Page 30 of Hot for Hostage

Reality crashed back, and I froze in Davian’s arms. My cheeks flamed as I tried to pull away, but he kept a firm hold on me, unbothered by our audience. His gaze remained glued to my mouth, and when he let go of my neck to trace his thumb over my lower lip, I couldn’t fully suppress a shiver.

That didn’t escape Davian’s notice, and one side of his mouth slanted up. “What are you thinking about?”

My tongue peeked out to wet my lips, and it just barely caught the edge of his thumb. Davian’s eyes flashed, making me smile. Only one thought raced through my mind.

“I’m thinking I want to kiss you again,” I admitted.

His gaze heated in a way that made my toes curl, and Bruno was the last thing on my mind when Davian’s mouth met mine again, in more of a tease than a kiss.

“What areyouthinking?” I murmured against his lips.

He trailed slow, lazy kisses to the corner of my mouth, and my heart stuttered.

“I’m thinking I should take you hostage for dinner tomorrow night.”

A laugh escaped me, even as my cheeks heated again, and I pulled back far enough to squint up at him.

“But I thought you said hostages were only taken as a security measure to make someoneelsedo something?” I said, throwing his earlier words back at him.

His answering smirk did funny things to my stomach. “The term’s grown on me.”

Well, then. I cleared my throat before beaming at him. “I think I can pencilgetting abducted for dinnerinto my schedule.”

can’t deny it

. . .

Sadie

Sadie’s Guide toHostage-TakingBeing Taken HostageForming a Partnership with Your Hostage, Tip #10: There may come a time when your hostage kisses you. Enjoy it. And if your hostage offers you a ride home, it’s only polite to accept. Carpooling is good for the environment.

I couldn’t deny it anymore. I was hot for my hostage.

Davian Reed had helped me rescue Bear. He’d put those teenage thugs in their place. And he’d kissed me like he was desperate for air. If someone had told me yesterday that I’d be making out with my hostage in the middle of an ice cream shop, I would’ve called them crazy.

But that’s life, I guess.

One minute you’re stopping a group of teenage thugs from vandalizing a dog shelter, and the next you’re imagining doing dirty things with the bad-boy mafia prince you held at gunpoint.

…Or maybe I’d accidentally slipped and hit my head on the oven door while baking again, and this was all a concussion-inspired dream.

Either way, I was ready to roll with it as Bear and I climbed into the back of Davian’s dark SUV after finishing the replacement ice cream Bruno had given me. Davian moved to follow me, but no matter how spacious the backseat was, there wasn’t enough room for all three of us to sit across it. Bear lay across two seats, and Davian would fill the space with his presence alone.

“You can sit on my lap,” Davian offered like it was no big deal. Heat washed up my neck at the suggestion as I tried to scooch an unmovable Bear across the seat, and I was sure my cheeks were bright red.

Sit on hislap? Was he crazy?

“That can’t be crash-test approved,” I blurted. It was the first excuse I could think of that didn’t involve my newfound obsession with his lips on mine. “I can sit… somewhere else. Safety first, right?”

But both guys from the car wash were already sitting up front. The back row of the SUV was tucked into the floor and covered by black duffle bags. Bear took up two seats on his own.

There wasn’t anywhere else for me to sit.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.” The promise in Davian’s voice rolled a shiver down my spine.

Well.

Screw safety.

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