Page 27 of The Prey
Gia started back that way, almostcertainHudson would follow her right back.
“Running from me, sweetheart?”
She jerked around. Glared. “Hardly. I’m going to go help my mother.”
“Then why were you headed to the barn in the first place?”
The woman was hidingsomething from him. Hudson knew it. He narrowed his gaze on her, then looked to the open door behind her. “Is Hala in there?”
Gia bit her bottom lip, distracting him from what he’d asked. He wanted to scoop her up and take her into that barn and just get her naked as fast as he could. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist before he could stop himself, or remind himself that slow and gentle was the path he’d decided.
“Come on, I want to see what you are hiding.”
Her eyes were huge. She shook her head lightly. He just wanted to hold her there forever. “Hanan, you’d probably better…let me…go.”
Her words were loud enough anyone inside the barn could have heard. Had she done it on purpose? He suspected she had.
“I don’t want to. I don’t ever want to, I’ve discovered. When you hide things from me, it just makes me want to kiss the truth right out of you. For hours. Over and over again. I can get started right now.”
Maybe he was going too fast here, but…Hudson leaned down and kissed the woman he wanted again.
It hadn’t been a fluke.That was her first thought.
Her second was that she might just be in serious trouble here. Her hands found their way around his neck. She felt him pressed against her. She liked him pressed against her.
Just him.
Her mouth opened, he took advantage. Of course he would. Hudson Hanan went after what he wanted.
It just shocked her to her toes that she was what he wanted. And that she…wanted him to kiss her.
She stayed right where she was,kissing Hudson back,until the sound of people moving around in the barn behind them reminded her exactly where she was. And that anyone could walk by at any moment.
She just looked up at him. “You are changing everything, aren’t you?”
He brushed a finger against her lower lip. The way he looked at her… “That is my intention. And remember…I always get what I want.”
Heaven help her, what didshewant right now? Gia didn’t have a clue.
Hours later, alone in her room, drawinghisface—she still hadn’t figured that out.
She didn’t know if she ever would.
19
Courtroom Aat the Barratt County Courthouse had always been Hudson’s favorite. It was the largest courtroom, and the oldest in the old brick building where he spent most of his time. He knew almost every floorboard’s creak. And half the building’s nooks and crannies and secrets. It smelled like wood and polish at the moment, and that stood out—usually there was a dusty undertone that was hard to miss.
There was a new order here now, though. Someone had apparently instructed the cleaning crew to clean off the grime that had started to accumulate on the windows. The rugs had been cleaned. The handle to the old wooden doors had been repaired, for the first time in years. Now, Texas sunlight filtered in through the windows. Everything felt fresh. Like the new judge had brought some much-needed change.
He'd researched her—and liked what he’d seen.
He looked at his partner for this one. “You okay today? We have the new judge.”
“I’ve listened to her speak before. Lectures at FCU. She discusses things like violence against women, domestic violence,child abuse. The legal connotations. I’ve attended a lot of her lectures. She’s very passionate about women’s issues.”
“What’s your take on her position as a judge?” He’d done some research, and found nothing that stood out.
“Much better than Feltner. Definitely.” She shot him a small smile that settled around his gut. Damn, he wanted this woman. He’d had two days since kissing her to think about his next step to get her right where he wanted her.
