Danger

D anger tossed and turned for over an hour before giving up on trying to sleep. She felt awful making Declan sleep on a sofa that was half his size, not that she was willing to take his place. The bed was king-sized and every time she rolled over, she felt like an ass for not sharing it with Declan. So, she was going to do the only thing that she could think of doing—wake him and ask him if he wanted to share the bed with her. She had a feeling that it was the only way that she'd get any sleep.

She quietly walked downstairs to find the poor guy curled up to fit on the very uncomfortable-looking sofa. He looked as if he had bent himself like a pretzel to fit. "Declan," she whispered from across the room. "Are you awake?" He grumbled something about there being no way in hell that any man his size would be able to sleep on the God-awful couch and she almost wanted to giggle.

"Well, I might just have a solution to your uncomfortable situation," she offered. He sat up, seeming eager to hear her plan.

"Go on," he insisted.

"I was thinking that you should come up to the room and share the bed with me," she said. Before he could speak, she held up her hand to stop him. "Before you get all excited, you'll stay on your side, and I'll stay on mine. Otherwise, we can continue with our current sleeping arrangements." He looked at her as if she had just given him the one gift on his Christmas list and she was starting to regret her decision to invite him up to her bed.

"I accept your offer," Declan quickly said. "Why the change of heart?"

That was an easy question for her to answer. "I felt bad for you," she admitted. "This couch is half your size and can't be comfortable."

"It's not," he agreed. "Thanks for taking pity on me."

"No problem," she breathed. "Now, I'm going back to bed because I'm exhausted."

"Understood," he said, "I'm going to take a quick shower before bed. I think this couch has fleas or something. I can't stop scratching." must have made a face because he chuckled. "It's not that bad. I'll fumigate the sofa tomorrow morning."

"Good," said, "just thinking about the sofa possibly having fleas makes me itchy." She wasn't a girl who liked to be outside and the thought of bugs being in the house made her shiver.

"Enjoy your shower," she said as she headed up the stairs. The thought of Declan naked and soapy in the shower just outside the bedroom made her hot. thought about taking a cold shower herself, but crawling back into bed sounded like a better idea to her.

She climbed into bed and felt as though she was holding her breath waiting for the shower to turn on and when it did, she exhaled. The idea of sleeping close to Declan for an entire night revved up her internal temperature again and knew what she had to do—build a pillow wall between them. He'd probably think that she was being a total chicken about having to share the bed with him, but she really didn't care.

rummaged through the room and found some extra pillows and blankets in the closet and pulled them down from the top shelf. She lugged them back to the bed, praying that Declan took long showers because it was going to take a few minutes for her to get the wall built. When she finished, she was out of breath and pretty damn satisfied with her handy work.

"There, now we can't accidentally touch during the night," she said to herself. laid back and closed her eyes hoping that sleep would find her before Declan came to bed, but she had no such luck. The only thing she could think to do was pretend that she was asleep and hope that Declan bought it.

slowed her breathing and hoped that she was selling it when Declan crawled into bed with her and chuckled. She could feel the bed dip with his weight and all she could think about was what he would feel like crawling on top of her, letting his weight press her into the mattress.

"Did you really think that a pillow wall would keep us from touching?" Declan whispered. Judging from the way that his warm, minty breath washed over her cheek, he was quite close. She wasn't going to get away with her ruse and she wasn't sure if that pissed her off or impressed her.

She sighed and opened her eyes to find him lying much too close for her personal comfort levels. "I was trying to keep our sleeping arrangement platonic and thought that a wall of pillows was a great solution. If you have a better one, please let me know." She laid back down and closed her eyes, sending him a clear signal that she was done discussing everything and going to sleep.

"Well, this is ridiculous," Declan grumbled. He started removing the pillows one at a time and sat up to protest. "Don't give me any shit about this, . We're two adults who can both stay on our side of the bed without a fucking pillow wall."

"But—" she started.

"But nothing," Declan growled. "I'm going to take these ridiculous pillows away and you and I are going to go to sleep, understood?" had never been spoken to like that before. She wasn't sure if she liked it, even if her girl parts were standing up and taking notice of Declan's sexy, dominant side. She never really liked dominant men since she usually enjoyed being the one in control, but something about Declan and his sexy Irish brogue did it for her.

"Don't speak to me as if I was a child. I'm an adult, Declan," she insisted. Yeah, she didn't sound very much like an adult right now and Declan shot her a look letting her know it.

"Great, then let's act like adults and go to sleep," Declan ordered. He pulled the last pillow from the middle of the bed and tossed it to the corner of the room. "There, done," he said sounding proud of himself. Declan laid back on his side of the bed and groaned. "Driving all day really took it out of me. This bed is much more comfortable than that flea-ridden sofa."

"Yeah, I bet. I say that we toss that sofa out the back door and sit on the floor," said.

Declan chuckled and yawned, "I think that might be for the best," he agreed. He yawned again, "We can talk about it tomorrow." Within seconds he was softly snoring, and found herself rolling toward him, not able to stop herself from watching him. His overly long dark hair framed his face and she had to refrain from pushing it back from his forehead. She had spent most of the day reminding herself to keep her hands off Declan James, and it was getting harder and harder to do.

rolled to her back and sighed. She had a feeling that it was going to be a long night of staring at the ceiling and fighting her female urges, but it was worth it if it meant that she'd finally be able to free her brother.

woke to what felt like someone or something licking her hand that hung over the mattress. Her eyes popped open, and she saw the cutest dog looking back at her. "Where did you come from?" she asked the dog as if expecting him or her to answer.

Declan stepped into the room from the bathroom and smiled over at her. At least, she thought he was smiling at her, but he was probably smiling at the dog. "You're awake," he said.

"Are you talking to me or the dog?" asked.

"Well, you, but the dog is awake too," he teased.

"Yes, we are both awake. How about you tell me where he or she came from?" she asked.

"I have no idea," he admitted. "I got up this morning and went down to the kitchen to make some coffee. Did you know that Savage had this place stocked with groceries and necessities so that we don't have to leave the safe house?"

"You've changed the topic. Can we get back to why there was a dog in the bedroom, licking my hands while I was sleeping?" she asked.

"I'm getting to that," Declan assured, "stay with me," he said. "I made the coffee and was waiting for it to finish brewing, and that's when I heard something scratching at the back door. I found my gun and opened the door, nearly shooting the poor thing." Declan walked across the room to pet the dog's head. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"

"So, she's a she then?" asked, not expecting him to answer. "You just let her in?"

"I did," he said, "should I have left her sitting on the back porch?"

"Well, no," she breathed, "but what if she belongs to someone who lives around here?"

"We're out in the middle of nowhere, . I'm pretty sure that we don't have any neighbors who are missing her. Plus, she's pretty skinny and doesn't have a collar." She looked the dog over and felt bad for her. She did look malnourished.

"What kind of dog do you think she is?" asked.

"Um, I'm guessing that she's a golden retriever or something close to that. She's pretty but stinky. I was thinking of giving her a bath," he said.

"In the bathroom?" asked. She was already uncomfortable having to share a bathroom with Declan. Using the same bathtub as a stray dog that they had just found wasn't exactly her cup of tea.

He shrugged, "Or outside," he said, "if you would prefer."

"I would prefer her to have a bath outside if that's possible. Um, did you say that there is coffee?" she asked. She felt as though she'd be able to guzzle a whole pot of coffee at this point.

"I did," he said, "and I was thinking about making some breakfast after I give her a bath."

"How about if you give her a bath and I'll make us some breakfast?" she asked.

"You can cook?" Declan asked.

"Don't act so surprised," she said. "I'm more than just a former MI6 agent."

"As though that wasn't enough," he grumbled. "You have a deal. I'll get started on her bath and I'll meet you in the kitchen when we're finished." She watched Declan leave the bedroom, followed by the dog who was apparently their new pet. wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, but she was probably going to find out sooner or later.