Thankful Hearts

Desire surged throughout his body. He moved his hands up beneath her business jacket and along her back, untucking her blouse and itching to undo her bra, but he'd save that for later. Her hands slid up his chest and underneath his leather jacket. He was so into her body beneath his hands and her scent in his nose that he'd forgotten about his gun. Her fingers ran into the tip of the holster, and her whole body froze.

He released her lips and body and stepped back. Her eyes were wide, but he couldn't really read her expression. They stared at each other in silence, which seemed to make the situation worse. He felt guilty and inexplicably scared for her. She was up in the mountains with a total stranger who had a gun. He fumbled over his words, trying to ease her fears. “I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought it. I wasn't expecting--” he broke off his sentence realizing anything he said might be taken the wrong way.

She stared at him a long moment and then finished his sentence. “For me to throw myself at you?”

He expelled his breath and combed his fingers through his hair. This woman couldn't be for real. “I've got no complaints, but you're up here with a complete stranger who's carrying a gun he didn't tell you about. I appreciate that you're not screaming your head off.”

She rolled her lips together. The moonlight showed a vulnerability in her eyes, but her words were spoken with confidence. “I assume you're waiting to kill me until after we've had sex, but the sex will make you forget your evil plan.”