Page 19

“Hey, I want to try something,” I told him, gathering up my courage. I scootched further onto the bed and lay down. I held an arm out to him in invitation. “Join me?”

Derek raised an eyebrow at me, but there was definite and sudden interest in his expression. “Sadie just said they’re on their way.”

“Nope. She said they’ll be on their way once they’ve dealt with whatever’s happening there. That might take them awhile. You and I are alone in this motel room, away from everyone.” I paused, raising my brows at him. “You’re not having any ideas?”

“No, I definitely am. I guess a complication can take a while to deal with,” Derek mused, his eyes dancing as they met mine. A slow smile slid onto his lips. “Who knows? We might even have all night.”

Because he still hesitated, I sat up and took him by the hand, gently leading him so that he climbed on top of me. His delicious masculine weight pressed me into the mattress, pinning me.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him down, cupping the back of his neck gently, so that his lips met mine.

He was warm, hard, and perfect. His heart beating against my chest, his blood rushing through his veins, his scent—all of it was intoxicating. It was all so very him.

My mate. My person.

I parted my lips for him, letting him dominate me gently, yielding to him like putty. A taste of things to come, I hoped. But first, there was something I had to know, to be sure.

“On the phone with Sadie, you said that you only had an hour or two to get out of town,” I breathed, when he pulled back up for air. My lips felt swollen and thoroughly kissed. When I gazed up into his eyes, Derek was watching me with a blown-open expression that was equal parts hunger and tenderness. I continued with, “You got the text message out of the blue, and you suddenly had to drop everything and run. You didn’t even take your laptop with you. You left everything behind, without hesitation.”

His brows pulled together, as if my words had confused him. “Yeah.”

“But you didn’t leave me?”

“Oh.” Emotion filled Derek’s eyes, making them glassier than before. “No. I couldn’t have. I wouldn’t. I won’t.”

“You risked your life,” I told him. “You could’ve been on a plane or a train out of the city, which is what most people in your situation would’ve done. But instead you came back to the same bar that was in the photo they tracked you down with. It probably would’ve been one of the first places they looked, once they realized you weren’t at home.” I paused. “What if they’d been earlier than you thought? What if they’d found you?”

“It still would’ve been worth it.”

“What if I’d said I wasn’t ready to go back out in public? What if I’d made you stay at the bar?”

“I still wouldn’t have been able to bring myself to leave.” He sounded very sure. But then he paused and, more sheepishly, he added, “Maybe I would’ve come clean then and there.” Then something seemed to occur to him because he added, “don’t worry, though. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been putting James or anyone human in danger. These guys are smart—they wouldn’t just shoot up a random bar in the middle of one of the busiest neighborhoods in the city. They would’ve waited for me to come outside and nabbed me there. They probably would’ve pulled me into a white van. Or maybe into a black SUV with tinted windows or something. I would’ve just vanished.”

“See, that’s insane,” I told him, trying to detect a lie and failing miserably. His heart was beating like a metronome in his chest, which meant he was giving me the total honesty I’d asked him for. “Why would you risk that?”

“If I’d left you behind, I might as well have just let them have me. Because I would’ve traded living for survival.” He swallowed, his gaze searching mine. “Quinn, you’ve got to understand. I moved into my apartment with a backpack and nothing else to my name—I’ve lost everything, including my own name, and I survived it. But I know that I wouldn’t survive losing you. I think I’ve always known that, ever since the moment we first met.”

Warmth spread through me as I realized he was being completely serious. He really would’ve traded everything for me. He’d already risked everything. His safety. His life, in fact.

What could I risk for him in return? What would be equal to what he’d done? How could I show him that he was the only thing that really mattered to me, too? That I felt the exact same way—that without him, I’d be surviving but not living?

“Kiss me again,” I whispered, searching his gaze.

He froze—the opposite of the reaction I’d been going for—so maybe what I was thinking was written all over my face. “Quinn, you don’t have to—not if you aren’t ready.”

“I am ready,” I assured him. “I want to.”

“I don’t have any…um…” He blushed right down to his roots. “I’m not prepared. Trust me, especially for your first time, we’ll want to have everything we need.”

It only took me a moment to realize he meant that we didn’t have condoms and lubricant.

“Oh. We do have everything we need,” I told him, nodding to the table next to the sliding glass door, where my jacket was slung over the back of a chair. “In my coat pocket.”

He gave me an odd look, but pushed himself off me and crossed the room to fish out a small bottle of lube and a condom.

“Quinn?” he asked, frowning. “You’ve been carrying this around? I thought—you told me you weren’t ready yet.”

I hadn’t been.