Plus she figured half-truths would throw him off a more dangerous course of supposition. And she had some questions for him, questions that Mort had refused to answer.

  Still Luther said nothing.

  His silence spurred her to say more. “See, Mort and I were out and about…just walking. He was sort of shook up after that blood in the stairwell, and even after we cleaned it, the smell was awful, so we took in some fresh air.” She’d already cued Mort, and if Luther questioned him, he damn well better lie convincingly.

  “When we were heading home, we saw this man assaulting a girl in an alley.”

  “A hooker?”

  Gaby gave him a sharp look. “Does it matter?”

  “Not to me. But I want details.”

  After taking off her sunglasses, Gaby turned her face toward Luther. “She might have been a hooker, but she was still a kid and the guy was forcing her.”

  “And?”

  “I stopped him.”

  Luther sat the sport drink aside. “With your knife?”

  She nodded. “I told him if he ever hurt her again, I’d castrate him.”

  Small muscles flexed in Luther’s face, taking him from fear to anger to rage and back again. “Where did you stab him, Gaby?”

  “In the shoulder. I threw my knife first, to stop him.” She felt compelled to honesty. “I have very good aim.”

  A big breath expanded Luther’s already impressive chest.

  “But then he tried to charge me, so I sort of pulled it out of him and put it to his balls and told him what would happen if he didn’t change his ways.”

  Luther twitched.

  Gaby felt the need to rush through the rest of her explanation. “He was making her do stuff to him, Luther. Really ugly stuff. She was crying and she was sort of beat up—”

  “Where is she now?”

  That his first thought would be concern for the girl warmed Gaby. More than ever, she saw the white aura surrounding him. “I don’t know. She ran off after I stopped the attack.”

  Luther fell to his back. “I don’t fucking believe this.”

  “I didn’t tell the cops who I am and I don’t think that guy will, either.”

  “If he lived.”

  “Well, yeah. But I think he will. I mean, sure, he was bleeding a lot and everything, but it was just a shoulder wound.”

  “Unless you nicked something else.”

  Did he have to sound so morbid? “I guess.”

  “I’ll ask around about the incident. I can find out who was on call last night, see how the man fared after your unique sense of justice.”

  Gaby didn’t like the accusation in his tone. “He deserved it, Luther.”

  “From what you said, I’m sure he did. But you should have called the police, not taken it on yourself to deal with him.”

  “By the time the cops got there, who knows what else he might have done to that poor girl?”

  “Who knows what he might have done to you, Gaby, if your aim had faltered a little. Did you ever think of that?”

  “No, because my aim doesn’t falter.”

  He muttered several steaming curses before saying, “I can’t believe you’re bragging about this.”

  He looked really put out, ready to shut down on her, but tough. She had questions and he most likely had answers. Mort sure as hell hadn’t wanted to talk to her about it. “I suppose now isn’t a very good time to ask you stuff?”

  To her surprise, he put an arm over his eyes and appeared to relax. He took two deep breaths and let out the last one in a long, slow exhalation. “All right. What stuff?”

  Well, that was better. Calmer anyway. “The man had the woman on her knees and he kept pushing her face into his crotch.”

  Luther froze again.

  “It was like he was screwing her, but not where he should be.”

  “Gaby,” Luther choked out. “Shush.”

  “I know there’s a lot of deviant stuff out there and that men pay women to do a lot of weird things. But like I told you, I don’t watch television, and whenever I hear music playing on the street, I don’t really pay much attention to the words. I don’t really know what’s normal and what isn’t. What that guy did didn’t look normal, but I wanted to know—”

  “Give me a minute here, okay?”

  “Just tell me what he was doing and if it’s acceptable or not. The girl sure didn’t seem to think so. She hated it. Hell, he’d had to beat her up to make her do it.”

  “I don’t believe this.”

  “The thing is, Mort was upset that she was hurt, but he didn’t seem confused about what the jerk did or anything.”

  In one swift movement, Luther was over her. Now he looked angry. “Are you playing with me?”

  Flat on her back? In the sun? In the middle of the community?

  “No.” His blond hair, still damp from his exertions, went wavy in places. That seemed very at odds with such a rugged male. “I never have time for playing. You should know that by now.”

  “Don’t start with the confusing talk, Gaby. I want a straight answer.” His hands gripped her shoulders. “You honestly don’t know what oral sex is?”

  “Oral sex.” She supposed that sounded right for what she’d seen. It was definitely sex of some sort. “You want plain speaking? Fine. I’ve seen the prostitutes jerk guys off. I’ve seen them bend over stuff and let johns do them from the back, like a dog.”

  Luther’s eyes widened a little more with every word she spoke.

  “I’ve even seen them—”

  His hand smashed over her mouth. “Jesus, woman.” Additional heat darkened his high cheekbones. “Do you spend all your time watching hookers at work?”

  He’d silenced her, so she shrugged. She’d have a tough time avoiding seeing it where she lived. Every time she stepped out of the apartment, the whores were there, sometimes doing their business in a parked car, sometimes in an alley.

  Sometimes in plain sight, if that’s what the john wanted.

  Luther’s hand shifted. His fingers touched her mouth. Lightly. Caressing. With one finger, he parted her lips.

  “Gaby, I want to kiss you.”

  Could have fooled her. “You look more like you want to strangle me.”

  “That too.” He continued touching her mouth. “Do you think it’d be okay if I kissed you?”

  She had to think about it. It wouldn’t be smart, would in fact be idiotic—“Yeah.”

  Luther bent down, hesitated, then came closer. He brushed his mouth over hers. He didn’t do much, just hovered there, teasing her. His mouth barely touching hers.

  Gaby felt his hot breath as it accelerated. She felt his building tension and her own anticipation.

  Then she felt Luther’s absence.

  She opened her eyes and saw him sitting up beside her. She waited, and he looked down at her with accusation, need, and so much more. “You are one dangerous little girl, Gabrielle Cody.”

  Chapter 13

  “You just figured that out?”

  He plucked a blade of grass, then another. Looking away, he said, “I haven’t figured out anything. Around you, nothing is clear.”

  “I know.” She was an abnormality of the first order. How could a nice, normal cop like Luther Cross ever understand her, when she didn’t entirely understand herself?

  “So.” He tossed the blades of grass aside. “Rather than splurge on a cheap radio, you watch the local streetwalkers for entertainment.” He looked at her. “Or is it edification?”

  If he wanted to snipe, she could snipe right back. “Given your pinched-up look and the way Mort dodged the topic, it’s pretty obvious that if I don’t watch the hookers on occasion, I’m not going to learn much.”

  He turned coldly austere. “Anything you need to know, you can’t learn from them.”

  “Can’t learn it from you either, apparently.” She sat up and brushed dried grass and dirt from her hair. Luther hadn’t moved that far away, but she now felt a definite distance between them that hadn’t been there a few moments ago. “I’m so dangerous, you’re suddenly afraid of me?”

  Luther pulled up one knee and crossed his arms over it. “Truth is, Gaby, I’m more afraid for you than of you. You’re the strangest girl I’ve ever met. At times, there’s this awful vulnerability about you that makes me damn near want to cry. Then you make me so hot that I can’t breathe. Then you calmly tell me, a detective, that you played vigilante and stabbed someone.”

  Hurt, Gaby pushed to her feet. “I guess you would rather I hadn’t helped her.” Why had she hoped that, like Mort, he’d be impressed?

  Stupid.

  Mort was sad and lonely. Luther Cross was a shining advocate who likely had an abundance of close friends and family backing him.

  He stood, too, and though he was only three inches taller, he seemed much bigger in every way. One shaky hand reached out to cup her face. “I’d rather you didn’t put yourself in danger.”

  Yeah, she’d rather that, too. But more often than not, she had no choice. “Sorry.”

  His mouth lifted. “Now that sounded sincere.” His thumb brushed her cheek. He dropped his hand from her face to lace his fingers with hers. “Come here.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Someplace more private.” He started walking, his pace urgent, towing her along. “Someplace where I can explain a few things to you.”

  “Like?”

  “Oral sex. The difference between what hookers do and what I’d like to do with you.”

  “Me? And you?” Her heart started that odd staccato thumping again. “Forget about it. I already told you that I can’t—”

  “I know. One of these days, you’ll tell me why. But I would never force you, Gaby.”

  Obnoxious jerk. “I wouldn’t let you.”

  “I’d never even try.”

  He towed her into a smelly alley and backed her up against a damp brick wall. Her thin T-shirt did nothing to protect her shoulders from the rough face of the broken bricks.

  But Gaby didn’t care.

  “Hookers do what they do for money, without emotion and without experiencing a single pleasure. Not because they want to, but because they have a habit to feed, or an empty stomach, or an insistent pimp.”

  As if he’d been running, Luther breathed hard and fast. His fingers caught her wrists and raised her hands to his shoulders. “Because they consent, it’s different from actual rape, and from what you say you saw last night. But in my view, not by a whole lot. Any man who uses a woman, who takes advantage of her desperation, isn’t much of a man.”

  “It looked ugly,” Gaby agreed, glad to have some real light shed on it all. “Like evil.”

  “And to you, evil, like cancer, is a live entity?”

  She hated to tell him, but…“It is, Luther. Very alive.”

  He didn’t laugh at her, didn’t argue or try to dissuade her. “Rape is both ugly and evil.” He looked at her mouth. “But when two people are willing, anything goes, and what might look unpleasant otherwise becomes…very nice.”

  “You’ll understand if I have my doubts.” But that wasn’t entirely true. With Luther, she could imagine most things would be nice. Even being pinned against a dirty brick wall.

  “Now, Gaby, I’m going to kiss you, and I want you to open your mouth for me.”

  “Why?”

  “Consider it an exercise in oral sex, why it’s pleasurable and why men and women do it.”

  Her skin went all tingly. And deeper down, inside herself. “Yeah, okay.”

  “Wait.” He touched her lips. “Promise you won’t bite me.”

  Bite him?

  “Just promise me, Gaby. Your reactions are not all that trustworthy and I don’t want to lose my tongue.”

  His tongue. The tingling turned to a warm energy filling her whole body. “I won’t bite you.”

  The second the words left her, his mouth covered hers. When his tongue touched her lips, Gaby remembered to part them. He dipped in, just a little, and the slick feel of his tongue, the taste of him, did crazy things to her.

  She liked it. A lot.

  Her hands clenched on his shoulders.

  Continuing to tease her, he licked his tongue over her lips, her tongue, her teeth.

  Deeper.

  They were both breathing hard when he drew back and whispered, “Now, when I put my tongue in your mouth, I want you to suck on it.”

  Wow. Gaby nodded, and gladly accepted his tongue back. As instructed, she sucked—and it was wildly exciting. For both of them.

  Who knew?

  The kissing grew hotter, deeper. Both of Luther’s hands held her face. He pulled back yet again. Eyes dark and hot, he stared at her, studied her.

  Oh no. Did she look different again? Had she changed, as both he and Mort claimed she did?

  The panic had just started when, voice rough, Luther instructed, “Don’t think, Gaby. Give me your tongue. I’m going to suck on it so you can see how it feels.”

  At his instruction, worrisome thoughts scattered.

  She didn’t need any more encouragement than that. Gaby plastered herself to him and mimicked what he’d done to her.

  Luther moved closer so that his whole body pressed hers. But, oddly, he didn’t touch her with his hands. He kept them flattened on the brick wall at either side of her head.

  He freed his mouth with a groan. “Gaby?” He kissed her chin, her jaw. “I’m sorry, but we have to stop or I’m going to lose it.”

  For one of the few times in her life, she couldn’t think of a single smart retort.

  “Here’s the thing.” Putting his cheek to hers, he whispered directly into her ear. “As good as that feels to us both, it’s so much better when it’s not just a tongue you’re sucking on.”

  Oral sex. Images worked through her mind, vivid and sensual, making her acutely aware of Luther’s body against hers. “You’re hard.”

  “I keep imagining your mouth on me, and hell yeah, I’m hard.”

  She could see why. The idea excited her, too. “As long as you’re being so talkative and honest, I have another question.”

  “God help me.”

  Because she had to know, Gaby asked with tentative uncertainty, “Do I look different right now?”

  Luther kissed the bridge of her nose, her forehead, her chin. “You look sexy. Turned on. But also a little afraid.” His warm smile took the insult from the words. “All reasonable reactions from a virgin.”

  “But I don’t look…weird?”

  He smoothed back her hair—and measured his words. “I’ll admit that you change so much, I can’t keep up. And yes, you look different from how you normally look.” The smile evaporated, replaced by concern and reassurance. “But never would I use the word weird. Just different, Gaby.”

  Shit. Ashamed, she turned her face away, and Luther brought it back around.

  “Your features are sharper, more defined. Stronger. But you’re still you, Gaby. No doubt about it. And I like you. A lot. So whatever affliction alters your appearance, please don’t let it add to your sadness.”

  Her sadness. Gaby frowned. Luther saw too much, and made her care far too easily.

  Recognizing her expression, he said, “Here we go,” with a lot of resignation.

  “I’m not afraid, smart-ass, just curious and a little confused.”

  He widened his stance and looked down his nose at her. “About what?”

  “All this sucking business. I mean…” She nudged her belly against his erection. “I might be unschooled on sexual things, but I understand anatomy, so I see how it’d work on you. But for a woman…”

  The sound he made was half laugh, half groan. “You’ll have to trust me on this. Women have other places that are equally…receptive to a tongue, or a soft suck.”

  “Where?”

  He groaned again. “I can’t talk about this anymore.” Leaning back to look at her, he whispered, “But one of these days, I’d like to show you.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t hold your breath. What either of us wants won’t matter in the long run. Sex for me isn’t likely.” She couldn’t see it anywhere in her immediate future, for sure.

  Though she’d like to.

  Especially now, after this little demonstration from Luther. “That’s why I shouldn’t have asked you about this, I guess. But Mort wouldn’t tell me—”

  “I’d have punched him if he had.”

  Gaby shoved Luther back the length of her arms. “Mort is my friend now. Don’t hurt him.”

  “I was kidding. He’s my friend, too.” He put his forehead to hers. “But I’d rather you come to me with those types of questions. Okay?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t like feeling this way. I meant it when I told you it was cruel to get all this started. There’s so much that we still have to do. Those cancerous things are still loose and someone hit you in the head, and Dr. Marton—”

  Yet again, his hand covered her mouth. “I’m sorry if I’ve frustrated you, Gaby, if I’ve made you more aware of things you wanted to pretend didn’t exist. But I don’t want you involved with any of my police work.”

  She fried him with her gaze.

  Disgruntled, Luther sighed. “I can handle it, I swear.”

  She shook her head. He couldn’t, and that was the plain simple truth.

  Just that easily, Luther turned back into a cop instead of a lover. He released her and took a step away. “Damn it, Gaby, promise me you won’t get involved.”

  “I can promise you I will.” She sidled out from between the wall and his bricklike body. “And before you start threatening to arrest me again, remember that you gave me your word, too.”

  “Only to keep our conversation last night between the two of us.”

  Anger sent the lust away. “Fine. So I could trust you last night, but not today? I should have realized that. I won’t make the mistake again.”

  She turned to walk away, and Luther caught her arm.

  Bad temper had her swinging before she thought better of it. Luckily, given his concussion, he twisted enough that her fist landed on his shoulder and not his already injured head.

  “Enough.”

  His blustering didn’t faze her. She lowered her fists and curled her lip. “Let me guess. Horniness makes you meaner than usual.”