Neither of them spoke as Jewel drove into town. She concentrated on the road ahead of them and he watched the road behind them. They must not have been followed though because he never urged her to speed up or take off on one of the side roads.
Jewel’s thoughts whipped through her head at a mile a minute while she tried to figure things out. Every now and then she’d glance sideways at her passenger only to catch him staring straight at her.
Their gazes collided more than once, yet still, neither of them spoke.
By the time they hit the Pearson city limits it was clear no men with guns had followed them, and reaction had started to set in. Jewel wasn’t an innocent to the ways of the world, she’d dealt with a lot of scary things. Shit, she was a traveller who made the bulk of her money hustling dart games in pubs around the country – she’d been in a tough spot or two before.
She’d seen things, natural and supernatural things that were both good and evil, but she’d never been shot at before.
Her heartbeat started to slow and the trembling inside her had settled down enough so she could breathe normally. She loosened her death grip on the steering wheel, and when her knuckles were no longer glaringly white, she glanced at her passenger. Her gut tightened. What now?
As if he could read her mind, he gestured to a parking stall in front of the coffee shop across from the lake. “Pull in here,” he directed. “We need to talk.”
The only reason Jewel did what he told her to was because it was true. They did need to talk. She put the truck in park, but left it running, and turned to get her first real good look at her passenger.
The light from the streetlamp illuminated the inside of the trucks cab enough for her to see that he was extremely good looking. Short dark hair, olive skin stretched over high cheekbones, and almost bottomless eyes had her pulse picking up for a very different reason than fear. His firm jaw line was shadowed with a layer of stubble that only enhanced the shape of his very seductive mouth.
A quiver of excitement rippled through her. A man with a mouth like that had to know how to use it.
Jewel squashed the sensual awareness growing inside her and gave him a hard look. “Who the hell are you?”
The mouth in question twisted. “You can call me Devil.”
She grabbed for the dagger tucked into the side of her right boot, but before the blade cleared leather his hand gripped her wrist, hard. “I said you can call me Devil, not that I was the devil. I’m one of the good guys in this battle.”
She met his gaze head on, no fear. “I’m supposed to believe you just because you say so?”
“If I was one of them I’d have let you run right into the spotlight instead of tackling you, and I certainly wouldn’t have helped you over the fence.” He spoke matter-of-factly, his expression blank. “Now why don’t you tell me your name?”
When people lied they tended to overplay their hand. If anything convinced her to believe him – and she wasn’t sure she did – but if anything was going to convince her, it was his lack of emotion.
“Okay, say I believe you. What were you doing there?” She let go of the onyx-handled dagger, but kept her hand by the side of her leg. His hold on her wrist loosened in response, but he didn’t release her completely.
“Your name?”
Shit. “Jewel.”
His head dipped in acknowledgment. “Okay, Jewel, it doesn’t matter what I was doing there. What matters is it’s a dangerous place, and you are not to go back there.”
Fuck that, she thought to herself.
Tension thickened the air between them. Who did he think he was? He didn’t even ask what she had been doing there, just issued orders like he was the king or something. “You think you can stop me?”
“Yes.”
The one word was said with such complete arrogance that Jewel reacted instinctively.
Slapping her right hand on top of the one that held her left wrist, she pinned it there at the same time twisting her left hand up and over his. She put her weight behind it, shifting toward him and pressing down on the wristlock. He countered by moving back and pulling her on top of him, his other hand going on top of hers and yanking two fingers back – the same two fingers he’d used to get her to release her choke hold earlier. Pain ripped up her forearm and she let go, landing in his lap with their hands trapped between their bodies and their faces only millimeters apart.
She sucked in air and tried not to notice the hardness of the body beneath her … until he kissed her.
He didn’t think.
Her luscious lips were there, and he just went for it. He speared his tongue between them and she opened eagerly for him. The kiss was as aggressive and fiery as she was, their tongues dueling for dominance as their hands shifted, and holds released. She thrust her fingers into his hair and held him tight while he reveled in the handful of pliant womanly curves in his lap. He gripped her hips, pulling her closer, tighter against him as blood rushed to his dick and he forgot about everything but the feel of Jewel and the purr of pleasure that was filling his mind.
More, more.
He’d give her more. One hand left her hip and cupped a full breast, the hard nipple poking into the palm of his hand as her moans filled the truck cab. Her finger tightened, pulling his head back and exposing his throat to her hungry lips. Teeth scraped down his neck to the connecting muscle there – she nipped, she licked, then her lips sealed against his skin and she sucked sharply before pulling back and slamming her mouth back down on his again.
Blood rushed to his cock and his hips bucked against her. She was wild and willing in his arms, and he was ready to give as good as he got – until the door next to him swung open and Drake stood there, not bothering to hide his smirk.
“I hate to interrupt your courtship, Devil, but Gina called. She wants us back at her place, pronto.” He paused and gave Angelo a look. “And she said to bring the girl.”
Being a mind reader isn't all it's cracked up to be.