Page 26 of The Prey
Hudson was right where he wanted to be.
Now…he just had to go find the woman he wanted.
She’d snuck away again.
Well, he was a man on a hunt. Time to find his beautiful prey.
18
Gia tookoff after the kiss she really wasn’t ready to think about. She knew that was exactly what she was doing. She needed a few moments tothink. To figure out what she was feeling, for one thing. She had kissed a man, in a kitchen—a big, strong, forceful, intense man she’d have had no chance of defending herself against—and she hadn’t been afraid. She hadn’t been afraid of himat all.
She hadn’t had a panic attack, or screamed, or shut down.
All things she had feared and worried about happening someday.
Maybe it was because it was Hudson? Him, specifically? Since she and her family had known him forever, maybe? Subconsciously, she felt safe with him?
It was possible.
She imagined doing the same with another man, maybe even Anthony, or Mike from work. Both were truly kind men she liked a great deal.
Her heart jumped, stomach tightened. With…anxiety.
No. It wasHudsonshe felt safe with. Only him.
It didn’t make sense at all. Except…
She had spent more than two years fighting with that man. Every work day, it seemed. Sometimes multiple times a day. And no matter how angry she made him—he had never felt threatening to her in aphysicalmanner. Ever.
Even as big and muscled and forceful as he was.
She had never been afraid of Hudson physically.Ever.
Not even once. Gia was halfway to the barn when that hit her hard. She wasn’t afraid of him. Hudson. Only Hudson.
Now she had to figure out why.
She was trying to think of reasons that could be when she stepped inside the barn where Grady kept most of the horses they used around the ranch. She needed a moment away from the crowd. She’d always enjoyed the horses. Talking to them. Being with them. It soothed her. Helped her think.
Today…that wasn’t going to happen. Gia just froze, right where she was.
Right there in the middle of the barn…her big brother Grady was wrapped around Hudson’s baby sister, kissing Hala hot enough to scorch the barn walls.
Talk about fire. Two more seconds and those two would ignite.
Gia backed out slowly.
Thatwas something she hadn’t ever expected to see. Hala had actually been unbuttoning Grady’s shirt…
Gia turned and headed back the way she came.
Just to slam into the rock-hard chest of the man she was trying to avoid.
“Have you seen my sister?”
She looked up into his dark eyes and…lied. The very last thingHalaneeded right now was her massively overprotective older brother barging in when she was trying to get Gia’s brother’s clothes off in the horse barn. “I think she was with Ayla. On the front porch.”
Clear across the yard from where they were right now.
