Page 64 of Zero Hour

His heart sank even as he knew she was right. The madness that had possessed him had passed, even if his body hadn’t got the message yet.Thatwas impossible to hide.

“Okay,” he said, his voice gruff with restraint. “You’re right. Get some sleep.”

And with that, he turned and walked out.

Because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t leave at all.

CHAPTER 23

Shit. Why had she said that?

It had felt so right in his arms, so raw and consuming, that she hadn’t wanted him to stop.

Not ever.

She paced the room, restless, the air still thick with the scent of him, the taste of his mouth lingering on her lips. The hunger inside her hadn't waned. If anything, it had intensified.

A slow, liquid heat spread through her chest, down her stomach, pooling low, deep in her core. One kiss—that was all it had taken to make her ache for him. But in her defense, it had been a hell of a kiss.

Tender, yet filled with unspoken passion. A promise of what might be.

She exhaled sharply, peeled off her clothes, and draped them over the chair before slipping under the cool sheets. The scent of fresh linen filled her senses, but beneath it, faint and intoxicating, washim. The thought of Patrick stripping the bed for her, of his big, capable hands tucking the corners, sent a delicious shiver through her body.

For all his intensity, his battle-worn, warrior presence, there was something deeply considerate about him. It was in the wayhe looked after his team. The way he spoke to Izzy, flustered but gentle. The way he had shieldedherwith his body, risked his operation, his men, everything—for her.

That was a dangerous kind of man. The kind who made a womanfeelthings.

And, God help her, she liked it.

She always had.

It was a mystery why she’d married Adam—intellectual compatibility, maybe. But there had been no heat, no passion. No hunger that burned in the pit of her stomach and made her breath hitch at just the sight of him.

No, she had never felt anything remotely close tothis.

Patrick could undo her with a look. He’d melted her with his kiss, sent her spiraling into a need so deep she couldn’t think straight.

And now?

She wanted more.

Andshehad been the one to pull away.Idiot.

Her fingers curled into the sheets.Carpe diem, Jasmine. Isn't that what they say?

Tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed. If Amir found her—or, worse, found Ryan—her life might be over.

Why waste this? Why deny herself the chance to be with someone who made her body sing, who made herfeel alive?

Slowly, she pushed back the covers and got out of bed.

Her heart pounded as she scanned the room, her gaze landing on a shirt draped over the wardrobe handle. She picked it up and slipped it over her head. It was too big, falling just past mid-thigh, and when she lifted the fabric to her nose, her breath hitched.

It smelled ofhim.

Warm. Masculine. Undeniably Patrick.

A slow heat curled in her belly.

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