THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

she tortured him. She saturated his senses, aroused every lustful hunger he possessed. He hadn’t counted on that when he’d hatched this plan.
    That damnable scented soap she used. Oh, it was very subtle; most people probably wouldn’t even notice it. But it had wormed its way into his olfactory system, right into his permanent memory. His scientist’s brain had catalogued the component parts insofar as he could distinguish them: sandalwood, vanilla, soft musk and some spice or other — nutmeg? Saffron, maybe? God help him, he could tell how far or how near she was from her scent alone. For pity’s sake, he could all but hear the blood in her veins. Surge and whisper, surge and whisper…
    Four short days and the frustration was a living thing under his skin. Last night, for the first time in decades, he’d been tempted to take to the darkest, most desperate streets of St. Cloud’s underbelly in search of a rogue. As restless and raw and as he felt, it would have been hugely therapeutic to pull a rogue off a victim and dispatch him straight to hell.
    Except that’s what he paid professional hunters to do. He couldn’t afford to indulge himself by engaging the rogues at that level. If a hunt went south, the research would die with him. Like it or not, his place was here in the lab.
    Besides, he knew from experience the therapeutic effect would be short lived. Hunting was better left to those with a genuine appetite for it, like Aiden Afflack. Handsome, smiling, easy Aiden. The man could dispatch a rogue without ruffling his evening wear, then head out to seduce his newest conquest with an equally unruffled conscience. Or maybe RJ. One part laconic, one part cryptic and two parts pissed-off. The man had been on the payroll forty years, and Delano still didn’t know what “RJ” stood for. Those men were natural hunters.
    You could visit those dark streets in search of something else…
    For a moment, Delano actually let himself consider the idea. Maybe with a stranger, a prostitute… Perfunctory, impersonal, detached. Maybe it would be safe.
    No! Not safe.
    He pushed the subversive voice back into his subconscious.
    Not. Safe.
    He lifted his head, nostrils flaring. She approached!
    Quickly, he bent to press his eyes once again to the viewer of the electron microscope. Not that there was anything especially fascinating to see yet; after all, it had only been a few days. But he needed some time to collect himself.
    “Dr. Bowen?”
    “A moment.” He made several superfluous adjustments, completely destroying the focus. When he’d taken a grip on himself again, he lifted his head, brushed his hair back from his face and replaced his eyeglasses. Glasses he wore not to correct his vision, but because it helped him fit the mold people expected. They civilized him, masking the intensity of his eyes.
    “Sorry,” he said. “How went the clinic?”
    She slid a hand under her hair to lift it from her collar and gave it one of those very female flips, causing a resultant wave of fragrant warmth to billow toward him.
    “Great,” she said. “Although it was kind of creepy, going back to your building after having been attacked outside it.”
    “Of course. I’m sorry. But you understand, I can’t have the clinic in my house. The traffic coming and going…”
    She grinned. “Of course. Your neighbors would have the police investigating you for suspicion of trafficking in something else entirely.”
    “I trust Eli’s presence helped allay your concerns?”
    Another flash of white teeth, which drew his attention to her lips.
    “I’ll say! People literally cross the street to avoid us when he puts his game face on.”
    Focus, Bowen . He lifted his gaze back to her eyes. “The blood samples?”
    “All squared away. The paperwork, too.”
    Efficient. Of course, he’d known she would be. Pity he didn’t have more real work for her. At this rate, he’d have to drum something up just to keep her busy enough to make a full-time position plausible.
    “And what about your clients? They were all well-behaved? You didn’t feel threatened or frightened?”
    She smiled. “You know I didn’t. I heard you checking in with Eli. I figure that’s why he hovered over me the whole time.”
    He shrugged. “After what happened on your first visit, I wanted to make certain your first clinic was as anxiety-free as we could make it.”
    “Well, thank you. I appreciated it. I think I fully relaxed when I recognized the