He kept his grip tight on her and hauled ass. Lucky for them both, he had excellent night vision—and a motorcycle that wasn’t too far away. He jumped on his bike, shoved the helmet at her, and had that engine growling to sweet life in seconds.
“Get on,” he ordered her.
She hesitated.
Kurt shouted, “
Bitch, I will kill—”
She got on the motorcycle.
Saxon’s hands flexed around the handlebars. “Hold on. Tight.”
Her fingers tentatively curled around him.
“Tight,”
he snapped. What the hell? Did she think they were about to go for a Sunday drive?
Gunfire blasted at them. He ducked, and those bastards were lucky because their bullets missed his bike. If they’d hit his ride, he would have gone back and kicked their asses—mission orders or no orders.
He revved the engine then turned around—and headed right for his pursuers.
Kurt was shouting orders. The others were trying to make a human wall in that alley, sealing Saxon and his blonde inside. So he just went straight for the wall of bodies. If the guys didn’t get out of his way, he’d go right over them—no, right through them.
More gunfire blasted. The bullet came so close to Saxon’s arm that he could almost feel the burn on his skin.
I’m lucky they don’t have better aim.
Then the fools were scrambling out of his way even as the blonde behind him held on with a tight, death grip.
They raced into the night. And he didn’t look back, not even once.
***
Elizabeth Ward held onto the man before her for dear life. He was riding that giant beast of a motorcycle way too fast. The wind whipped around her, her thighs vibrated from the powerful engine, and her hands—her hands were locked around the guy who’d been called Saxon.
Hero, my ass.
She’d seen the way the guy looked at her. She knew what he planned to do. Kurt had been intent on Elizabeth’s torture and death. This guy—big, blond, and scary as all hell—had other plans.
He wanted her. There had been no mistaking the flare of lust in his eyes, and if she didn’t get away from him soon, Elizabeth was afraid she’d be facing a whole new nightmare.
He turned off the road. They’d zigged and zagged all over Miami, and she had no clue where they were right then. Wait, no, check that—they were in another alley. Near another rundown building.
Lost.
Only, this time, he actually stopped the bike. He threw down the kickstand and killed the engine.
“I think we ditched them.” Because Kurt and his jerk battalion had tried to follow them. Only Kurt hadn’t been able to keep up with the motorcycle, not when it cut so easily through the city.
Unlike Elizabeth, Mr. Big, Scary, and Dangerous wasn’t wearing a helmet. Probably because the guy had a death wish. Probably because—
“You can let go now.” His voice was the deepest, darkest rumble she’d ever heard, and it actually took a few seconds for his words to sink in.
When they did, she was horrified. Her hands flew away from him and she shot off that motorcycle. A bad move, really, because her thighs were still shaking from the ride, and Elizabeth hit the ground.
Smooth move.
She pushed up fast, though, and staggered to her feet. Elizabeth tossed away her helmet and ran.
Unfortunately, she didn’t get far. A big, strong hand caught her shoulder and spun her around. In the next breath, her back was being pushed into the nearby brick wall, and Saxon had her hands pinned above her head. He held her easily, her wrists trapped in one of his hands.
“Didn’t we cover this?” he muttered, and his voice, if possible, had gone even deeper. “No screaming, no running—”
“No fighting,” she whispered back to him. “You said no…fighting. You never said I couldn’t run.”
He laughed then. A sound that was as deep as his voice and sent shivers racing over her body.
A man wasn’t supposed to laugh when a woman was terrified. She knew nothing about the guy except for the fact that she’d seen him shoot two men and beat the crap out of at least two more. And he’d said he…wanted her.
For an hour.
“Please, let me go.” Elizabeth wasn’t above begging, not then. She just wanted to survive that night. To get back to her apartment and pretend this whole terrible nightmare had never happened. “I won’t go to the police, I promise. I won’t tell them anything about you.”
His head came closer to hers. She couldn’t discern much about him in that moment, it was too dark, but she’d seen plenty in that terrible little room.
Saxon.
He’d been huge, filling that doorway. He had to be at least six foot three, and his shoulders had been so wide, his arms heavy with muscles. He wore a faded t-shirt and loose jeans. He’d fought with a cold, vicious fury, and he hadn’t even broken a sweat when he’d taken down his enemies.
I thought Kurt was scary. He’s nothing compared to this guy.
“I don’t want to let you go.”
Those words terrified her. No,
he
terrified her. He leaned even closer. She could feel the light stir of his breath against her cheek. She had a flash of being tied in that chair and looking up—and into a pair of dark and deadly eyes.
And I asked him for help?
A desperate woman would do anything. And she was desperate right then.
So…Elizabeth didn’t fight his hold. She relaxed her body.
If he wants me…
Her mouth skimmed over his jaw. A light, soft kiss. Hesitant. She felt the rough edge of his stubble against her. She also felt his body tense.
“What are you doing?” Saxon demanded. There was no accent to his voice. Just flat, hard darkness.
She kissed his jaw again, and forced herself to whisper, “You wanted an hour, right?” Oh, dear God, had she just said that? But being with him, right then, was still better than being held back in that little room at The Blade, with a gun against her head.
How did this happen? I was walking home, and those men just grabbed me. I kept trying to tell them they had the wrong woman—no one would listen! No one would help me!
“I’ll give you an hour,” Elizabeth promised him. She rose onto her toes and pressed a light kiss to his lips. “If you…if you let me go.”
His body stiffened even more against her, as if he were locking his muscles.
“Please…”
He shook his head. Terror squeezed her heart. She kissed him again. More frantically, wild now because this was her only hope. He was her ticket to freedom. They’d ditched the others, and now she just had to deal with him.
A growl built in his throat, and his hand tightened around her wrists. “Be careful,” he warned her.
She didn’t have time to be careful. Her tongue licked over his lips and—
He kissed her back. His mouth parted, and he took control. His lips were demanding on hers, his desire obvious in the way his tongue thrust into her mouth and the rising bulge in his jeans that she could feel shoving against her. His right hand curled under her chin, and he tilted her head up so that he could kiss her even deeper.
“Fucking taste delicious,” he bit off against her mouth. “So sweet…” His tongue swept past her lips again. He shifted his stance just a bit as he tried to get even closer to her.
And that was just what she’d been waiting for. Elizabeth’s knee came up in a fast and brutal hit. She made perfect contact because his pained grunt filled her ears and his grip eased on her hands. Elizabeth tore away from him and she ran as fast as she could.
Don’t fight?
Don’t scream?
Don’t run?
She opened her mouth and screamed as loudly as she could. Oh, hell, yes, she was going to scream. She was going to fight. She was going to run. There was no way she’d just die easily.
His footsteps pounded behind her. Her bare feet hurt as she ran over that rough street. She’d lost her high heels when those jerks grabbed her outside of her apartment.
She turned to the left. Saw only another alley waiting. But music was blaring in the distance, a Latin beat, and she knew that music meant people. If she could just get there, she’d survive. She’d find real help and not just—
“Freeze.”
She’d finally found light. A weak street light that fell down on the man before her. A man who was holding a gun.
Elizabeth froze.
She could hear the sound of Saxon’s thudding footsteps growing closer.
The man with the gun—she couldn’t see much of his face because the light was behind him. He was big, with shoulders nearly as broad as Saxon’s. And his hold on that weapon wasn’t wavering.
Could this night get any worse for her?
Saxon’s hands closed around her shoulders.
Yes, the night just got worse.
So much for her run at freedom.
“The rules were simple.” Saxon spun her around to face him. “Were you
trying
to piss me off?”
“I was trying to stay alive! I was trying—”
“I don’t have time for this shit.” That voice belonged to the man with the gun. “Saxon, get her in the van and let’s get the hell out of here.”
Wait—
no.
No, that guy could
not
be working with Saxon. But…but Saxon had just tossed her over his shoulders like she was a sack of potatoes. She punched him. She kicked, but it didn’t matter. In about three seconds, Elizabeth found herself in the back of a van, with Saxon right at her side.
“Move an inch,” he told her, voice flat, “and I’ll tie you up.”
She stared up at him as she tried to fight the panic that clawed at her insides. “Why? Why are you doing this to me?”
The other guy was up front. He’d just cranked the engine. “Someone will take care of your bike, Sax.”
Saxon grunted. “You owe me so much for this one.”
“You got the confession, and you saved the girl. That’s win, win,” the driver said as the van took off.
What? She inched back against the side of that van.
“Stop,” Saxon ordered her. His hand closed around her shoulder. “My balls are blue, so I’m not in the mood for your shit right now.”
And she wasn’t in the mood for this nightmare. “You can’t kidnap me! The cops will find you! They’ll toss you in jail and they—”
Saxon was laughing. She decided that she hated his laughter.
“I’m not kidnapping you, sweetheart. I’m saving your gorgeous ass.” He caught her chin in his hand once again. “Maybe you can thank me for that later.”
Saving her?
“Yeah, you’re fucking welcome.”
And the van kept driving hell fast into the night.
Chapter Two
Saxon kept a close eye on the blonde when they pulled up to the little no-tell-motel on the outskirts of Miami. She hadn’t said anything else during the drive. Definitely not the “Thank you” that she should have offered considering that he’d saved her life. And she sure hadn’t apologized for kneeing him in the balls.
He hadn’t seen that one coming. It wasn’t often that Saxon was caught by surprise, but when the sexy little tease had been pressing her body to his so temptingly and offering him the sweet heaven of her mouth, he’d dropped his guard. Stupid mistake—thinking with his dick instead of his brain, so the bit of pain had been earned.
He’d be sure not to make another dumbass mistake like that one again. No matter how pretty the lady was. Besides, she was about to become SEP—someone else’s problem. And he was going to ride off into the sunset. Hello, new life.
Good-bye, dark past.
He had too many ghosts dodging his steps. It was way past time to start fresh some place new. He’d been counting down the days to this new life. Saving money. Planning every spare minute to turn his dreams into reality.
“Keep a hand on her,” Victor Monroe ordered as they headed toward the motel. Victor had already gotten the room for them. In a place like this, no questions would ever be asked. Privacy was a given.
Saxon kept a close hand on the woman. It was still dark outside, but as soon as they entered the little motel room and Victor flipped on the lights, the blonde whirled to stare at them both with her freaking amazing eyes. The greenest eyes he’d ever seen.
Her gaze darted between him and Victor, and he knew that neither one of them looked reassuring.
And he still had his hand on her.
“Ms. Ward,” Victor began in his smooth, I-Can-Take-Care-of-Shit voice, “I realize you’ve had a terrifying night, but we’re here to help you.”
She swallowed. And didn’t look reassured.
Maybe she’d try to knee Victor in the balls, too. That would be fun.
But when she backed away, retreating nervously, Saxon dropped his hold on her. There were two doors in that place. One led back to the parking lot. One led to the room next door—but if she tried to make a run for that connecting room, he’d be on her in an instant. Quite simply, there was nowhere for her to run.
“I-if you want to help me,” she said, “call the cops.”
Saxon liked her voice. Husky, rich. It made him think of tousled sheets and naked skin.
“Ma’am,” Victor drawled, “we are the cops.”
She blinked.
“I’m FBI Special Agent Victor Monroe, and this…” He waved his hand toward Saxon. “This man saved your life tonight.”
Saxon pulled up his shirt. The wire was chaffing him. He tossed the shirt aside and felt her eyes on his chest. He looked down and saw the small black wire and the black tape in the middle of his chest. With a quick yank, he tossed the wire at Victor. “Guessing you got everything?”
“My men will have Kurt Taggert in custody by dawn.”
Damn straight. Then his work was done.
Hello, freedom
. No more changing his hair color every few months for the undercover jobs, no more lies as he spent his days with the worst criminals in the U.S.
Paradise is waiting for me.
He rubbed at the back of his neck, pushing away the tension there. When he looked up, Elizabeth’s eyes were on his chest. His lips quirked.
“You…you had on a wire?” Her gaze rose to meet his. “You’re FBI? I-I don’t believe it.”