Free Primal Passion by Mari Carr Page A

over her experiments,
analyzing data, plotting out her next day’s course. She jokingly
told Curtis she did her best thinking in bed and the shower. He’d
told her that was a sad state of affairs. She didn’t understand why
he felt that way at the time. Now she did.
    She rested her head on Price’s shoulder when
he shifted to his back and snuggled closer.
    Then she fell asleep.
     
    Deni opened her eyes, surprised by the bright
sunlight filling the room. Typically she woke before dawn, anxious
and ready to start the workday. She’d slept hours later than
normal.
    Heavy breathing coming from both sides
reminded her why. Glancing to her left, she saw Price sacked out on
his back, one arm thrown above his head, the other lying across his
chest. Her dark, dangerous-looking warrior appeared almost
peaceful. The sheet drifted low, only covering him from the waist
down. She was tempted to lift it, to peek beneath to see if he was
hard. She resisted, too afraid she’d wake him.
    Looking right, Gunner lay on his stomach, his
face turned toward her. His jaw was covered with a shadow of a
beard, and she realized she’d never seen him looking anything less
than completely put together. She preferred this version of the man
with his mussed-up hair and scruffy beard. He was real.
Handsome.
    Hers.
    Deni needed to get a grip. Needed time to
figure out what the hell she was supposed to do now. It would be
too easy for her to disappear into these men, into this unusual,
but highly addictive relationship. She squeezed her legs together,
relishing the slight ache in her muscles.
    She should have taken a bath last night.
Indulged in a nice long soak to clear away the confusion and clean
up the stickiness. They’d all fallen asleep immediately following
their orgasms.
    She sat up slowly and carefully made her way
to the bottom of the bed carefully so she didn’t wake them up.
She’d get a shower, get dressed—in the same damn jeans and
T-shirt—then head over to the lab. A few hours away from the hotel
and Gunner and Price would give her time to put her thoughts
together.
    Deni tiptoed to her room and locked the door
behind her. She didn’t trust her men not to follow her, to take her
plans and toss them out on their ear. After her shower, she pulled
her hair into a ponytail, got dressed and threw her shoes on. She
listened through the door but didn’t hear anyone.
    With any luck, Gunner and Price would sleep a
while longer. She knew what she was doing was dangerous, but she
needed to get back to the lab. Her heart raced as she grabbed the
keycard and headed for the door to the hallway. If she could just
make it to the lab safely, she’d talk to the director about beefing
up security. God, she would never do anything so stupid if she
weren’t at such a vital place in her research, but it couldn’t be
helped. She needed to go.
    She opened the door and then gasped, jumping
back. Price leaned on the doorframe.
    “Going somewhere?” he asked.
    She narrowed her eyes. “Work.”
    He shook his head. “Bad girl.”
    “Dammit, Price, I told you last night I
needed—”
    “I told you,” Price interrupted, “that you’re
not going anywhere for the next couple days. And after that, you’re
not walking around without either Gunner or me with you. Someone is
trying to kill you, Denise.”
    She rolled her eyes and tried to play off
what she knew was a real and present threat. “Don’t be dramatic.
Everything so far has just been scare tactics, nothing more.”
    Price scowled and walked into her room,
pushing her farther in with each step.
    Yeah. That didn’t work.
    Price closed the door behind him but didn’t
stop until he’d backed her against the bed. Deni, unable to retreat
any more, sat. Price towered over her.
    “I hardly call a bomb a scare tactic. It was
a serious threat, and if you refuse to treat it as such, then
perhaps Gunner and I need to change our approach toward protecting
you.”
    She didn’t like the sound of