Lori Foster - Men of Honour - Ready, Set, Jett / When You Dare / Trace of Fever / Savor the Danger / A Perfect Storm / What Chris Wants / Bare It All

Damn it, he’d just taken her. She’d opened herself to him completely.

But it wasn’t enough.

All he could think now was that he wanted more. A lot more. More hot sex, the full-body contact of her cuddling afterward, more talking and laughing and learning together …

Now what was he supposed to do?

MOLLY AWOKE TO AN empty bed. She reached out for Dare but felt nothing. Sitting up, she realized that the room was now dark with only a sliver of light coming from beneath the bedroom door.

She started to slide out from under the covers—and she heard it again. The noise that had awakened her: a key in the front door. Again .

Suddenly the light in the other room disappeared, leaving her in utter darkness.

What was Dare doing?

Heart in her throat, Molly slipped out of the bed and pulled a blanket around her. Padding barefoot, she went to the bedroom door, slowly turned the knob and opened it oh-so-quietly.

Her gaze scanned the dim living room. Enough moonlight filtered in the windows for her to see that Dare had been working. He was such a neat freak that the mess of her apartment must have made it impossible for him to sleep.

Or maybe, his lust appeased, he just hadn’t been interested in staying that close to her.

That thought hurt, so she pushed it aside and instead concentrated on seeing the room. She noted that the overturned table had been righted and her mail neatly stacked.

She didn’t see Dare.

Before she could worry too much about that, the front doorknob turned. As the door opened, it screeched in that familiar way.

Hushed voices came from the outer hallway, right outside the door, whispering, maybe even teasing.

Around niggling fear, Molly frowned in vague recognition. One voice almost sounded like—

The door swung open and there was a sudden rush. Her sister squealed, and a loud thump sounded, followed by a curse.

Hurrying out of the bedroom, Molly shouted, “Natalie!” She flipped on a light—and froze.

Sure enough, she’d recognized her sister’s voice, even in a whisper. As if tossed there, Natalie sprawled in an easy chair, unhurt but stunned.

In the middle of the floor, Dare pinned down a man almost as big as him. He kept his gun barrel pressed hard against the stranger’s jaw.

With the lights on, Natalie saw the gun and screamed. “Oh, my God! What are you doing? Who are you?”

Dare didn’t take his gaze off his captive. With a nod of his head toward Molly, he said, “I’m with her.”

As her sister and the man glanced at her, Molly gave a loose finger wave.

Dare nudged the man. “Who are you? ”

His mouth flattened. Nodding his head toward Natalie, he said, “I’m with her.”

Dare frowned.

Natalie scrambled from the chair in what Molly recognized as “attack mode.”

“Wait.” Molly had no idea what was going on, or who the man on the floor might be, but she wouldn’t allow her sister to jump Dare.

She didn’t want her sister to get hurt.

“Everyone, just chill a second, please.”

“Easier said than done,” the man beneath Dare quipped.

The stranger kept his palms, at either side of his head, open and nonthreatening. But something about the way he stared back at Dare made Molly uneasy.

Dare didn’t move—which meant he didn’t hurt the guy, but neither did he let him up.

Molly pulled the blanket tighter. “Dare, this is my sister, Natalie.”

“Don’t hurt him,” Natalie warned. And then to Molly, “What’s going on here?”

“Dare is, um, protecting me. Nothing to worry about. He’s one of the good guys.”

Disbelief flashed over Natalie’s white face before she gathered her gumption. “Well, then, tell him to get off of Jett.” She looked ready to launch herself at Dare if he made the wrong move, so Molly moved closer to her.

If she had to, she’d tackle her sister. But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that, not with her naked beneath the blanket.

“Dare,” Molly ventured. He looked to be in a killing mood. “Really, she is my sister, I promise.”

“Sister, got it.” Indecision plain, Dare eased back just a little but kept his gun on the man.

“Jett Sutter.” The stranger lay there, not really discomfited by the attack. “I know. Sounds like jet-setter . My folks are regular comedians.” He tilted his head to see Molly. Eyes so dark they looked black took her measure. His long, sinful lashes might have seemed effeminate on another man, but not on him. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, Molly.”

Molly blinked. “You know me?”

“Only from what Natalie has told me, which was all flattering but didn’t include associates with guns.”

His good humor left Molly gaping. He was a handsome man, and even flat on his back with a gun in his face he managed to appear competent.

“How do you know my sister?”

He looked Molly over in the blanket and cocked a brow. “Ask Natalie.”

Natalie turned three shades of red. “Oh, Molly, there’s so much we have to talk about.” And then, as if she forgot the men, she wailed, “I was so worried about you. Where the hell have you been? ”

Molly almost lost her blanket when Natalie jerked her into a tight bear hug. She wanted to soothe her sister, she really did. But with the men on the floor … the timing was definitely off.

“I’m okay, Natalie. Really.” Over her sister’s shoulder, Molly saw Dare eyeing Jett.

He said low, “You might want to stop looking at her like that.”

The man actually grinned. “Right. Sorry. It’s not lascivious, I swear. I was just noting the similarities between the two of them.”

“Sure you were.” Dare leaned into him a little more. “What are you two doing here?”

Jett put one hand behind his head, rested the other on his chest and looked to be getting comfortable. “We just returned from a trip. I told Natalie that Molly was probably back by now. It’s the middle of the night, so she didn’t want to call, but she couldn’t stand waiting until the morning to check on her. So …” He shrugged as if to excuse Natalie’s misguided intention, and then, with caution, used the side of his hand to edge the gun away from his face. “She was going to peek in and make sure her sister was okay. That’s all.”

Dare didn’t like that one bit. “You’re shitting me. You two snuck in, and you were going to look at Molly in her bed—”

“I was only here to see to Natalie’s safety. She’d have done all the peeking on her own.”

With her hands on Molly’s bare shoulders, Natalie pushed her back the length of her arms. “Do you have any idea how damned scared I’ve been for you?”

Molly sighed and again adjusted her blanket. If she lost it, she’d die on the spot. “I called you earlier, but you didn’t answer.”

Aghast, Natalie blinked as if ready to cry. “When?”

Since she didn’t know what time it was, Molly couldn’t answer. “As soon as Dare and I got back to the apartment. I don’t know. Hours ago.”

“Oh, God, Molly. I’m sorry. I …” She looked at Jett. “We … He …”

“We hooked up,” Jett said with a smile. “Long past due. Anyway, your sister was focused on other things most recently, and she didn’t remember to keep her phone charged.” Now disregarding Dare’s gun, he sat up, propped his forearms on his jean-covered knees and acted as if he hadn’t just been assaulted. “The timing is off, but what the hell, right? We’re getting married.”

It was Molly’s turn to gape. “Married?”

Natalie bobbed her head, and tears swam in her eyes. “I love him.”

Jett smiled, too. “I hope you’ll forgive her for missing your call. She really has been worried nonstop.”