Watching Her Every Move

Agent Jonas Dreyer has been working night and day to intercept valuable memory chips before they are delivered into the wrong hands. A happily confirmed bachelor with good reason, he never expects for the woman who is struck by his suspect in a wild foot chase to be the one, his mate. Neither do they expect her to be targeted as the only person who may know where the vanished chips may be.

Hot damn! There is a shifter out there with some stones!!!

And Jonas is it.

The guy actually told Stacee what he was *before* he took her to bed. Inconceivable, right?

Watching Her Every Move actually comes before 'Alpha Awakening' in this apparently untitled series, and I knew that. AA just appealed more to me so once again I read a series backwards. Shoot me.

Jonas is an agent for the Department of Defense. Stacee is a realtor... and why is spellcheck underlining realtor? it's a word... anyhooooo.... Stacee and Kay (from Alpha Awakening) are out shopping when WHAM! Some guy completely barrels into Stacee and she's laid out on the pavement teetering on the line of unconsciousness. Then BAM! Jonas jumps on the guy, starts babbling about where a package is and cuffs the lawbreaking bastard.

I love DeRicci's stories. She's definitely on my watch list, a list I haven't added to in some time actually. Her characters aren't the 'I found you, I fuck you, I love you' type. They're more the... 'I found you, I like you, I want to spend time with you' kind. They actually date!!

And Jonas is such a sweetheart, he and Rush are going to get along fine. Just fine.

There's actually a part where Stacee is flirting with him and he kisses her. And it says that he would always remember that kiss as the one that melted him.

How cute is that? *gush*

Yes, gush. That's another thing I love about DeRicci's men. We always hear about the girls falling all over themselves when it comes to men. It's so nice to be in the guy's head and discover the same craziness.

"The reason I brought you home with me is because I had a choice to make. I either trusted you enough to tell you before I took you to my bed, or took you first and hoped like hell you could live with the beast within the man, because there’s no going back.” He took a breath and stood before her. “I trusted you enough to tell you first.” She shook her head, trying to not laugh, the first sign of hysteria. “I cared enough to tell you first,” he added. “Will you at least let me prove it to you before you leave?”

And the reply... after she wakes up, that is...

“You didn’t frighten me. You shocked the living shit out of me,” she retorted. “You. Do. Not. Exist.” His mouth popped open, but she covered it with gentle fingers. Was she denying him? Was she going to walk away after all? His stomach lurched. The sudden pierce of a knife sliced him from the inside out. Pain like he’d never known. His skin felt icy all of a sudden. He couldn’t move. She was going to leave him. She was going to walk away from him. His worst nightmare was about to happen.

“Jonas. I’ll keep your secret forever.” It was a whispered promise, and one that crashed his entire world into a vacuum of pain. His features froze. His entire being felt brittle, from his heart outward. Like he would shatter. He had to find a way to win her to him. He couldn’t believe he was the only male who’d failed.

He was so caught up in his misery he neglected to notice what Stacee was doing, oblivious to the movement when her fingers slipped from his mouth to trail over his ear. The warmth of her hand on his face dragged him back to the bed in slow increments.

“But I do exist. You saw me,” he challenged. The pounding in his ears was his breaking heart.

“Yes. But outside of this room, outside of this house, you can’t. I know that. I’d never break that trust.”

He shook himself. She was touching him. And had been. How long had she been doing that? Trailing her fingers around his ear, down his neck. She’s touching me. And she knows.

I still prefer Rush to Jonas although I'm not entirely sure why. Jonas did everything right. And then, maybe that's why. Rush lost it a bit. And it was sexy!