STORY EXCERPT

“Where are you taking me, Jax?”

He took his eyes off the road for a split second, and heat rolled through Paige’s body from the direct eye contact. He was attracted to her. The idea settled in her chest, hope floating up to her brain. He was a man, not a boy she’d known from school, and he wanted her. Add that to his connection to her brother, and she could assume he was into all kinds of naughty stuff. Noah tried to hide his kink, but she was aware of some of it. Just not enough to satisfy her curiosity.

“I have a safe house west of town. We can lie low for a few days until this situation dissipates.”

A couple of days alone with Jax Thomas could be heavenly. Or hellish, if Noah interfered. Paige stared out the windshield, her mind wandering to the strange things she’d overheard about her brother. Things he had no clue she knew about him.

“Any chance we can stop at my apartment, since I don’t relish wearing these clothes for the rest of the weekend?” she asked.

“Sorry, but no.”

Paige groaned. “You aren’t making my life easy. Noah would’ve let me get some clothes.”

“Noah still thinks of you as a child. I know better.”

He had that look again, the one tightening her belly and below. Even in profile, his hungry wolf expression was obvious.

“I have a washer and dryer. We’ll work it out.”

“And I’m supposed to walk around naked while I wait?” she asked, wanting to see his reaction.

Damned if he didn’t even blink. “Works for me.”

Heat rose in her cheeks, seeping elsewhere, but Paige didn’t care. “Please tell me, I mean, can you tell me where Noah is? I haven’t heard from him in months.” True enough, but the real question was whether or not he’d show up at this safe house they were headed to. Living in his shadow was fun when she was younger, but now? Not so much.

“He’s been assigned to another detail. Bureau doesn’t allow an agent to work with a relative.”

“So you got stuck with me?”

He exited the freeway and stopped at a red light. “No, sweetheart, I volunteered.”

Again, those hot eyes bored into her, and then he winked.

What she was supposed to take from his flirtation was lost to her. Was he planning to treat her like a kid sister, or did he have seduction in mind? If only she had a choice.

He turned right at the light, and a few blocks later, he made another right turn onto a busy two-lane highway through the center of a small town. Paige noticed the large blue-and-white sign from a few traffic stops away.

She smiled and reached for the door handle when he parked, but a hard hand on her wrist stopped her.

“Ten minutes inside, fifteen max. Stay beside me no matter what. Don’t meet anyone’s eyes. I pay. And don’t get out of the car until I open the door.”

Paige stared at him, taken aback at his somber expression and dark tone, then nodded. So much for the teen idol image. He was a man with a purpose. The feel of his hand at her waist while they walked into the store was strong and possessive. She snagged a basket, and he took it from her, placing her beside the cart while he pushed.

“Always in my line of sight, understand?” he said.

Paige nodded, a habit since she knew a response wasn’t necessary. Jax Thomas spoke the same lingo her brother did, the kind of language where questions didn’t actually need a response because even if you disagreed, you were still expected to do as told.

The door they entered was near the pharmacy, so she hurried to grab a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a few cosmetic essentials before heading to the clothing section. Her hand never left the side of the cart. Life was much easier when the rules were clear, and Agent Idol had been adamant.

She didn’t often shop in big box stores, but she’d take whatever she could find if it meant she didn’t have to wear the same clothes for several days.

True to his word, Agent Hottie was practically glued to her, which was fine when she was tossing jeans into the basket, but a little unnerving when she was flipping through panties trying to find a few her size. Her hand stalled in midclutch when he reached across her and picked up a hot pink pair of lace panties in her size. Paige jerked her head around when he casually tossed them into the basket.

“I don’t think so,” she grumbled, reaching to retrieve them.

He gave her a hard look, blocked her hand, and picked up another pair in black. “We’re done here. What else do you need?”

She bit back a curse. “I need you to mind your own business.” Her foot itched to stomp the floor or maybe kick his shin, but Paige restrained her temper. Jax Thomas was too much like her brother, dominant and demanding. He’d laugh at her temper and continue to make all the decisions.

“As of right now, you are my business, sweetheart.” He pulled her against his hip and turned to the basket. “What else do you need? Last call.”

“A margarita and a shotgun would help a lot.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Paige stared at the wall next to the bedside table, counting the ticks of the clock on the other side of the bed, somewhere on the other side of the man lying against her. He was warm and cozy against her as he slept, and she was wide awake and wondering why he didn’t have his hands all over her. Putting her out of her misery would be a kindness. Yet he chose to sleep.

She blinked, refocusing on the wall and trying hard to keep all thoughts of his body, the hard, hot body that wasn’t rubbing all the right places, out of her head. Impossible concept, considering it was all she’d thought about since she climbed into bed.

If it weren’t for the damned handcuffs, she could have her hands all over him, and he wouldn’t be able to resist.

Shit.

Jax was doing this on purpose. Playing mind games. Body games, too. Her eyes widened then drifted shut as he shifted, and his thick erection connected with her butt. What the hell. Her panties had been damp for a while now, with no relief in sight.

Paige squirmed, holding in a frustrated moan.

“You should be sleeping.”

She groaned. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

His hand, the one strategically placed on her hip, rubbed her ass in a circular motion. If he intended the movement to send her into lullaby land, she’d eat her shoes. Or her leather boots.

“I’m on duty,” he replied.

“Sure you are.” To make her point, Paige pushed her butt back and bumped his erection.

“Hazard of the job.” He patted her butt again and said, “Don’t worry about it. Go to sleep.”

“I can’t sleep in this condition.” Damn, how did that slip out? She filed this moment for future reference. Intense arousal often leads to uncensored conversations.

“Are the cuffs too tight? Bothering you?”

“Ugh. That’s not the problem, and you know it.” Thank God for the restraints. Without them, he might be dead by her hand right now.

“What can I do to help, sweet thing?”

He was toying with her, playing with her body and mind. She knew it, understood it. Hell, she’d used similar tactics at work, finding a witness’s weakness and using it against him. Reality dawned as slow as molasses. Sex was her weakness.

“Tell me what you want.”

The whisper at her ear, not just the words but the warm breath accompanying them, rushed through her system like a flame. She wanted him, needed his hands on her, his body inside hers.

No.

She pushed away the idea of conceding. Refocusing, she made a mental laundry list of things she needed to do for work. Her body intruded. She changed tactics and listed a few choice things to do to Agent Reprobate. Staking him out next to an ant bed, throwing him off a bridge, or maybe cutting off his favorite organ sounded tempting. But his favorite organ continued to press against her, hot and throbbing, invading her senses.

His hand moved across her hip, his fingertips grazing her abdomen through the thin fabric of his shirt on her body, and Paige flinched. She sucked in a ragged breath, knowing she was going to fail and not caring.

“I’ll help you sleep, Paige,” he murmured. “Just tell me what you want.”

“I’m—” Damn it, she really didn’t want to say what she needed. He’d use it against her every time he wanted to make a point, and she couldn’t expose herself to him so completely. Her body was at cross purposes with her brain, and she’d been without a man in her bed for longer than sanity allowed. “I’m too wired to sleep.”

“I know. I can feel the tension. What can I do to help?”

He was the reason she couldn’t sleep. She needed him inside her, as deep as he could go between her thighs. She wanted him hard and tight until she exploded. He was driving her insane. He knew what she craved. He teased and played games, seductive games designed to push her into sensory overload. He was going to make her say the words.

“I need…I need release.”

“What kind of release do you need, sweet thing?”

Damn the man to hell. “Sex.” It felt like a scream, but to her own ears it sounded more like a desperate groan. “I need sex.”

“Does it hurt, baby?” he whispered in her ear, his voice a dark molasses of desire sliding like silk sheets across her overstimulated nerves and taking her places she didn’t know she wanted. “Do you feel like you’re on a thin wire dangling over a cliff, waiting to fall?”

His hand, the one heavy on her hip, slipped down her bare thigh and his fingers brushed a path to within an inch of her panties. She’d thought wearing undies would protect her from him, remind her to keep him out of her system. They’d failed miserably.

“Do you want to fall off the cliff, Paige?”

Those fingers dipped a little lower, and then his palm cupped her center and tugged on the panties she’d trusted.

“Paige. Soft, sexy Paige. You’re so hot here. I can feel your heat through these damned things. From now on, you’ll come to me bare, do you hear me?”

“Yes,” she whispered, so on edge she couldn’t fathom denying him.