Page 25 of Hot for Hostage

“Well, don’t do that again.”

She huffed. “Don’t leave me behind again.”

A shiver racked her body, and the distance between us ate at me. I reached out slowly before nudging her to face me and pulling her close. Sadie didn’t even hesitate before burrowing her head into my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her small frame. My hand rubbed up and down her back, her muscles as tense as a loaded spring.

“You shot him,” she whispered, voice muffled against my chest.

My hand paused before trailing back up her overalls. “I did.”

“That gun was really loud.”

“Yes. No doubt it drew some attention. We’ll need to leave as soon as they bring Bear back.”

“You don’t think they just took off?”

That’s exactly what they would do, but Shane and Malcolm had already slipped out the front of the garage to follow them. “I’m giving them thirty more seconds before we get out of here. Fessy won’t like what happens if I need to come back.”

Another shiver rattled through her, and I tightened my hold. I liked the feel of her in my arms a little too much.

“You didn’t even flinch,” she said, her voice small.

“Hm?”

“You shot that kid and didn’t even react,” she muttered against my chest. “It all happened so fast, but you kept a straight face the whole time.”

I traced my thumb along her spine, enjoying her soft intake of breath. “There’s a reason I’m the one you came to for help, Sadie. I handle things.”

She burrowed into my chest just the slightest bit more. “That was really scary.”

“Scaring you is the last thing I want,” I admitted as my hand flattened against her lower back. “Now, are you still mad at me, or are we good?”

She tensed in my arms before pulling back, brow furrowed. “Why wouldn’t I be mad? You tricked me! And you left me behind.”

“I didn’t want you getting mixed up in this. It wasn’t safe.”

“I can handle myself.” She frowned, stepping fully out of my arms. I raised an eyebrow at the discarded broom, and she made a face. “Whatever. It wasn’t your place to decide that for me.”

It was my turn to stare at her. “Sadie, you took mehostage. Are you really upset because I turned the tables?”

Her lips parted, and she blinked like she’d completely forgotten she’d pulled a gun on me just this afternoon. She cleared her throat as her cheeks turned an appealing shade of pink. “Okay, that’s fair. I might be a tiny bit of a hypocrite. But it was different when you left me behind, because I thought we were partners then.”

That was… the last thing I’d expected her to say. “Partners?”

“Yeah.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Partners in crime. Or crime-fighting? One of those. But ignore that. It was silly of me to assume.”

The things that came out of her mouth never ceased to amaze me. This girl thought of us aspartners? Her self-preservation instincts really were broken.

It made me want to take advantage.

“No, it wasn’t silly at all.” I stifled a smirk. “Partners it is, then.”

Her answering smile was slow to take, but quickly grew into the sweetest thing I’d ever seen—and my gaze lingered on it. I had the strongest urge to pull her back into my arms and find out what those two irresistible lips tasted like.

But all thoughts of kissing flew out the window when a giant beast sprinted around the corner of the garage—headed straight for us.

Falling back on my reflexes, I shoved Sadie behind me and pulled out my gun.

hellhound

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