Hot as Sin (Hot Shots: Men of Fire #2)(43)
Author: Bella Andre

Now she was the sympathetic one, saying, “What did you do?”

He scowled. “I dragged their asses out of the hospital. And told them not to set another foot inside his room if they couldn’t be civil.”

“You did a good thing,” she said softly. “Protecting Connor.”

“My mother came by to see me a couple weeks later. She’d decided to file for divorce.”

“Oh, Sam. After thirty years, they couldn’t figure things out?”

“If you ask me, filing for divorce was the good choice.” His mouth quirked up on one side and he could see that she was surprised by his half smile. “She should have divorced his ass years ago. But she thought it would be better for Connor and me if she stuck it out.”

“So she was only trying to do what was best?”

“Yeah, she was. I don’t know what the hell my father was thinking all those years, though. He mostly wasn’t around and didn’t say much when he was.”

Suddenly, Sam looked up, and as his eyes connected with hers, he realized he’d just delved deeper into his mixed emotions about his parents’ marriage than he ever had before—even in his own head.

Dianna’s hand came up to his cheek, her fingers lightly brushing against the stubble on his chin.

“You’re a good man, Sam. A good brother. And a good son.”

He covered her hand with his and leaned close enough to taste her lips, which were warm and salty from her tears. She leaned into him and he licked them with slow strokes of his tongue, growing instantly hard when she moaned with pleasure.

Her tongue found his and their kiss deepened as one hand threaded through her hair, the other pulling her all the way onto his lap. Through her shirt and bra he could feel her ni**les beading against the inside of his biceps, and his erection was cradled in her soft curves.

And then, suddenly, she was pushing out of his arms, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

“I’m sorry, Sam, it’s not that I don’t want to be with you.” Her words rammed into each other like out-of-control train cars. “Obviously I do. More than anything. But—”

She put her hand over her mouth to stop the flow of words, and it took every ounce of control he possessed to play the nice guy and do the right thing.

“It’s okay, Dianna,” he managed to say despite the intense throbbing in his groin.

Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. “I heard what you said by the river, about not wanting to get involved with me again. And I respect that, Sam. I really do. So even though I want to be with you, right now I’m afraid I’m not in any frame of mind for sex without strings.” Giving him a crooked smile, she added, “And I wouldn’t want to go all psycho on you later.”

Fuck. He’d dug this hole himself, hadn’t he? What could he do but agree with her that not having sex was for the best? After all, it was his idea in the first place.

Willing his erection to disappear, he stood up and reached for her hands in as nonsexual a way as he could.

“How about we eat something and turn in for the night? It’s been one hell of a long day, and things always look better in the morning.”

“I just wish we knew what to do next,” she said as they made their way back to their tent.

“Do people always tell you everything the first time you interview them?” he asked her, trying like hell to refocus on finding April rather than how much he wanted the woman beside him.

Looking thoughtful, she said, “No. Not usually. Sometimes I have to pull the information out of them.” She shot him a sidelong glance. “Do you think that’s going to happen here?”

“My gut tells me that something will turn up tomorrow.”

“I hope you’re right.”

He made them another quick meal of lumpy chicken and rice stew, and as they ate in silence, then got ready for bed, Sam had to ask himself if his emphatic insistence on not giving their relationship another shot had actually been on target.

Had he put too much emphasis on who they were ten years ago and not enough on who they are now?

Because wasn’t the real question less about whether he’d be screwed if she left him again one day than it was about whether she’d truly want to be with him now? Would she be willing to give up her fancy name brands and champagne lunches for a simple man in turnouts and a work shirt?

“You take the tent,” he told her. “I’m used to sleeping outside.”

Clearly too tired to argue, she climbed into the tent and zipped it shut. But Sam lay awake in his sleeping bag, staring up at the stars, one final question haunting him as the moon rose higher in the sky.

Was he willing to risk everything for the woman he’d never stopped loving?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

APRIL WOKE up with a start, her neck cracking as she lifted her head off her chest too quickly. Her shoulders ached and her legs and arms had gone numb beneath her bindings. Her mouth felt like it’d been stuffed with cotton, and she ran her tongue around the inside of her mouth trying to find any hidden pools of moisture, but it was a total waste of effort.

To make matters worse, she needed to pee. Bad enough that her bladder was going to burst if she didn’t get to a bathroom soon. Her head was throbbing and she felt dizzy, too. Definitely not the best day she’d ever had.

Hoping someone was close enough to hear, she grunted loudly.

After what seemed like an eternity, a fat guy with beady little eyes opened the door. “Shut up or I’ll make you shut up.”

His sour-milk breath made her recoil in disgust and she wondered where the guy who’d kidnapped her had gone. Still desperately needing a bathroom, she continued grunting and pleading with her eyes until he opened the door wider and ripped the duct tape from her mouth.

Tears sprang to her eyes. She couldn’t believe how much that hurt!

“What the f**k is your problem?”

“I have to pee,” she ground out in a hoarse voice. “And I’m dying of thirst. You don’t want me to die of dehydration, do you?”

“Jesus, I’ll get you some water and let you pee. Just shut up.”

He pulled out a sharp pocket knife. “But no funny business or I’ll have to use my knife to cut more than just the tape.”

“I swear, I won’t try anything.”

And she wouldn’t. Not yet, anyway, even though she definitely felt like her chances of escaping this guy were better than with her original captor.