Dare Me (Take Me 2)

Nikki wasn’t supposed to be getting anymore tangled up in this man than she already was.

She wasn’t supposed to be getting anymore tangled up in this situation than she already was. Jude was working the legal aspect to extract her and keep her out of a federal prison for treason if Damen’s superiors didn’t consider her a non-threat to homeland or international security. She had a lot on the line.

So why was she still standing here, half-naked, gazing at this gorgeous half-naked man…and thinking they should do away with the “halfs?”

He seemed to be thinking something similar, because his rich, intimate tone lowered an octave as he said, “We’re not doing ourselves any favors.”

He didn’t even have to elaborate. She knew to what he referred.

“I guess you can’t help who you’re attracted to.”

She’d been skirting that reality this entire time. Long before Damen had come out of his coma, she’d been captivated by hero “Nico.” She knew better than to get involved with someone like him, someone who couldn’t help risking life and limb to save others.

That was not the sort of man Nikki wanted in her life again.

But… No. That was a complete mistruth.

That was the only kind of man she could invite into her life.

And yet…all the shattered pieces of her soul told her to avoid his kind.

Clearly, she was a magnet to that sort of steel.

What the hell?

Like she needed more torment eating away at her psyche.

Her eyelids drifted closed.

After Conner’s death, Nikki had sworn off men, in general. And, in particular, men wh

o purposely put themselves in dangerous situations. Men who would brave fires, explosions, natural disasters, bullets, whatever, in order to do their job, in order to rescue one person or one-hundred, in order to make a difference.

She understood that some people were just wired that way, crafted for heroism. They had the innate, deep-seated, natural compulsion to save the day, to utilize their strengths, their cunning, their skills and abilities to help those who might not possess similar traits…who might be weaker or less fortunate. Or who had just found themselves trapped in an inescapable scenario. They wanted to be that person who provided the escape route.

In a sense, Damen had been doing something similar with her the whole time they’d been together. He searched for viable options and tried to find a solution to the difficulty and complications—the sheer agony—that came with parting with her laptop, her precious memories.

She knew to stay away from his type.

However…his was the only type she’d ever responded to, sparked with, longed for…

As she considered this, she felt the soft wisp of Damen’s fingertips along her temple. His head dipped and his warm breath teased her skin as he murmured, “There are some things you can’t fight.”

And there are some situations you just can’t escape. No matter what.

She knew this was one of them.

Her lids fluttered open. Her gaze landed on his lips, so close to hers.

It’d been forever since she’d kissed a man.

Nikki had always loved kissing. She missed it.

Terribly.

Desperately.

Especially when the man standing before her was the only one she’d wanted to kiss since Conner.