Shadow Hawk

Whether she’d been in with Gaines no longer mattered, she was now a target right alongside Hawk. If something happened to her, it’d be his fault. Shit. Gulping in a deep breath, he pushed off from the tree and whipped around to pursue Abby.

To keep her safe.

But he only got about two steps before he plowed directly into a brick wall. A soft, perfumed brick wall.

Flying through the air, he realized the person trying to kill him had an instantly recognizable body and scent. Flowers, and some sort of sexy light spice that made him think of both sweetness and heat at the same time.

Of Abby, who’d wrapped her arms around him hard, and as they both sailed through the hazy air, heading toward the frozen earth, he had time to think one more thing.

Goddamn, but he was getting tired of eating dirt tonight.

ABBY SKIDDED ACROSS the unforgiving ground. She felt it digging into her legs, felt the damp chill her skin, but that was the least of her problems as Hawk rolled, pressing her into the ground with his body, which was taut and extremely primed for violence. Before she could so much as draw a smoke-filled breath, he clamped a hand over her mouth, completely immobilizing her, which promptly brought her back to another time and place. All her training flew out the window as terror took over, leaving her fighting like a wild thing, ineffective and serving only to drain her energy.

“Stop.” Hawk’s voice came low and gravelly, his mouth so close to her ear that she felt his lips brush her skin. “I’m not going to hurt you, but I can’t vouch for Gaines, so save it.”

The night and smoke combined to create an unwanted intimacy, as did his weight over her. They were away from the barn, in the trees, out of sight. But still, she held out hope that any second now Ken or Watkins or someone was going to help her. Then she’d find Elliot and get to the bottom of this crazy night.

“I’m going to take my hand away,” Hawk murmured. “But we’re going to stay just like this. Real quiet, okay?”

She nodded. Of course she nodded, but the minute he lifted away his fingers, she spit out “Get off me!”

He sighed and again covered her mouth, which made her struggle like mad beneath him. She was beyond frightened, but he was calm, breathing so normally she wanted to scream in frustration.

“Abby, goddamn it, stop.”

She tried to bite his fingers but he just pressed harder on her mouth. The low light cast his face in soft shadows, softening his features, making him seem almost vulnerable. Which was ridiculous given that she was the vulnerable one here!

“Are you with Gaines?” he asked.

What?

He was watching her very carefully. “I need to know. Which side are you on?” Slowly he lifted his hand from her mouth.

“I’m on the good side!”

Hawk stared at her. “I have no idea if you’re lying-”

“I’m not!”

His jaw brushed hers as he nodded, and she became extremely aware of how he held her. Tightly. Too tightly to move. And yet somehow, incredibly gently.

What kind of a bad guy cared if he hurt her or not?

“Just had to make sure.” He said this lightly, as if they were having tea and cookies instead of lying on the ground. “So if you’re not a bad guy, that means you-what came back to help me?”

“Yes,” she lied, closing her eyes for a moment to protect her thoughts, which were that she wished she could help him. She wished she could connect what she’d seen to what her heart was telling her-that this man, this fierce, intense, wildly sexy man couldn’t have possibly done what she saw him do. She gauged his weight. “I came back to help you.” Take you in. “Hawk…” She had to, Abby reminded herself, and though she had no idea what made her say it, she whispered, “I’m sorry,” and then came up hard with her knee between his legs.

When he slumped over her and let out his breath in a soft whoosh, she played the rolling game as well as he had a moment ago and ended up on top, straddling his hips, breasts pressed to his chest, hands entwined with his on either side of his head to hold him down. Then she made the monumental mistake of looking into his face.

His eyes met hers in the dark night, reflecting the fact that despite his easy-going tone, he was in some serious pain. “Good one,” he wheezed and coughed. “Holy shit.”

Remorse was a luxury she couldn’t afford, no matter how much she was attracted to him or how good an agent she’d thought him to be. She wouldn’t make the mistake of thinking she had the upper hand for long. He’d been Special Forces, and he was considered a deadly weapon even when completely naked, so she knew the truth-if Hawk wanted to get away from her, he could. “I’m going to have to call for backup,” she said slowly, watching him, overwhelmingly aware of his body tensed with barely repressed aggression beneath hers. She hadn’t been this close physically to a guy in a year.

A year, two weeks and three days.

But who was counting?

Why was he letting her hold him down?

She didn’t know, but she needed the rifle, and began to reach back for it-

“Don’t.” He tried flashing a grin. “Come on. We don’t need backup. You and I can rock and roll all on our own.”

“I’m not hitting on you, and you know it. I’ve never hit on you.”

“Really.”

“Really.”

“So that time I caught you staring at me changing shirts, you were, what-checking for moles?”

Okay, he had her there. “I was not hitting on you,” she repeated stiffly. “Good God, only an idiot would think that!”

“An ass and an idiot.” He sounded amused. “I had no idea how highly you thought of me.”

“You shot Gaines,” she reminded him, watching him very carefully. She knew better than most how fast the man could move.

“So we’re going to talk shop now?” he asked, as if he hadn’t just held her down against her will. Maybe he’d decided she was no threat. That she wouldn’t scream to get help when she needed it.

Too bad he was dead wrong.

“Because up until now you haven’t been all that interested. Unless…unless it’s the opposite. You’ve just been playing hard to get.” Hawk grinned again, but it was forced.

And, yes, she actually knew the difference between his real smile and a forced one. But she’d obsess over that later. For right now, Abby wasn’t going to let him distract her, not when he was as slick as rain, and she could feel him beneath her, gathering strength, his every muscle poised for action. She very carefully shifted her weight and…

He almost let her get the rifle, too. But then he locked his gaze on hers, his filled with a whole host of things she wished she couldn’t see-regret, resignation and also sadness, which she didn’t understand. The next thing she knew, he’d unarmed her and once again she found herself held down by six feet two inches of solid muscle.

“Where did you get the rifle?”

“I found it after the first explosion.”

“Or you got it from Gaines, out of the barn. Damn it.” He shifted, pressing down harder.

Her windpipe closed, her heart stopped and she thought maybe the world had slowed to a halt on its axis. Abby opened her mouth to scream, but again his hand came down over it.

“No, don’t. I can’t let you shoot me, or call for help,” he said with real remorse in his voice as he threw the strap of the rifle over his shoulder. His eyes were black, fathomless pools, unwavering in their intensity as they fixed on her. “I’m sorry you’re scared. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Ha, she tried to say. I’m not scared. But she was so far beyond scared she couldn’t even speak the lie.