Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(41)

With a groan of surrender, he put her on her feet long enough to strip off her pants, then set her back on the counter and took off her shirt, too.

Then he remembered the only condom in the house was in his wallet, which was in his room.

“One second,” he said. “Don’t move.”

She whined when he pulled away, and he almost decided not to bother, but his job was to protect her in all ways.

He worked his jeans loose on his way back, and rushed through the next few steps until he was able to push into her and take her mouth at the same time.

She cried out his name in pleasure, and he nearly lost it right then.

“More,” she begged.

He knew if he gave her much more, he would be giving everything. And he only had the one condom.

Why did he only have one damned condom?

Because he shouldn’t be using any with her.

Screw that. He needed to make it last.

He bent down to give attention to her beautiful breasts. Small, but sexy. He sucked on one of her nipples while teasing the other with his fingers. At some point one of them knocked over one the barstools.

She held onto him, her hands clenching his hair in the sexiest way. When he moaned against her neck, she tensed. For a second, he thought he may have done something wrong, but then he felt the first pulse of her orgasm.

“God, Sam,” he said into her warm skin while kissing her neck. She’d made it too easy for him. He’d been prepared to work for it, but she was ahead of him.

Each constriction urged him closer to his own climax, and when he was certain she had finished, he gave in with a loud groan.

Afterward, they leaned against each other, fighting to catch their breath. Holy shit. His legs trembled, barely able to hold him up.

“Wow,” she said. “Why do people have sex in bed when countertop sex is so amazing?”

He laughed, and kissed her before he went to toss the condom. The guilt hadn’t kicked in yet, he was still riding a wave of pleasure and relaxation. He felt great. Better than great. He felt things—

Damn. Things he couldn’t have with her.

He handed over her shirt and searched for her panties as they helped each other dress.

She looked up at him. “Please don’t say this shouldn’t have happened. I don’t want you to ruin it.”

“I’m not going to say that.” He paused. “But…surely, you know it wasn’t supposed to happen.”

She tilted her head. “As in, it happens all the time even though it’s not supposed to? Or as in, it really never happens…?”

“It really never happens. At least, never to me.” Not once.

“Hmm.” Her lips curved.

He stepped forward to wipe that smug look off her face with a blistering kiss when the house alarms went off.

He froze. An intruder.

It only took him a fraction of a second to switch gears. He burst into action.

His burning physical desire turned instantly to the icy calm of a skilled law enforcement officer.

Saving her life was now his only thought.





Chapter Twenty-Nine


Sam covered her ears against the alarm blaring though the house and looked at Garrett. Fear grabbed her by the throat.

Right before her eyes, he turned into the man she’d met in the alley behind the restaurant. The man who’d held a gun to her head and ordered her to keep up as he dragged her along. He ran to his laptop and tapped on the keyboard, then stepped backward as though the image on the monitor was too awful to look at.

“Sam, run.” He said it so calmly the words didn’t make sense.

“What?”

“Out the back. Someone pulled in the driveway. Go. Just like we talked about. The bunker. Run.” He handed her a gun and pushed her toward the deck. “Now.”

She stopped when he didn’t follow her. “What about you?”

“Sam! Now!” His sharp look had her moving again.

She stopped asking questions. Maybe he had a plan. Maybe his plan wasn’t to deal with whatever was coming up the driveway alone. Maybe he had explosives set to detonate when someone stepped on the front porch. Something like that.

She ran across the deck as two black SUVs pulled up in front of the house next to Garrett’s Jeep. At least five men poured out of the vehicle.

Her feet didn’t even seem to touch the ground as she bolted up the hill, running faster than she ever had before.

Instincts took over as she sprinted up the railroad bed, stopping momentarily behind a tree to make sure no one was following her. It wouldn’t be a good idea to lead them to her hiding spot.

After taking a moment to listen, she heard nothing but her heartbeat pounding in her ears. No one was coming.

She took off again. Left at the arrow, and left again at the tree that was down. She saw the markers she’d made. The small pile of rocks.

The air cracked with the sound of a gunshot, like thunder during a storm that was too close.

“Garrett!” She gasped as she skidded to a stop. A different instinct made her turn back for a few steps, but then she paused again. No. Keep going. She needed to do what he’d told her. Surely, he would meet her there.

Her feet carried her faster as more shots rang out.

When she held her hand to the panel, she wondered how she had gotten to the bunker so quickly. She closed the door and went to the keypad.