◄ Excerpt ►

The boat rocked. When Jake walked into the cabin, and began to strip off his clothes, Allie looked at him in a way she hadn't before. Shoulders so wide they barely fit through the door and a flat, rock-hard stomach. Sculpted muscles in a smooth, tanned back, eyes a beautiful deep blue, and a face that, if it weren't so hard- edged, could make a woman dizzy.

Allie mentally shook herself. Maybe she was succumbing to the Hostage Syndrome, beginning to see her captors as saviors instead of the ruthless, drug- dealing kidnappers they were. The truth was, she had no idea what Jake Dawson's intentions might be. There was more than a good chance he meant to kill her.

Bare to the waist, Jake tossed his tee shirt over a chair. "Get in bed. I need to get some sleep and I can't do it with you prowling around the cabin."

She watched him warily. "Aren't you going to tie me up?"

He stopped in front of her. "If you leave the cabin, you'll have to deal with Bobby or Luis. You ought to know by now what will happen if they get their hands on you."

Allie shivered. "I won't leave."

"Good, now get in bed. If I wanted to rape you, I'd have done it long before this."

"Why haven't you?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Allie cringed at the astonished look on his face.

"You want me to rape you?"

"No! Of-of course not. I just wondered...you know, why you hadn't. I'm sure if my roommate, Krissy, were the one hiding in your cabin, you would at least have considered the idea. It seems kind of insulting in some way."

His mouth edged up at the corners. Then the faint smile slowly slid away and inside his faded jeans he went hard. It didn't take an expert to recognize the thick ridge pressing against his fly or know exactly what it meant.

She stood frozen as reached up and drew a finger down her cheek. "Well, now...I wouldn't want to insult a lady."