| Zane hurdled into action and ran toward Keira. “Get down!”
She whirled, her eyes wide with shock as he dashed toward her. Zane grabbed
the woman and yanked her into an alcove. Her gasp of outrage stifled against him
as he flattened her against unforgiving wall just as gunfire erupted in the plaza.
People scattered, women and children screaming, and men shouting. Display carts
tipped over as chaos erupted.
He reached for the small weapon strapped to his ankle. One swift movement and
he gathered the gun in his right hand.
More automatic gunfire made Zane edge her deeper into the niche until they
couldn’t go any further. He pressed her head against his shoulder to shelter
her face, making sure not to smother her.
“Let me go!” Keira struggled against him, her voice muffled against
his shirt.
“Stop it.” She started to bring up her knee and he pressed her
harder against the wall. “Don’t even think about it.”
Another spate of bullets peppered the wall near the recess and he stiffened,
hoping to hell the bullets didn’t ricochet. Her entire body shivered against
him, as if fear made its way into her mind. Daring to peer around the alcove wall,
he kept his weapon at the ready. If someone intended to kill her, he needed to
find a safe way out of here. Screaming and shouting echoed against the walls and
in the distance a siren wailed. At first he didn’t see anyone hit by the
spate of bullets. No bodies or blood. Then he saw Hollister lying face down not
far from the entrance to an alley. Bullet wound damage to the back of his head
assured no medical assistance would help him. An eerie silence, punctuated by
a woman’s weeping, settled over the market.
Another scan of the area showed no sign of the assassin.
Taking a clarifying breath, he glared down into her amber eyes and drank in
her female scent with one deep breath.
Her eyes betrayed anger and confusion. “Get off me.”
“Damn it, stop squirming.” Leaning down a little so he could align
his gaze with hers, he conveyed the truth. “Those bullets may have been
meant for you. If you want to live, stop fighting me.”
Warm and curved, Keira’s body felt vulnerable under his weight, but the
alcove didn’t afford enough room for him to move back without making his
back a target. For the first time he saw fear in her eyes. She shivered and the
little movement made him too aware of soft, full breasts and slim body concealed
by layers of cloth. Primal male inside him reared up and took notice in a big
way.
His cock didn’t care that he’d just survived a dangerous situation
that might not be over yet. All it cared about was the woman glued to every inch
of him. Her eyes widened as she realized that he sported a growing erection. Damn
it all to hell. She probably though he was a rapist. Self-preservation said something
must give.
He eased up on her a little and cupped her face with his left hand. He didn’t
see any blood on her, but concern still made him ask, “Were you hit?”
“What?” she asked a bit breathlessly.
“Are you hurt?”
“No. No. Who are you?”
Nope. He couldn’t tell her. Not now, if ever. “We need to get you
to safety.”
She pressed her hands against his chest and the feeling of warm, small hands
against his pecs made his cock grow harder. Her mouth opened as if she couldn’t
decide to tell him to go screw himself or if she wanted a kiss. God, those lips
looked soft and like they might taste so fucking delicious. He started down at
her like an idiot, a man who had the stupidity to think about sex after getting
shot at.
On the other hand, he knew that reaction often came with the territory. Many
of the male agents he knew maintained they felt horny as hell after danger passed.
“Don’t,” she said, her voice quavering the slightest bit.
“Don’t what?”
She didn’t answer, her gaze locked with his in a moment that seemed to
hang on to eternity.
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