"There's no need for that," he said. He was actually smiling down at her with a damnable lopsided grin. She was acutely aware of exactly how attractive he was-pretty shitty timing on her body's part, as far as she was concerned. A trickle of awareness came up from her belly to heat her cheeks and ears, her nipples tightening against his chest and a sudden slickness between her legs.
And the hardness against her thigh-the one that was most definitely not his gun-told her she wasn't the only one affected.
Cursing him and her body equally, she struggled in his grip. It did no good. "I want my car back."
"Okay. Fine. You win. You can have it back-when I'm done with it."
She glared at him suspiciously, searching those laughing eyes for some clue as to his sincerity. "And when will that be?"
"When this cover's blown," he said. "Or I get to where I'm going."
"What cover? Why did you ditch your bike, if it really is yours?" She tugged against his hold. "And when are you going to let me go?"
"There are some really, really bad guys after me. Guys who make you and your peashooter look like a joke," he said. "And as far as when I'm going to let you go-just as soon as I do this."
He lowered his head, and before she could do more than squawk in outrage, his mouth came down on top of hers, hot and hard and every bit as good as she'd hoped.
It was a kiss without finesse, demanding and angry. After a second's shock, she kissed him back just as hard, tasting his mouth as he took hers. The scent of his hair overpowered the sharp smell of cordite, a combination of the outdoors, soap, gasoline, and fresh sweat. He started to pull back, and she caught his lower lip momentarily, warningly between her teeth before she let him go.
Eyes smoky with raw need, he looked down at her.
"Well, then," she said, raising a challenging eyebrow.
"You're crazy," he said. He released her hands and pulled away, but the look in his eyes didn't change.
"Definitely." She pushed upright and gave him a sideways look. "You really will give my car back?"
"Yeah. Sure. No problem," he said, turning back to the road and shifting the car into first.
For some reason, she found the offhand comment more reassuring than a concentrated attempt to persuade her would have been. Probably because most guys who tried hard to convince her of something were blowing smoke.
"And my gun?"
He glanced sideways at her as he merged back into the single northbound lane. "I'm not so sure about that. You planning on shooting at me again?"