Want Me (Dark Obsession 2)

She’d have him drop her at the hotel. Because if they went back to his place, Sophie was afraid her control wouldn’t hold. She had one serious weakness.

Dangerous men. Fierce lovers. He was both.

No, it was better not to spend the night with him. Better to just get the guy to leave her at the sanctuary of the ritzy room she’d reserved and just not walk down that particular dark road.

She knew how destructive desire could be.

“This way.” His fingers took hers. Laced with her hand as if they were lovers just taking a stroll down the road. To onlookers, that was probably exactly what they appeared to be.

She didn’t pull away from him, though she did think about it. His soft laughter told her he knew, and he held her hand even tighter.

They stopped at the street corner. It was just the two of them, no one else close by while they waited for the light to change. She could see his car now, on the other side of that road. He’d lucked out and gotten a prime spot.

“I think you have the wrong idea,” Lex said, his voice low and intimately close. He’d bent his head, and his breath brushed lightly over her cheek.

She wondered if he was about to kiss her again.

She wanted him to.

“What idea is that?” Sophie asked him, aware that her own voice had gone husky. Sensual.

“You think I’m a gentleman. But, sweetheart, nothing could be further from the truth.” His gaze was on her mouth. “And I sure do excel at dirty.”

I don’t think you’re a gentleman. I know the truth about you. It was way too hard to breathe. His mouth was so close. She wanted his lips on hers and—

“The light’s changed.”

What? Oh, crap. Damn him. Now he was looking all confident and cocky. She jerked away from him and started marching across the street. His laughter followed behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder, glaring, and saw that he was trailing a few steps behind her. “Funny, Lex, very—”

The roar of a car’s engine cut off her words. Her head jerked to the right and she saw a big, black SUV barreling toward them. Coming far too fast.

She screamed, an instinct, but in the next moment, Lex’s rock-hard arms were wrapping around her. He lunged forward, holding her tightly against him, and they seemed to fly through the air as that vehicle raced right past them, close enough that she could smell the rubber from the tires and feel the heat of its engine.

Then she and Lex were tumbling onto the cement. He took the brunt of the fall, cushioning her. Sophie’s breath choked out as she struggled to shove her fear back down.

Someone nearly ran us down! Right here! In front of the courthouse!

“You’re not hurt.” Lex’s voice. His hands ran frantically over her back, her arms, her legs.

“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not hurt.” But she could have been. They both could have been. She looked toward the street. When Lex had grabbed her, he must have dropped her briefcase. Notes and papers littered the road where they’d been just moments before.

Moments.

She looked back down at Lex and realized that she was straddling him. When had she gotten into that particular position? Voices rose around them as others realized what had happened and rushed toward them. “You saved my life,” she said.

He smiled that dangerous grin and he sat up, but kept a hold on her so she couldn’t slip away from him. “Guess what?”

Was he serious?

His fingers curled under her chin. “There is no fucking way you’re staying alone in a hotel tonight.”

Then he kissed her. Hard. Frantic. Angry.

“Because he won’t hurt you,” he growled against her lips. “He won’t.”

Chapter Four

She hadn’t argued again about the hotel. Lex figured a little hit-and-run could sure change a woman’s mind. But Sophie had insisted on stopping by her place so she could pack a bag. Lex had stayed by her side while she packed, not about to let any other danger come her way, then he’d raced them to his place.

A few moments before, Lex had lit a fire in his den. The flames crackled and danced, and Sophie stood just a few feet away, her gaze seemingly fixed on the fire.

He didn’t have a place directly in DC. His home was just outside of the city, situated for premium privacy. He didn’t like nosey neighbors. Didn’t like others in his space. They were secluded at his place. Secluded and… “You’re safe.”

She jumped, and he wondered if she’d actually forgotten that he was there. But then Sophie shook her head. “Safety’s an illusion. We tell ourselves that we’re safe every day, but we’re not. Danger is always out there.”

Danger had come far too close that evening. Close enough that the cement had torn through his clothes and scratched up his arms. When he’d heard that growling engine, he’d jumped toward her. Nearly fucking flown in his haste to reach Sophie.

In that one moment, he’d been afraid. Terrified that he wouldn’t get to Sophie in time.

As a rule, he didn’t normally fear. But because of Sophie, he’d felt the acid of fear eating at him twice within the last few months. That evening and also weeks before, when he’d found her crumpled body inside her brownstone.

“It’s a good thing ADA Eastbridge showed up on the scene,” she said, rubbing her arms.

Bullshit. There was nothing good about that guy.

“He’ll check the traffic cams for us. Hopefully, we’ll get a hit on the driver.”

Not if the driver hadn’t wanted them to track him. It was all too easy to steal a car and use that vehicle for your crime of choice. DC was filled with people. Too many people equaled plenty of opportunities for evil.

“I like your place,” Sophie said as her gaze stayed on the fire.

His brows shot up. She liked this? “It’s stark.” He should probably put some pictures on the walls. Maybe hang up a painting. Put down one of those expensive-ass rugs. Decorating had never been big on his to-do list. Her place, though, it had been fancy. Like something out of a magazine.

“You’re stark, so it fits.”

Was that an insult? He wasn’t sure.

“Warm and solid. Strong.” She glanced around her. “Wood furnis

hings, leather. A giant TV. Looks like a man’s paradise.”

With her there, it was.

“I should go to bed,” Sophie said as she shook her head. “It’s not like I slept much last night.” She turned and faced him.

“You’ll be safe here.”

“I know.”

He pointed to the hallway on the right. “Take the first room.” His room. The only one with a bed because he didn’t exactly have a lot of guests. He’d bunk down on the couch and try not to imagine her stretched out in his bed.

She started to walk by him. He hated to say it, but… “You didn’t tell me that you and Finn Scott were lovers.”

She kept walking. Headed for the hallway. “I don’t remember you asking.”

He locked his knees so he wouldn’t follow her. “I need to know all of your lovers, Sophie. If someone is obsessed with you, obsessed to the point of breaking into your home and coming at you with a knife, then it could be—”

“A man I fucked?” Now she did look back at him. But the only light in the room came from the fire, so shadows hid her expression from him. “It’s not like I had any deep, lasting relationships with my lovers. I don’t have deep relationships.”

“Finn seemed quite dedicated to you.”

“Because he was a lover once, but a friend much longer.”

Once?

“I didn’t tell you that I’d slept with him because I wanted you to be able to make your own judgment about him.” She seemed to hesitate. “Do you think Finn would do something like this to me?”

“I think the guy has a whole lot of anger issues, and I think he might not have clued in on the fact that he isn’t lover material for you any longer.” That damn photo had gotten on Lex’s nerves.

She laughed. “Oh, you’d be surprised. Finn knows me well.”

What was that supposed to mean?

She turned away, obviously done with her little share time. But Lex wasn’t done, not even close. So much for standing firm and not following her. He headed after her, and caught Sophie just before she entered his bedroom. “If you want my help, then you need to tell me everything about yourself. I need to know the names of your lovers. I need to know who they are so I can investigate them and make sure one of those bastards isn’t running around with a knife—or driving a black SUV and trying to mow us both down!”