“Lotta blood on you,” she said by way of explanation. “Not sure how much is fresh.”
“None of it since I was fighting a buncha deadbeats.” Cade grimaced. “Six of them to one of me. They’d tied my hands, but your Mad Dog is quite the talker and while he was yammering on I managed to get free and suss out the weaklings in the group. Used the advantage of surprise to take them down, then went after the better fighters. When they were all moaning on the ground, I grabbed a weapon, and took off in their van. He placed a niclel-plated .38 on the table and Dawn laughed. “Barbecue gun.”
“You know your guns?”
“Just the basics, cowboy, shooters, and some of the big, scary ones. Where’s the van?”
“Parked it out front.”
“Excellent. Now the sherriff will know where to find you.” Dawn pulled out her first aid kit and washed her hands in the sink. Even though he was battered and bruised, his eyes full of questions she would never answer, his presence soothed the nervous flutter that was always in her stomach.
There was just something about him beyond his obvious physical strength … Maybe it ws the way he filled a room with his sheer, papable presence. Or maybe it was the way he looked at her: Like there was no one else in the room. Like she was his and woe betide any man who dared hurt her. Or maybe it was all in her imagination.
She eyed his bloody clothing and grabbed a plastic bag from the cupboard. “You’d better strip. I’ll throw your clothes in the wash. Looks like you get to spend the night in your undies on my couch.”
A smile tugged the corner of Cade’s battered mouth as he undid his belt. “Will I be alone?”
“Condition you’re in, you will most definitely be alone.” She eased herself between his parted legs to help him take off his T-shirt, freezing when he winced at her touch. “Well, that just settles it.” She carefully pulled the shirt up his body. “I’m not about to take advantage of an injured man.”
“I’m not injured everywhere.” The deep rumble of his voice made her skin tingle.
“Christ, Cade.” Dawn swallowed hard as her hands followed the shirt up his torso, her fingers brushing over heated skin and hard muscle. God, he was magnificent, all taut pecs and rippling abs. Even the bruises couldn’t mar the perfection of his body. “How can you be thinking of sex at a time like this?”
His voice dropped, husky and low. “‘cause you’re standin’ between my legs wearing a tiny pair of shorts that only cover your ass cheeks, and a damn tight top that doesn’t hide what you’re thinkin.” He leaned forward in the chair, so close she could feel his breath on her skin.
“And nothing underneath.”
Dawn’s breath caught in her throat and her blood heated, thundered through her veins. Until this moment, focused on Cade’s injuries, her attire had been totally irrelevant. “How do you know I have nothing underneath?”
Cade traced lazy circles up the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, pausing at edge of her cotton PJ shorts. Dawn stilled, her breaths coming in quick shallow pants as her brain clouded with desire. It was always this way with Cade. A chemistry so potent she was surprised they didn’t combust.
“Let’s see.” He slid his finger inside her shorts and stroked along the sensitive crease at the top of her thigh, sending a zing of electricity straight to her core.
“Hmmm. Can’t tell. Spread for me, babe. Let me in.”
Her face flushed. God, the things he said did all the wrong things to the right parts of her body. “Cade … this isn’t the time. You’re hurt. Let me look after you.”
He grabbed her hips, pulling her close she could feel the heat of his breath through her clothes. Dawn breathed in his scent of blood and grass, mixed with the heady aroma of leather and manly musk, and a delicious shiver ran up her spine.
“You are taking care of me,” he said. “Man gets in a fight. Hurts all over. He wants to feel good. He wants something to make him forget the pain. And you–all soft and sexy and smellin’ like flowers–will do the trick.”
“I thought you came here for help.” Dawn made a token effort at resistance and raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize it was a booty call.”
Cade slid a hand down her hip, and then his finger was inside her shorts, stroking over the bare skin of her folds. Moisture flooded her sex and her nipples tightened beneath her thin cotton tank. Had she really thought things would be different from every other time they’d been together when he walked in the door?
“Naughty girl,” he whispered. “You go to bed without your panties and someone might take advantage.”
“Cade.” She pulled back just enough to dislodge his questing finger, at once disconcerted and aroused. “Why did you come here?”