by Mia Petrova
Chapter One
Daniel Alexander’s trained eye told him when someone was being stalked. Especially when that someone in particular made his blood rush to that special spot bellow his belt.
Daniel sat inside a coffee shop with his hot drink when he first saw her through the window. The woman crossed the street, with a big cup of coffee in her hand while her long brown hair blew in the wind.
She looked normal but for some reason, she fascinated him. Even though she wore a black overcoat, he could see that she had all the right curves beneath her clothing. She was a woman in every definition of the word— and he wanted her.
The second time he saw her, while he sat at the counter, she came into the coffee shop, as though she hadn’t a care in the world.
That was the moment he realized someone was stalking her.
Her stalker stared at the woman with such intensity that Daniel instantly got a bad feeling in his gut. Maybe it was from his military training, but he felt the need to protect her.
The mysterious woman who made impossible things happen to his body, stood up. Because his eyes followed her every move he saw her purse bump into her cell phone that rested on the table, and fall to the floor.
“Damn it,” she cursed and rolled her eyes as though it was just one more thing to add to a bad day.
Daniel hurried over, reached down and picked up the cell phone off the floor.
The moment her hazel eyes found his, they looked into each other’s eyes. His mouth felt dry, his palms began to sweat and his breathing became erratic.
“It’s still in one piece,” he said as he handed it to her.
For a few seconds she just stood there, gazing at him as though he was someone from another planet. He took that time to study her. She had incredible eyes, and her lips were full, lush and beautiful. What he wouldn’t give to touch her hair, brush his fingertips against her skin and kiss those lips.
He felt lost in her presence, but then she smiled, and revealed a dimple on her right cheek. Then, Daniel couldn’t breathe.
“Thank you so much,” she said with the voice of angel that enthralled him completely.
Embarrassed by a situation he’d never been in before, Daniel gave her his best smile, trying to get her attention to his lips and not to the erection that outlined his jeans.
The woman smiled back, and then reached for her phone. Their fingers touched briefly, but it was enough for him to feel her skin. Daniel saw her lips part and she took in a long breath.
It wouldn’t take much for him to kiss her. She was as tall as he was.
“I-I’m Quinn,” she stuttered between a sweet and shy smile.
God, he wanted her. It took all his strength not to take her in his arms and carry her far away from the threat of harm.
“Daniel,” he said, and gave her a small smile in return.
He watched Quinn take a lock of her wavy hair and push it behind her ear. How he wanted to be the one to do that.
“You’ve been here before. You look familiar.”
It was difficult for him to think when she watched him with those mesmerizing eyes. “Yes. I’m here every day after work, so…” Daniel had to put his hands into his pockets otherwise he would touch her.
Daniel had many skills he’d learned from his military training and assessing a person’s expressions and other details about them were among them. Sometimes the ability was too much for him, when he saw what other’s missed. However, at other times, like that moment, he gladly took it all in.
Daniel noticed the way she tried to control her rapid breathing, the way she couldn’t stop moving her hands and the way her cheeks blushed with an amazing shade of pink. He guessed she must be his age, in the early thirties.
“Yes, that’s it. And I’m here every day on my break from work,” she said with a smile on her face. “Speaking of,” she glanced at her watch. “I’m already late.”
Daniel saw her gaze shift to nowhere specific, her expression went blank and serious as though her mind had drifted away. But a few seconds later, as though it had never happened, she returned her attention to him and smiled. Right then, Daniel realized that something bothered her, that she carried a heavy weight on her shoulders.
“I hope to see you tomorrow,” she murmured as she turned to leave.
Without thinking, Daniel’s hand flew from inside his pocket and reached for her, taking her hand. Quinn let out a surprised gasp the moment their skins touched. Daniel had to swallow his own. Her skin was smooth, pleasant and soft.
Daniel carried her hand to his lips, then gently and slowly kissed it. “You’ll definitely see me tomorrow, Quinn.”
Blinking as though in surprise, she took her hand back. “Tomorrow, then.”
Daniel watched her go, and tried his best not to follow. When Quinn was around, he couldn’t think of anything else besides her. The moment she entered a building across the street, he noticed that her stalker also was looking at her. The man was going to be there until her shift ended, he felt sure, to stalk her once again.
This time, Daniel would be the stalker. He would stalk Quinn’s threat until he eliminated it.
****
Quinn Maxwell could hardly breathe when she entered the elevator that would take her to her office. Did that really happened? she thought to herself. Because men like Daniel usually didn’t give her a second look. The “see you tomorrow” comment was just to be polite; she knew nothing would happen between them. But then, he took her hand and kissed it and God, what she’d seen was something she’d never seen in a man’s eyes before—hunger, lust, and deep sexual desire.
Quinn considered herself to be pretty, sure. She could be described as cute, adorable and girly. She’d recently switched from wearing pants to knee-length skirts. She’d gained some weight over the past few months, which caused a catastrophic change in her wardrobe.
She was accustomed to second looks from cute boys, but Daniel wasn’t a boy, he was a man. Just thinking about him kissing her hand with those desirable lips made her blood rush through her veins. She could suddenly feel the weight of her breasts beneath her overcoat, begging to be touched by Daniel’s large hands.
They were almost the same height, but their likeness stopped there. Even though he wore a leather jacket, she knew his arms were large and firm, just like his broad chest. He had a nice build. His style was simple, but he had an authority to his voice— his perfect, husky voice. His hair was short, so short she wouldn’t be able to slide her fingers through it even if she wanted to. His eyes were dark, immense, and held so much promise that it made her knees feel weak. She felt overwhelmed in his presence. He was so marvelous and divine that he should’ve had a supermodel glued to his body. But somehow, he seemed interested in her. She found it hard to believe.
Swallowing hard, she composed herself when the elevator’s doors opened to her floor, the fifteenth. Quinn was a lawyer. When she stepped into her working environment and headed to her office, she felt a little safer. Being outdoors right now didn’t feel good.
Quinn had put a lot of criminals behind bars, and sometimes, when some of them left prison, they came straight to her. It had happened only once before, but now she had received a threat via e-mail. She didn’t know who it was, or even if it was real, but she felt uneasy. She thought about going to the police, but her problem seemed so small compared to what they had to deal with on a daily basis, she tried to put it behind her.
Her working hours were insane, so insane that she couldn’t even buy a new pair of black pants to wear to work. Her skirts felt too tight and wearing high heels didn’t help her problems.
Quinn was exhausted; when the clock reached eleven p.m., she felt glad to head home to sleep in her comfortable bed. Cold wi
nd blew her hair when she left her building and walked to her car parked somewhere nearby. She crossed the street while the darkness and odd shadows made her feel uncomfortable. She crossed her arms, hugging her body in a failed attempt to feel safe.
Then, she heard someone yell her name and all hell broke loose.
Chapter Two
Daniel stayed in the coffee shop for a few hours, watching Quinn’s stalker stare at the building across the street. When night came, he thought the mysterious man might be giving up, but he only stood and headed to the bathroom. When he returned, the man ordered another cup of coffee.
At eleven, the man shifted in his chair, and Daniel saw a woman appear through the dim streetlights. When he saw that it was Quinn leaving her building, his heart jumped. Her stalker stood up and was out the coffee shop doors instantly, with Daniel right behind him, but he didn’t cross the street when the guy did. He stayed parallel to Quinn.
When the stalker slid his hand inside his jacket, Daniel knew something was going to happen. He yelled and ran in Quinn’s direction.
“Quinn!” He tried to draw her attention before it was too late, but when she turned to him, a gunshot sounded through the dark and cold night air.
Daniel wrapped his arms around her and dropped them to the ground. They landed hard behind a car, a lucky move since it hid them from the stalker across the street. Another bullet went flying, breaking the car’s window, which sounded the alarm.
Daniel shielded Quinn from head to toe, his entire body covering her own. He could feel her shiver and a few gasps of horror escape her lips.
When Daniel heard shot after shot fired, he didn’t know if this was only meant to scare Quinn, or if the stalker’s plan changed because he intervened.
He tenderly pushed aside the hair that hid her face. “Shhh, everything’s gonna be okay,” he whispered through the loudness of the shots.
In total, Daniel count nine shots, then silence. He heard heavy footsteps, but not toward them, toward the left. The stalker was getting away.
Daniel made a move to go after him. “Please, don’t,” Quinn said, pushing him back to where he was, holding her. “Don’t leave me.”
“Everything’s fine now, sweetheart,” Daniel whispered in her ear. “You’re safe with me.” He saw her nod while a few tears ran down her cheeks. Her body trembled and the hand that still held his shook.
He didn’t know how long they stayed on the ground, in that same position. Daniel held her tight, with his arms around her middle, his fingers tenderly brushed her hands that were glued to him, his breath on her ear, but when the first sound of sirens reached his ears, he moved to get up. This time, Quinn allowed him to stand. When he saw the state the car that shielded them was in, a chill ran through his body.
Daniel was so lost in all the possibilities running through his mind that he didn’t even notice when Quinn stood beside him.
“Oh no. My-my car,” Quinn stuttered.
He returned his attention to her, and what he saw upset him. Her hair was a mess, there was dirt on her face, her overcoat was dirty and she could hardly stand in her high heels. And still, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life.
“Quinn.” The moment he said her name, her gaze returned to him. While her eyes glowed with unshed tears, Daniel brushed his fingers on her cheeks, wiping the tears and dirt off her gorgeous face. “Are you hurt?”
Her hands wrapped tightly in his shirt. “You–you saved my life,” she whispered sweetly, giving him a small smile even though she’d just been put through hell.
Daniel dropped his hands to her waist, and pulled her to his warm chest. “Are you?” he repeated, the question burning in his mind.
It took a moment for her to answer with their lips mere inches apart. “I’m fine, I’m…Oh, my God.” Her breath quickened and Daniel saw her hand stained with blood. It took him a second to realize it was his own. “You’ve been shot. You—“
Panic registered on her face. He saw it begin to overwhelm her. “The bullet barely grazed my arm, it’s nothing,” he interrupted her.
“How can you say that? You were shot because of me. You’re bleeding. We’ve got to get you to a hospital,” she almost shouted.
They didn’t have to move much, however. The police had arrived, and so did the ambulance. He vaguely wondered who called them.
*****
Quinn couldn’t stop shaking while she talked to the police. Yeah, she should have called them the moment she’d read that threating e-mail. She knew that now. And because of her, Daniel sat in an ambulance while the medics tended to his bullet wound. It was indeed minor, as he’d said, but a wound nonetheless. It upset her to see him hurt by saving her life.
“It’s probably better if you stay with a family member or a friend,” the police officer said as he wrote in a small notebook. “We can offer police protection if you prefer.”
“There’s no need, officer,” Daniel said “I’ll protect her,” he said in a strong voice. Quinn felt his hand rest on the small of her back. Her breathing quickened as her heart began to pound against her ribs. Even the smallest touch from him made her body react.
The fact that he said he’d protect her, stunned her.
They left the police at the scene and walked toward Daniel’s car. “We can’t go back to your house, he might be there just waiting for you to come back.” His words made her shiver. “Do you want to stay with your family?” he asked, still with his hand on the small of her back, touching her, protecting her.
“My family doesn’t live in Seattle,” Quinn told him sadly.
“Friends?”
She shrugged. “Don’t have time for them.”
“Boyfriend?” Quinn noticed that his jaw clenched when he said the word.
She chuckled. “If I don’t have time for friends, I surely don’t have time to meet up with guys.”
They reached Daniel’s car. “You’ll stay with me, then,” he said and opened the car door for her to get in.
Quinn thought she should say something but she was left breathless when she watched him pass in front of the car. He opened the door, sat in the driver’s seat, and in seconds they were already on the road, far away from where she’d been shot at.
She could hardly believe it actually happened to her, but she had bruises on her knees, and her right side still hurt from the impact of hitting the concrete.
“I hardly know you,” she said when the silence seemed to go on forever.
“That didn’t stop me from protecting you. And it will hardly stop me now,” he answered without taking his eyes from the road. The way he said those words, as if he knew she was in danger, made her heart jump.
“You knew something was about to happen,” she murmured, and he nodded. “How?”
“I go to that coffee shop every day after work, Quinn. And every time you entered, that man was behind you, stalking you.” She swallowed hard. “I know what you’re thinking.”
Quinn sighed, not believing what he’d just said to her. “That’s exactly it, Daniel, you don’t know what I’m thinking. If you knew, you would’ve told me. You didn’t. Instead, you got shot.” She didn’t know why she felt so angry with him.
Someone was stalking her? She should have noticed that before those shots were fired. Quinn buried her face in her hands.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” she heard him say in barely a whisper.
“Why?” she asked in a muffled voice.
“What?”
She looked up and couldn’t stop the emotions that threatened to take over. “I said why. Why did you save me? Why is it so important to you to protect me? The police offered to do it.” Quinn didn’t want to sound rude, but that’s how it came out. Her heart thudded in her chest, as she didn’t know what would happen next. “Is this where you live?” she asked, when Daniel stopped the car in front of an apartment building.
She looked out the window, trying to distract herself from what he might sa
y. He would say he was sorry and take her home she thought.
But, strangely, that didn’t happen. Quinn gasped when she felt Daniel’s touch on her cheek. She turned to him and found he was much closer than she realized. Then his hand dropped to her neck, making all kinds of shivers go throughout her body. She found it hard to breathe, when he got even closer, the space between them growing smaller by the second.
The moment his lips brushed against her own, Quinn thought she was dreaming, because only in dreams did these things happen— almost killed and then kissed by the most incredible man she’d ever met, all in one night? Sure, that happened to everyone on a daily basis.
Daniel brushed their lips a second, then a third time, before he pulled away. “Does that answer your questions?” he whispered in the silence of the night.
With half-closed lids, she simply nodded as she couldn’t form any words. She felt as though she’d just run a marathon.
Daniel pulled away and before Quinn could protest, left the car. In less than five seconds, he was opening her door.
“Yes, this is where I live,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Quinn wanted to wipe that smile off his face, but then she got a view of his jeans when she was about to leave the car. He was fully aroused, just like her. For that reason only, she tried leaving the abrupt ending of that simple kiss behind her. It was difficult though, especially when Daniel once again rested his hand on the small of her back.
Quinn felt impossibly attracted to Daniel, aware of every movement he made and aroused by the simplest of caresses. She was in deep trouble. She could feel it with every breath she took.
Chapter Three
Daniel felt aware of every breath she took. He sensed she felt intrigued with their union, scared even. Why, he didn’t know. Was it because she thought he would leave her? Her fears he didn’t know, but he knew she was aroused when they entered the elevator to his floor and apartment.
The attraction was mutual. He felt the sexual attraction in every word they exchanged, every touch and every look. It was difficult to keep it locked inside. His balls felt trapped inside his jeans while his erection desperately wanted to be free. Daniel noticed the moment Quinn saw the bulge between his legs. It was entirely her doing, from being so damn sexy, beautiful and soft.
