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Her guy could have easily gotten control of his panic, faked a pass-out, o

Rather than hit hi any chances, she moved the blade tip to his belly, where his shirt rose above his pants, revealing a strip of flesh "I’ve got a knife at your gut, so I’d be careful if I were you"

Warning issued, she balanced on her knees, intending to pat him down Of course, that’s when he erupted into reat, to have ignored that jiggle

The action caused her blade to slice his sto, he slid out from under her, ju you!" Noelle juh the air The length embedded in the back of his calf, where he had just placed ht, and he went down like a brick in water, screa in her chest, she stomped over to him

He’d cracked his cheek on the concrete when he landed, and a pool of cri to reach the blade to reene because she stepped on the hilt, digging the weapon even deeper

Another howl rent the air

"I told you not to run, asshole," she said And damn it, she didn’t have a pair of cuffs on her

She bent down anyway and grabbed his wrists, pinning theht pinned hi the blood

Gasps echoed behind her Shuffling footsteps The pounding of boots

Noelle turned her head--and spotted Hector shoving his way through the crowd and stalking toward her Big andup, she said, "Bagged hi, he’d probably fume

Dressed in his usual black shirt and slacks, he lookedand without a hint of warh The circles rown his hair out, too A Caesar cut, the ery to hilistened on his brow, dripped from his temples He wiped the droplets aith the back of his hand, his golden gaze sweeping over her His pupils expanded "You okay?"

She’d heard his voice these past few months, of course When he’d spoken to Dallas or Mia, or anyone else in AIR But right noith that gravelly timbre directed at her, she felt her body respond Her blood heated, and her nipples tightened underneath the leather top

Oh, hell, no Not going there again Lesson learned No need for a repeat

"Better than," she replied, and prayed she sounded breezy She relayed everything the guy had said, and for a moment, Hector actually looked impressed With her--or the info-hold-out perp? "Got a pair of cuffs on you?"

One of his brows shot into his hairline "You chased hi from my bedposts"

No reaction "What did you plan to do with him when you tackled him?"

"Duh Exactly what I did Hurt hi, Hector reached behind him Next he extended a pair of cuffs in her direction She ertips to brush over his skin

In two point two seconds, she had the human bound, the laserbands wound around his wrists, lit up to a pretty gold--though not as pretty as Hector’s eyes--and bonded to his skin

And yet, still the guy writhed

She said, "You pull at them too much, and you’ll lose your hands Or so I’ve heard I’ to use you as a test subject and find out for real"

That got his attention At long last, he stopped fighting

Did you see that, Hector? I won this round Noelle climbed off the perp, but kept a boot pressed into his shoulder blades to remind him that she was there "Where’s your car?" she asked Hector

"Right there" He hitched his thuh, she spotted a standard AIR sedan

"No Jag today?"

He didn’t seem surprised that she knew he’d traded in the Porsche, even though they’d never run into each other outside of work "No I’aze swept over her a second time Another flare of his pupils "But you’re not Where have you been?"

"I was out on a date with my newest lover, the insatiable Don Carlos" She wanted to believe Hector liked what he saw, but … She’d gone that road with hiot a burn like that

"Don Carlos? Where’d you meet him? A romance novel?"

Her lips pursed How had he known she was lying? "Dohis question

A moment passed in silence, then he shook his head "Bastard clipped your chin He doesn’t deserve a carry" As he spoke, he withdrew a pair of faaze immediately slid to his arms, and yep, for the third tiht, barely noticeable azure glow A glow that ree She only detected it because she knew to look And okay, because she was staring Most people would probably think his tattoos were colored that way She wasn’t most people, and besides that, she had a picture of hi about the way he was es in his appearance

She wished she knehat the glow h She’d even done some online research--because she’d been bored and not for any other reason--but had learned nothing

Without looking at her, Hector closed the reuy to his feet, holding him by the scruff of his neck when his knees collapsed Then he practically dragged the guy to the sedan, stuffing him in the backseat with as little finesse as possible, even letting his head bang into the top of the door

Three other agents finally appeared on the scene, and they did crowd control,off the pool of blood

Hector faced her, still unwilling to peer into her eyes "You want a ride to the station?"

No enthusiasm in his voice Only dread

Why do you dislike me so much? What did I ever do to you? Besides throw herself at hiain