When a vacation becomes running for your life, will you trust the one forced to be at your side?
It was supposed to be a vacation…
SWAT officer Xahara Asher is on vacation, meeting her cousins for some downtime. Taken captive during a heist, she is prompted to work with her kidnapper just to stay alive.
Deep undercover, Jager Cline is faced with making the ultimate decision—let an innocent get hurt or protect her by forcing her along as his hostage. Unbeknownst to him, she’s far more capable than he initially assumes.
Tossed into tight quarters, things heat up rapidly between them. When it all goes down and the smoke clears, who will still be standing?
Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of violence, kidnapping, and references to off-page murder.
General Release Date: 2nd February 2021
“I don’t know what else you want from me, Xaya. I’m here. I’ll be there soon enough, but I had to stop in here for a few moments.”
Xahara Asher rolled her eyes as she rested her shoulder against the wall of the waiting area in the women’s restroom. Nothing ugly and simplistic here, not at all. This was more of a lounge than a restroom in her mind. Rich people and what comforts they needed around them.
Gregory was a nice city. Good sized, a lot to do. She understood why Xaya had taken over a practice here, yet didn’t get why she loved it so much. Xaya had always been the small-town girl, but people changed. Some people. As for her cousin, Xahara was still suspicious she was actually running from something.
That was an issue to address later on.
“But you’re coming, right? This isn’t a ploy to somehow be transported back to Haver City and some fucking hypothetical SWAT emergency?”
If she’d been drinking, a mouthful of water would have spewed free. “Damn, girl. I don’t make hypotheticals. As much as I wish, no. I’m here in your town for a while. I promise, I’m on my way. Triple X will be together soon enough.”
A grateful sigh, and yet there was a bit of disbelief that she heard from her cousin through the phone.
“I know you think I’m being a pain in the ass, but Xandra is already here and we all know she’s typically last. Especially since she had farther to travel. You know that Haver City is closer to me than Marbleton.”
She couldn’t help but smile when she thought of her cousins. Rolled her eyes again because it was like ten miles closer on the map. They were still states away. “Not really. Ever since she had landed that high-powered job, she’s always been on time, hell, sometimes early.”
“So how long?”
“Oh my god. One, you’re keeping me from peeing, because I’m not talking to you while I do that. Two, I haven’t even been seen yet, so give me a bit and I’ll call you when I walk out of this place.”
“You’re such a drama queen.”
“Am not.”
Xaya snorted. “How many times have you checked only to cuss when you can’t find your gun?”
She bared her teeth. “Has nothing to do with being a drama queen. Has to do with me being a kickass member of Haver City SWAT. And not liking being without a weapon.”
“I’ll let it go. For now. Thanks for coming, Xahara. I know Dad is looking forward to seeing all of us together again.”
She loved her cousins and enjoyed all the time she got to spend with them. And their fathers as well. She didn’t like being unarmed, but she’d promised no guns this time. Foolish on her part, she knew this and wouldn’t be agreeing to it again.
“Love you too.”
She hung up and quickly took care of her screaming bladder. As she washed up, she paused and cocked her head to the left.
What the fuck is going on? I know that sound and it’s automatic gunfire. The only reason I’m hearing that here is because I just landed in a fucked-up mess.
Cursing her lack of a gun once more, she opened the door and gasped as a heavy boot connected with it, driving it into her face, knocking her back a few steps. She recovered quickly and jumped on the armed gunman.
She winced when he punched her in the solar plexus. Retaliating with a solid kick to the knee, she grinned when he went down. Jumping on him, she slammed him down hard then choked him out.
Xahara wiped the blood off her face and pulled on him to get him out of the open view. The door didn’t have a chance to close completely.
“Manny, did you—?”
She flew back into action, this time her head rush slamming the woman into the open where she hit the wall behind her, the air being knocked from her lungs. Xahara didn’t wait to see what was going on, just worked swiftly to immobilize this assailant as well. It didn’t take a genius to know that some shit was going down.
The woman lifted her gun and fired. Flinching when it hit near her hip, Xahara swore and jammed her elbow into her chin. “Bitch, that fucking hurt!”
They came together in a snarl of feminine fury. Xahara cursed the fact that her hair wasn’t confined and did it again when the bitch grabbed a handful of it and yanked until she saw stars. With a throat punch, she got her to release her grip and sagged down.
Not giving herself nearly enough time to recover from the shot and subsequent hair pulling, she exploded up and used the crown of her head to slam into her attacker’s.
Bitch went out like a light.
May not have been pretty, but shit is effective.
Shocked the gunshot hadn’t pulled anyone else back to her location, she dragged this body in as well, making sure to gag both of them. Then she secured them so they couldn’t escape.
Digging for her phone, she swore as she spied it on the ground, a big spiderweb on the screen from where the jackass had stomped it.
Maybe they had phones. She pressed her hand against her side and winced. Painful to say the least. Looking around, she went to the dispenser on the wall and busted into it to withdraw a feminine napkin. Within moments she’d secured it on the bleeding wound and cut a strip from the man’s shirt to hold it in place. With several deep breaths, she crouched to search for a phone.
Flashes of pain owned her and she shook her head with frustration before moving to the woman. The man had nothing. Halfway through searching the statuesque brunette, she froze at the unfortunately all-too-familiar feeling of a gun barrel to the back of her head.
“Who the fuck are you?”
Hands out, she didn’t move, just waited.
A nudge with the barrel. “Answer me.”
“No one. Xahara Asher.”
“No one did this?” He stretched out one long muscular leg beside her to nudge the still unmoving form of the man.
“I was defending myself.”
“Up. Nice and slow.”
Hoping she didn’t pass out, she listened.
“What are you doing here, Xahara Asher?”
“Visiting.”
“So you’re not from around here?”
“Nope.”
He stepped closer—the smell of rich man filled her senses and she squeezed her eyes against the raw, visceral reaction it gave her.
“You wouldn’t be lying to me, now, would you?” The gun slid around to push against her chin.
“What good would that do me?”
“Good point. Let’s go.”
They stepped out into the hall and she swore at being unable to see his face. Hostage situations weren’t anything new to her, although, to be fair, she wasn’t typically one, the hostage, two, bleeding, and three, without weapons or her team as backup.
Typical Xahara Asher mess to land in.
The weapon moved to the base of her spine and rested.
“What the fuck is going on down here and who the hell is that with you, Jager?”
Jager? What a name. Although it kind of fit him. More than although.
A large hand settled at the nape of her neck, both soothing and disruptive at the same time.
“What’s it to you? I’m supposed to be back here. What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Who’s the bitch?” The man narrowed his gaze at him as he launched his own question.
She held still, waiting to see what would happen. She knew that with the gunshot wound, she had to take care and not lose it faster than she would if her heart was pumping harder. Rough fingertips skimmed along her suddenly hypersensitive skin. Need pooled deep in her gut and she struggled to not let anything show in her face.
Jager’s touch shifted from her nape to wind in and grab a handful of her loose curls. For the second time in one day, she wished she’d taken the time to confine them as she typically did. However, this man didn’t yank like the bitch had, but tugged. Definite and demanding, but instead of pain, it shot another layer of need through her.
Lifting her gaze to his, she fell within seconds to the deep blue of his eyes. There was an eerie fire that she wanted more of. None of it made sense, but she wasn’t about to argue with the man who held her life in his hands. Literally.
Sex had grown legs and turned into this man holding her immobile with his devilish blue eyes, brown hair, an extended goatee and lips she was desperate to try on hers.
“She’s mine,” Jager growled low, seconds before his lips claimed hers in a possessive, near brutal kiss.
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