by Erika Wilde
Her legs turned to rubber, and her heart thumped hard and fast, pumping with a need that was almost painful. He hadn’t touched her physically, so why did she feel as though he’d caressed her intimately with his hands, from breasts to thighs?
She managed a smile, along with a stubborn tip of her chin. “Then it looks like you’ll be attending the affair solo.”
He lifted a brow at the subtle challenge in her tone, but before he could say anything more, or seduce her completely senseless with his eyes and voice, she slipped past him. Shaken, she made her way back to the bar, asked Gina to deliver Bobby’s bottle of beer, and received the okay from Murphy to leave for the evening.
She headed to the storeroom to get her jacket and purse, grateful that her shift was over. And so very disappointed that she couldn’t bring herself to say yes to Noah.
CHAPTER TWO
“Better luck next time, buddy,” Bobby said, and slapped Noah’s back in a show of sympathetic male camaraderie.
“I wouldn’t count on it.” Noah pulled his gaze from where Natalie had disappeared down a short hallway to the storeroom, certain his luck wasn’t going to improve anytime soon where she was concerned. “Melodie put a curse on me, and I’m beginning to think she’s a true witch.” His tone was wry, but the words his soon-to-be sister-in-law had spoken to him months ago haunted him now.
Bobby chuckled and continued their game of pool, sinking a striped ball into the side pocket. “Why do you say that?”
Thrusting his fingers through his thick hair, Noah alternated his gaze from his friend to the back hall, waiting for Natalie to reappear. “One day a while back when Melodie was trying to get my brother’s attention, she took her frustration out on me. Not only did she call me a rake, but she also said she hoped I’d find a woman I absolutely had to have, and that woman makes me work for her affection.” Some woman who’ll reform you and your playboy ways, she’d added.
His stomach knotted at the recollection. At the time he’d been amused with Melodie’s comment and had responded with a teasing “It’s a novel thought, isn’t it?” But now that he was in that exact situation, trying to get the attention of a woman who aroused and intrigued him beyond his normal span of interest, his predicament wasn’t so funny.
Natalie had gotten under his skin and kept him coming back to Murphy’s on a regular basis. For months now he’d flirted with her, trying to coax her into a date, but she always turned down his invitations, despite the subtle longing he’d seen shimmering in her eyes. Initially, he’d been baffled because no woman had ever resisted his advances for so long, and admittedly his male ego had taken a direct hit. Then she became a challenge to him, and now an obsession.
One he couldn’t seem to shake.
And at the moment, his aroused body was making that fixation known. Just standing near enough to touch and kiss her had made his blood run hot and his dick tighten in awareness. It had taken every ounce of willpower not to taste her parted lips, and judging by the desire he’d seen flash across her features, he knew she hadn’t been immune to their close proximity, either.
Undoubtedly, he was highly attracted to her, but it was more than just her incredible body and their sizzling chemistry that drew him. While she was outwardly intelligent, gorgeous, and sweet, there was more to her than met his trained eye, a vulnerability he’d glimpsed a time or two. She was very private, very reserved. And there were emotional barriers she’d erected that gave him the impression she was hiding something deeper than feigned disinterest.
“My game.”
Noah turned around and frowned at Bobby, who was grinning triumphantly. “Huh?”
“The game’s over. I won.” His friend leaned a hip against the pool table and shook his head. “Man, you really do have it bad for her if you can’t concentrate on a game of pool.”
It would be ridiculous to deny the obvious, so Noah didn’t even try.
Bobby jutted his chin toward the front of the establishment. “She’s on her way out, Romeo. Here’s your chance to impress her with your chivalrous charm and open the door for her—which in turn might open the door for you, if you know what I mean.”
Noah certainly did. “Thank you, Dr. Phil,” he joked, and made his way to the front of the bar, beating Natalie to the entrance by three paces. He opened the door for her, and she glanced up at him in startled surprise.
She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder and smoothed her hand along the jacket draped over her arm. “Are you leaving, too?”
“Sure am.” He waved his hand for her to precede him, then followed, falling into step beside her on the sidewalk, welcoming the cool evening breeze on his too-warm skin. “Actually, leaving the same time as you is a shameless ploy to walk you to your car.”
Abruptly, she stopped, a frown marring her brow, though there was no denying the awareness in the depths of her eyes. “I can make it to my vehicle on my own just fine. I don’t need an escort, Noah.”
“I didn’t say you did,” he replied gently, trying to put her at ease and lighten the moment between them. “This is solely for my pleasure.”
Her tense shoulders loosened up, and the corner of her mouth twitched with a hint of a smile. Still, she hesitated, seemingly divided between letting him accompany her or telling him to get lost.
Not wanting to lose the ground he’d just gained, he opted for a bit of humor. “You know, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t bite.”
She visibly shivered and slipped into her lightweight jacket. “Oh, yeah? How can I be so certain of that?”
She was eyeing him in a way that was more playful than suspicious, and he took his cue from her. “Because if I did bite, I would have taken a nibble or two out of you by now.” Without thinking of the consequences, he reached out and lifted her dark, shoulder-length hair from under the collar of her jacket.
Her breath caught as his fingers slid through the warm, silky mass at the nape of her neck and his thumbs grazed the soft skin beneath her jaw. Time seemed suspended as their gazes met, hers reflecting a flare of heat that burned through his veins. People walked past them, but he was oblivious to anything but her.
It was the first time he’d touched her in any way, and the connection was inherently intimate and wholly sensual. Her lips were parted, and he ached to pull her into his arms, lower his mouth to hers and claim the kiss he’d forfeited earlier in the bar.
As if sensing his intent, she stepped back, and he automatically dropped his hands away and cleared his throat. Before she could flat-out turn him down again, he lightly grasped her elbow and ushered her toward the parking lot, which was located across the street from Murphy’s. “Come on, I’m walking you to your car, and I’m not taking no for an answer so don’t waste your breath arguing.”
She relaxed and smiled, and they walked by the other storefronts along the street to the intersection.
“You know, we could consider this nice, casual stroll to your car a first date,” he suggested, only half joking. He’d take a date with her any way he could get one.
She thrust her hands deep into her jacket pockets and slanted him a sly look. “Ah, so you do have an ulterior motive other than seeing me safely to my car.”
“A very harmless motive, I swear.” He held up his hands and attempted to look innocent. “We could head over to Starbucks and get a coffee and just talk about the weather if you’d like.”
An incredulous burst of laughter escaped her. “The weather? Are you serious?”
He shrugged and winked at her. “I wouldn’t want our first date to be too personal.”
She chewed on her full bottom lip, looking torn, then said, “Noah, I can’t.”
The light at the intersection was red, and Noah pushed the button to give them the right of way, unwilling to give up on her so easily this time. “Not even one coffee? I promise no hand-holding or kissing.”
That made her smile again, but her next words shot down his hopes. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got a big
test on Monday I need to study for.”
“We could have a study date,” he suggested. “There are a few things I’m really good at teaching.”
“I’m not going to touch that one,” she murmured huskily. Hearing someone approach from behind, she glanced over her shoulder briefly, then back at Noah. “You don’t give up, do you?”
Something in her expression had changed in those few seconds, and there was now a troubled glint in her eyes that caught his attention, but he didn’t understand its source. Wanting to soothe her sudden anxiety, he picked up her hand and drew a lazy pattern on her palm with his index finger. “I’d give up if you told me to get lost and meant it.”
She stared at him, then shook her head, sending her hair brushing across her shoulders. “You’re way too—”
“Irresistible?” He graced her with one of his enticing grins that never failed to score him extra points with the opposite sex.
The light changed to green, the cars on the street stopped, and they stepped off the curb to cross, severing the contact of their joined hands. “I was thinking more along the lines of persistent.”
He laughed. “Hey, I do have a few faults.”
She seemed distracted enough not to hear or appreciate his attempt at humor. The footsteps behind them sounded closer, and this time when she looked behind them, Noah saw her stiffen, then she hastened her steps.
He lengthened his stride to keep up. She’d piqued not only his concern but his PI instincts, and he glanced back, too, and saw a man about ten yards away, wearing a sweatshirt, jeans, and a baseball cap. The lighting in the area was adequate, but the bill of the cap cast a shadow over half his face. The hairs on the back of Noah’s neck prickled with awareness, and every investigative intuition he possessed came to full alert.
By the time they reached the other side of the street, she was nearly jogging, trying to escape a danger he didn’t understand. His only thought was to grab her to keep her close and make sure she felt safe with him. Whatever had set her off, there was no way he’d let anything or anyone harm her.
Latching onto her upper arm, he forced her to stop. The street lamp overhead illuminated the sheer panic etched on her face, and he felt her tremble in fear. His gut tightened in unease. “Natalie, what’s wrong?”
Her gaze shifted over his shoulder to whoever was approaching them, and her complexion paled. “Oh, God, No!” she said on a helpless moan and tried to tug her arm free from his grasp so she could bolt.
He refused to release her, knowing in her near-hysterical state she wasn’t thinking straight and could hurt herself. He wanted to shake her out of her stupor but didn’t want to scare her even more. He decided on verbal force. “Dammit, Natalie, talk to me!” he growled in a low tone.
“It’s him,” she said on a soft, keening cry, her eyes wide and filled with alarm.
She wasn’t making any coherent sense, nor was she giving him any information he could act upon. “It’s who?”
She shook her head frantically, and gripping his shirt in her hands, she pulled him into a small alcove built into the back doorway of a shop.
Stunned and confused by her abrupt action, he braced his hands on the door behind her to catch himself before his body slammed into hers. “What the hell’s going on?” He turned his head to get a better look at the person who’d sent her into such a tailspin, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and fisted her fingers tight in his hair, which kept him in place.
Her eyes pleaded with him to help her, to do as she requested. “Just kiss me,” she demanded in a hoarse voice.
Before he could say another word, she crushed her soft lips to his.
CHAPTER THREE
For as many times as Noah had fantasized about this moment with Natalie, he’d never once imagined he’d be kissing her during a crisis. Neither had he expected her to be the aggressor. No, he’d always envisioned their first kiss as a slow, sensual, erotic exploration. Him coaxing her passion to the surface at a leisurely pace, and her gradually surrendering.
This reckless embrace went beyond a sweet, lingering kiss and went straight for fast, deep, and blistering hot, as well as wild and consuming. She clung to him as if she wanted to crawl into his skin and be a part of him, plastering her soft, lush curves along the length of his body in a way his long-denied cock couldn’t ignore. The fingers she’d thrust through his hair flexed for a better hold and she angled his mouth for greater pressure, sealing their lips so tightly he was certain he’d bruise her.
She didn’t seem to care. Desperation poured off her in waves as their tongues mated in a wild, illicit dance of seduction, despite the danger he sensed around them. He tasted her panic, felt her fear, even as she kissed him with an erotic intensity that left him reeling. And every time he tried to pull away she grew more frantic, which in turn increased the depth and heat and friction of their mouths and bodies.
He didn’t like having his back exposed to whatever element had frightened her, but he’d never in his life been held with such force and need by a woman—a woman intent on either using him as a diversionary tactic, or a shield to protect her from harm. He swore he’d keep her safe even as he fought the drugging pleasure of having her so willing and eager in his arms.
Christ. Her feverish kiss and their intimate embrace sent conflicting signals through his brain and body. His muscles were tensed and braced for action, yet he was hard and aching where his erection pressed against her belly. He groaned low in his throat as desire mingled with arousal, and he struggled with wanting this, wanting her, but knowing the circumstances were all wrong.
It seemed an eternity had passed, though in reality only a few seconds had ticked by, when Noah finally gained the upper hand and pried her lips from his, then pulled her arms from his neck. She whimpered at the loss of contact, her entire body shaking uncontrollably. She was breathing hard, and tears of despair shone in her bright, wide eyes as she looked up at him.
He pressed two fingers to her still-damp lips to keep her quiet until he got a better feel for their situation. “I won’t let anything hurt you,” he promised in a low, gravelly voice.
Keeping her covered with his body, he leaned back and peered around the alcove to see if there was anyone waiting for them. He saw a few pedestrians strolling along the sidewalk, but not the guy in the baseball cap who had seemingly set her off.
He returned his attention to Natalie, needing to know what she’d seen and what had threatened her so badly. But first he had to calm her, and he tried to do so by rubbing his hands along her arms. “Nobody’s there, Natalie. You’re safe with me.”
“I’ll never be safe.” Her voice caught on a hysterical sob as she shook her head wildly. “He won’t go away!”
She pushed at his chest, shoving him away, and the unexpected assault took him off guard and he stumbled back a step. This time she eluded his grasp, and before he could intercept her she was dashing back across the street toward Murphy’s. The signal at the corner was red, and he yelled at her to stop. She didn’t listen, just kept running to escape.
From what, he still didn’t know.
He started after her, cursing at his inability to control the bizarre situation and her rash actions. Before he could reach the street, an oncoming car slammed on its brakes to avoid hitting her. But the driver was going too fast, and Natalie wasn’t paying attention.
He watched in horror, shouting a hoarse warning as the vehicle skidded long and hard, striking Natalie just before the car came to a jarring stop. The impact sent her flying, and she landed on her side a few feet away, her dark hair tousled around her head, her arms at an awkward angle, and her body completely lifeless.
Stunned, Noah raced furiously toward her, yelling at the people pouring out of nearby shops and eateries to dial 911 and get an ambulance there immediately. He dropped to the ground beside her, mindless of the sharp pain that shot through his knees. Mindless of anything except the churning in his gut and the metallic taste of fear in his mouth. H
e pressed two fingers to the pulse point at her neck and exhaled a sigh of relief when he felt a thready but noticeable beat. She was alive, and that’s all he cared about.
A crowd gathered around him, and the driver made his way to Noah’s side, babbling about not seeing her in the street until it was too late. Ignoring him, Noah gently eased Natalie to her back and began a check for injuries, running his hands from her shoulders, down her arms, and along her thighs and legs. Opening her jacket, he skimmed his fingers over her collarbone, ribs, and hips, and found nothing obviously broken.
Her jacket had protected her from getting any scrapes along her arms, but she had a nasty cut on her cheek oozing blood that hopefully wouldn’t leave a scar. Her face was drained of color, her lips were white and cool to the touch, and she looked so fucking vulnerable.
“The paramedics are on their way,” someone called from behind him.
Grateful for that bit of news, he held Natalie’s slender, cold hand in his bigger, warmer one and silently urged the ambulance to hurry.
“Police coming through,” a deep, distinct voice ordered. “Please step back from the injured party.”
Bobby’s authoritative tone reached Noah, and he glanced up to see his friend flashing his badge and doing his best to make the throng of curious onlookers back away to give them breathing room. When Bobby saw that it was him, he immediately hunkered down beside Noah.
“Oh, shit, it’s Natalie,” he said, sounding as shocked as Noah felt. “I had no idea. We heard the accident from inside Murphy’s and I came out to see what happened. Is she okay?”
“I’m not sure,” Noah said, hating that he didn’t know more. “She’s out cold and hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”
Automatically, Bobby tested the arteries in her wrist. “She has a pulse, so that’s a good sign.”
