He heard the thud of retreating footsteps. Chance looked to the right and saw the guy racing away into the night.
“He’s got my bag!” Gwen said. “He took it—”
Swearing, Chance gave chase. He rushed after the bastard, his legs pistoning fast. He could see the jerk up ahead, nearing a parked van and—
The van’s lights flashed on right then and the engine growled to life. Sonofabitch—a getaway car! The side of the van flew open and the guy in black leapt inside.
In the next instant, the van came careening straight for Chance.
“Run, Chance!” Gwen’s scream—and that scream was coming from just a few feet away. He looked over his shoulder and saw her standing in the middle of the street. The van’s lights were on him, on her, and, dammit, that van was rushing far too fast toward them.
He ran—to her. Chance grabbed Gwen and they leapt out of the road and flew toward the sidewalk. They hit the ground and he made sure to take the force of the impact, and then they were rolling, spinning away from the street as the van roared past them.
He could smell burning rubber and exhaust. He could hear the van’s growling engine. And when he looked up, Chance saw the back of the van and its glowing red tail-lights. The vehicle screeched down the road and made a hard right turn at the intersection.
Chance sure as shit hoped Lex had just seen what went down. Lex had better tail that van and catch that jerk.
“Are you hurt?” Gwen whispered.
He looked back down at her. They were under a street light and the glow fell on them. Her eyes looked even bigger than before. Her lips were parted. Such red, full lips. Lips that he thought about far too much.
But then, he thought of Gwen too much. Beautiful, perfect Gwen. Gwen with her wide eyes, her delicate nose, and those cheeks that looked as if they were made of glass. Gwen’s body was all sensual curves—curves that drove him out of his head and made him itch to touch her.
Except…she wasn’t for him. That was what he’d thought, anyway. Too good. A woman like her would shatter if he touched her.
Only she wasn’t shattering just then.
“Are you hurt?” Gwen asked again.
Hell, that was supposed to be his line. He shook his head.
“Good,” she whispered. “I’m so glad. I-I was worried—”
He kissed her. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline. Maybe it was because of the desire that he was so sick of holding in check around her. Maybe the why didn’t matter.
Chance let go of his control. His mouth crashed onto hers. Onto those full, make-me-beg lips. His tongue thrust into her mouth and he tasted her the way he’d been dying to for so long.
The lust he felt for her filled him. His cock stretched, aching to sink into her. And he kept kissing her, right there on the ground, with the snow falling around them. He kissed her hard. He kissed her deep. He kissed her the way he wanted to fuck her.
And he knew that they’d just crossed a line, a point of no return.
Gwen Hawthorne was going to be his, and anyone who tried to take her from him, anyone who tried to hurt her…he would fucking destroy.
Chapter Two
“It was a mugging, Chance. Just a mugging. Unfortunately, those happen in D.C., just like they happen in plenty of other big cities.” Gwen was proud of the fact that her voice sounded all nice and normal. Especially considering how very far from normal she actually felt.
They were in her apartment. The cops had already come and left—the uniformed officer hadn’t seemed overly optimistic that her attacker would be caught.
And while the fresh-faced cop had jotted down notes, Chance had glared at the guy. If looks could kill…
“You don’t know that it was just a mugging,” Chance argued. “We can’t be sure of that.” He was currently stalking in front of her couch.
He was sexy when he stalked. All tall, dark, and menacing.
He’s even sexier when he kisses me.
She still couldn’t believe that had happened. He’d kissed her on the street, with the snow all around them. And he’d wanted her. No way had she missed that too-telling sign. It would have been nearly impossible to miss the huge swell of his arousal pressing into her.
“The cops should patrol your neighborhood. Keep guards on you.”
That was the last thing she wanted. She’d already spent too many years being under guard, or rather, under the too watchful eyes of her father’s security team.
Speaking of her father… “You’re not going to tell him, are you? You aren’t planning to tell my father about the mugging?”
He stopped pacing. “You were attacked. The guy was waiting at your place—”
“You heard the cop! He thought the guy was probably just casing the neighborhood. I was the unlucky one who happened to be here, at the wrong time.”
A muscle flexed in his jaw. “What would have happened if I hadn’t been here?”
“H-he would have taken my purse and left.”
He shook his head. “You really believe that?”
No. Yes. She didn’t know. Gwen rose to her feet. Closed the distance between them. “Why were you here?” He’d burst out of the darkness like an avenging angel.
His eyelids flickered. “I couldn’t let things end like that between us. I needed to…to talk with you.”
“So you followed me home?”
“No, I beat you home. And that’s how I know that jerk was waiting inside the building—he was waiting for you.”
Goosebumps rose on her arms.
Chance’s gaze slid toward her door. The door she’d triple locked. “He got away with your keys. I’ll get my men to change the locks here first thing. And the locks at your gallery. You told the cop that there weren’t any credit cards in your bag, but are you sure about that?”
“I only had a little cash in my bag. Nothing more.” Her shoulders straightened. “And I don’t need your guys coming to fix my locks. I know how to hire a locksmith. I can easily take care of that on my own.”
Silence. His gaze swung back to her. Oh, my, but that stare of his glittered with intensity. “Has anything else like this happened to you recently?”
Gwen forced herself to keep holding his stare. “Has someone mugged me, you mean? No, this is a first—”
His hand lifted and curled around her arm. At that touch, her heartbeat instantly went into a double-time beat.
“Has anyone given you trouble? Have you noticed anyone following you?”