other under any circumstances.” His eyes danced with teasing lights. “She wasn’t as hot as you are.”
She started to protest but changed her mind and smiled seductively. “I haven’t even warmed up yet.”
She lowered her lips to his stomach and dusted it with airy kisses. The smell of his skin was intoxicating and she longed to taste it. Her tongue touched him tentatively, then became so ambitious that it left the whorls of dark gold hair damp.
“Sunny,” Ty ground out. His hands slid beneath her hair and loosely clasped her head. He allowed it freedom to move from spot to spot. There was only a slight tensing of his fingers against her scalp when she lowered her head to his thighs. She kissed them. Then between them. And her lips stayed until his need was desperate.
“No, Sunny,” he said raggedly when she moved to straddle his lap. “I’m too hard. I’ll hurt you.”
Shaking her head no, she slowly lowered herself upon him.
Lying face-to-face with her in blissful lassitude several minutes later, Ty pushed the damp curls off her cheeks. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he said softly.
“You didn’t like it?”
“You know better. But you could have hurt yourself.”
“I was having too good a time to notice any discomfort.” She kissed his lips softly. “While we’re remonstrating, you shouldn’t have done what you did, either.”
“Putting my finger there?”
She blushed. “I went a little mad, didn’t I?”
“Yes, and it was beautiful.” He pondered her face as though seeing it for the first time. “You are beautiful, Sunny.”
“Thank you.”
“I don’t mean it lightly. And I’m not just talking about the way you look. It should be obvious to you by now that I like the way you look very much.” He traced the shape of her chin with his finger. “But I also like and admire the person you are.”
Sunny’s eyes misted with tears. “You do?”
“Very much,” he whispered. Then he cocked his head to one side. “You’re not going to cry, are you?”
“I might.”
“No crying allowed in my bed. Guess I’ll have to think up something to divert you.”