That’d be insane. But the promine nt bulge in Davian’s pants convinced me otherwise. Or maybe it brainwashed me. Whatever the reason, my inhibitions lowered until I wasn’ t sure I’d had any in the first place. I experimentally grinded again, and his grip grew impossibly tighter . Any embarrassment slid away, and my hips r epeated the discreet motion. Heat pooled low in my belly, and a glance up front showed the men were oblivious. Bear was still distracted by Davian’ s shoe. Nobody noticed what we were doing, and that sent a whole new sort of thrill through me. Davian shifted to get a better angle, and he moved me to straddle his thigh. It pushed my center against the firm muscle there, and each circle of my hips against him went straight to my — “Oh god ,” I breathed, clutching the handle above the window . Davian hit a button on the door, which made a dark screen divider rise between us and the two men in front. Convenient . His hands on my hips took over—moving me against him in quick, deliberate circles—and my free hand grabbed the short wall in front of me for support. The angle combined with him taking control had me forgetting to breathe. If someone had told me this morning that I’d be taking Davian Reed hostage and basically dry humping him in the back of his SUV, I would’ve called them crazy . But as his lips found my neck and one of his hands slid up toward my breast, I decided pulling a gun on him was the best decision I’d ever made. Bear disagreed. A tight ball was forming in my belly—and my grip tightened on the handle—when Bear’s growl cut through the haze, followed by Davian cursing sharply and his hand wrenching back from my breast. “Wha—?” I blinked at how abruptly he’d stopped. Until I spotted the culprit. Bear was tugging on the sleeve of Davian’ s jacket. He yanked with a snarl, but Davian grabbed Bear by the neck. “Bear, stop !” I cried, reaching for him, too—just before the SUV jerked to a halt. Without Davian holding me, I flew forward, and my head smacked the screen divider . “ Ow .”
The pain made me pull back just as Davian leaned forward, and our heads collided with a painful crack . Ow. Ow. Ow . This could not be happening right now . Davian let out a string of curses and tugged me back onto his lap. “You okay?” No, I was not okay . Everything hurt. My head throbbed, but I manage d a weak r eply. “If I die, tell Gladys my secret dog treat recipes are hidden under my mattress.” He grunted. “Y ou’re not dying, but your head took a hard hit.” A soft groan es caped me. “It sure feels like I’m dying.” The screen lowered, and Malcolm eyed us in the rearview mirror. “Everything okay back there, boss?” “Why the heavy foot on the brakes, Malcolm?” Davian asked through a clenched jaw . I blinked through the pain, clearing my vision. Malcolm’ s forehead creased in confusion. “I heard her yell to stop the car , so I stopped.” Oh god . “Just drive,” Davian bit out. His hands returned to my hips, and I twisted to get a better look at his sleeve. “Is your jacket okay?” I whisper ed to Davian. I already owed him a new pair of shoes, and I couldn’ t afford a jacket on top. “It’s fine, just wet.” Amusement warmed his voice. Then he grunted. “Your furry bodyguard sure takes his job seriously .” I winced and rubbed my head where we’d collided. “I think he might be traumatized by the dognapping, but that’ s no excuse. I’m sorry .” Bear really was a good dog—just more protective than I’d thought. I checked on the furball in question, who was watching me and smiling with his tongue lolling out. “That was very bad,” I said in a no-nonsense voice. He dropped his head onto his paws and whined softly, melting my heart. The big, sad puppy-dog eyes—which always got him extra treats at the shelter—just weren’ t fair. I sighed and scratched between his furry ears. “I can’t stay mad at you. But we’ll work on your manner s. You’re turning me into a liar with all this
misbehaving.” He snorted his displeasure. As Malcolm drove us to my apartment, it sank in that I should be mortified about what Davian and I had been doing. I was in the back of an SUV with two strangers sitting on the other side of a thin screen. Bear was lying right next to us. I’d just met Davian today, and he was in volved in some bad stuff—yet I was more than happy to grind on him like my life d epended on it. Gladys would have some strong words for me right now . So why wasn’ t I dying of embarrassment? Maybe delving into a life of crime had loosened my inhibitions. ... Or maybe I’d just liked it too much. Either way, that couldn’ t happen again. So, I scooted up until I was perched on the edge of Davian’s knees—far outside potential grinding distance. “Sadie,” he said gruf fly. I k ept my gaze firmly forward. But Davian wasn’t having any of that. He reached around until his fingers found my chin and turned me to face him. Those dark eyes studied mine before dropping to my lips. The hint of hunger in his gaze made my mouth go dry, and I poked my tongue out to wet my lips. Having Davian’ s full attention on me was overwhelming. A forced laugh struggled up my throat. “Maybe I should’ve taken a taxi —” He captured my lips in a claiming kiss that burned all the way down to the tips of my toes—ef fectively cutting off any stupid excuse I’d been about to make. Warmth surged in my blood, and I quickly matched his demanding pace. But as soon as my fingers curled into his shirt, he pulled back. His gaze seared like a brand, making my breath hitch. “Don’t hide from me,” Davian warned in a low voice. “And no more bullshit about taxis.” I swallowed. Maybe I should be annoyed that he gave me the same censoring look I’d used on Bear or that he tried to order me around at all. Instead, I found it... oddly comfortin g? I relaxed back against him, and my tense muscles loosened.
Davian hummed, and his lips met the side of my head in a kiss. “Good girl,” he whispered against my temple. The praise sent an unexpected flutter through my belly, and I rolled my eyes at myself. Where had that come from? “I’m not a dog,” I muttered. But I still rested my head on Davian’ s shoulder as his chest rumbled with quiet laughter . Malcolm must’ve been doing his best to avoid potholes, because the rest of the drive was uneventful. Bear licked his wounds while ke eping an eye on Davian, whose thumb traced torturous circles against my hip. But we all made it to my apartment building in one piece without any more mishaps. And I was still embarrassingly turned on from sitting on my hostage’ s lap.
D a v i a n Watching Sadie grind against my thigh shouldn’ t be the hottest thing I’d ever seen, but my blood ran south too quickly to deny it. Even the splitting headache wasn’ t enough to kill my hard-on. But when we pulled up to the apartment building Sadie lived in, it was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head. The building was a shithole. There was no code or key access at the entrance—anyone could just walk in. The elevator was broken, and we climbed four flights of stairs to her floor while Bear still proudly pranced around with my shoe. Paint peeled off the walls. The stench of urine permeated the halls. By the time we reached her floor, I was ready to throw her over my shoulder and haul ass back to my place. “This is where you live?” It was a challenge to ke ep my tone even. Sadie was unfazed by the crumbling surroundings, and she moved Bear’s leash to her other hand before pulling a key out of her overalls pocket. Her face was still pink from what we’d done in the car, and if I wasn’t so pissed about where she lived, I would’ve kissed her again right here. “Y ep, second door on the left. You really didn’ t have to walk me up.” “Yes, I did.” And not just because I wanted to pick up where we’d left off. Malcolm had warned me the building was in bad shape, but I hadn’t expected it to be falling apart. She unlocked the single flimsy lock—there wasn’t a dead bolt anywhere in sight— and it opened to a decent-sized studio apartment. A double bed