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RAYS OF SUNLIGHT CAST over my face, breaking through the blinds that hung over the window. I pressed my face into my pillow, letting out a groan and silently begged for sleep to take me back under.
It was a useless plea.
My body was awake and itching to get out of this bed and stretch. The sudden twist of my bladder when I stretched made my mind up for me.
Reaching out, I gripped my pillow to my face as a last ditch effort in returning to my dreams. As I rubbed my face against my pillow, I realized something was off. I gave my pillow a curious rub and froze. The last bit of sleepy haze fell away as I realized I wasn’t holding a pillow at all.
My eyes flew open to find naked flesh instead of a fluffy white pillow. It was Shade’s chest I was currently hugging. Before I looked, I said a little prayer that he was still asleep.
When I peeked up at his face, I found him smirking down at me.
“Morning, darlin’.”
“I, um, good morning.” I scrambled away from him, unable to hide my embarrassment. He, however, looked completely at ease with one hand behind his head and the other lay out like he had been holding me to him.
God, had he been holding me?
“You okay?” From the smirk on his face, I didn’t think he was actually concerned about my well-being.
“Yes,” I muttered, not looking him in the eye. “Sorry about that. I’m not sure how I ended up cuddling you. It won’t happen again.”
“I’m sure it will. You’ve done it almost every night we’ve slept together.” My mouth dropped open as his smirk turned to a grin.
“I have not! I’ve never not once woken up cuddling you.”
“Only because I’ve been up before you. Most mornings I have to sneak out from underneath your hold. You know, given your standoffish nature, I would never have expected you to be a cuddler.” He was off the bed now, heading toward the bathroom.
“But I... That’s just...” Words failed me as I tried to process this new information.
“It’s all good, darlin’. I may be a big, badass mountain man but I’d never pass up a cuddle.” He winked at me and disappeared behind the bathroom door, leaving me gaping after him.
We were definitely going to start sleeping in separate beds. This couldn’t go on. What if he got the wrong idea about me? Or worse. What if he realized I was beginning to have feelings for him? That would only make things worse for me. It would be one more thing in his arsenal to use against me. I couldn’t afford for him to have even more of an upper hand.
Besides, if one of us was standoffish it was him. He was rude to me and acted like I was a huge inconvenience. Now all of a sudden it was okay for me to cuddle him. The man made my head spin.
When he emerged from the bathroom, I was still standing in the same spot, chewing on my bottom lip anxiously.
When I looked to him, he only had a towel wrapped around his hips and his hair was damp. My eye dipped to the towel and lingered on the way it hung on his hips. It really wasn’t fair of him to flaunt all that in front of me when I had no experience. It was no wonder I react to him the way I do. I don’t know any better.
“Careful, darlin’. You keep looking at me like that, I might get the wrong idea.” He strolled past me and my eyes followed him but this time they were narrowed.
“You’re so full of yourself,” I gritted out, trying to hide my embarrassment from being caught ogling at him.
“You were the one giving me sex eyes.”
“I was not!” I totally was.
“You’re pretty cute when you’re embarrassed.”
Okay, this was too much. I moved toward the bathroom in need of an escape.
“Can we please go back to you being completely rude and irritable toward me? I prefer it.” At least when he acted that way it didn’t mess with my head.
“Nah.” I stood frozen watching as his muscles stretched under his skin. I couldn’t help but wonder what his skin would feel like as I racked my nails down his back as he thrust into me.
A gasp escaped my lips as my body heated at the rogue thought. Shade turned catching the heated look before I could get safely into the bathroom. Thoughts like that were dangerous. I had goals and getting naked with the hot as sin hitman in the next room wasn’t one. No matter how much my body wanted it.
In the shower, I tried to clear my head. What I needed was to get over whatever I was feeling for Shade. But as much as I hated to admit it, he was getting under my skin. I could deal with him being rude or threatening, but the kindness, flirting, and the way he looked at me when he thought I wasn’t looking. Well, I had no clue what to do about that. It was way out of my depth of experience.
What I needed was a plan of action. A plan to get myself focused on the goal at hand. A plan to get my mind out of the gutter and not let Shade distract me with his sexy body and even sexier smirk. Here's to thinking his being a hitman was the most dangerous thing about him.
“I have to run an errand. I’ll be back in a few hours,” Shade announced as soon as I returned to the main room.
“You’re going to just leave me here by myself?” Did I sound as nervous as I felt?
We had just been attacked. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be alone right now. What if something happened while he was gone?
Something must have crossed my face because Shade stood from where he had been sitting on the bed and strolled to me to put his hands on my shoulders. I tilted my head back to look up at him.
“If you’re not comfortable with me leaving you, you can come with me. I’ll figure the rest out.” His kindness was appreciated, but I would handle being left by myself.
“No. It’s fine. I can handle it,” I assured him, turning away.
“You’re sure?”
“I said, I would be fine,” I snapped, turning back to give him a look.
He stared at me for a moment as if he were waiting for me to falter but I held my chin high. I would be fine. I didn’t need him to babysit me.
He nodded and headed toward the door.
“I’ll be back in a few hours.”
When the door clicked behind him, I sagged onto the bed. For a moment, panic squeezed my chest, but I gave myself a mental shake and berated myself for being a wuss. I really didn’t need him here with me. He had left me with a gun. He taught me well. I could take care of myself and any issues that may arise in his absence.
I spent most of the morning lounging on the bed flipping through TV channels and ordering room service. When I became bored with that, I went down to the pool and swam a few laps until I grew tired enough to take a nap. Because nothing passed time quicker than a nap. When I came back to the room, I took another shower, then settled onto the bed and put on a movie.
That evening, I woke from my nap to find a fully dressed Shade sprawled across the bed beside me. I wondered when he had finally returned. When I looked at the clock, I found that I had been sleeping for three hours which means Shade had been gone for over nine hours.
Slipping off the bed, I tiptoed to the bathroom. When I returned Shade was still sprawled out across the bed. I couldn’t help but wonder why he was still fully clothed. Not that I was complaining. My head stayed level when he wasn’t flaunting that ridiculous physique in my face.
I started to climb back into bed when he stirred.
“Hi,” I smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed.
He stared at me for a moment, then sat up further. Blood soaked the front of him and onto the bed where he had been laying. I crawled across the bed to his side, pulling at his clothing in search of any wounds.
“What happened?” I had to get these clothes off so I could assess the damage and find where all this blood was coming from.
He smacked at my hands, brushing me off.
“Stop. It’s not mine.” He finished what I had started, pulling his ruined shirt over his head and dropping it to the floor.
“What kind of errand did you have to run?” I demanded.
My eyes roamed over him, making sure he was right about the blood not being his.
“Stop looking at me like that. I said I’m fine.” He pushed to his feet and stalked toward the bathroom. “Get your shit together. We leave in ten.”
The bathroom slammed behind him. I flipped it the bird before turning toward my duffle and shoved my things into it. Looks like rude Shade was back. And that was fine by me.
At least, that’s what I tried to tell myself as I packed up, but when the bathroom door reopened, I stood to face Shade.
“Listen, I don’t know what happened on your errand but you don’t have to talk to me like that. I was just concerned about you.” I tried to reign in all my emotions but the ugly look he was giving me only fueled my anger.
“I don’t need you worrying after me like some lovesick little girl. I don’t need that shit.” His harsh words lashed out at me like a whip.
I pulled the gun from the back of my pants where I had it stuffed and aimed it at him.
“I am not a lovesick little girl!” I growled.
He rolled his eyes at me not impressed.
“You keep pointing that gun at me, blabbering on and on about how much you want to kill me, but you never pull the trigger. I’m beginning to doubt your commitment.”
My finger tightened. I considered just doing it. I could always find another way to end my father.
“It would serve you right if I pulled this trigger,” I snapped, then lowered the gun. “You’re lucky I need you.”
He rolled his eyes, walking around me to the duffle bag.
“I think you’re confused, darlin’. You’re lucky I need you.” If anything, we needed each other.
I narrowed my eyes at him. My hand tightened on the gun, but I wouldn’t raise it again. When I caught sight of the black remote sitting on the table beside me, I didn’t hesitate. I picked it up, raised my hand and chucked it at him. It hit the side of his head with a satisfying noise before bouncing to the floor.
“What the fuck?” he yelled, spinning around to face me, his hand going to the back of his head. He would have a nice pump knot.
The look on his face made me want to take a step back or maybe run for it, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of showing him that he scared me.
Instead, I smirked at him.
“Well, I feel a little better now.”
“You little bitch,” he growled and out of the corner of my eye I saw him take a step toward me.
I raised my gun again and clicked the safety off, waving it in the air.
“Now, now. Don’t push me or I might reconsider not shooting you.” And I meant it because no matter how much I needed him or whatever these feelings were, I would shoot him if he became a real threat.
He didn’t give me a chance to react before he was on me, knocking the gun out of my hand and knocking me to the floor. Air whooshed from me and I lay there gasping as he straddled my hips, restraining my hands above my head with his.
Once I could breathe again, I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Get off of me!”
“You’re pushing it, little girl.” His tone was low and full of threat, but I wasn’t about to back down or show fear.
“Back at ya, boss.” I tried to pull my hands free, but it was no use.
I rolled my hips hoping to knock him off, but he didn’t budge. When I pressed into him, his eyes darkened with a whole new type of threat.
His eyes closed for a moment and when he opened them, his anger was replaced with hunger.
“Careful, darlin’. I’ve had a bad day. I might be pissed at you but that doesn’t mean I don't want you.” The truth wasn’t in his words but in the hardness that pressed into me.
My cheeks flushed, and I had to close my eyes to try to reel in some of the lust seemed to be leaking from my pores. It was obvious now that I wanted him too. Hell, he could probably feel the way my body was practically vibrating underneath him. He was so close and one lift of my hips would seal our fate. It would be so easy.
“I don’t like you.” Turning my head, I looked away from him. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go there. “Get off of me.”
He didn’t move and I could feel his eyes burning a hole in the side of my face. I waited for him to say something, anything, but he didn’t. Too soon his weight disappeared. When I looked back to him, he was back at the duffle bag, pulling out a shirt.
Climbing to my feet, I started toward Shade intent on clearing the air when he tackled me to the ground for the second time. This time his hand came down on my mouth. His eyes gave me warning. I stared back at him wide eyed. He released my mouth and brought a finger up to his.
The handle on the hotel door jiggled, but the door didn’t open.