Alpha Warrior. Aimee Thurlo

I’m going to get a few things from the Jeep. Lock up behind me.”

      She did as he asked, then sat on the edge of Nick’s bed as she waited for him to return. To think that this morning had started just like any other day! Now, here she was sharing adjoining rooms with a man who was equal parts trouble and temptation.

      She was still contemplating a long soak when she heard someone walk up to the door and stop. Thinking it was Nick, she waited for the sound of the key in the lock, but nothing happened. Fear, sudden and overwhelming, engulfed her. For a moment she couldn’t move.

      “Yáat’ééh,” Joe Tso called out. “It’s me, from the front desk. I’ve got your dinner, but no free hands to knock.”

      “Hang on.” She opened the door and invited Joe in. Hearing more footsteps, Drew glanced out and saw Nick coming down the hall carrying a gym bag and a rolled-up blanket she suspected contained his shotgun.

      “Your favorite, cuz,” the young Navajo man said, as Nick came in, then placed two greasy paper bags on the table.

      Once Joe left, they sat down by the table and brought out two huge, foil-wrapped enchiladas, still warm. He placed one in front of her and quickly unwrapped the other and took a huge mouthful.

      Drew unwrapped hers and took a bite. “These are heavenly,” she said.

      Hungry, they ate quickly. Drew smiled at him as she consumed the last bite. “That’s the best dinner I’ve had in ages,” she said, licking the salsa off each of her fingers.

      Nick watched her for a moment, then swallowed the last of the cold water in the bottle. “Will you help me get out of this vest? An old injury I got overseas is acting up. I aggravated it earlier today when my brother and I were working out. The vest made it worse.”

      Drew helped him remove his vest, and as she did, his western style shirt came open in front, revealing the jagged scars that covered his upper chest. “Those aren’t bullet wounds, are they?”

      He shook his head. “Shrapnel—flying metal.”

      She ran a gentle finger over one of the scars and heard him suck in his breath. As she looked up at him, his eyes, gleaming like granite, held hers.

      Her mouth went dry. He was magnificent in every sense of the word. Instead of detracting from his looks, the toll war had taken on his body enhanced his appeal. He looked rugged, a man of experience, whose assurance came from self-knowledge, not bravado.

      “If you don’t need any more help,” she managed.

      “I need you,” he whispered. “Don’t go so soon.”

      A shiver touched her spine, and for a second she stood where she was, feeling the heat from his body and wanting more. “You’re on duty….”

      “Koval’s outside in the parking lot, and he’ll be there till daybreak. Joe’s keeping an eye on things, too. We’re okay,” he said gently, then cupped her cheek with his palm, and traced her lips with his thumb. “Let’s get to know each other a little better.”

      Awareness and desire squeezed the air from her lungs. She had to use every last shred of willpower she possessed just to step away. “You and I are temporary associates—partners by necessity. Let’s keep it that way.”

      He reached for her hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing the pulse point there. “Your heartbeat tells me a different story.”

      Drew tried to swallow, but her mouth was completely dry. “What we may want right now and what we really need are two very different things.”

      “I can make them be one and the same,” he said, leaning over and whispering the words in her ear.

      A shiver coursed through her, but once again she found the will to step back. “Stop it. I’m no one’s one-night stand. Your reputation precedes you, Detective Blacksheep.” Without another word, she walked into her room and unhooked the straps of her own vest. After slipping out of the heavy garment, she turned on the TV and sat cross-legged on the edge of the mattress.

      “You’re not fooling anyone,” he murmured.

      Drew pretended not to hear. Just standing close to him had made everything inside her blossom to life. He was the stuff of dreams. To make love for the first time and have it be to a man like Nick… She sighed.

      As her heart slowed to almost normal, she glanced at the tub wistfully. There was no way she was going to take off her clothes now. She knew her limitations.

      NICK WENT STRAIGHT INTO the shower and turned on the cold water. He wasn’t used to being turned down. He wasn’t a traditionalist, but like them, he believed that the Anglo world made too much of sex. It was a pleasurable need—like eating, only better.

      Making love—that was something else entirely. It meant a deeper union—a coming together of two halves, a completion. Experience told him that was precisely what a woman like Drew would require.

      As he allowed the cold water to course over his body, unsatisfied needs pounded through him. He should have taken off his own vest, but watching her lick her fingertips had stirred something inside him. He’d wanted her. And she’d wanted him. He’d felt her tremble and had heard the little hitch in her breath. Yet something had stopped her.

      Innocence? Could that be part of the answer? Maybe she’d never had a man, not in that way. The possibility made his body harden again, but this time it came with a hefty dose of guilt. He had to keep his distance from her. If she was saving herself for a future husband, that left him out of the running. He wasn’t marriage material.

      Nick came out of the shower, toweled himself dry, then pulled on his jeans. As he walked barefoot into his room, he looked through the open doorway and saw that Drew had fallen asleep on the small bed.

      Good. One less distraction to worry about.

      He used his phone to check with Koval next, and after getting the all-clear, he crossed the room and unwrapped his shotgun from the blanket. Placing the weapon back on the bed, safety on, he sat down at the table, brought out his pistol, and began cleaning it.

      Although he’d tried to be quiet, the click of the slide woke her and Drew sat up immediately.

      “It’s okay, relax.” Nick stood and placed his pistol back in its holster. “I’m going to take a walk outside and make sure everything’s secure.”

      Nick left the room and walked down the hall. As he stepped out into the parking lot, the cold night air rushed to greet him. He remained close to the wall, in the shadows. He liked the freedom of the night, that’s why he’d embraced investigative work. He belonged in the darkness, just as someone like Drew belonged in the light.