Page 28 of The Mech Who Loved Me
"Spit it out. It's not as though we've ever kept secrets from each other." Indeed, the blunt way he spoke his mind often made her feel relaxed—she had a terrible habit of blurting whatever came to her mind, after all, and it was nice to know she could do thatwithhim.
Kincaid grabbed his coat, slinging his arms through it. The metal spars of his mech hand caught in the fabric, and he worked them free. "You may think the worst of me, Ava, but the truth is, you also think the worst of yourself. The very idea a man might be flirting with you or find you attractive doesn't even occur to you,doesit?"
She was trapped between him and the door, and the sudden lack of space between them made her nervous. Ava dashed a blonde curl behind her ear. "What... what doyoumean?"
Kincaid pressed a hand against the door beside her head, leaning closer. The scent of his cologne did wicked things to her, and the hunger within her awoke, whispering naughty thoughts insideherhead.
"I mean... if you weren't off-limits, then I'd have had you in my bed a dozen times over already." His gaze slid down her body in an intimate caress, and Ava froze, feeling that look on her skin. "You're beautiful, and intelligent, and a part of me wonders exactly what you're hiding beneath all those ruffles and lace. You think you're not the sort of woman that men look at, but you're dead wrong. I've beenlooking."
"You'd say that to any woman," she retorted,flushinghot.
He made it sound like she was highly desirable.Me, Ava McLaren. With my stuttering awkwardness, and my logical assessments, and my slender,palebody....
"No." Kincaid leaned closer, his mouth a bare inch from her ear. "I'm not going to let you tarnish me with a lie, nor yourself with doubt. I've never been a saint, Ava. I never will be, perhaps. But there's something about you that takes my breath." He lifted his mech hand, those steel fingers almost, but not quite, brushing against the spill of lace at her throat. "I think together, you and I would be explosive. I sometimes see you looking at me, and there's some part of you that wants to be utterly wicked. And I want to help you unleash her. I want to be wicked with you, see if we're just as good together as I suspectwe'dbe."
He pushed away from the door, gesturing her through it with a particularly scorching look that lit her toes on fire, almost as if he was challenging her. "But I guess we'll never know, will we? Unless you make achoice."
Avapracticallyfled.
Eight
AVA MCLAREN WAS ridiculouslyeasy toflummox.
Kincaid stretched his arms across the back of the seat as their hired steam cab took them to the vaccination clinic listed on Mr. Thomas's certificate, watching as she tried to pretend what had happened in his rooms hadn't happened. "I think you've read the file several times. Or that particular page, atleast."
Big green eyes locked on him, and for a second he tensed, for she looked ready to flee. Perhaps he'd pushed hertoofar?
The very idea a man might be flirting with you or find you attractive doesn't even occur to you, does it?He didn't even know why he'd said it, but he disliked the idea she saw herself as beneath the notice of a man'sattention.
"I'm merely familiarizing myself with the details," she blurted, refusing to take the bait. "I don't want to fail. Not withthiscase."
"Why is this case soimportant?"
"It's my first one, working as the lead. I just... I want to be something more than a laboratory assistant. Gemma andIngridare—"
"Stop comparing yourself to others," he snapped. "You're you, and you should be proud of that fact. There's a million women like Gemma in the world, thousands of women that can flirt, and seduce, and steal a man's secrets. Not so many with Ingrid's fighting skills, no, but anyone can hit something. But you? There are only a few who have anywhere near your intellect, and even fewer still who retain your sense ofempathy."
Ava nibbled at her fingernail. "To feel empathyiseasy—"
"In this world? To keep it after seeing so many bloody horrible things.... You have no idea how rare you are. You're the kind of woman who can make a man like me—a man twisted with hate—start to think, maybe he's wrong? Maybe there is goodness in the world? In blue bloods? Maybe there is hope for a lasting peace between humans andcravers?"
"I'll thank you not to use that word, please. I don'tlikeit."
And he was becoming rather helpless against her wishes. "Sorry. I'll try not to... if you promise to stop wishing you weresomeoneelse."
"I'll... try." Green eyes danced to him then back to the window. "You're a rather complex man. I sometimes cannot figure you out. When you first started with the Rogues, you were terribly unkind toeverybody."
"I was never unkindtoyou."
"True." She laced her fingers in her lap, her head bowed. "But you've softened toward the others. You barely even snap at Gemmaanymore."
"And Gemma doesn't provoke me as much as she used to." He sighed. "Maybe I'm not as big and bad as I pretendtobe?"
That earned him a shysmile.
Maybe I am?Because right now, he wanted to be very, very bad, and damn theconsequences.
"Maybe," she said, swaying as the carriage pulled up. "But sometimes I think I'm not the only one who pretends to be somethingthey'renot?"
