Chasing Danger Read Free Page A

thinking.
    “Okay. Are you hungry? We’ll go anywhere you pick.” He’d only recently located to the NSA’s covert Miami branch, so he was still getting familiar with the local spots.
    She straightened her shoulders, watching him intently. “I want to go to a hotel.”
    “What? Why?”
    She stepped closer and he immediately widened his thighs so she could move in between them. Unable to stop himself, he loosely grasped her hips. Oh yeah, this was where she belonged, in his arms.
    She placed a hand on his chest, and for the briefest moment, her eyes went heavy lidded. “You really need me to explain it to you?”
    God, she smelled so good. The citrusy, exotic scent of her perfume teased him; even in the midst of everything else surrounding them, it invaded his senses. And her natural, underlying scent, which was pure Hannah, drove him crazy. “I don’t want to take you to a hotel.” They could go to her place or his, now that he had actual furniture. He wanted her in his bed, on his sheets.
    “Take it or leave it,” she murmured. She stepped back a fraction and his grip automatically tightened on her hips as panic punched through him.
    He didn’t want her walking away, and he had the feeling she’d do just that if he made one wrong move. “Why not go back to my place? I can cook for you.” Or order takeout, more likely.
    “I’m not in the mood to eat.” Her gaze dipped to his mouth and his blood pressure shot upward.
    “I don’t want . . . just sex.” God, was that really him talking?
    She pressed lightly against his chest with her delicate fingers and stepped fully out of his light embrace. “Well, maybe I do.”
    Her uncharacteristically bold words made him blink, but he saw that same hurt flicker in her gaze that he’d seen before, the emotion fleeting. He wanted to know what she was thinking, get inside her head. Going to a hotel with her was no hardship, especially since it was clear what she wanted, but he wanted a hell of a lot more than just sex from her. “I’ve already paid my tab,” he said, sliding off the bar stool.
    “Me too. I just need to grab my purse. Meet me at the front.” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and strode away from him, her very sexy ass swaying as she headed back to her table.
    * * *
    Hannah looked at Dax’s broad back as he slid the hotel key card into the security pad of the door. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing here, but she knew she needed to get the man out of her system.
    The sex couldn’t have been as good as she remembered. It absolutely
couldn’t
have. She’d taken one look at him the first time they’d met and it was like her body had just erupted into a ball of heat and hunger. And she’d felt the strangest sense of being safe around him, despite the fact that he’d just up and disappeared two weeks ago.
    She knew her emotions were on a roller coaster, and she had enough self-awareness to recognize that her kidnapping a year ago had left her feeling vulnerable and uneasy in normal situations. It was one of the reasons she’d forced herself to go out tonight. She needed to get over her fears, and going to a familiar place with friends had been safe enough. Still, even though she’d been trying to deal with it on her own, she felt as if she was failing miserably. When she’d been with Dax, that had all changed. She’d started to feel like her normal self again, had felt so damn connected to him and truly safe with the man.
    Safe.
    She’d felt it all her life, wrapped up in the protective bubble of her family and her own insulated world, until a year ago. She’d never told anyone, not even Sophie, how much being kidnapped had affected her. Well, she’d told Dax, had opened up to him, surprising herself. And that was like Relationship 101; don’t over-share too soon. But she had. She’d felt like she could.
    Then he’d disappeared. She really wanted to believe that he’d been unable to contact her, but