Temptation in Shadows by Gena Showalter

matter if I hated you. Which I do, by the way.”
    “Do you always believe a man who’s fucking you? We tend to say things we don’t mean.” He didn’t wait for her reply. “Go to sleep, Gabby. We’ll figure all of this out in the morning.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Quiet as possible, Sean removed the GPS tracking chip from inside the sole of Gabby’s shoe. He’d forgotten he’d placed it there before taking her to the safe house. He stuffed it in his pocket and stared down at her. She was on her stomach, face turned toward him, and sleeping peacefully. She was naked, still flushed.
    If she woke up and ran . . .
    I’ll find her,
he thought.
    Walking away from her just then was difficult. But he did it. Even though every cell in his body demanded he sink back under those covers, plaster that woman’s delectable curves with his weight and heat, and enjoy another taste of her. He snuck through the bathroom window, so he wouldn’t disturb the belt still attached to the door.
    He quickly hot-wired a car and drove to the nearest—and biggest—store, a supercenter, tossing the chip out the window along the way. Thankfully, there was a bit of a crowd and he was able to blend in. He picked up shirts, pants, underwear for a man his size and a woman Gabby’s. All made of cotton.Granola bars, bread and ham, and bottles of water. A lawn mower muffler, which he planned to use as a makeshift silencer for his gun since he’d left his with Rowan. Most important, he purchased a prepaid phone.
    Of course, the entire time his thoughts remained on Gabby and what they’d done last night. He loved sex. Since his first time at the age of fifteen, while “studying” over at a girlfriend’s house, he’d loved sex. The meeting of bodies, that sense of companionship, of belonging, just for a little while. But what he and Gabby had done last night . . . it had been more than sex; it had been a possession.
    What was it about her that got to him so intensely?
    He’d watched her these past couple weeks. She was so wary, so secretive. Not once had she opened up to anyone. Not once had she gone on a date or talked and laughed—with anyone. She’d kept to herself, jumped at the slightest noise. Tensed when someone touched her. Except him.
    Sean knew about her uncle now, and wanted to kill the fucker. More than kill, he wanted to torture. And he would. When this was over, he planned to make sure the bastard never hurt another little girl like he’d hurt Gabby. The bastard wasn’t why Gabby was like she was, though. As much time as she’d spent on the streets, she had to have seen the worst humanity had to offer. She’d probably seen all kinds of depraved acts. Some might even have been done to her.
    Sean’s hands clenched at his sides, and he fought the urge to hunt down everyone she’d ever met and kill them all. Clearly she didn’t trust anyone. And justas clearly, he’d done nothing to earn her trust. Quite the opposite. That hadn’t bothered him before—much—but it bothered him now. Trust was a precious thing, and he wanted hers. As much as he wanted her body.
    Want, want, want. Still he wanted more from her.
    He wanted her beautiful eyes to regard him with interest—sometimes they did, but he wanted more. All the time. All
her
time. He wanted to know her secrets, to share his own. He wanted to protect her, to make sure nothing bad ever happened to her again.
    He wanted to take the darkness of her past and give her light for the future. Which was stupid. Him, the king of shadows, gifting someone with light. He laughed bitterly. Light wasn’t something he knew. Not well, at least. But she had opened up to him a little and shown him a dry wit that delighted him and a strength of spirit not many possessed, and he’d liked it.
    She had a good and generous heart, soft when it should have been petrified into stone, and had had a tough life. She deserved peace, freedom from her demons. She deserved love.
    Was Sean capable of