Only for the Night (If Only Book 2) by Ella Sheridan Page B

her.
    His taste… She moaned around his tongue, pushing up to get more, to get closer. Hank gripped her hips, brought her against him as he explored her mouth with a hunger she thought might sear her very bones. A brand, marking her as his as surely as his arm around her had earlier with Ike. She reveled in it, in him, wanting more, wanting—
    A scream cut through the dark behind her eyelids. Sage jerked back. “What—”
    Hank scanned the lot with a practiced eye, locking in on the far corner almost before the scream died away. A second cry confirmed the source, a truck near the back of the lot, half hidden by overhanging trees and shadows. Sage squinted in that direction, but Hank was already moving. For a big man, he was fast—before Sage was halfway there, he was closing in on the couple grappling against the truck. Sage thought the man was trying to get the woman into the open passenger door, and the woman was resisting, but she couldn’t be sure until the man raised a hand and swung it at the woman’s face. The sound of the slap was louder than the woman’s scream.
    Hank’s angry roar startled the pair. Sage saw him reach for the man, but his back blocked whatever he did next. All she knew was suddenly the woman was slumping against the truck alone. Sage reached her before the woman hit the ground.
    “Hey, it’s okay. Are you okay? It’s all right; you’re safe now…” The words kept coming, though she had no idea if she was making sense with the adrenaline pumping through her system. She could barely breathe; who cared what she was saying?
    Not the woman, apparently. She clutched Sage tightly. “Help…” One shaky hand rose to her face. Sage could see, even in the barely existent light, a dark red welt across the woman’s swelling cheek. “What…?”
    Something wasn’t right. Gently Sage tipped the woman’s face up. She didn’t resist, and instantly Sage could see why—the woman’s eyes weren’t tracking. When Sage let go, her head lolled to the side as if she didn’t have enough strength to hold it up. Drugged?
    “Hank!”
    Turning her head, Sage saw the woman’s attacker on the ground nearby. Hank straddled the man, his fist drawn back, though from the amount of blood on the guy’s face, she didn’t think it was the first one. The ferocious look on Hank’s face agreed.
    “Hank!”
    This time her yell registered. Hank shook his head as he came to his feet. He didn’t waste the punch, though. The final strike slammed the man back into the ground. He didn’t move when Hank stepped over him.
    “She okay?”
    “I don’t know.” Anxiety churned in Sage’s stomach, her words. “I think she’s drugged.”
    Hank knelt beside them, and for a moment Sage was captured by the pain in his eyes. Had he hurt himself?
    Hank was already running careful hands down the woman’s arms. He tilted her head from side to side, cursed at whatever he saw there. Sage had no idea what he was looking for, but she figured he knew what he was doing. He was the ex-cop, after all. She didn’t need to look over at the attacker to know he wasn’t getting up anytime soon. And his nose was probably broken.
    Good.
    “Got your cell?” Hank asked. Sage’s reply stuck in her throat, so she dug her phone out of her pocket instead and held it up.
    Hank nodded but kept his focus on the woman. “Good. Call 911. Tell them to send an ambulance; she’ll be at the security office.”
    Without waiting for Sage’s response, he lifted the woman like she weighed no more than a ten-pound bag of sugar. Sage dialed and followed them at the same time.
    A thought tripped her up. She spared a look for the man on the ground. “What about—”
    “Leave him.”
    The ugly bite to Hank’s words made her hesitate. Still… “He might get away.”
    “He’s not going anywhere anytime in the near future, trust me.”
    She did. And since the man looked like he was barely breathing, much less anywhere near consciousness, she