Chapter 12
KARA
I couldn’t have sounded more skeptical if I’d tried. “I’m supposed to go to a hotel with you?”
Shawn’s gaze was soft and unassuming. “This is what Jason said was best. He was a US Marshal, so he knows how to keep you hidden.”
I sighed and fought the urge to scratch at the bandage on my neck because the adhesive pulled at my skin.
I composed an email to my manager Jim, letting him know I had a personal emergency and wouldn’t be reachable until further notice.
Then I’d had to power off my phone and wouldn’t use it again until Jason had cleared me to do so.
The landing gear rumbled in the belly of the plane as we drew closer to touching down. The severity of the situation must have wiped Shawn’s fear of flying clean away, for his hand on mine didn’t tense. I was grateful for it because I needed the connection. But, still . . .
“You really think I’m going to sleep with you after—”
“No. This isn’t about that.” The serious look he gave was convincing. “I’m not leaving you by yourself tonight.”
Exhaustion crept in, making simple tasks like thinking difficult.
We landed. I stumbled while descending the stairs out of the plane, and he gripped my shoulder from behind to steady me.
Was he exhausted, too? It felt like we’d been awake forever.
Perhaps I was burning too much energy worrying about my sister since we’d learned Juric had escaped.
A charcoal gray Audi waited near the plane.
It was sleek and gorgeous, and obviously Shawn’s since Victoria loaded our bags into the trunk.
He opened the passenger door for me. I sat down and tried not to notice the interior.
Of course the car was beautiful, and it was made more so when he slipped behind the steering wheel.
Powerful and in command. In his element.
I pressed my hands against my thighs because I wanted to touch him, but he had one hand on the gearshift and the other on the wheel as he drove away from the tarmac. How the hell was I going to share a room with him?
“How far is it?”
“It should take about thirty minutes.” When his gaze darted to the rearview mirror, I glanced at the side one and my concern grew. A dark vehicle followed close behind. Every turn we made was echoed by them.
“Don’t worry,” he said softly, “that’s one of ours.”
Ours. Not mine. When had that happened?
Munich, the part I saw, was narrow streets lined with white buildings and red roofs, with the occasional church stretching high up toward the stars. Historic and charming.
He pulled into an alley and set the brake just as the service door on one of the buildings swung open and a man stepped out.
“It’s safer if we come in this way,” Shawn explained. “Klaus will bring up our bags.”
He got out, handed his key fob to the man, and came around to open my door. He offered his hand to help me out, which I took, and let him lead me into the hotel and straight onto an elevator. Where, like last time we’d been on one, he didn’t release his hold.
Only this time I didn’t fight him. I held on to him fiercely.
The hotel room was large and extravagant, decorated in the same shade of gold as his beer. There was a living area with a couch and oversized chair to the right, and the large, inviting bed to the left.
One bed—which I gazed at with nervous eyes.
“I can sleep on the couch,” he said.
His offer was genuine, and I swallowed thickly. The couch was little more than a love seat, and he was enormous. It seemed unlikely he’d get any sleep, but if he did, he’d probably wish he hadn’t. I was sure it wouldn’t be comfortable for anyone.
The truth was, I didn’t want him on the couch. I was mildly concerned that his hand, the one that was still holding mine, was part of what was holding me together.
“As long as you stay on your side of the bed,” my breathing went unsteady, “it’s fine.”
He nodded and looked relieved. “Are you hungry? Do you want me to order something?”
“No, thank you.”
“Something to drink?”
He didn’t wait for my answer. His fingers uncurled from mine slowly, as if reluctant to release me, and he strode to the bar, bent, and opened the mini fridge. I’d expected him to go for wine, but when he straightened, there was an elegant glass bottle of water in his hand.
He twisted off the cap and set his questioning gaze on me.
“Yes,” I said.
He’d just finished pouring our glasses when there was a short knock on the door, and it swung open. The man who’d let us in through the back entrance appeared, delivered our bags, and set Shawn’s car key on the side table. “Brauchen Sie noch etwas, Herr Dunn?”
“Nien,” Shawn said. “Danke.”
The man nodded and exited.
I took the glass when Shawn handed it to me and gulped the water down. Not just because I was thirsty, but because I felt out of sorts and didn’t know what else to do. My gaze drifted to the king-sized bed, and he didn’t miss the way I eyed it with longing.
“Let’s get some sleep,” he said. “We can sort through everything tomorrow.”
My eyes were burning and heavy as I changed in the bathroom, slipping into an old t-shirt and pair of shorts I wouldn’t have worn around anyone else if I’d had my choice.
But I didn’t. When I came out, I tossed my clothes into a heap on my open suitcase, turned my focus to the bed, and my heart skipped.
While I’d been gone, he’d gotten undressed and under the covers. He sat back against the tufted headboard, shirtless and lit by only a single sconce on the wall over his nightstand.
On any other day I would have said the bed looked inviting, but tonight it was downright irresistible, and I refused to consider how much the man there had to do with its appeal. He watched me wordlessly as I slipped under the covers, pulling them up to my chin.
“This probably wasn’t what you had in mind,” I tried to make it sound teasing, “when you said you wanted to sleep with me.”
His smile was soft, and warm, and dear God, he looked so handsome it stole my breath. “No,” he admitted. “But you won’t hear any complaints from me.”
“Okay. Well, goodnight, Shawn.”
“Gute Nacht, Kara.”
I turned under the covers, curled up in the big bed away from him.
There was a click, and the room plunged into darkness, and the bed shifted subtly as he moved to lie down and get comfortable. For a long time, the only sound was his quiet, steady breathing, and my hurried heartbeat that thudded in my ears.
I’d told him to stay on his side of the bed, and now I was filled with regret. I didn’t know how to ask for what I wanted. What I needed. It was so lonely with him so far away. What if I asked him to hold me and he misinterpreted it as a request for sex?
“Fuck it,” he whispered, like he’d struggled with this decision.
He slid across the sheets, his warm body pressing against mine and his heavy arm draped over me. Air left me in a burst, which he might have thought was shock, but it was relief. I grabbed his hand and pulled it closer, tighter, fitting myself into his embrace.
The steady, constant beat of his heart lulled me safely to sleep.
A phone buzzed somewhere, rattling on a hard surface. I lifted my head and glared across the way to his phone on the nightstand. I wanted to go back to sleep. I wanted to yank the covers over my head like a child to avoid the day.
I couldn’t do that. There was a man in bed with me for the first time in forever. Shawn’s toned arm was around me, and we were face to face.
“Your mobile’s ringing,” I said.
“I can hear it.”
But he didn’t move. Yesterday, I’d tried to imagine what he would look like when he’d been woken from sleep, but—God. I hadn’t even come close. His sleepy gaze was unassuming and sexy, and he was so close I could almost kiss him.
Doing that would be reckless. I looked down at his arm and back to his face. This version of Shawn, sweet and caring, was the most dangerous of them all. I had absolutely no defense against it.
The phone continued buzzing until it rolled over to voicemail. The whole time his eyes studied me.
“What if that was your brother?” I asked.
“Then he’ll call back.”
The bed shifted as he closed the distance between us, touching his soft lips to mine like he was testing the waters, curious.
Electricity jolted through me, and I had to gasp in a deep breath through my nose.
His second kiss was more possessive and confident.
His lush tongue swept over mine, and I could feel it . . .
Everywhere.
Desire flooded through my veins as he moved again, easing me onto my back.
It was so he could climb on top of me, one hand on my hip and the other cupping my face, holding me into his demanding kiss.
The bare skin of his chest was warm and smooth beneath my hands.
I’d hungered for a man to possess me like this, and yet I suspected there was more to it than that.
I wanted this man, and this man made it clear he wanted me.
How much he wanted me was growing harder between us, pressing pleasurably against the center of my legs.
The heat of his palm slid down the unmarred side of my neck, steadily inching its way down over my collarbone.
Further still, and without thought, my back arched into his touch. I wanted him to find his target.
But his phone buzzed again.
He groaned in annoyance, rolled off me, and snatched his phone off the nightstand. “Hallo?”
With the warmth of his body gone, the fog in my mind cleared and I regained control.
I threw the covers off and sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, and wished I could scrub the desire from myself just as quickly.
The conversation was held in German, so I grabbed my toiletry bag and stumbled to the bathroom.
During my shower, I tried not to think about the man on the bed, or his seductive hands, or the way his kiss lit me on fire.