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A any sound she et him hurt The twothe other uy’s back Matt reached behind himself for a set of flexi-cuffs fro at hiht in He grabbed one of the two reuys by the back of the shirt and hauled hiuy appeared to be six and a half feet tall and close to three hundred pounds "Down," Matt said, and pointed to the ground, both his voice and actions cool and calround

Sawyer had the other one facedown in the dirt now and was cuffing him Sawyer had a cut lip and torn clothes but otherwise appeared unhar about their injuries, which both Sawyer and Matt ignored There was a short conversation between Sawyer and Matt, then they both made calls

Twenty minutes later, three more black-and-white SUVs appeared Matt spoke to the officers, then to Sawyer Then the cuffed men were loaded up and driven away

Matt turned toward his truck and Amy He was head-to-toe filthy He had a tear in one knee and another on his elbow He eaty

And he looked like the best thing she’d ever seen

He a out of the clearing and back onto the fire road as if nothing had just happened Like it was an everyday thing to drag bad guys off his e in hand-to-hand combat

And hell,Protecting himself and Sawyer, and by extension her as well, had been as second nature as breathing Not for the first time, she wondered about all he’d seen and done and how it’d molded him into the man he was, so laid-back and quick to smile and yet ready for battle at all tiht now, like she was going to die if he didn’t grab her and kiss her Strip her Take her

"You okay?" he asked,her jump He swiveled his head to look over at her, and their eyes held Suddenly there wasn’t enough air in the vehicle, not even close, as the tension rose It was a good kind of tension, the kind that had her squeezing her thighs together Was she okay? She had no idea, but her insides were quivering, her hands itching with the need to lay theed

His gaze never left hers "You’re shaking"

Yeah, she was Every part of her "I was scared for you" She hugged herself "Which is ridiculous, since like you said, you’re good at taking care of yourself" So they had in common

They were on a deserted road, hidden from all sides by trees so thick she couldn’t see beyond thereatly annoyed, she stared out the , gasping in surprise when Matt pulled off the road Turning to her, he slid a hand along the back of her seat, pal stupid for her shocked reaction, she nodded and drew in a shaky breath, but his touch had only accelerated her heart rate She didn’t knohat to feel, or do She wanted to jump over the console and personally search every inch of him for injury She also wanted to rip off his clothes and cli off, she closed her eyes

"What do you need, Amy?"

"You"

A low sound escaped hi her face, gliding down her ar her toward him

She wasn’t exactly sure what happened next, whether she’d done as she’d thought about and climbed over the console, or if he actually lifted her, but then she was straddling hi her above hi him "Wait--I’roan, he hauled her in close, kissing her long and deep

He was right; he was hot and dirty And he was real, more so than anyone she knew, and in turn he ether in his driver’s seat, that the steering wheel was pressing into her back, or that anyone could coainst her, his scent, his taste, and she rocked into hiainst it, startling her into jerking upright, where she banged her head on the visor

Laughing softly, Matt cupped her head in one big palainst her neck and dumped her back onto her side of the vehicle

"Hey," she said

"Not here"

"Why not? We’re on a date"

With a rueful smile, he adjusted himself "Is that what you think a date is about? Sex?"

"Well… yeah"

He shook his head "Even if that was true, there’s not enough room in this truck for what I want to do to you"

Her niles tightened evenyou, you’ll know it"

She shuddered in anticipation She knew hiic of his touch She knew he could back up that cocky statee," Matt said

"Are you going to tell , and she held his gaze, seeing the concern in it Was he worried she was too fragile to hear about his work? Had his ex been that way? Because Aet "I want to hear about it," she said "I’d really like to know"

"Not too long ago, webust I told you about," he said "We found sos Wrong on both accounts"

So casual But what she’d seen had been anything but casual It’d been like souys," she said "Four huge guys"

"We’ve faced worse"

That thought gave her a shiver as he pulled up to his cabin

"I’m sorry I screwed up our date," he said

She shook her head "You didn’t"

"I’ll shower and change real quick," he pro rooh the open door, A kicked off one by one, and then the shower ca down to skin and failed To distract herself, she looked around The first time she’d been here, she hadn’t had ti of each other’s bones and all

He had running shoes half under the couch, a newspaper scattered on the coffee table Next to the front door was a baseball bat and mitt A laptop sat on the couch

This wasn’t just a place where Matt hung his hat at night He lived here

Had he loved here?

She was surprised at the yearning to know His shower turned off Next ca

"We missed our reservations," he called out to her "But maybe they’ll still take us anyway"