“Don’t be too sure you understand what I feel.”

“Why not? I actually think I understand you very, very well.”

Sarah backed up a step.

A faint smile curved his lips. “It was there from the first time I saw you. That instant connection. Doesn’t happen often. Actually, it’s never happened to me before. I looked up, saw you, and thought—”

Sarah pretty much ran for the door.

But he caught her. His hands wrapped around her and Jax pulled her back against his body. His hold wasn’t hard or rough. Oddly, it was infinitely tender.

“Do you know what I saw when I looked in your eyes?” he whispered into her ear.

Sarah shook her head.

“You were hurting. Trying to hide your pain, but I could still see it. I looked at you and thought—I never want her to hurt again.”

Tears stung her eyes. “You don’t know me. Or what I’ve done.” Jax thought his past was bad? It was nothing compared to hers. She still had nightmares that had her waking in the night, choking for breath, and begging for help.

Help that hadn’t come. Not in time.

“Tell me why you came to see me tonight, Sarah.”

She sucked in a quick breath and decided to go with the truth. “Because I didn’t want to lie in bed and be afraid. Because I didn’t want to think about the past or the future.” Because she’d felt that insane connection between them, too.

The first time she’d seen him, she’d looked into his eyes and thought—

He can handle all my darkness. He won’t ever be afraid of what I tell him.

Because his gaze had told her that he’d already looked into hell . . . and hadn’t given a damn about the demons there.

He turned her in his arms. She made herself look up and into his eyes. He was so warm and strong against her. And he made her . . . want. Yearn for things that she’d denied herself for so very long.

Because she hadn’t wanted anyone to get close. She hadn’t trusted anyone with all her secrets.

She didn’t trust him, either. She’d be a fool to do that. But—she did want him. And every instinct Sarah possessed screamed at her that Jax Fontaine could give her the sensual oblivion she craved.

A few hours to forget. A few hours to just pretend that I’ m not the freak in the room. The monster that everyone else fears.

“What do you want from me?” Jax asked her.

Just a night. She’d be leaving New Orleans soon, flying out on a plane and heading back to her little house in the suburbs of Atlanta. They wouldn’t see each other again. So no one else would know about what happened tonight. Just her.

Just him.

So she rose onto her tiptoes. Her hands curled around his neck and she pulled him toward her, and Sarah kissed him. His mouth was closed and he was stiff against her. She’d expected—more. Because of the way she felt when he was near—that tight, hot energy, flowing through her veins—she’d thought—

“Not like that, princess.” His hands curled around her. He lifted her up, carried her, and sat her on the edge of his desk. Then he stepped between her legs. Jax wrapped his hands around her thighs and pulled her flush against his growing arousal. “Like this.”

Then he kissed her.

His mouth was open. The kiss was deep, hot, consuming. The guy wasn’t sampling with his tongue. He was taking and he was making her moan against him. Desire exploded within her. White-hot. Electrifying. So perfect because it pushed everything else aside for her. Sarah let go of her fears, and she held on to Jax as tightly as she could.

The man knew how to seduce. There was no denying that. And he sure as hell knew how to kiss. Her toes were curling, and it was a good thing she was up on that table because Sarah wasn’t so sure that her legs would have held her up.

Sarah kissed him back with a wild fury. Licking, sucking that sensual lower lip of his. She loved it when he growled and held her even tighter. But she wanted more. So much more.

She couldn’t hear the noise of the bar. It was so quiet in that room. Soundproofed? Maybe, she didn’t really care right at that moment. Her hands pushed between them as she fumbled with his belt and—

“No.” His hands closed around hers.

Sarah shook her head, certain that she’d misheard him. He hadn’t . . . wait . . . had he really said no? But he was enjoying this as much as she was, right? Doubt stirred within her. “You said you wanted me.”

“Oh, pretty Sarah, I do.” His voice was deep and sensual, and just the sound of that low rumble had her nipples tightening more. “But not like this.”

Uh, like this? Sarah blinked.

“Not here. This isn’t the place for you—or our first time together.”

He said that as if they’d be together plenty of times. But he was wrong. It was just one night. Not even that. Only a few hours remained before sunrise.

He stepped away from her.

Heat stained Sarah’s cheeks. She’d been so wrong about him. How had she been this wrong? She’d thought for sure that he wanted her, but he was standing there, eyes glinting, body tight and—

“I made a mistake.” Sarah snapped her legs together and jumped off that desk. Points for her—Sarah’s knees didn’t tremble and she stayed upright. “I won’t be bothering you again.”

He blocked her path when she headed for the door. “I have a feeling that you’ll be bothering me quite a bit.” He opened his right hand. Held it out to her. “Let’s take a ride together.”

What? She’d been trying to take a ride on that desk, but then he’d put on the brakes.

“You can trust me, Sarah. I told you, I’d never hurt you.”

Yes, he’d said that. “I don’t really trust anyone.” Not even the other LOST agents, not one hundred percent. “It’s a flaw I have.” Always looking for hidden motives. Always holding herself back from others.

“Then don’t trust me, but come with me.” His hand was still open, between them. Waiting. “And before this night is over, I’ll have you screaming with pleasure.”

Her heart jerked in her chest. “Maybe you’ll be the one who screams.”

He smiled at her. “You are not what others expect, are you?”

Not at all. Her hand lifted. Her fingers were trembling as they reached for his. He caught her hand in his. Held tight.

“There’s no going back now,” he told her.

No, there wasn’t.

Just a few hours.

He didn’t take her back through the bar. They went out another door, one that led them to the alley behind the bar. She could hear voices back there. People talking. Laughing. She saw one couple against the wall of that alley, kissing and stroking each other.

She quickly looked away from them and then saw that Jax was getting on a motorcycle. It was a big, black beast of a bike. He revved the engine, and the hard, rumbling growl filled her ears. He glanced back at her. “You’re not afraid of a little ride in the dark, are you?”

No. She jumped on. He put a helmet on her. “To keep you extra safe.” Then he kissed her. A light, fast kiss.

In the next moment, that motorcycle was lunging through the alley, then ripping down the street. Fast, faster, until it seemed like they were flying. And it was wonderful. The motorcycle was vibrating between her legs, her arms were wrapped tightly around Jax, and Sarah heard herself laughing.

She didn’t know where they were going. Right then, she didn’t care. The ghosts from her past weren’t chasing her—or trying to use a knife to slice open her throat. She was with Jax.

And right then, being with him was the only thing that mattered.

DR. SARAH JACOBS had gone slumming.

From the shadows, he watched as she climbed onto the motorcycle. Watched as she held her lover so tightly. When the motorcycle took off, her laughter rose above the roar of that bike.

Sarah was a woman who was so very good at pretending. Pretending to be innocent. Pretending that she wanted to help the victims of the world. But he saw right through her lies.