Hot Pursuit by Lynn Raye Harris Page A

there’d always been more between them
than just one night. Because they went back a long ways, and she’d
loved him as a friend long before she’d ever fallen for him as a
man.
    And though she wasn’t in love with him
anymore, they were both adults now and she knew what she was asking
for. Earlier, she’d thought she couldn’t handle it, that it would
be too much—but now she wasn’t worried. This time she would take as
much as she gave.
    Evie wrapped her arms around his waist and
fitted herself closer to his body. He groaned then, his hands
slipping down over the robe, bunching the fabric at the small of
her back as if it were a lifeline and he couldn’t let go.
    She opened her mouth on a moan and his tongue
slipped inside, tangling with hers while her body melted. She ached
in a way she hadn’t in a very long time. It was thrilling to feel
this way when she’d felt numb for so long. She ran her hands up the
hard muscles of his chest and over his shoulders. He was so much
stronger than he’d been at seventeen. Her blood hummed with
electricity. Fireworks sparked in her belly, her sex.
    He pushed her gently away and disappointment
crashed through her. “You’re making me crazy.” His voice was
thrillingly low, sending shivers of anticipation along her spine.
“But we can’t do this—”
    “I want to.” She really did. To hell with all
the reasons she’d told herself she shouldn’t do this earlier. Julie
had told her she needed to get laid, and maybe her cousin was
right. The sparks between her and Matt were combustible—and it had
been a long time since she’d felt any combustion with anyone.
    She could spend the night in Matt’s bed and
walk away in the morning without a backward glance. And that was a
mighty liberating thought.
    He closed his eyes on a groan. “I don’t get
hostages out of bad places and then sleep with them. It’s
unprofessional conduct and it’s unbecoming an officer in the United
States Army. Tomorrow, maybe—”
    “God, Matt, just stop fighting it! This isn’t
the Army and no one paid you to help me. I’m not somebody you’ve
never set eyes on before today.” She sucked in a ragged breath.
“This is me. Evie. I used to be your best friend, remember? We’re
adults, we know what we want. You said it yourself.”
    His eyes searched hers. “But do you really?
You didn’t seem so eager when we danced earlier. Or in your mama’s
salon.”
    “I know. Maybe I was scared of you, scared of
everything that happened before and how it made me feel. But I’m
sure now. Because I’m not sixteen and I don’t feel anything for you
now except lust.”
    One eyebrow lifted. “Lust, huh? So now I’m a
piece of meat?”
    “That’s right, Matt. You’re meat. I want a
piece of you.”
    His laugh was strangled. “Jesus, Evie. I’m
serious when I say I missed the hell out of you. I wish I’d
realized it years ago.”
    Her heart did a little skip. “There’s no need
to sweet-talk me, soldier. I’m already naked under this robe.”
    “You kill me.”
    “I’d rather do something else to you.”
    His grip on her arms was light. She wasn’t
going to give him a chance to back away. She broke his hold easily
enough, flowing into his arms. He didn’t protest as she took his
face between her hands and pulled his head down for a kiss.
    At first, he didn’t react. She was ready to
break the kiss when he suddenly squeezed her tight.
    “I give up,” he said hoarsely. “You win,
Evie. You win.”
    And then he kissed her with the kind of heat
that curled her toes.
    * * *
    Sarah huddled against the car door, as far
from the man who stared at her as she could. She wrapped her arms
around her body and tried to make herself smaller. He finished his
latest cigarette and flicked it out the window. The air stank of
sweat and stale smoke. She had no idea how anyone could stand it.
Surely the smell was as bad in the front seat as the back, but no
one seemed affected. These people were