Free Dark Defender by Alexis Morgan Page A

didn’t remember how it felt to have that hard body of his stretched out beside her.
    “You woke me up whimpering in your sleep. The only way I could quiet you so I could get some sleep was to cuddle you.”
    He said “cuddle” as if the very idea was repugnant. Was touching her so awful? He certainly hadn’t seemed to think so yesterday when he kissed her at the hospital.
    Before she could respond, he marched into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.
     
    The shower ran for a solid twenty minutes. Blake’s duffel was sitting on the desk across the room; how long before he came out for his clean clothes and shaving kit? Long enough for her to rifle through it, she decided, though she didn’t know what she was looking for. Answers, sure, but he wouldn’t have left anything lying around that would be of much help—he was too smart and too secretive for that.
    Rather than risk his ire, she’d keep her hands to herself. Maybe she was being naïve, but she had to trust someone. The police certainly hadn’t endeared themselves to her, with their prying questions and the false reports they had leaked to the press about her father.
    She picked up the duffel and set it outside the bathroom, then rapped on the door. “Blake, here’s your bag. I thought you might want it.”
    He mumbled something that may or may not have been “thanks.” She backed away, figuring he wouldn’t open the door as long as she was standing there. Did he think she was trying to get a quick peek of him, naked and still damp from his shower? Whoa, she did NOT need that image in her head. Just that quickly, her breasts felt heavy and her nipples stirred and hardened, aching for a man’s touch—Blake’s touch. How would that stern mouth of his feel, nuzzling or suckling them? Her hand strayed toward the knob on the bathroom door and she jerked it back.
    It was bad enough that every time she stared into those silver gray eyes of his, her entire body sat up and took notice. Giving into a bad case of lust was the last thing she needed right now. She’d had such an awful crush on him the whole time he’d lived with them, except when she was hating him for putting up with all those girls who hung on his every word in high school. She had known that they had been attracted to his air of danger even then. Hadn’t it bothered him to know that while they were willing to sneak out to be with him, none of them wanted him knocking on their front door?
    No doubt it had been one of them who had introduced him to that little roadside park. Not that she was jealous. Well, maybe a little bit, but hot sex on a picnic table was not exactly one of her fantasies.
    The click of the bathroom lock snapped her back to the present as he stepped out surrounded by a cloud of steam. Blake’s white T-shirt clung to his torso, clearly outlining every one of his lean muscles. His jeans looked as if they’d been bought for comfort rather than style. The soft, faded denim suited him, and the small hole at the knee made him look more approachable.
    But it was his bare feet that made her annoyingly aware of him as a man. There was just something about a man walking around barefoot that she’d always found sexy.
    He reached for his socks and shoes. “Let’s settle up our bill and get out of here. The less time we spend in one place, the better. I also need to change cars, because rentals are too easy to trace.”
    “Sounds like a plan.” She reached for the bags with her hospital gown and the few things he’d bought for her. “And then we’ll talk.”
    He didn’t look happy, but he didn’t argue. “Yes, we’ll talk.”
    They each did a last sweep through the room to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. When she started to open the door, he held it shut with his hand. “But there’s something you need to think about, Brenna.”
    “And what’s that?”
    “Before you starting asking questions, make sure you really want to hear the answers.” Then he