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“It’s possible it slipped out,” he said cautiously. Where was she going with this?
She nodded. Set her hand on the bed, as if imagining she was touching him. He closed his eyes to block the image.
“Will you sleep with me?” she asked. “In case I have another nightmare?”
His entire body clenched in anticipation of curling his body around hers, of feeling her softness pressed against the hard planes of his body. But he didn’t move. “You sure you want that?” he asked cautiously.
She sighed. “Your virtue is safe. I just… I don’t want to be alone in case that dream comes back.”
No way could he refuse her request. “Sure. Slide over.”
She scooted across the bed, and he climbed in beside her. The sheets were warm when she’d been laying, and the faint scent of oranges rose from the pillow. Swallowing, he drew the duvet up to his shoulders, then stared at Alex, who was staring back at him. “Tell me what you want,” he said, his voice soft in the cool, dark room.
“Just… hold me,” she whispered.
He followed the ripple of muscle in her throat and tried not to think about how much he wanted his mouth there. “You sure?” he asked, his voice harsh with desire.
She tilted her head as she studied him. Closed her eyes. Flopped back onto the bed, showing him her back. “Forget about it, Wolf. I don’t need pity cuddles. Go back to your own bed.”
His heart contracted. He’d been clumsy. Awkward, when all he wanted was to make sure she felt safe. Not alone, if she had another nightmare.
“Sorry,” he said, slipping closer. He lifted his arm. Hesitated for a long moment, then slowly draped it over her abdomen. Curled his fingers around her waist and tucked her against him. Her ass was pressed against his hardening cock, and he sighed. “That’s why I hesitated. I didn’t want you to think I was… asking for something.”
She’d tensed when she’d felt the pressure of his penis against her ass, but at his words, she relaxed. “What if I want you to ask for something?”
Her voice was a whisper of sin in the quiet room. A siren’s song of need. He drew in a shaky breath. “You can ask me for anything, Alex. But I wasn’t expecting,” he pressed his cock against her ass a little harder, “this.”
“I wasn’t, either,” she said. “That kiss? Back at the motel? I wrote it off as comfort. Pity. I wasn’t interested in a pity fuck.”
“And now?” he asked, holding his breath for her answer.
She rolled over so she was facing him. “Still not interested in a pity fuck. And I shouldn’t be interested in mutually gratifying sex. But,” she flopped onto her back so she was staring at the ceiling. “Those images from my dream are burned into my brain. And I’m so cold. So alone.”
She shot him a side glance, then looked away again. “I know you’re on my side. But Jerry and his Russians are after me. That all got mixed together with Seattle and Frank, I guess. That’s where the nightmare came from.” She shivered. “I just want to forget everything for a little while. Forget that I’m in a hotel in Montana, running for my life. Forget that I could have died back in Boughton.”
She studied him for a long moment. Holding his gaze, she said, “Cards on the table? I was attracted to you when I saw you in that restaurant in Fargo. Before I had any idea who you were.” She shrugged. “But I don’t want to use you to numb my fear.”
His throat thick with all the words he shouldn’t say -- I’m aching for you. It killed me to be in the other bed, when I wanted to be here with you -- Gideon reached out one hand. Smoothed it down Alex’s face. “You wouldn’t be using me. I’ve wanted you since we sat in that cheesy diner in Boughton. Since you stood up to me, even though part of you still thought I was the guy sent to kill you. And I’ve wanted you more every day since then.
“But my job is to protect you. Getting involved physically is a really, really bad idea.”
“And maybe it’s not,” she said. “Maybe it’s the best idea we’ve ever had.”
Gideon watched her for a long moment. Registered the desire in her eyes. The longing. And something beneath that, as well. Something sweet and tender that was terrifying as hell.
And completely irresistible.
