“I already have,” she said flatly. “I wasn’t impressed.”
He almost laughed out loud at that. He knew he could be frankly terrifying, and a good little pro bono lawyer like Jenny Parker would never be stupid enough to underestimate him, but he had to give her credit for at least trying to appear unmoved.
“That the kind of fairy tale you tell yourself when you’re trying to go to sleep, Parker? Trust me, this big bad wolf has teeth, and if you’re half as smart as I think you are, you’ll watch your step.”
“And do what? Not have nightmares? I’m afraid that’s out of my control.”
“Not out of mine. You start to dream, I’ll feel it, and I’ll distract you.”
Her eyes flew open in sudden alarm. “What do you mean by that?”
“Whatever you want it to mean, gorgeous. I can think of a dozen ways to distract you, most of them pleasant.”
“Pleasant?” she echoed. “You call sex pleasant?”
“Who said I was talking about sex?”
That shut her up as a wave of color swept up he
r face. Even in the murky darkness he could see it, and it took all his self-control not to smile. She was so damned easy to play when it came to sex. She was a total opposite from the women he liked to fuck. He wanted partners who were comfortable, knew how to get what they wanted, and made no excuses. Parker was like a semi-virgin, and she’d seemed almost shocked by her climaxes last night. If he didn’t think it was just wishful thinking, he’d have guessed she’d never had an orgasm with a partner.
Though why should it be wishful thinking? He didn’t give a shit about Parker’s sexual past or future—it was the present that interested him. The present he had no intention of taking advantage of. “Go to sleep, Parker,” he said finally. “Tomorrow’s going to come much too soon, and we’re going to have a long day.”
She grabbed the change of subject like a lifeline. “What are we doing tomorrow?”
“Finding your little lost chickadee and the smartphone she stole.”
“She didn’t . . .”
“I’m not interested in arguing, I’m interested in sleeping. Unless you have something better in mind? No? Well, then, shut up and close your eyes. I’ll keep you safe.”
Now why did he say that? He shouldn’t give a shit whether she felt safe or not. But bottom line: he did. No matter how annoying, how troublesome, how deceptive she’d been, he felt responsible for her, not just for her bodily safety, but for her peace of mind.
And she believed him. He could feel the tension drain from her body, feel her soften against his, making him even harder. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and the soft fabric of the T-shirt was simply temptation personified. Too fucking bad for both of them—sex was off the table for tonight, and if he could hold to his resolution, for the future as well. She was different from the women he fucked, and he’d liked it. He just wasn’t going to get used to it.
“Are you always such a bastard, Ryder?” she murmured sleepily.
“Yes. Go to sleep.”
She did. He lay beside her, awake, watching over her, until the dawn light filled the room.
Jenny felt when he left the bed, and it took all her self-control not to cling to him. She opened her eyes in the murky light. “Where are you going?”
“Hunting,” he said.
“For food, or for the Guiding Light?”
“Just checking out the lay of the land. I want to find the smartphone and your little friend and get the hell out of here before things get dicey. Sleep some more—it’s very early.”
“And rebel guerillas don’t get up early?”
“These ones are fat and lazy. They’re not out for government reform, they want money, and once you lose your idealism you start sleeping late.”
“Does that mean you’re still idealistic?”
His laugh was humorless. “I never was. I just don’t need much sleep. You, however, are better off staying in bed. Once I find a trace of La Luz, we’re going to have a long day. And don’t worry about snakes—they’re solitary predators, and I killed the local one.”
“Did you have to say the s word?” she said with a sleepy shudder.