As if sensing his stare, the gorgeous woman looked up. Their gazes locked. Oh, yeah. She exuded sex appeal with all the subtlety of a flashing red light.
Instinct jabbed his gut with a full-throttle attraction that raced through his veins. Damn, she was beautiful. Tangling his hands in her dark silk hair as he claimed her mouth and body—all while cuffing her helplessly to his bed—would be worth whatever it took to get her there. Even twenty feet apart, they generated combustible heat that singed him down to his balls. It was beyond chemistry. At thirty-two, Hunter knew the difference. He didn’t merely want her; he wanted to unravel her, figure her out, possess her.
Why was that?
She looked at her companions briefly, then back to him. Hazel, mossy green laced with deep brown. Stunning against her hint-of-olive complexion. Another shock of awareness blasted through him. Her wide smile fell slowly. She held his stare, drew in a trembling breath. Her pulse fluttered at her neck. Her pink tongue peeked out, swiping across her plump lips.
Everything about her breathless expression told him that she felt the heat between them. Good. Because this goddamn searing lust made him wonder if he could ever sate his hunger for her, much less in a single night.
“What’s her name?” He had to know, ached to.
“Kata.” Ben slurred. “Short for Katalina, but she hates it. I call her that when she pisses me off, but then she calls me Benjamin and—”
“Got it.” Hunter didn’t need to know the ins and outs of Ben and Kata’s relationship. He already envied the bastard like mad. “Boundaries?”
“Nah, man. Whatever she wants.”
Idly, Hunter wondered if Ben realized that, without limits, he was going to be f**king lethal. Requesting leave from his team after being shot, Hunter had nothing more to do for a week than rehab his shoulder and devote himself to seducing Kata. But since he and Ben hadn’t spoken much in the last few years, it was clear the guy had forgotten his ruthless side.
And why warn the competition? Hunter suspected he might lose a buddy over this girl. Poaching wasn’t his style, but for her, he’d bend the rules.
He gazed across the room again at Kata, who sneaked another glance at him from beneath a thick fringe of lashes. Her ni**les beaded as she held his stare. Satisfaction rippled through him.
Last warning ... “You’re a very generous boyfriend. Are you sure you want to share?”
Ben reared back in surprise, staggering drunkenly. “Kata’s not my girlfriend, dude. She’s just a friend with benefits. She knows I f**k other girls.”
Evil glee wound through Hunter’s system. Just a friend? Hunter vowed those benefits Ben received now would be very short-lived. He would be more than happy to start scratching Kata’s itch.
“She f**k other guys?”
Lurching over to the six-pack on the nearby bar, Ben grabbed another brew and pried it open. “Not lately. Too busy.”
This just got better and better. “Doing what?”
“She’s a probation officer for Lafayette Parish. Works f**kin’ terrible hours with the dregs of society. Been dealing with death threats lately, she thinks from a foot soldier in the Gangster Disciples. He got probation for a first-time drug trafficking charge, and she reported him for not checking in.”
Hunter’s gut clenched. Hearing about anyone being unduly threatened pissed him off, and it took a special kind of chickenshit to threaten a female. This particular asswipe made every combat-trained cell in Hunter’s body want blood. “They arrest the motherfucker?”
Ben shook his head. “They got a warrant out. Kata’s tough.” Ben sent him a lopsided grin. “And she looks hot in a business suit with all that long hair in a prissy twist . . . Hmm.”
Oh, Hunter could picture peeling away a hip-hugging skirt and a papery-thin blouse, working his fingers through her hair until it hung thick and wavy as it did now. Tearing away her exterior until all she wore were stockings, stilettos, and a welcoming smile.
But before he indulged, he had to ask the question that bothered him all the way to Vegas. “Why ask me to join you?”
Ben actually looked surprised. “You’re like ice, man. Slick. You always f**k and leave. Perfect for a ménage.”
Yeah, that had always been his MO in the past. Now? He suspected things had changed—in the last five minutes. His gut was telling him that he wanted more from Kata than a good f**k. Figuring out what, exactly, was Hunter’s first goal. Making sure she wanted far more than a single night was his second.
“Ménage is her fantasy, huh?” He smiled. “Game on.”
At least until he changed the rules.
“WHO is that?” Marisol asked, raising a dark brow as she stared at the tall, hard-bodied stranger Ben talked to.
The stranger who kept staring.
Katalina Muñoz had wanted the answer to her sister’s question since he walked in the door as dinner ended a few minutes ago.