Free Surviving Seduction by Maia Underwood

down.”
    Selena took it from him with mixed feelings. It was a fine and rare item. If this type of weapon was old fashioned, the materials used to make this one were quite the opposite. It almost looked like a machine. Its former owner was one of their enemies, and she had used her sling in battle to bring him down. He would have certainly kil ed one of her friends if she hadn’t done it, but the act stil weighed heavily on her. To add to that, she’d disobeyed Dan’s orders at the time, bringing her closer to harm’s way to help them. He had been furious.
    “Consider it a trophy,” he urged, reading her hesitation.
    She was surprised, considering how angry he’d been at the time. Perhaps he was forgiving her, or simply recognizing how wel she had done, despite her recklessness.
    She nodded, shaking off any negative feelings that she associated to it. This weapon was a treasure.
    “Have you tried it?” she asked, smiling up at him tentatively.
    “Oh yeah,” he answered, his eyes lighting up.
    She tested the string. It didn’t move.
    “Jesus,” she muttered, repeating the effort with al her strength to no avail. “This thing can be adjusted, right?”
    He nodded, suppressing a chuckle. “We’l deal with that later.”
    She nodded and set it down gingerly.
    “And this Jack?” he asked, his piercing eyes studying her soberly again.
    She had almost forgotten what they were talking about.
    “He’s mischievous, but that’s al I can say.”
    “That’s not what I meant,” he said, stepping in close and peering down at her intently. “Has he done anything I should be upset about?”
    “No,” she told him honestly, her stomach fluttering in response to his scrutiny, his closeness and his concern.
    “Has he said anything I should be upset about?”
    Selena hesitated and knew that this alone would answer Dan’s question. He waited.
    “He said … that I was beautiful and it seemed like I didn’t know it,” Selena answered grudgingly. It was a strange thing to repeat. “He wanted to know more about me, but I told him to mind his own business.”

    He eyed her seriously for several moments. She couldn’t tel if he was bothered about their decision. He hadn’t revealed his feelings on anything so far. She realized she was wringing her hands and forced herself to stop.
    “Wel , we know he’s not stupid,” Dan said. To her surprise, he took her face in his hands.
    The sensation of his touch was electrifying, especial y because it was unexpected, and he’d made her wait so long for it. He leaned down and lifted her chin so he could press his mouth to hers.
    Selena loosed a breath and grasped his arms to steady herself. It felt so good to touch him, she thought dizzily.
    The kiss was not quick. He moved his lips against hers earnestly.
    “Wait,” she gasped, pul ing her face away. “You haven’t told me what you think. Did we make a mistake?”
    His arms wrapped around her when she tried to step back. He pul ed her against him.
    “We can talk about that later,” his low voice assured her as he trailed his lips along her neck.
    The questions she’d wanted to ask faded away, along with her need for reason. When he took her hand and led her to his bed, she didn’t resist.
    He laid her down with a determined look in his eyes and climbed atop her, then studied her face as though he were rediscovering al its contours. His scrutiny made her nervous, as always, and her heart beat faster as he reached up to run his fingers against her lips. She was surrounded by his body and felt besieged by an overwhelming intensity that she’d almost forgotten as he centered al his focus on her. The abruptness of his seduction heightened her senses, and her lips tingled unbearably as he trailed his fingers over them again and again. When she could take no more, he lowered his face to hers and indulged himself in her lips as though she had always been his.
    She remembered something and stiffened, whimpering as she tried