Chasing Danger (2 page)

Dax slid a twenty across the shiny wooden bar to one of the bartenders to cover the drink he’d just bought for Hannah. She didn’t know he was here yet, but he was having a drink delivered to her. Because if he delivered it himself, she’d probably throw it in his face.

And he deserved it.

When he’d received orders for the mission two weeks ago, it’d been one of those times when he’d literally had to drop everything, leave all personal identifiers and electronics at the covert office the NSA had in Miami, then board a plane to destination unknown, all within two hours of receiving the call. If they were married it would have been different; he would have been given five minutes to contact his wife before leaving. Since they weren’t, he’d had no choice but to leave with no word.

He’d gone dark before, many times, especially when he’d been with Delta. But this time had been different. This time he’d had someone he desperately wanted to tell.

Unfortunately he couldn’t explain everything to her. Not yet. First he needed clearance from his boss, Wesley Burkhart. And his boss was off on a fucking mission and
he
had gone dark. Even Burkhart’s assistant, Karen, couldn’t tell Dax the man’s whereabouts. Deep down, Dax was almost positive that he’d be allowed to tell Hannah why he’d been unable to contact her. Not specifics, but at least a general reason why.

Normally someone in his line of work couldn’t tell a civilian shit, but Hannah wasn’t just a normal civilian. She’d already dealt with the NSA on more than one occasion, and her best friend was married to one of their most deadly former operatives. Her parents had even opened up their home as a sort of safe house a few weeks ago for someone. But . . . he needed the approval to tell her or he could theoretically be charged with treason.

The beat of the Latin music thumped through the small club/restaurant where he’d found Hannah. He’d shamelessly used company resources, more or less begging Karen Stafford to track Hannah using her cell phone. Wrong? Yep. But he didn’t care.

Not when it came to Hannah. She was different from any other women he’d been with. Something he’d known from the moment he’d met her and she’d made a smart-ass comment about him looking like GI Joe on vacation. She was beautiful, to be sure—scratch that, fucking gorgeous—but she was fun to be around. Fun, sexy, and incredibly smart.

Luckily Karen had taken pity on him and found Hannah. Fucking child’s play with Karen’s resources and skills. He knew she wouldn’t do it for ninety-nine percent of the people she worked with, but they’d been on missions together before. Too many times to count, she’d been the voice on the other end of the comm keeping him and their team alive with her inside knowledge and eyes in the sky.

Today was one of his most important missions—convince Hannah to give him a second chance. Because if she shut him out, somewhere deep inside he wasn’t sure if . . . Nope. Not even going there. He’d never failed a mission yet, and he wasn’t going to start now.

Out of the corner of his eye, he was aware of the bartender leaving his change on the bar, but all Dax’s focus was on the server taking the drink to Hannah. She’d just come off the small dance floor to join some of her friends. They were either sitting or standing around a high cocktail table, most of them swaying to the music. Including her, there were four women and one man, who Dax was positive was gay since he’d seen him flirting with half a dozen guys in the last twenty minutes. He was glad too, because the way he’d been dancing with Hannah had all of Dax’s possessive instincts flaring to life. Instincts he hadn’t realized he had until her.

Her long inky black hair was down loose around her shoulders. She had some sparkly thing in her hair, clipped in on one side, pulling part of it up. When they’d spent those four days together she’d once complained about how heavy her hair was, but he hoped she didn’t cut it. He loved running his fingers through it. Wearing a strapless purple dress and high heels that put her at probably five feet five, she looked incredible.

Her face lit up in surprise when the server handed her the drink. When the woman pointed in Dax’s direction, Hannah looked over and froze.

Dax had stared down the barrel of more than one firearm in his lifetime and been behind enemy lines in situations he was positive he wasn’t getting out of alive. But until now he’d never felt so tense and nervous. This was it. She either talked to him or blew him off.

She stared for a long moment, as if she didn’t believe it was him sitting there, then handed her drink to the blond man at her table before stalking toward Dax. She looked annoyed more than anything, but the way she was headed for him, all fierce determination, got him insanely hot.

He swiveled in his chair fully to greet her but didn’t get up. He was taller than most people and she was petite, even with the heels. The last thing he wanted her to think was that he was trying to intimidate her with his size.

When she came to stand in front of him, she placed one hand on her hip. She kept her nails short, with no polish, but her toes were a bright coral. Because of his military background and his job at the NSA, he noticed a lot about people, but normally it was important stuff. Not someone’s nail-polish color. With Hannah, he drank in everything about her. He’d been fantasizing about her for the past two weeks, and like a starving man, he couldn’t get his fill.

“Are you stalking me?” she demanded in a haughty voice that made his dick stand at attention. Shit. His body was his to control, always had been. Until her.

He lifted a shoulder. “Maybe.”

She blinked, some of the tension leaving her body. “That’s your answer?”

He shrugged again. “I figured honesty is the best policy with you.”

“That’s funny coming from a giant liar.” Hurt flared in her dark brown eyes for the briefest moment, but he felt it like a kick to his solar plexus.

“I’ve never lied to you.” He’d had to withhold some information, sure.

“Hmm. What about asking me to meet you at my parents’ restaurant and then just not showing up?”

Fuck.
Yeah, that was definite hurt in her eyes. And a whole lot of anger. When she’d mentioned her parents owned two Korean restaurants, he’d wanted to meet them. His admission had surprised both of them. But he adjusted quickly to all facets of life. It was part of his intrinsic nature. He wanted to be in Hannah’s life and wanted to know every damn thing about her. That included her family. He viewed pretty much everything as a strategy, a mission, and to be with her, he needed to know her family. She’d balked when he’d suggested it, but then she’d finally agreed—and he hadn’t shown up. “I called you the second I was able to.” Literally.

Almost as soon as his team had landed in Miami, even before his short debriefing and the return of his personal cell phone, he’d called her from an office line in one of the NSA’s private hangars.

“How’d you know I’d be here?” She wrapped her arms around herself, the protective action clear. It bugged him that she felt the need to protect herself from him, even if he deserved it.

He wanted to pull her into his arms, run his mouth along her jaw, and nip and kiss her the way he’d been fantasizing about for two weeks straight. He’d been stuck in the jungle—exact location unknown—with three other guys, with no outside communication for days at a time, returning to their base only to debrief. “I . . . can’t tell you.” Because he didn’t want to lie. She knew he worked for the NSA because of the circumstances under which they’d met, but he’d told her he was an analyst of sorts.

She was silent for a long moment, her eyes searching his. “What do you want?” she asked, her voice so low he almost didn’t hear her above the beat of the locally owned place.

“You.” All of her. “Hannah, I’m so fucking sorry. I
couldn’t
call you. It’s not that I didn’t want to.”

She let her arms fall to her sides, but he could still sense that invisible wall between them. “Okay.” But he could tell she didn’t believe him. He could see the wariness in her dark gaze. She still thought he was a liar.

“Let me take you out tomorrow night. Or whenever you’re free next.” Because he wanted to lock her down, remind her how good things were between them.

Her expression softened, and when she bit her bottom lip he could see her caving. But then something shifted, he wasn’t sure what it was, and her gaze shuttered. “You can take me somewhere tonight.”

“Now?” It was nine, but he’d take her anywhere she wanted.

She nodded, looking unsure of herself, and he wished he knew what the sexy woman was thinking.

“Okay. Are you hungry? We’ll go anywhere you pick.” He’d only recently located to the NSA’s covert Miami branch, so he was still getting familiar with the local spots.

She straightened her shoulders, watching him intently. “I want to go to a hotel.”

“What? Why?”

She stepped closer and he immediately widened his thighs so she could move in between them. Unable to stop himself, he loosely grasped her hips. Oh yeah, this was where she belonged, in his arms.

She placed a hand on his chest, and for the briefest moment, her eyes went heavy lidded. “You really need me to explain it to you?”

God, she smelled so good. The citrusy, exotic scent of her perfume teased him; even in the midst of everything else surrounding them, it invaded his senses. And her natural, underlying scent, which was pure Hannah, drove him crazy. “I don’t want to take you to a hotel.” They could go to her place or his, now that he had actual furniture. He wanted her in his bed, on his sheets.

“Take it or leave it,” she murmured. She stepped back a fraction and his grip automatically tightened on her hips as panic punched through him.

He didn’t want her walking away, and he had the feeling she’d do just that if he made one wrong move. “Why not go back to my place? I can cook for you.” Or order takeout, more likely.

“I’m not in the mood to eat.” Her gaze dipped to his mouth and his blood pressure shot upward.

“I don’t want . . . just sex.” God, was that really him talking?

She pressed lightly against his chest with her delicate fingers and stepped fully out of his light embrace. “Well, maybe I do.”

Her uncharacteristically bold words made him blink, but he saw that same hurt flicker in her gaze that he’d seen before, the emotion fleeting. He wanted to know what she was thinking, get inside her head. Going to a hotel with her was no hardship, especially since it was clear what she wanted, but he wanted a hell of a lot more than just sex from her. “I’ve already paid my tab,” he said, sliding off the bar stool.

“Me too. I just need to grab my purse. Meet me at the front.” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and strode away from him, her very sexy ass swaying as she headed back to her table.

* * *

Hannah looked at Dax’s broad back as he slid the hotel key card into the security pad of the door. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing here, but she knew she needed to get the man out of her system.

The sex couldn’t have been as good as she remembered. It absolutely
couldn’t
have. She’d taken one look at him the first time they’d met and it was like her body had just erupted into a ball of heat and hunger. And she’d felt the strangest sense of being safe around him, despite the fact that he’d just up and disappeared two weeks ago.

She knew her emotions were on a roller coaster, and she had enough self-awareness to recognize that her kidnapping a year ago had left her feeling vulnerable and uneasy in normal situations. It was one of the reasons she’d forced herself to go out tonight. She needed to get over her fears, and going to a familiar place with friends had been safe enough. Still, even though she’d been trying to deal with it on her own, she felt as if she was failing miserably. When she’d been with Dax, that had all changed. She’d started to feel like her normal self again, had felt so damn connected to him and truly safe with the man.

Safe.

She’d felt it all her life, wrapped up in the protective bubble of her family and her own insulated world, until a year ago. She’d never told anyone, not even Sophie, how much being kidnapped had affected her. Well, she’d told Dax, had opened up to him, surprising herself. And that was like Relationship 101; don’t over-share too soon. But she had. She’d felt like she could.

Then he’d disappeared. She really wanted to believe that he’d been unable to contact her, but that was a stretch for a man like him. He didn’t seem like the kind of man to let anything stand in his way.

As he stepped inside the room, she followed him, her stomach doing flip-flops. His dark brown hair was cut short, almost but not quite a skull trim. She’d run her fingers over his soft hair as he’d buried his face between her legs many times during the days they’d spent together. Her face flushed as she remembered that, just as she recalled how he’d taken her right against the shower wall of her bathroom. He’d held her up as if she weighed nothing, his muscular arms flexing as he pounded into her. . . . Her nipples started to tingle as the erotic memories bombarded her at once. It didn’t help that he was so damn sexy, with beautiful bronzed skin that showed off his Mediterranean heritage.

The drapes were pulled back, giving them enough light from the buildings downtown to see the king-sized bed and other furniture clearly. There was a slight chill in the room, as if someone had turned the air conditioner down.

God, what was she doing? She wasn’t going to prove anything to herself or him by being here. Yeah, maybe she should leave or— When Dax turned to her, those blue eyes that reminded her of the Aegean Sea pinning her, all thought process left her mind.

Well, all thought other than imagining what it would feel like to have those soft lips on hers again. He was the first man who hadn’t treated her like some delicate freaking flower. Because of her smaller stature and, in large part, her ethnicity, men always thought she was this fragile, submissive creature. Not Dax. He’d treated her like an equal in and out of the bedroom and had seemed to really be impressed by her intelligence. By
her
.