Handcuffed by Her Hero Read Online Free

days.”
    “You’re stalling again.”
    She closed her eyes. It was the only
way to close him out. Even then, it wasn’t completely possible. He’d shifted
even closer, turning his closeness into damn near an embrace. She breathed in
his oaky, earthy scent; her inner calves brushed the ridges of his rib cage. “I’ll
check it later, okay? I—I promise.”
    “And the sun’ll come out
tomorrow, Little Orphan Annie?” His grunt wasn’t so gentle this time.
    “Yeah. You wanna be my sidekick
mutt?”
    The softness fled his gaze. “Damn
it, Rayna. I’m not messing around.”
    “And I’m not one of your submissives!”
    She longed to yank the words back
the second they left her lips. She hated the remorse they brought to Zeke’s
eyes, the dark resignation sweeping across the rest of his face. This wasn’t
how she’d wanted to broach this subject with him. From the new dip to his
shoulders, she guessed it wasn’t his preferred scenario, either.
    “I expected you’d get to that
page sooner or later.”
    “It was sooner. I just didn’t
know how to—” More heat washed her face. “Or what to—” When she lifted
her gaze, his was waiting for her…searching her. He’d studied her like that a
hundred times before. So why did the stare make her heartbeat falter now? “It
wasn’t like it changed anything for me, Zeke. You’re one of my best friends
now.” She added a tiny smile, trying to help the sad edge of her tone. “Actually,
other than Sage, you’re my best friend.”
    He gave her a lopsided smile in
return. Though the look turned his bold features into an irresistible sight, it
hardly revealed what he was thinking. His puma side again stomped on the
grizzly when he was like this, making her guess at what he’d say or do next.
She hoped her confession would yield her one of his engulfing hugs, along with
an invitation to go downstairs for some Bailey’s and cocoa, and no more
talk about the illicit “souvenir” she’d brought home from Thailand between her
thighs.
    “Best friend,” he finally
murmured. “Thanks, Ray-bird. That makes me feel good.”
    Her taste buds tingled in
anticipation of the cocoa. She smiled a little wider. “I’m glad.”
    “You know what they say about
best friends, don’t you?”
    “What?”
    “They’re the perfect person to
share a new piercing with.”
    She rammed her knee into his
shoulder. “Asshat.”
    The blow didn’t stop him by a
single inch. He leaned ever closer, cocking a dark brow with unnerving
confidence. “Okay, then. If you don’t want to be friends anymore, I’m sure Trevor
will want to hang. I think I just heard him open some chips. Fuck, I miss
chips. I’ll bet they’re those good salty ones you keep around too, huh? They’ll
go so good with hearing about how your sister might have a piercing infection
from her overseas captivity, not to mention how she’s been ignoring her meds
and her general emotional well-being. That’s bound to be way more interesting
than the latest Seahawks news, yeah?”
    “Aggghh!” She tossed up both her
hands. “Fine, okay? You win.”
    Not that she was going to make it
easy for him. She glared when he pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a rough
kiss to her knuckles. Nervy shithead. The Mr. Darcy act didn’t eclipse his George
Wickham maneuver. “Just get it over with,” she muttered, closing her eyes
again.
    Zeke didn’t reply to that, and
she was grateful. With commanding efficiency, he moved his hands to her hips in
order to pull her down to a prone position. Rayna kept her eyes shut. Maybe it
was more like squeezed her eyes shut. Just being in this physical
position was enough to pull the trigger on the panic bullets again. She pulled
in deep breaths, visualizing Wonder Woman bracelets on her wrists to deflect
them. That wasn’t as effective as remembering Zeke’s words. She was safe. She
wasn’t in Thailand anymore. These were her sheets at her back, not a concrete
floor. Nobody was