By the time he was heading back up the stairs, the sound of the hair dryer had stopped and he could hear Karen moving around in her friend’s room. Though he wanted to stay up until the team from the NSA arrived, he knew he needed to catch a few hours of sleep. At this point he had no idea what the future held and he was running on fumes. Since he’d be meeting with Burkhart soon, that wasn’t acceptable. He had to be in top form when he talked to the head of the NSA.
The bedroom door was half-open, but he knocked on it anyway as he stepped into the entryway. She was wearing plaid pink-and-black pajamas she must have borrowed from her friend. They were a little long on her, so she’d rolled the sleeves up at the wrists. Still, they didn’t do anything to hide the outline of her full breasts. What he wouldn’t give to cup them, to tease them with his tongue—nope. Not going there again. He’d already had to take a cold shower to cool down, not that it had helped. Jacking off had, though. Or he’d thought it had until he saw her standing there looking refreshed and so fucking gorgeous he experienced another one of those jolts to his system he’d only ever had around her.
Her green eyes widened when she saw him, her gaze trailing over his bare chest. Shit, maybe he should have put on a shirt, but he’d known they’d be sleeping soon. At first he thought it was just shock, but then he got a hint of something else. As though maybe she liked what she saw.
Still, he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. “I’ll put on a shirt,” he murmured, moving for the duffel bag he’d left at the foot of the queen-size bed. “And I’ll be bunking on the floor. Is that okay?” Mostly for security reasons, but he wasn’t letting her out of his sight for reasons he didn’t want to examine too closely.
“No,” she said quickly.
He paused with his hand on the bag. He hadn’t thought she’d care about him sleeping on the floor. It bothered him that she did. “Uh, I think it would be better if we stay in the same room. We need to stay close. We can sleep on the couches downstairs instead, though.” If he had to he’d just sleep in the hallway if she was that nervous. Because he wasn’t leaving her unprotected.
“Oh no, I mean, you don’t have to put on a shirt. And we can share the bed.” Her cheeks flushed pink and, fuck him, his dick went hard—okay, harder than he already was.
He stood and picked up his bag, holding it low and hoping he looked casual and not as if he was trying to cover up his annoying erection. He’d always been in control of his dick. Always. Until, apparently, Karen. “I’ve had worse sleeping conditions than this. With a blanket and pillow, I’ll be good to go.”
She shook her head and stuck her chin out. It was slight, but he’d noticed that she did it when she was being stubborn about something. Like when she’d told him she wasn’t leaving him to get shot by the cops. She’d been so fierce and determined he’d known that arguing with her would have been pointless. And okay, he hadn’t wanted to leave her anyway. “That’s stupid. Our first meeting was you kidnapping me.” He winced at her words, but she half smiled as if it didn’t bother her before continuing. “I’m just saying I think we’re way past any sense of formality or whatever. I’m freaking exhausted and I know you have to be. I bet you and your team were up super early planning to grab me. And while you might be used to crazy days like today, you need to sleep too. If you try to sleep on the floor I’ll just get down there with you. Which will make you feel guilty and then you’ll end up in the bed anyway. So just give in now and save yourself—and me—a headache.”
He blinked in surprise, an unexpected grin curving his mouth. The woman was an absolute force of nature. “Fine, the bed it is.” God help him, he really hoped it led to more than just sleep. Which was a stupid thought considering the circumstances, but the thought of being able to hold her, kiss her . . . He shut that thought down.
She gave him a real smile and for a moment he forgot to fucking breathe. Actually forgot to draw in a breath. It was like a punch to his solar plexus. The woman was stunning.
“I knew you’d see it my way,” she murmured, still smiling as she turned from him and pulled the covers down.
Her friend had some kind of Arabian Nights theme happening with the striped red, gold, and purple comforter and a billion pillows—which Karen shoved onto the floor.
“I don’t know why she needs all these pillows,” she muttered, shaking her head.
There wasn’t much light in the room, since they’d opted to use them only when necessary, just a night-light in the attached bathroom and one in the bedroom. It was more than enough for him to see all her curves as she moved, getting the bed ready.
That was when he realized he was still standing there like a moron.
Moving into action, he shut the door and locked it, then pulled his weapon from the back of his waistband. “This is loaded,” he said, laying it on one of the dressers next to the head of the bed. “I’ve got another couple weapons in my bag and extra ammo if we need it.” He hated the spark of fear in her gaze, but he had to say it. “I doubt we will, but just in case. And . . . I just need to get this out. If shit goes haywire and something does happen, I need you to run. Okay?” She had to be safe. Not just because he was the one who’d dragged her into this mess, but because some intrinsic part of him couldn’t deal with it if she wasn’t.
“Okay.” She said it a little too quickly and there was no conviction in her voice.
“Karen—”
“Tucker, I’m so tired my eyeballs actually hurt,” she said, sliding into the bed and pulling the covers up to her waist.
“Me too,” he murmured, sliding in next to her, propping a hand under his head. He knew how big he was and tried to keep to his side of the bed so she’d have more space. If it had been a king-size bed, it would have been easier, but even with a queen, his feet were pretty much hanging off the thing and his shoulder touching hers.
She lay on her back too, but looked stiff, so he half rolled onto his side. “If you want you can curl up against me. I know I take up a lot of space.”
To his complete and utter surprise, she did just that. Hell, he hadn’t exactly expected her to; had been thinking she might tell him to take the floor after all. And it made that insane protective urge swell up again.
Tucking her head against his chest, she curled right into him and gently laid her hand on his side. There was nothing sexual about her touch, even if he wanted there to be. Then she let out a contented sigh, her breath fanning over his skin. She might be lean, but there was an incredible softness to her. He wasn’t sure if it was the circumstances or her, or probably a combination, but he couldn’t ever remember feeling so drawn to a woman before. She brought out too many damn feelings in him. He didn’t hate it.
Compared to his experiences with women in his past, this was definitely different. He’d had one-night stands, though not many because of the nature of his work. The one woman he’d been in an actual relationship with had betrayed him in the worst way possible. But he shoved that thought out of his mind, not wanting to dwell on her or his past when he had a woman like Karen in his arms. She was like no one he’d ever met before. He’d actually kidnapped her, yet here she was, helping to clear his name.
“You’re so warm,” she murmured drowsily.
Ah, she was about to pass out. Explained why she was so willing to use him as a human pillow. Fine with him. Holding her like this was foreign in his experience, but perfect. She must have used some kind of vanilla shampoo. Or maybe that was just her. Whatever it was, she smelled amazing; something he tried not to pay attention to. It was difficult not to, though, when she was pressed up against him, all soft, gorgeous woman.