Willing
Page 27
If you liked this Lucy Monroe book,
you’ve got to try the others in her
READY, WILLING, AND ABLE series…
READY
Writer Lise Barton is used to coming up with wild
scenarios for her characters, but the one that’s playing
out for her right now is no fiction. Someone is stalking
her, someone who knows where she lives and what she
does—who’s even threatened her family. To protect
them, she packs up and leaves Texas for the anonymity
of Seattle—where it starts all over again…
Joshua Watt’s mission is simple: Bring Lise home for
Thanksgiving or he’ll never hear the end of it from his
sister. He’s spent months trying to foget the taste of
her lips, but the minute he sees the fear in Lise’s eyes,
the former Army Ranger takes control. His mission:
Protect Lise and try to keep his personal feelings out
of it. Because if there’s one thing he’s learned,
it’s that sex and work don’t mix. So far…
A crash came from inside the apartment. Then silence. He knocked again, louder this time.
Again there was no response.
He called out her name, but absolutely no sound came from the apartment.
Had she fallen and hurt herself? She wasn’t always completely aware, and he’d seen her walk straight into a wall when her eyes were hazy with a certain look she got.
His fist against the door made it shake within its frame.
Still nothing.
He surveyed the locks on the door. They were too basic to be of any real use at keeping out the criminal element. He didn’t even hesitate.
He had the door open faster than if he’d had a key.
A slight whoosh of air to his left sent him into immediate battle-ready mode. Reflexes honed by six years in the Army Rangers and a decade spent as a mercenary took over. He swung toward the faint sound, his hand coming up to block the blow.
He grabbed the poker before it connected with his head and had his assailant in a headlock before he realized it was Lise.
He tossed the cast-iron poker aside and spun her to face him, her dark blond hair flying around her face. “What the hell are you trying to do?”
Big hazel eyes stared back at him with a glazed look he’d come to know all too well in his profession.
Terror.
Her breath came in shallow pants and her sweatshirt-clad arms were trembling.
What the hell was going on?
“Why didn’t you answer the door?”
Her mouth moved, but nothing came out.
He shook her gently. “Speak, Lise.”
Her eyes blinked and then filled with tears.
“Damn it.” He hauled her against him and wrapped his arms around her.
He’d really frightened her when he forced his way into her apartment. He hadn’t considered that possibility when he picked her locks. He should have.
She was a small-town Texas girl living in the big city.
Obviously, she hadn’t acclimated well.
Her body shook against him and he felt like a real heel.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, little one.”
Lise’s fingers were digging into his shirt, holding the denim so tight, he’d lose the shirt before he lost her grip. She pressed her face into his chest as if she was literally burrowing into him.
“Joshua?” It was the first recognizable sound she’d made in over a minute.
“Yeah?”
“What are you doing here?”
“You told Bella you weren’t going to Texas for Thanksgiving.”
Lise shuddered. “No. I’m not going.”
She didn’t sound like she had a cold. Her usually soft voice was strained, but not in a way that could be caused by a scratchy throat.
He rubbed her back.
It just seemed like the right thing to do.
She responded by relaxing her hold on his shirt just the tiniest bit. He kept it up, talking to her in the same tone of voice he’d used to calm the little boy he’d liberated on his last mission. He used similar words, too, telling her it was all right, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her, that she was going to be okay.
It took almost as long as it had taken him with the boy before she relaxed enough to step away from him. When she did and he got his first good look at her face, he winced.
He’d seen snow with more color than her skin, except the purple bruises under her eyes. Her bow-shaped mouth trembled.
“Lise, you don’t belong in Seattle.”
“H-how…” She blinked, made a visible effort to gather herself in, and her quivering lips formed words. “How do you figure that?”
“It’s pretty damn obvious to me you aren’t settling into city living. You get an unexpected visitor and you’re practically crawling out of your skin.”
She shook her head and laughed hollowly. “Trust me, moving back to Texas won’t help.”
“Why not?”
“My problems travel with me.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
She didn’t answer, but this time he didn’t wait around for a reply. He propelled her gently toward the bedroom. “You can tell me about it on the plane. Get your stuff together. We’ve got an eight o’clock flight.”
“No.” She twisted from his guiding hand and stopped, wrapping her arms around herself, covering the Dallas Cowboys logo on her sweatshirt.
“I can’t go, Joshua.” Her southern drawl was very pronounced, her voice on the ragged edge of hysterical.
“Why not?”
She swallowed and looked away from him, her body stiff with stress. “I’m afraid.”
“Of what?”
“I don’t want my family hurt because of me.” Her eyes were both pleading and wild. “If I go to Texas right now it could put them all at risk, even little Genevieve.”
He bit back an ugly word. “Explain.”
“I’m being stalked.”
AND ABLE
Claire Sharp trusts few people and relies on no one.
But after her life is threatened, ex-mercenary Brett
Adams blows into her self-contained world, full of
southern charm and rugged good looks. But Claire is
not about to fall into Brett’s bed. For one thing, the
guy has a no-commitment clause that would stump
most big-shot attorneys, and for another, despite her
response to his sensual kisses, in Claire’s experience
sex isn’t exactly fireworks and brass bands…
Brett plans to prove her wrong. He’ll give her a white-
hot pleasure like nothing she’s ever known, and she’ll
realize that some things in life are worth every risk.
When the threat to Claire grows dangerously close, pit
ting them against deadly odds, Brett will do whatever it
takes to save her. Because Claire Sharp has just found
herself a man who’s ready to bring it on, willing to do
what it takes, and able to go the distance…
The lion inside him was looking at her through his darkening blue eyes and the expression was one of a lethal predator deciding how best to devour his prey. “I know you tried to forget it, but you besmirched my honor and you need to do something to make up for it.”
“I do?”
“Uh-huh.”
How’d his face get so close? “Wh…” She had to clear her throat. “What do you mean?”
“I think a kiss would do it.”
“What?” Kissing was the best part of sex, she supposed, but that wasn’t saying a lot. So why did the prospect of locking lips with Hotwire sound so darn exciting?
“A kiss, Claire. You know what a kiss is—when a man and woman—”
She covered his mouth to stop the
tantalizing words. “I know what it is, smarty pants, but why would you want one from me?” That was her fantasy.
And as she’d just reminded herself, fantasy was well and good…acting on it was not.
He licked her palm and she jerked her hand from his mouth.
He smiled that devil’s smile that always sent her insides jumping. “Because you’ve offended me and now you must make up for it.”
“You’re crazy. Nitro and Wolf offend you all the time. I don’t see you kissing them.”
He smiled, his eyes so full of sensual suggestion, her knees went weak. “My friends are not beautiful women.”
“Well, neither am I,” she said sarcastically.
“There you go, besmirching my honor again. My mama would be appalled at your opinion of my veracity.”
She wasn’t going there. “You don’t expect Josette to kiss you when she offends you.”
“I would prefer not to end up in a fight to the death with Nitro. He’s a scary son when he’s riled.”
“You’re not afraid of anyone or anything,” she scoffed. “Josette told me stories.”
Something moved in his eyes and for a second she saw the mercenary who had gone into war-torn countries to bring out hostages. His was the face of a man who had killed, and would do so again, if it was necessary to preserve the safety of those he had committed to protecting.
But just as quickly as it surfaced, the look disappeared, and Hotwire’s blue eyes burned with sexy challenge. “I want a kiss, Claire…are you going to give it to me?”
“Sure.” She went up on her toes, intent on bussing his cheek.
He turned his head just enough, though, and her lips ended up pressed lightly to his. She didn’t open her mouth, but she didn’t pull away immediately like she’d planned to, either. She hung there, suspended by the connection between their mouths, her body humming with excitement. One second the kiss was soft and light, and the next he yanked her against his hard, male body and his mouth slammed down over hers with definite intent.
He took her mouth with the skill and power of an invading army…or one very formidable mercenary.
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Copyright © 2006 by Lucy Monroe
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