When You Dare Read Online Free PDF Page B

to call anyone.
    That was a first for Dare. It was his experience that men and women alike, when recovered from a dangerous situation, had someone they wanted to speak to ASAP, someone they wanted to reassure, or have reassure them.
    Not Molly.
    What a mystery she was.
    As efficiently as he could, Dare spread out her hair on the pillow so it’d dry quicker. Valuing order in all aspects of his life, he took time to tidy the room and get rid of the empty food containers.
    He put the gun and knife under his pillow. They made a familiar lump that gave him a specific peace of mind needed in his line of work.
    After stripping down to his boxers, he neatly folded his clothes and put them away in his duffel bag, kept on the other side of the bed. With one more glance out at the still-quiet parking lot, he drew the heavy shades, putting the room in darkness, and crawled under the blankets. The aged air conditioner hummed and whistled as it sent cool air to swirl around the room; he’d been too many hours without rest.
    Within minutes, he fell into a light sleep.
    Hours later, a short, guttural sound of panic drew him from a vague dream. He had his gun in his hand and was on his feet before the sound had faded.
     
     
    H EART PUNCHING , stomach cramping, Molly jerked upright in the bed. Her hands balled into fists and her throat burned from the scream that almost escaped. Almost. Someone loomed next to her, someone big.
    “Molly?”
    She knew that voice. Still tinged with panic, she took quick inventory of her surroundings. The unfamiliar bed didn’t crawl with bugs, and the usual stench of unwashed bodies, fear and sickness didn’t pervade the air.
    Reality crashed back in, and with it shame, mortification and sadness. She gasped, blindly reaching out. “Dare?” Her hand hit something, maybe a hard thigh.
    “Yeah, just me.” He set something heavy on the nightstand, and then his big body dipped the mattress and his hand touched her shoulder. “Bad dream?”
    More like bad memories, but she didn’t want to go into that right now. Her breath shuddered in. “Yes. I’m so sorry I woke you.”
    “You’re okay now?”
    “I…” What could she say? That she’d never be okay again? Unacceptable, because that would mean they’d won, whoever they were. “Yes. Now I am.” Fear continued to rip through her in agonizing waves. “I’m sorry.”
    “Enough with the apologies, okay?”
    His gruff voice somehow reassured her. She nodded in the darkness, struggling to get her bearings. “I thought…”
    “That you were back there again?” Cautiously, a little awkwardly, he drew her against him. “Don’t worry about it. It’s going to take you a while to shake it off.”
    Then he put another bottle of water in her hand.
    A near-hysterical laugh bubbled up, and she barely repressed it. Shake it off? Is that what he would do?
    Probably. He was so much stronger, so much more capable than she.
    She dutifully drank some water, then handed the bottle back to him. He set it aside, but then pulled her close.
    Her cheek met the bare skin of his upper chest and fit neatly against the notch of his shoulder. So much heat emanated from him. He smelled good, too, clean and pure. And he felt even better, like strength, safety.
    Her rescuer had nothing in common with the filthy, depraved animals who had imprisoned her, who had likely been hired to…do what with her?
    Molly could hear his even, calm heartbeat, and it helped to slow her racing heart. Other than his initial, probably automatic gesture of comfort, Dare didn’t touch her. One of his hands rested lightly on her shoulder, unmoving but offering the knowledge that she was no longer alone or in danger.
    “Dare?”
    “Hmm?”
    He seemed perfectly comfortable in their present position, as if he did this sort of thing all the time.
    Molly wished she felt the same. Never in her life had she asked for comfort from another person. For her, this was all very awkward, but basic need,