Passing His Guard

“Are you serious? You fucking roofied me?”

“Well, when you say it like that, you make it sound so bad.”

Unbelievable. “That’s because it is! Do you have any idea how many laws you’ve broken?” He yanked on his cuffs, rattling the chain to prove his point. “Kidnapping is a class A-1 felony, Rya

Eyes wide, she looked at him as if he was speaking a foreign language. “How do you know that?” Suspicion threaded into her voice.

“Because I’m a fucking lawyer!”

“Oh, Jesus, help me . . .” she mumbled the plea, reaching up and pressing her palm against her forehead.

“Doubt that’s go

“But you’re an MMA fighter . . .”

“Yeah, and I’m also one of the best damn attorneys in Manhattan. Hope you like prison food, baby.”

She gasped, having the nerve to look at him aghast! “You wouldn’t!”

“Oh, I fucking would!”

“Bullshit.” She shook her head in denial.

He wondered who she was trying to convince, herself or him.

“You’re bluffing. There’s no way in hell anyone’s going to believe a six-foot-two, hundred-and-eighty-five-pound MMA fighter got abducted by a five-foot-six, hundred-and-twenty-pound woman. Good luck proving that, jackass. You’ll be the laughing stock of MMA.”

“Goddammit!” He slammed his shoulder into the seat, rage boiling through him and turning his veins to ash. She jumped, startling at his outburst. “You’re such a manipulative bitch!”

She hit him with a surprised scowl that just as quickly morphed into a crestfallen frown. And fuck him if that hurt look on her beautiful face didn’t make him feel like a total asshole—which was absolutely absurd considering he was the one in the handcuffs. The sudden urge to apologize rose up swift and unbidden, which pissed him off even more. How dare she make him into the bad guy here!

“That wasn’t very nice, Aiden.”

“This from the woman that roofied me, put me in handcuffs, and is hauling me, against my will, to . . . where in the hell are we, anyway?”

“Wisconsin.”

“Great.” He glanced at the dash—2:30. “I’m going to miss my flight. I’ve had enough of your and my mother’s tricks, Rya

“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”

“Sweetheart, I think you’re under the impression that I’m giving you a choice. You’ve already pointed out the glaring differences between our sizes and strength. I don’t need my hands free to get away from you. You’ve been driving all night, and I’d be willing to bet you were up all day. There is no way in hell you’re going to get this vehicle from Mi

This was crazy. Had she honestly thought this insane plan was going to work? The man was impossible to argue with. From what she’d seen so far, she suspected he’d prove equally impossible to reason with. And what would she say anyway? I’m sorry your mother hired me to abduct you and haul your stubborn ass back to Manhattan, but if I don’t do this job, I’m as good as dead. Yeah, not likely . . .

She’d given up any hope of gaining Aiden’s cooperation about the time she slipped a Mickey into his beer. He probably didn’t even have to pee—tricky bastard.

“So what’s it going to be, baby girl?”

She knew the instant those walls of his came up and he do

If she hadn’t seen Madeline’s picture, combined with the confession from his own mouth, she would never, in a million years, have believed this tattooed, pierced, messy-haired MMA fighter was the same man spewing legal jargon at her like it was his native language. One thing Rya

Well, that ship has definitely sailed . . . Hell, that freightliner was so far across the Pacific, it was nearing Maui.

“Well . . . ?” Aiden raised a taunting brow. “Now that I think on it, I’m kinda diggin’ these cuffs, sweetheart. You think when you’re down there, before you unlock me, you could suck my—”

“All right! That’s enough!” Rya

The momentum sent Aiden’s shoulder slamming into the passenger door. He growled a foul curse.

“Oh, did that hurt?” She gri

And the look of shock on that man’s face was absolutely worth every dirty, embarrassing word spewed from her mouth. Rya

Unfortunately, her victory was a small one. Before she could high-five her i

And just like that he won with a KO. Rya

Rya

And what pissed her off all the more was the knowledge that every word he said was absolutely true. She’d felt those hands on her body, tasted those lips as his tongue made wicked promises to her mouth of better things yet to come. He’d barely touched her that night, and it shamed her to admit how quickly he’d shattered her resolve. But that didn’t mean she needed to act on those feelings. She wasn’t some sex-crazed—what had Del Toro called her . . . a cage banger?

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she tipped her head forward and closed her eyes. “I ca

“Well, that’s good to know, because I can go all night long, baby girl.”

That’s it. Rya