Agent M4: Riordan by Joni Hahn

to hear them.”
    “Why? Because they make yours come to the surface?”
    Screw him again . The self-pity stared him down, nose-to-nose, taunting him. He didn’t want to yield. He was stronger than that.
    “Don’t proclaim to know me, Doctor. You don’t know shit about me.”
    Her green-gold eyes blazed, her smooth cheeks red with anger. “I know you’re a stubborn jackass.”
    He leaned down into her face. “Is that a professional opinion or gut instinct?”
    “Neither. That’s bloody obvious.”
    Breathing hard, she replaced the self-pity before him, her beautiful face more welcoming, her allure way more powerful.
    Natalie Meeks angry made for one hot woman.
    Those pale pink lips of hers were plump and red, her hazel eyes swirling like a tornado. The delicate, lady-like senator’s daughter had backbone. What a freaking turn-on.
    “I need to go.” She turned away, her braid falling to her back.
    “I never pegged you for a runner, Meeks.”
    Stopping short, her back stiffened.
    “I thought it was a chance occurrence when you ran from me the other day at the pool. We’d just met, so I thought I’d made you uncomfortable. But, here you are, running… again.”
    With slow, minute movements, she turned back around.
    Riordan swallowed hard. Oh hell. He shouldn’t have said that. Her face looked like she’d gotten sunburned. If she started turning green, he’d be the one running.
    Pointing her forefinger, she walked toward him with a slow, determined gait. “I don’t run from anything, Riordan St. James.”
    She stopped in front of him, nostrils flaring. His gaze traveled over her exquisite, flushed face.
    “Really? Daddy’s always had your back?”
    If she didn’t loosen her jaw, she might just break a tooth.
    Riordan smiled inside. He really shouldn’t play with fire. But damn, he hadn’t had this much fun in, in ever .
    “Don’t proclaim to know me, Saint . You don’t know shit about me.”
    Ouch. She’d thrown back his words at him. How did he top that one?
    Natalie stood so close he could see the pulse pound in her throat, hear her labored breathing. If the scowl on her face told him anything, he loomed close to the edge of certain dismemberment. As a gambling man, he could throw the swimming pool incident on the table and see exactly which member she’d try to amputate.
    He wouldn’t do that to her. Natalie Meeks prided herself on her professional and proper demeanor. To bring up a taboo topic like lust guaranteed bodily harm.
    Then again, he’d been tortured in a Mongolian prison. What the hell did he have to lose?
    Pointing at his chest, he said, “ I don’t know shit about you? Really? I know you wanted me to touch you at the pool the other day.”
    Natalie’s pretty face went from red to white to green in seconds.
    Hell. He was a dead man.
    With an abrupt about-face, she headed for her purse.
    She really was running this time.
    He couldn’t let that happen.
    Catching up to her, Riordan touched her arm from behind.
    She whipped around – and launched herself into his arms. The next thing he knew, she kissed him.
    Not a delicate, lady-like peck on the mouth. Not this Natalie.
    This mad-as-hell beauty kissed him like she wanted to dive down his throat. Catching her against him, he gave as good as he got, letting her know, without words, that he wanted this, too. He was damned glad one of them had finally gotten the nerve to take the first step. The tiptoeing around each other had grown irritating.
    Smoothing his hands over her back, he grabbed her rear and hoisted her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around him, her hips flush against his hardness, her breasts crushed against his chest.
    A dam broke inside of him. Years of frustration and anger poured out of him as he plundered her mouth. Leave it to Natalie, the delicate, graceful senator’s daughter – the one woman he could never really have - to bring it all to the surface.
    Her arms locked around his neck. Passion flowed from