Page 6 of Under Control

He just wasn’t in a place to give it to her.

Focusing, he remained deep in battle mode and bent forward to take off her skates.

As he indelicately yanked her socked foot out of the hard skate, it occurred to him that maybe she wasn’t just scared of the shadowy threat, but maybe she was also scared that she’d been kidnapped.Maybe she thinksI’mthe bad guy?Taking a second to work through the problem, he moved to kick off his skates as well, then pulled on the well-worn black casual shoes he kept in the back.

“I think we were being watched, buteverythingis going to be fine,” he grunted at her.

The last words were both true and false. It had been wrong for him to guarantee her safety. He wanted her to be all right, but he didn’t know for sure that she would be.

“We’ll take you home.” He sat back up, studying her.

“No,” she wheezed, the dazed look in her face worsening. “Please, just let me go. Let me out.”

She’s going to fucking pass out.

Carrick instantly reached over and took the thick sweater from her, tossing it across the back seat. He leaned in to triage her but found another problem—the tank-top-clad form that had been hiding under the bulk of her sweater.

Her veryattractiveform.

He was always a man who knew quality when he saw it.

“I can’t let you go… like this.” He trained his gaze up and down, unable to rip it away.

With every breath, her delicious cleavage seemed to pour out of her top, taunting him. Her long, thin torso was complimented by slender hips that looked fit and athletic. He clenched his jaw, feeling a deep, unwelcome urge. The carnal part of his brain wondered how wet she was. That same hot feeling crawled up the skin of his neck, flushing it with heat, permeating his throat. God was unhappy with him again and testing his resolve.

She’s a goddamn rocket.

He found her gaze again—those unique eyes, heavily lashed and spellbinding. As if realizing her effect on him, Danica slumped backward, fear intensifying on her face. She was at his complete mercy. Her nerves were causing her to fidget in anxiety and anticipation as he grew closer, as though she was questioning what he was going to do to her. For a second, he didn’t know either.

The hunger in him rose. Pure desire.

It has been too long.

As Delta sped down the parkway, taking random turns to clear their tail, Carrick found that he had stopped thinking about the threat and had grown focused solely on the shape of her lips and how much of her thigh was pressed against his.

“Are you all right?” he asked in a low voice, while he lifted a rebellious hand to her cheek, just to feel it.

What the hell am I doing?

“No,” she whispered back, her eyes growing tearful, “I’mnotokay.”

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I don’t know that.” She blinked out a few small tears, but she held back, shutting her lips.

It was almost Carrick’s undoing when he allowed himself to look down at those trembling full lips. It was almost what made him finally let go.

In that moment, he needed to wake up. The heat she made him feel was intoxicating. His discipline had faltered.

Before he could do anything else, he reached over her shoulder, grabbed her seatbelt and drew it across her body, fastening it again safely. The click of the safety belt punctuated the end of the heated moment, and Carrick recoiled to a stoic, confident position. The stability and strength that were in his DNA flushed back to the front of his body, like a shield, and he realized that he needed to protect her from more than just one thing that night.

Chapter Three

Danica

Sucking back the desire to sob, Danica took in a brave, deep breath as the black SUV barreled down the road. She tightened her fingers over the seatbelt that was across her chest and frantically searched back and forth, trying to process, to plan out her escape route. It wasn’t a time to cry. It was a time to figure things out. She’d been free for far too long to lose it all now.

Who the hell is this guy? What the hell am I doing in his truck?

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