Page 54 of Rescued By Midnight

“Alice?” His voice comes through the door. “Come in.”

Crap. It’s not like I can run back to my room and pretend I didn’t knock. He knows it’s me.

My face is hot as I turn the handle and open his door. His room is dark.

“Hey, sorry,” I whisper. “I shouldn’t have knocked. You were sleeping. We can talk tomorrow.”

“Or we can talk now.” His voice is rough with sleep. He’s sitting up, his sheets bunched around his waist.

He isn’t wearing a shirt.

My breath catches in my throat. He’s so beautiful, I can’t look away.

“Wonderland?” He gestures me forward. “Come in. There’s something I wanted to ask you anyway, and I didn’t get a chance before you went to bed.”

“Um…” I hesitate before coming inside. I leave the door open for propriety’s sake.

Although it’s hard to make any claims propriety after what I did with Cody in his car.

Ugh, I’m a mess.

“You can sit down.” Landon nods at the foot of the bed.

This is kind of wrong, but I’m also thrilled to be here, in Landon’s secret sanctuary. It bears his faint spicy scent. I’d love to snoop around, look at the couple of photos that are on his dresser. I wonder if Nessa is in one of them, and after hearing so much about her from the guys Before, I hope she is. She sounded really special.

I climb onto his bed and cross my legs, facing him. “What did you want to ask me?”

Even though it’s dark, I can see his gray eyes in the light pollution coming through his curtains.

“I know our last trip to the foothills went badly, but I’d like to take you up one more time.”

My immediate, gut reaction is no. The panic I felt, and waking up without knowing where I was—it was horrible. For all I knew, I was back in Abe’s cabin with that shackle around my ankle.

I don’t want to put myself through those memories again. Better to just stay far, far away.

As if he can see my gut reaction, Landon gives me a soft smile. “Just think about it, all right? I think we could learn more, maybe figure out who kidnapped you, and put them away so you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

I nod. “I can think about it, I guess.” And still say no.

“Now, what did you want to talk about?” he asks gently.

I can’t even remember anymore. What had me so desperate in my own room, I had to wake up Landon?

Oh, right. Brayden.

“Nothing in particular. I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about tonight, and how Brayden behaved.” I shake my head, trying to clear his angry face from my brain. Tears prick my eyes. I blink them away, hoping Landon doesn’t notice. “He’s never done that before, and I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true.”

“I believe you, Alice.” He runs a hand over his head. “Fuck. Come here, angel, please? You look like you could use a hug, and I need to give you one.”

I could really use a hug, but he doesn’t have a shirt on. It doesn’t mean anything, but my libido is obviously doing its own side quests tonight, so I hesitate.

“It’s okay if you don’t want a hug.” He lets his arms fall. “I won’t push you, Alice.”

And that, right there—his acceptance of my unspoken uncertainty—makes me want to hug him even more than before. I lean forward, and he does, too. His bare arms come around me. I wish I wasn’t wearing my sweatshirt, that I could feel more of his skin against mine. But that’s my short-circuiting libido throwing herself haphazardly into sexy situations, and she should be ignored.

His tone is tentative, with his arms still wrapped around me. “Do you want to stay here tonight, next to me?”

“Yeah,” I whisper.