Oh dear .
I squeaked, trying to focus on the issue at hand. My voice was far too
high pitched when I got it to work again. “But your shoe...”
But Davian’ s hand on my hip was already turning me to face him, and
his dark gaze cut off the rest of my protest. A fledgling smirk grew at the
corner of his mouth, pulling my attention. It was unfair how attractive the
smirk made him. “It’ s a smal l price to pay so I can do this without
interruption.”
He leaned in with deliberate slowness—like a predator toying with his
prey . Turned out I was into that, because my heart was beating as fast as
Bear ’s tail wagged during feeding time, and a spike of adrenaline hit.
Davian’ s lips met mine—slow and teasing—before molding against
them with a hunger that stole my breath.
As I leaned into him, my free hand found his side. I’d never bee n one to
waste ice cream , but the cone dropped from my hand witho ut a second
thought as I matched his hungry pace.
The answering rumble de ep in his chest left my insides trembling.
Davian barely gave me time to catch up before he cupped the back of
my neck and de epened the kiss, igniting flames in my belly . He tasted sweet
like vanilla, and I now had zero complaints about his ice cream choice.
Bear ’s low grow l went ignored. The world faded around us. All I could
focus on was giving as much as I got.
Until Bruno tutted behind the counter , breaking our kiss-induced spell.
“Careful, kids. You’re melting the ice cream.”
Reality crashed back, and I froze in Davian’ s arms. My cheeks flamed
as I tried to pull away , but he k ept a firm hold on me, unbothered by our
audience. His gaze remained glued to my mouth, and when he let go of my
neck to trace his thumb over my lower lip, I couldn’ t fully suppress a shiver .
That didn’ t es cape Davian’ s notice, and one side of his mouth slanted
up. “What are you thinking about?”
My tongue peeked out to wet my lips, and it just barely caught the edge
of his thumb. Davian’ s eyes flashed, making me smile. Only one thought
raced through my mind.
“I’m thinking I want to kiss you again,” I admitted.
His gaze heated in a way that made my toes curl, and Bruno was the last
thing on my mind when Davian ’s mouth met mine again, in more of a tease
than a kiss.
“What are you thinking?” I murmured against his lips.
He trailed slow , lazy kisses to the corner of my mouth, and my heart
stuttered.
“I’m thinking I should take you hostage for dinner tomorrow night.”
A laugh es caped me, even as my cheeks heated again, and I pulled back
far enough to squint up at him.
“But I thought you said hostages were only taken as a security measure
to make someone else do something? ” I said, throwi ng his earlier words
back at him.
His answering smirk did funn y things to my stomach. “The term’ s
grown on me.”
Well, then. I cleared my throat before beaming at him. “I think I can
pencil getting abducted for dinner into my schedule.”
S a d i e
Sadie’ s Guide to Hostage-T aking Being T aken Hostage Forming a
Partnership with Y our Hostage, T ip #10: Ther e may come a time when your
hostage kisses you. Enjoy it. And if your hostage offers you a ride home, it’ s
only polite to acc ept. Carpooling is good for the envir onment.
I couldn’ t deny it anymore. I was hot for my hostage.
Davian Reed had helped me rescue Bear. He’d put those teenage thugs
in their place. And he’d kissed me like he was desperate for air. If someone
had told me yesterday that I’d be making out with my hostage in the middle
of an ice cream shop, I would’ve called them crazy .
But that’ s life, I guess.
One minute you’re stopping a group of teenage thugs from vandalizing
a dog shelter, and the next you’re imagining doing dirty things with the bad-
boy mafia prince you held at gunpoint.
... Or maybe I’d accidentally slipped and hit my head on the oven door
while baking again, and this was all a concussion-inspired dream.
Either way, I was ready to roll with it as Bear and I climbed into the
back of Davian’ s dark SUV after finishing the r eplacement ice cream Bruno
had given me. Davian moved to follow me, but no matter how spacious the
backseat was, there wasn’t enough room for all three of us to sit across it.
Bear lay across two seats, and Davian would fill the space with his presence
alone.