How did this happen? I was walking home, and those men just grabbed me. I kept trying to tell them they had the wrong woman—no one would listen! No one would help me!
“I’ll give you an hour,” Elizabeth promised him. She rose onto her toes and pressed a light kiss to his lips. “If you…if you let me go.”
His body stiffened even more against her, as if he were locking his muscles.
“Please…”
He shook his head. Terror squeezed her heart. She kissed him again. More frantically, wild now because this was her only hope. He was her ticket to freedom. They’d ditched the others, and now she just had to deal with him.
A growl built in his throat, and his hand tightened around her wrists. “Be careful,” he warned her.
She didn’t have time to be careful. Her tongue licked over his lips and—
He kissed her back. His mouth parted, and he took control. His lips were demanding on hers, his desire obvious in the way his tongue thrust into her mouth and the rising bulge in his jeans that she could feel shoving against her. His right hand curled under her chin, and he tilted her head up so that he could kiss her even deeper.
“Fucking taste delicious,” he bit off against her mouth. “So sweet…” His tongue swept past her lips again. He shifted his stance just a bit as he tried to get even closer to her.
And that was just what she’d been waiting for. Elizabeth’s knee came up in a fast and brutal hit. She made perfect contact because his pained grunt filled her ears and his grip eased on her hands. Elizabeth tore away from him and she ran as fast as she could.
Don’t fight?
Don’t scream?
Don’t run?
She opened her mouth and screamed as loudly as she could. Oh, hell, yes, she was going to scream. She was going to fight. She was going to run. There was no way she’d just die easily.
His footsteps pounded behind her. Her bare feet hurt as she ran over that rough street. She’d lost her high heels when those jerks grabbed her outside of her apartment.
She turned to the left. Saw only another alley waiting. But music was blaring in the distance, a Latin beat, and she knew that music meant people. If she could just get there, she’d survive. She’d find real help and not just—
“Freeze.”
She’d finally found light. A weak street light that fell down on the man before her. A man who was holding a gun.
Elizabeth froze.
She could hear the sound of Saxon’s thudding footsteps growing closer.
The man with the gun—she couldn’t see much of his face because the light was behind him. He was big, with shoulders nearly as broad as Saxon’s. And his hold on that weapon wasn’t wavering.
Could this night get any worse for her?
Saxon’s hands closed around her shoulders.
Yes, the night just got worse. So much for her run at freedom.
“The rules were simple.” Saxon spun her around to face him. “Were you trying to piss me off?”
“I was trying to stay alive! I was trying—”
“I don’t have time for this shit.” That voice belonged to the man with the gun. “Saxon, get her in the van and let’s get the hell out of here.”
Wait—no. No, that guy could not be working with Saxon. But…but Saxon had just tossed her over his shoulders like she was a sack of potatoes. She punched him. She kicked, but it didn’t matter. In about three seconds, Elizabeth found herself in the back of a van, with Saxon right at her side.
“Move an inch,” he told her, voice flat, “and I’ll tie you up.”
She stared up at him as she tried to fight the panic that clawed at her insides. “Why? Why are you doing this to me?”
The other guy was up front. He’d just cranked the engine. “Someone will take care of your bike, Sax.”
Saxon grunted. “You owe me so much for this one.”
“You got the confession, and you saved the girl. That’s win, win,” the driver said as the van took off.
What? She inched back against the side of that van.
“Stop,” Saxon ordered her. His hand closed around her shoulder. “My balls are blue, so I’m not in the mood for your shit right now.”
And she wasn’t in the mood for this nightmare. “You can’t kidnap me! The cops will find you! They’ll toss you in jail and they—”
Saxon was laughing. She decided that she hated his laughter.
“I’m not kidnapping you, sweetheart. I’m saving your gorgeous ass.” He caught her chin in his hand once again. “Maybe you can thank me for that later.”
Saving her?
“Yeah, you’re fucking welcome.”
And the van kept driving hell fast into the night.
Chapter Two
Saxon kept a close eye on the blonde when they pulled up to the little no-tell-motel on the outskirts of Miami. She hadn’t said anything else during the drive. Definitely not the “Thank you” that she should have offered considering that he’d saved her life. And she sure hadn’t apologized for kneeing him in the balls.
He hadn’t seen that one coming. It wasn’t often that Saxon was caught by surprise, but when the sexy little tease had been pressing her body to his so temptingly and offering him the sweet heaven of her mouth, he’d dropped his guard. Stupid mistake—thinking with his dick instead of his brain, so the bit of pain had been earned.
He’d be sure not to make another dumbass mistake like that one again. No matter how pretty the lady was. Besides, she was about to become SEP—someone else’s problem. And he was going to ride off into the sunset. Hello, new life.
Good-bye, dark past.
He had too many ghosts dodging his steps. It was way past time to start fresh some place new. He’d been counting down the days to this new life. Saving money. Planning every spare minute to turn his dreams into reality.
“Keep a hand on her,” Victor Monroe ordered as they headed toward the motel. Victor had already gotten the room for them. In a place like this, no questions would ever be asked. Privacy was a given.
Saxon kept a close hand on the woman. It was still dark outside, but as soon as they entered the little motel room and Victor flipped on the lights, the blonde whirled to stare at them both with her freaking amazing eyes. The greenest eyes he’d ever seen.
Her gaze darted between him and Victor, and he knew that neither one of them looked reassuring.
And he still had his hand on her.
“Ms. Ward,” Victor began in his smooth, I-Can-Take-Care-of-Shit voice, “I realize you’ve had a terrifying night, but we’re here to help you.”
She swallowed. And didn’t look reassured.
Maybe she’d try to knee Victor in the balls, too. That would be fun.
But when she backed away, retreating nervously, Saxon dropped his hold on her. There were two doors in that place. One led back to the parking lot. One led to the room next door—but if she tried to make a run for that connecting room, he’d be on her in an instant. Quite simply, there was nowhere for her to run.
“I-if you want to help me,” she said, “call the cops.”
Saxon liked her voice. Husky, rich. It made him think of tousled sheets and naked skin.
“Ma’am,” Victor drawled, “we are the cops.”
She blinked.
“I’m FBI Special Agent Victor Monroe, and this…” He waved his hand toward Saxon. “This man saved your life tonight.”
Saxon pulled up his shirt. The wire was chaffing him. He tossed the shirt aside and felt her eyes on his chest. He looked down and saw the small black wire and the black tape in the middle of his chest. With a quick yank, he tossed the wire at Victor. “Guessing you got everything?”
“My men will have Kurt Taggert in custody by dawn.”
Damn straight. Then his work was done. Hello, freedom. No more changing his hair color every few months for the undercover jobs, no more lies as he spent his days with the worst criminals in the U.S. Paradise is waiting for me.
&
nbsp; He rubbed at the back of his neck, pushing away the tension there. When he looked up, Elizabeth’s eyes were on his chest. His lips quirked.
“You…you had on a wire?” Her gaze rose to meet his. “You’re FBI? I-I don’t believe it.”
Well, that was just insulting.
Victor slowly closed in on her. He pulled out his ID and offered it to Elizabeth. “We’re quite legit, Ms. Ward.”
Her shaking fingers closed around the ID, but she didn’t look away from Saxon. “Why didn’t you say something to me?”
And when should he have done that? “Before…or after I busted you out of The Blade?”
“I-in the alley. When we…when you—”