But Drew didn’t back away. “What’s wrong?”
“You think...” Now she was the one gritting out words. “That I would throw someone else at those animals? Knowing that they’d just torture her? Kill her?” She wouldn’t stand by and watch an innocent suffer. That wasn’t who she was. “I wouldn’t.” She’d had to watch her parents suffer.
Their deaths had almost broken her.
He pinned her hands to the bed. “Calm down.”
“You calm down!” Tina snapped at him. “I’ve been kidnapped, cut, locked up, handcuffed—and I’ve held it together!” She’d even saved his hide. Where was her thanks? “I’m not going to betray the EOD, and you should know me better than that.”
His hold didn’t loosen. “Torture can break anyone, Doc. I’ve seen seasoned warriors crumble with the right pressure.”
“Maybe you should have more faith in me,” she told him, the anger snapping in her words. “Now let me go before I damage those stitches!” Because she was fighting mad.
Drew shook his head. “You won’t. You won’t hurt me. You’re a healer. That’s what you do.” He brought his head close to hers.
Before she could snarl at him, Tina heard a new sound rising in the distance. The unmistakable whir of a helicopter’s blades.
She stilled.
“It’s okay,” Drew told her, but his voice had dropped to a whisper. “They’re just doing a sweep. They’re not going to see the bike, and they’re not going to see us.”
She didn’t have that confidence. “Maybe they’re searching for houses. Places that we could have used for hiding. They could land here—”
He laughed softly at that. “They’ll be lucky to land anywhere. A guy named Grayson was the only other pilot there, and when I went up with him once, he could barely hold the bird steady. That’s why they were so quick to bring me on board. They needed me.”
She still wasn’t exactly feeling reassured. Especially because the whir of the helicopter’s blades was getting closer and closer—louder and louder.
“Don’t think about it,” Drew told her. “Think about this.”
Then he kissed her. She was still angry at him and scared about the helicopter.
But she had a weakness. One very distinct weakness. She liked kissing him because the man sure knew how to use his mouth.
His tongue licked lightly over her lower lip then it thrust into her mouth. He kissed her slowly, deeply, as if he were savoring her.
She was sure savoring him.
She wanted to wrap her arms around him, wanted to feel the broad expanse of his shoulders, but he still held her hands pinned to the bed.
Other parts of her body could sure feel, though. His arousal pressed against the juncture of her thighs. He’d moved, shifted his weight, so that he was positioned between her legs.
His mouth slipped from hers. He began to kiss his way down her neck. Her breath was coming in fast gasps, and— “The helicopter is gone,” she whispered as she realized an intense quiet had swept over the area.
He kept kissing her neck.
Right. Gone chopper. But focused man. “Drew?”
His head lifted. Those golden eyes seemed to blaze. “I want you.”
Her br**sts were tight, aching, and when had she started arching her lower body against his? She wasn’t normally one to have desire ignite with just a kiss.
But Drew wasn’t a normal kind of guy, and the way he made her feel was definitely not normal, too.
Maybe that wasn’t bad. It sure didn’t feel bad.
It felt incredibly good.
“But our first time together isn’t going to be in some shack.” That Mississippi drawl slipped in and around his words. “And we won’t be covered in blood and grime.” He sucked in a deep breath. “I know you deserve better than that.” He backed away from her. “But, Doc, to be safe, you better keep that sexy-as-sin mouth away from me, ’cause when I get your lips beneath mine, I lose control.”
He’d moved to the edge of the bed. She sat up next to him. Their linked hands were so close. We might as well be holding hands. Tina swallowed and tried to steady her breathing. “I didn’t think control was a problem for you.” Wasn’t he supposed to be the cold-blooded agent?
His fingers caught her chin, tilted her head back so that he stared into her eyes. “Don’t believe everything you hear.” A warning.
“I don’t.” Tina forced a smile. The tension was thick, and she ached. “If I did, I’d think I was Bruce Mercer’s daughter.”
His lips twitched again. His fingers fell away from her chin and he glanced toward the cuff on their wrists. His tentative smile faded. “Hell, you’re bruising.”
She looked down. The skin around the cuff was starting to turn dark. “It’s okay.” She’d always bruised easily.
He slid from the bed, pulling her with him. “The hell it is. Now that I’m not delirious from pain, I bet I can find something here to get that thing off you.”
Tina followed him. Actually bumped into him when he spun back around to face her.
“Don’t think it’s over,” he said, eyes sharp.
What?
His gaze searched hers. “A promise is a promise,” he murmured. Then he was heading toward the small table. She followed right beside him, wondering just what he was talking about.
“Making love, Doc. I’m talking about me and you, being naked on clean sheets and enjoying pleasure that lasts all night long.”
Oh, man, had she asked her question out loud?
Tina realized that her mouth was hanging open.
“Got it,” he said with a satisfied nod.
He had what looked like an old, thin, twisted piece of metal in his hand. It wasn’t any bigger than a bobby pin, and when he shoved it into the handcuff lock, Tina knew he hadn’t “got” anything.
“That’s not going to work,” she told him, clearing her throat because she was still thinking about...being naked on clean sheets and enjoying pleasure that lasts all night long.
So that was the promise he intended to keep.
“Sure it will work. Trust me. I learned to pick locks early on.”
“You did?” Stop focusing on being naked. She glanced up at his face. Drew wasn’t looking at her. He was concentrating on the lock. “Back before your Delta Force days?”
“Back in my screwed-up-kid days.” Said without any emotion. “My dad cut out on my mom and me. She had to work two jobs to cover me and my sisters.”