Page 79 of Rule the Night

He was on me in seconds, taking hold of my arm, guiding me away from the stragglers hanging around the protest.

Well,guidingwasn’t exactly right. More like shoving me along the sidewalk, strong-arming me until I had no choice but to trot to keep up with his long-legged stride.

We were two blocks from the protest when he finally let go of my arm. I slowed down enough to fall back, then hurried to catch up because I had some things to say.

“How did you even know I was here?”

“That’s not really the point, is it?”

His calm demeanor pissed me off as much as the fact that he’d forced me out of the protest. That and the fact that even now, I couldn’t deny my attraction to him. He was wearing black jeans and a black tank top, the thorny vines of his ink winding down his biceps like snakes. His body was like a finely tuned machine, like the orange Spider he drove, all sleek sinew and speed.

“It’s totally the point.” My mind spun, trying to come up with an answer to my own question. When I did, I stopped cold. “You’retrackingme.”

“We’rekeepingtrack of you.” He kept walking. “And it’s a good fucking thing too.”

My mouth hung open and I hurried to catch up to him. “Did you put something on myphone?”

“It’s for your own good.” He stopped at a red crosswalk light, looked both ways, and started across the street anyway. “Clearly.”

“How dare you?” I gasped. “You have no right.”

“You’re doing a lot of yelling for someone who almost got themselves into a world of trouble back there.”

His words shut me up. There was knowledge in them, like he knew what I’d considered doing.

Like he knew what I’d already tried to do.

“I wasn’t going to do anything,” I muttered. “And where are we going anyway?”

“Home.” He turned onto a side street and I saw his car, crouching like an orange dragon halfway down the street.

“That’s impossible,” I said. “If I were going home you’d be taking me back to my apartment.”

“Is that what you want?” he asked, approaching the car. “To go back to your old life?”

“Obviously.” But I didn’t sound convincing even to myself.

Wasthat what I wanted?

“I think you’re full of shit.”

“Well, lucky for me, I don’t care what you think,” I shot back, coming to a stop next to the Spider.

“I think you do.”

“You’re wrong.”

He spun on me fast, grabbing the front of my leather jacket and pushing me up against the Spider.

Adrenaline surged through my body, my pulse quickening not with fear but desire.

His body was pressed against mine, his face inches away. His eyes flashed amber in the afternoon light, his strong jaw clenched with tension. His hands were balled against my tits, his dick hard against my stomach, proving that he was as turned on as I was.

What. The. Fuck.

“Am I?” His gaze was still locked on mine.

“Yes.” It came out quieter and a lot less convincing than I’d hoped.