Which is why he’d come prepared with a syringe filled with a heavy sedative.
He hefted Jaci’s limp body and ignored the way her tight skirt rode her thighs and exposed entirely too much leg. His grip tightened on her body, but otherwise, he kept his gaze sharp and wary. His only intent was getting her to safety. Besides, he didn’t need to see what he could plainly remember.
Nathan had no trouble recalling those long legs or those full breasts. Hell, they were imprinted on his brain, likely seared into his soul. He remembered with painful clarity the way her green eyes lit up with laughter and how she had a tendency to chew her lip when worried. He’d memorized every line of her body, every frown line in her forehead.
He flashed back to the taste of her flesh in his mouth, the sound of her breathy cries when she’d reached her climax.
Oh, yes, Nathan’s recollection was crystal clear in that regard.
The memories of their time together fueled his nightmares and teased his dreams.
He hadn’t left her behind because he’d lost interest; he’d left her behind to save her.
And yet trouble had gone looking for her just the same.
Someone wanted her dead.
Because of him.
“I’m sorry, Jase,” he muttered, laying her gently in the backseat of his car. “I never wanted my life to come after you. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Fat lot of good his apologies and grand gestures did them both now. An innocent woman was dead and Nathan was going to have to convince Jaci to let him protect her until he could find other means.
Well, by the time the sedative wore off, they’d be long gone, deep into the Los Padres high country.
And there wasn’t much she’d be able to do about that by then.
She was going to be pissed—but alive.
That’s all that mattered.
ISBN: 9781460318720
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The Missing Colton Page 27
