Page 70 of On the Chase
He pulled back a little, tucking his chin so he could glare down at her. “I didn’t beg.”
“Sorry,” she mock apologized, using her nails instead of her fingertips to scratch lightly against his abs. Although he tried to keep his pretend offended expression in place, his eyes went to half-mast, making his pleasure obvious. If he were a cat, he’d be purring. “So youdon’twant me to tie you up.”
He shifted beneath her and cleared his throat. When he spoke, his voice remained husky. “I’m not saying that.”
Laughing low in her throat, she slipped a hand under his T-shirt. Although he’d just been at the hospital for twenty-four hours, it felt like longer. It was nice to have the freedom to pet him without being interrupted by a nurse or a doctor or a crabby lieutenant—or an even crabbier Theo. “Yeah? So what are you saying?”
“I don’t want you to go to that meeting tomorrow.”
With a groan, she turned her head so her forehead was resting against his collarbone and then rocked it from side to side. “Hugh. Hugh. Hugh.Hugh. I have to go. I’ll be careful, and a bunch of FBI agents will be watching out for me, and we’re going to be in a busy mall filled with people. Even if Noah is involved in Martin’s business, he’s very concerned with his reputation and things like, you know, staying out of prison. He won’t do anything to me with all those shoppers around, ready to be witnesses. If he isn’t willing to work with us to nail Martin to the wall, then we part ways, and I go back into hiding. We’re not going to lose anything by giving this plan a shot.”
Lifting her head, she saw his frown hadn’t eased. If anything, it was even deeper than before. What worried her more was his silence. Hugh was a talker, she’d learned. The only time he went quiet was when he was either in pain or very serious about something. She had a feeling that, right now, he was both.
Changing tactics, she leaned in to kiss his neck. When she pulled back to check his reaction, she saw he was still scowling. Grace took this as a personal challenge. Returning to a spot right under his jaw, she kissed him again, a light peck, and then licked the bristly skin. He shivered, and she couldn’t hold back a devilish grin as she met his gaze.
“Did you just lick me?” he asked. Although she could tell he was attempting to sound grossed out, laughter underlay his words.
“Yes.” Just for fun, and because he tasted good, she did it again. “It’s like when you’re with a group of people, and there’s only one cookie left, so you grab it and lick it in order to claim it.”
“You’re”—he paused, his breath catching as she ran her teeth lightly over his jawbone—“claiming me?”
“Yes.” Her answer surprised her, and she went still, thinking about it. It hadn’t been very long since she’d first met Hugh and dismissed him as an ass, but it had been an intense few weeks. When she thought he’d been hurt, even killed, by the explosion, she’d been terrified, even more so than she had been in Martin Jovanovic’s house. She wasn’t exactly sure what her feelings were, since they were roiling around inside her like a whole nest of agitated snakes, but Grace knew she’d never felt this strongly before about anyone. She had a strong suspicion—averystrong suspicion—that she was in love with this man. It was enough to make her consider trading her wonderful, hard-won life in California for the tiny, often-cold town of Monroe, just so she could stay close to Hugh. “If that’s okay?”
Hugh cleared his throat. “So you’re basically slapping an I-belong-to-Grace sticker on me.” His good hand stroked from her shoulder to her wrist and then back up again.
“Basically.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” He ducked his head so he could reach the side of her neck and give it a long lick. Giggling, she attempted to twist away, although she didn’t try too hard to avoid his tongue. “And now you belong to me, too.”
Hearing it out loud made her go still, her ticklish laughter dying in her throat. It sounded sonice. “I like that.”
“Yeah. I do, too.” They smiled at each other for a second before Hugh grew serious again. “I’m going with you tomorrow to the meeting.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” He sounded surprised. “That was easy.”
With a snort, she responded, “Of course it was. I’m glad you’ll be there. I wish you were there when I called him. You make me brave.”
His face softened. “You’re already brave. I just remind you of that fact.”
That was just too much. She had to kiss him. Shifting to straddle him so her knees pressed into the couch cushions on either side of his legs, she cradled his face in her hands. His un-casted hand stroked up her side, from her hip up to her arm and back down again.
His mouth turned up in that devilish way that both exasperated and amused her. “This reminds me of a couple of days ago. Weren’t we in this very position?”
“Hmm…” She pretended to think, even as her thumbs slid over his cheeks. It was wonderful being able to touch him like that. If this was the reward for claiming him, she wished she’d licked him days ago. “I vaguely remember something similar to this, although I recall a cold, wet dog nose more vividly than anything. I nearly jumped out of my shorts.”
He started laughing, and Grace was immediately fascinated by how that made his face move under her fingers. “Good thing the owner of that cold, wet, interrupting nose is spending another night at Jules’s house.”
Grace smirked at him. “Because Dee looked at you with big, hopeful, pleading eyes, begged you for one more day with Lexi, and you totally caved.”
“What can I say?” He shrugged, not looking at all bothered about being a total softie. “When a lady begs, I give her what she wants.”
Her eyes immediately narrowed in challenge. “Oh really?”
His gaze grew wide in response, and he immediately defaulted to his adorable puppy look. “It would be rude of me not to.”
This time, Grace didn’t cave. “Oh, Hugh,” she said breathily in her best phone-sex-operator voice. His eyes got even rounder before lowering to half-mast. “Please,please, give me what I want. I’m begging you.” What started out as teasing turned into something completely different as his gaze, intent and hot, met hers. The barely banked fire inside her roared to full, flaming life, and her brain turned off. She couldn’t remember what she’d just been saying. All she knew was that she had to kiss Hugh…right now.
