Are Men From Mars?. Candy Halliday
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He took a step in her direction, but Maddie moved farther away. It was the wrong thing to do. When she saw the muscles flex in his jaw, Maddie worried she may have pushed him a little too far.
“Are you purposely trying to be a pain in the ass? Or is this normal for you?” he asked with a grim expression. “I’ve gone out of my way to make you as comfortable as possible. I’ve seen that you have food. I’ve made sure you have clean clothes. And, against my better judgment, I even let you call your crazy sister. Now, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s your turn to do a little compromising. After all, I’m not the one who climbed that fence and set this whole fiasco in motion. You are.”
The flush of shame crept up her neck. “I don’t suppose you would take my word if I said I wouldn’t try to escape again?”
He threw his head back to laugh.
“And I guess it doesn’t matter that you’ve already taken away my boots?”
“It doesn’t matter in the least.”
“And you wouldn’t consider sleeping on the love seat, maybe? We could push it in front of the door. You’d be sure to wake up if I tried to climb over you.”
He looked over at the love seat and back at her. “I’m six foot two. How much rest do you think I could get on a four-foot love seat?”
“Well, you’re crazy if you think I’m taking off my clothes,” Maddie sputtered.
His grin was as wicked as his laugh had been nasty. “Suit yourself, but I’m taking off mine.”
“Fine. I’ll sleep on top of the covers.”
“It gets chilly out here in the desert at night,” he warned.
“Not that chilly.”
He shrugged, then motioned toward the bedroom. Reluctantly Maddie marched ahead of him like a prisoner on her way to the gallows. Dear God, what was she going to do now? He had rendered her senseless with the mere possibility that might kiss her. And now she was going to be handcuffed to him. In bed. With him naked.
Good Lord, Maddie thought, how am I ever going to survive the next three days? Stopping when she reached the side of the bed, Maddie turned around and faced him with both arms held out in front of her.
“Just the right arm, please,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Maddie rolled her eyes, but did as he instructed. However, when the cold steel clamped around her wrist, Maddie wondered if Hawk realized once he handcuffed them together he couldn’t escape, either. The thought of him being her prisoner brought a faint smile to her lips.
“Now, let’s see.” He rubbed a hand over the shadow on his chin that only emphasized his maleness. “If we both sleep on our left sides, that means I need to cuff our right hands together. Correct?”
“Don’t ask me, I’m just the prisoner,” Maddie was quick to point out. “You’re the mastermind behind this catastrophe.”
He ignored her comment, then bent down long enough to take off his boots. Then he turned her around and stepped up behind her so close, Maddie could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck. A tingle spread through her body so fast it almost made her swoon.
“Should it concern me that you just happen to have a pair of handcuffs in your possession?” Maddie quipped, trying to disguise her rapid breathing.
The chuckle was low in his throat. “I’m not into bondage, if that’s what you’re asking. Pleasure’s always been my game.”
Forcing her eyes shut at that comment, Maddie bit down on her lower lip, hard. She was trying with everything she had not to let her traitorous mind wander into the pleasure department. Not now. Not when she was only seconds away from crawling into bed with a naked man.
To her surprise, instead of shedding his fatigues, he clamped the cuff around his own right hand, leaned over and pulled back the covers and switched off the bedside light.
The room instantly became pitch-black.
“I thought you were getting undressed,” Maddie mocked when he didn’t go through with his threat.
He leaned closer, resting his chin on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to tempt you. You might take advantage of me.”
“By putting a pillow over your face until you pass out, you mean?”
He laughed, then found the small of her back with his free hand. “Be a good girl and climb in first. I’ll climb in right behind you.” Maddie didn’t move until he gave her a gentle push. “And then we’ll be just as snug as two bugs in a rug,” he added with another one of those husky chuckles that unnerved her. “Which is an appropriate way to be if you’re sleeping with a famous entomologist, I would think.”
“I wouldn’t give up my day job,” Maddie scoffed. “A comedian you aren’t.” She slid under the covers and scooted as far to the opposite side of the bed as humanly possible. It didn’t work. He scooted right in behind her. A piece of paper couldn’t have been wedged between them. Okay, you can do this, Maddie told herself. Like the man said, we’re both two mature adults. We’re both exhausted. And there’s no reason why we shouldn’t get a little sleep.
Not that Maddie intended to fall asleep. After all, she was handcuffed to a total stranger who had her sexual motor running faster than a turbo-charged Indy race car! But she would get some rest. Rest was important if she wanted to survive the next three days. Yes, she would just lie there in the darkness awake, still as a mouse, and pretend she was asleep. Maybe then he would stop all the snuggly-buggly crapola that was driving her out of her usually focused mind.
But God, he did feel good pressed up against her, she admitted with a mental moan. In fact, they were a perfect fit. She would never have pictured Hawk as a cuddler kind of guy. But lying there in the darkness in that intimate spooning position, suddenly made the whole point of cuddling crystal clear to Maddie. Until she felt an unmistakable bulge pressing against her backside.
“Okay, soldier. That better be a hand grenade in your pocket,” Maddie warned, hoping the nervousness she felt wasn’t evident in her voice.
The second he moved away, Maddie let out a deep sigh of relief. Or was it regret? Whatever! Maddie was simply too exhausted to sort it all out. Unable to suppress a yawn, she mumbled, “It’s going to be a long three days.”
“Hopefully, long enough,” he said with a yawn of his own.
Maddie didn’t dare ask, “Long enough for what?”
She had a feeling she already knew the answer.
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