Torn - Cynthia Eden Page 0,6
pull her hand away from Wade. They stood there, Victoria in front of him, her body so close, her scent—light lavender—rising over the smell of that stale alcohol. Wade tried to figure out what to say to her. He tried to find the words that would smooth over this mess that was developing between them.
“What are you doing?” she finally asked him.
He had no clue. Making an ass of himself? Yeah. Because when he’d seen Victoria with that jerk, jealousy had burned through him and he’d lost the ability to have a sane thought.
“Wade, please, answer me. Why are you here?” Victoria pressed.
He really wished he could see her eyes in the dark. Victoria’s green eyes could shine with so many emotions. “Why are you here?” Wade asked her. “I know you aren’t into bars like this. I’ve heard you say before that these places aren’t your kind of scene.”
Victoria just shook her head and started walking away from him. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she muttered.
No, she was going to see him right then. He was tired of feeling as if Victoria didn’t see him. I don’t like her looking through me. He caught her wrist. “You know how dangerous it can be to hook up with strangers.” At LOST they’d seen—firsthand—what death and horror could follow when you trusted the wrong person. The rest of the world might walk around with blinders on, but they didn’t. They couldn’t.
“Maybe I was in the mood for some danger.”
Her voice was so low he had to strain to hear it, and then he shook his head, hard, even as his fingers tightened around her wrist. “That’s not you.” But Victoria had been changing. Ever since that damn attack. Ever since . . . I nearly lost her.
And he hadn’t even realized how important she was to him, not until then. Victoria and her sharp mind. Her slow smile. Her sexy glasses.
He hadn’t realized it . . . not until he’d seen her covered in blood.
I won’t lose her. Not to some psycho killer. Not to some random stranger.
“Maybe you don’t know me nearly as well as you thought,” she said.
For some reason, her words pissed him off. “Actually, I think I know you better than you realize.” He’d worked intimately close with her—and intimate was the key word. He’d spent too many hours with her. Fantasized about her. Realized that the one thing he wanted—
Was right there.
“I’m taking you home,” Wade said.
“Oh, Wade . . .” Victoria sighed his name. “I don’t need protecting. I’m an adult. I can take care of myself.”
“And I’m your friend.” That had been her word choice. “So let me just give you a ride home, okay?” Because he needed to get her out of that alley. Away from that club.
Before the blond bozo came back. Freaking Flynn.
“I haven’t stopped you from sleeping with anyone,” Victoria said.
Yeah, baby, you have. Maybe she didn’t get just how drastically his life had changed since her abduction. Maybe it was time that he stopped playing it cool. Stopped giving her time and started acting.
“Let’s go,” Wade said. He tugged on her wrist.
Victoria sighed again but she didn’t argue. They headed out of the alley and then dodged cars as they hurried across the street. His motorcycle was waiting, and he jumped on the bike and revved up the engine.
“At least you don’t have to take a cab back home,” he told her as she climbed on behind him.
Her hands curled around his waist.
“You’ll need to hold on tighter,” Wade told her as his hands rolled around the handlebars. “A whole lot tighter . . . and come closer.” Because she was trying to distance herself. That wasn’t going to work. He intended to eliminate all the barriers between them.
Victoria wouldn’t be able to hold any of herself back.
He felt her inch forward, and a hard smile curved his lips.
If Victoria was in the mood for danger, she wasn’t going to be taking a walk on the wild side with a stranger. If she wanted passion, if she wanted hot sex, she didn’t need to go looking for it at some club.
He shot away from the corner and they raced down the street.
If she wanted danger and passion . . . then I’ll damn well give it to her.
CHAPTER TWO
HER LEGS WERE trembling when Victoria climbed off Wade’s motorcycle. He’d parked underneath the streetlight at the corner of her building, and when she glanced at him—
He looks furious.
As if he had