It’s Throwback Thursday! Today’s excerpt comes to you from Savage Betrayal! (Which if you missed it, was nominated for a RT Reviewers Choice award!) It’s available at Amazon and other ebook retailers.
“Let me stay with you tonight.”
Her sharp laugh was swallowed up by the trees around them. “Didn’t you just try that line back at the house?”
He moved toward her. “I’ll sleep on the couch. You can trust me. My request this time isn’t motivated by me wanting to have you flat on your back.”
The air in her lungs suspended at that last line, and she tried to exhale, tried to say something, but all she could focus on was the image his words evoked.
“You don’t play fair,” she finally managed to choke out. “What do you mean?”
“Stop talking about sex.”
“I just said this wasn’t about sex—”
“Oh, I heard what you said, but you had to tag on that last line that completely screwed up my ability to think.”
His gaze smoldered as he took another step toward her. “Really now? I have that much of an effect on you? Agent Masterson—always so damn cool and calm.”
Oh like there was any denying it now? “You know you do. You proved that back inside my house. Which is why you’re nuts to try and ask to come back.”
He was so close now, his breath feathered across her face. “I’ll take the couch. I promise to behave myself. I just want you protected tonight.”
Why wasn’t she offended by his admission? Normally she would’ve bristled and snapped out some harsh response at the idea that she needed protecting.
But something inside her softened a little. Clung to the idea that someone wanted to protect her. The concept was almost a novelty. Since she’d lost her parents, she and Aubree had been on their own. Guardians or not. Grace had been the protector.
And now here was Darrius, forcing his way into her life. Forcing her to face fears and memories she didn’t want to revive.
How easy and wonderful would it be to crack a little and accept his help?
She struggled between the yes that hovered on her tongue and the no that was nearly an automatic reply.
Curling her hands into her fists, she finally shook her head.
“I’ll be fine. You know I will. Thanks for checking on me tonight.” She turned to walk back to her house.
Strong fingers curled around her elbow, halting her retreat and spinning her back around into his arms.
“I’ll respect your decision. But before you go…” He caught her jaw with one hand and before she realized what he was doing, he’d covered her mouth with his own.
As his tongue slid past her lips to claim hers, the ground beneath her seemed to lift and fall. Or maybe that was just her legs giving out.
If the first kiss tonight had been her sexual resurrection, this one was its rapture.
The nocturnal noises of the forest slipped into the background and all she became aware of was the taste of him. The increasingly familiar scent of Darrius.
It raced through her blood like wine, making her heady and impulsive. Where she’d agree to almost anything. And maybe he knew it, because he released her mouth just as abruptly as he’d captured it.
“Go.” The one word was ragged from his lips, even as the thumb that swept across her swollen mouth encouraged her to stay. “Get your ass back home and fast, Grace.”
She nodded, still not completely back in reality.
“But know this,” he warned, “even if you’re outright refusing my help tonight, you will be safe.”
Still she didn’t move. Her body hummed and ached, and she could barely remember why she’d come out into the forest in the first place.
Tires. Slashed. Bad guys… Right.
Darrius set her aside and closed his eyes. “Dammit, go. Now. Before I do something I know you’ll regret in the morning.
With clarity returned, Grace let out a strangled moan and then spun on her heels, shifting back to wolf a moment later. Before he could make good on his words, or she begged him to, she rushed back home.