by Cherie Marks
Right now, he was waiting on a backroad for one of his handlers to bring him a new vehicle. That was the first step to getting out of this mess. Yet, the next step didn’t seem to be falling into place.
His last resort was to hole up in his cabin until he could get some reinforcements and take the mission on the offensive. Right now, he didn’t dare attack because he couldn’t put her into such an unpredictable situation. He was good, but protecting her while he was taking out four or more guys weren’t ideal conditions, and he was all about keeping things in his control.
Maybe that’s how he knew he was in deep trouble.
Sitting at the table with her last night, he’d been unable to maintain his control. Everything about her had drawn his attention, and seeing her in his t-shirt had been enough to bring out the caveman in him. He’d wanted to throw her over his shoulder, give her ass a good smack, and carry her up to the bed in the loft. It hadn’t been sleeping he’d had in mind either. He’d wanted to see her out of his t-shirt. He’d wanted to touch every exposed inch of her skin and all that was hidden by the shirt too.
Her long legs when she’d stood had seemed to beckon his gaze and he’d let it rise until he met the desire in her own eyes. The fire burning there had nearly singed him to the bone, and he’d been glad the table had been there to hide his body’s reaction. In an instant, he’d gone hard as stone and throughout the night, his mind wouldn’t let him forget. But he didn’t dare take it any further. Not just because of the marriage their fathers were trying to force on them, but also because he had certain desires he wouldn’t want to impose on her. He was sure she was too delicate for his tastes. It was for the best they never took things that far.
A black SUV, something American, was kicking up dust as it bounced toward him on the country road. He stepped out from the tree he’d been waiting behind and watched until it came to a stop beside him.
A tall, familiar figure stepped out of the driver’s side door and walked around, a slight smile on his face. “She’s got you by the balls already, doesn’t she?”
“Son of a…Now what makes you think that?”
“The fact she’s still with you instead of back under her daddy’s roof.”
The two men squared off about two feet from each other. Alex ran a weary hand down his face. “Some brother you are, Andrei. How’d you let me get messed up with this?”
“I thought you wanted out. This is the way out.”
“Ah, come on. The old man is bat-shit crazy, and you know it. I mean, how could he possibly expect me to commit to an arranged marriage in the twenty-first century?”
“I guess there are still suckers born in the twenty-first century.”
Alex felt a grin lift one side of his mouth, and he threw his arm over his brother’s back just as his brother did the same. They embraced in a strong hug before pulling apart and walking toward the driver’s side of the truck.
When they stopped once again, Andrei asked, “Is she really that bad?”
An image of Anastasyia came to mind. She was a spoiled brat who ran away from home when her father asked her to do something she didn’t want to do, putting herself in immeasurable danger. Trouble obviously followed her wherever she went, and he wouldn’t put it past her to attempt a getaway this morning.
Yet, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. With her white-blonde hair, blue eyes, and pouty lips, she carried a Slavic beauty he found irresistible. She was lithe and tall, at well over five-ten, which lined up nicely with his own height of six-two. He was walking around half-cocked whenever he was near her, and it was getting damn uncomfortable. He couldn’t stop thinking about doing such dirty things to her. However, if that had been the only lure, he could have avoided the physical attraction…quite often had avoided it with other women. But he’d gotten a deeper glimpse at her character without her knowing.
He’d followed her for three months, and in that time, he’d learned she was a solid friend to others, often helping out her co-workers and neighbors before they even asked. She was a hard worker at her job at the bakery, and she took an interest in her customers, frequently remembering details about them that others would forget. And she was taking classes not just to keep her student visa, but because she was working toward a degree in art history, which she wanted to use to teach kids.
“Well? Is she?”
“She has some impressive qualities.”
His brother’s wide grin said it all. “You’re in trouble.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “Only if I get back late, and she’s made a run for it. Now, give me the keys and find a safer place for us to hide out.”
“About that. I think you should stay put. Fortify the current digs and wait it out. I think, given enough time, this Pajari guy will move onto an easier mark.”
“Doubtful. Why can’t we get out of town? Start back toward Estonia?”
“They’re everywhere. They have lookouts on the roads, at the university, and in the forest. You aren’t going to get an easy way out.” Andrei scrubbed a hand over the top of his dark-blonde hair. “Besides, I think it would be easier to call on some help with the local law enforcement. They’re sympathetic toward shifters here.”
Alex took a deep breath and shook his head as if the news was the worst possible he could’ve received. “Just keep trying. I’ll make sure things are secure for the long haul, but I’m going to need reinforcements.”
And a damn lot of cold showers.
* * *
Tasia woke with escape on her mind. Throughout the night, she’d tossed and turned, trying to understand what had bothered her so badly about Alex’s story. Everything he’d told her seemed to be exactly what she’d needed to hear, but she still wasn’t entirely satisfied with his explanation. Something had scratched at her brain, just on the edge of consciousness, until as she was finally drifting off, it had come to her in a sudden flash. It wasn’t what he was saying that bothered her. It was what he wasn’t saying. He wasn’t telling her everything, and she knew it. She refused to be lied to, and he insisted he wasn’t lying, but, in her eyes, a lie of omission was just as bad.
Unfortunately, as she stared at the closed door from the inside, she was getting cold feet. Those Russians had meant to take her to their Mafiya boss, and from there, she could only imagine things getting worse. Escape would be much more difficult from a small army than from one gorgeous man.
Ugh! This wasn’t her. She acted first and rolled with the punches, whatever they were. This trying to think things out was enough to throw her completely off and make her doubt she was capable of making any good decisions. Tasia needed to stop wasting time and act now before Alex came back and convinced her she’d be safer with him. Whether she wanted to or not, she had to admit she probably would be safer with him, except for the fact he intrigued her a little too much. Off her game after last night, she was sure if she spent too much time with him, she might foolishly make a pass at him, which would put a cramp in her ultimate plans. She didn’t know how, but she would find somewhere else she could continue her education and finally be free of all the men in her life that thought to control her.
She reached for the doorknob and twisted the three deadbolts, two obviously added recently. She stepped outside just as a large SUV pulled into the driveway. The engine stopped and the door opened as Alex stepped out. They’re eyes locked and time stood still as comprehension lit his up.
“Going somewhere?”
She didn’t answer. With as little wasted movement as possible, Tasia leaped toward the woods and ran. She didn’t shift, and that was probably her downfall, but she was fast, even in her human form. Unfortunately, Alex seemed to be faster.
As she leaped over fallen logs and moved around tall bushes, she could hear him following closely behind, cursing and tripping along after her. She saw an opening in the trees and despite her shrinking odds, decided to make a break for it. With a loud cry, he leaped at her, and she screamed as his arms encircled her, turning to hit th
e ground first when they both went down hard.
Her teeth slammed together and her head buzzed a second before she gained her senses again and jerked free of his stunned hold. She scrambled to get to her feet, but his hand grabbed her ankle and pulled her down again.
“Stop! Tasia, stop!”
She kicked at him, trying to free herself, but she might as well be trying to escape her own skin, so tight was his hold.
“I…refuse…to be…a prisoner!” When the heel of her foot connected with his nose, his head jerked backwards and his grip loosened enough for her to pull free. Grabbing fistfuls of the forest floor in her hands, she managed to get to her feet and sprint away. Rather than going for the opening she’d seen before though, she turned and headed for the vehicle. If she was lucky, he’d been in such a hurry, he’d left the keys in the ignition. She still didn’t have a definite destination, but down the road was good enough right now.
Just as she felt the gravel of the driveway under her feet and rounded to the still open driver’s side door, she felt his hands clamp onto her upper arms and spin her until his hard body pressed into hers, backing her up against the exterior of the truck. She’d had a fleeting glimpse of the dangling keys in the ignition, but now was too stunned by the feel of his frame against hers to move. From the chest down, their bodies meshed, and she became hyperaware of the connection.
He held her arms down at her sides, and his mouth hovered above hers as they both worked to catch their breath. His warm, spicy exhalation smelled of cinnamon and her gaze fixed on his beautiful lips. What would it be like to kiss him?
She didn’t have long to wonder. His lips closed over hers and a rushing whirlwind started up in her abdomen. He licked along the seam of her lips, and as if her life depended on it, she opened and met his tongue with her own. As their tongues tangled, he pushed his groin against her, and she felt the solid evidence of his arousal against her belly. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one feeling the attraction between them.
With no luck, she tried to pull her hands free, not to push him away like she should, but to grasp fistfuls of his hair and hold him tighter. She moaned and rubbed herself against him, wondering just who was currently inhabiting her body. She really wasn’t a complete innocent, but she wasn’t lost to passion on a regular basis either. In this moment, she couldn’t seem to get close enough to him.
He gently guided her hands up until they both reached above her head. As he released her mouth and lowered his lips to the pulse at her neck, he maneuvered her wrists into one hand, continuing to hold them tightly as, with a growl, he placed his other hand on her ass and lifted her until her jean-clad crevice was aligned with his cargo pant covered hard-on. Heaven, it felt incredible and excited nerves danced along her skin at the steady contact. The point of most friction was right over her clit, and she tipped her head to the side to give him more access to the tingling skin where her collarbone met her neck. At this rate, she was going to go over the edge any second.
Just as lost to lust, he continued to buck against her, his mouth a hot brand wherever he touched. Distantly, she recalled she should be trying to get away, not crawl into his pants, but nothing could’ve stopped the combustible chemistry happening between them right at that second.
A noisy, boisterous honk sounded as a car passed by and Tasia pulled back until her head hit the truck exterior. At the same time, Alex swiveled his head toward the road, watching the intrusive stranger with forehead furrowed. Anger rolled off him in waves. He looked like a child who’d just gotten his favorite toy taken away. His chest heaved in and out as he let Tasia’s body slide slowly down his until her feet touched the ground. She worked to catch her own breath.
Once she was stable, he took a step back and ran rough fingers through his hair, his focus on his boots.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Tasia couldn’t agree more, but it did happen…hard…and now the fog was clearing from her brain. There was a real good chance she’d lost the opportunity to escape thanks to an overactive sex drive. It had distracted her from her getaway, and now as her eyes slipped toward the cab of the truck, she remembered the keys dangling there.
His head snapped up at the same time her thoughts had turned to leaving once again, and without hesitation, he reached past her, into the truck and with a decisive yank, pulled the keys out of the ignition and pocketed them. His hand clamped around her upper arm as he dragged her toward the front door of the cabin.
“What were you thinking?”
“That I would never get a better chance to get the hell out of here.”
“And what if it hadn’t been me on the other side of that door. What if it had been the Russians?”
Tasia let him pull her along, but she was getting angrier by the second. She didn’t like to be told where she could and could not go.
“It was not them.”
“But it could’ve been. It was reckless and dangerous and the reason you’re in this mess in the first place.”
She dug in her heels, and yanked her arm free. He rotated to face her.
“No…I am in this mess in the first place because my father wanted to force me to marry someone I have never even met.”
The guilty look that entered his eyes wasn’t just something Tasia imagined. Did he know something about her father’s plans for her? Was he planning to take her back just in time to walk down the aisle? Well, she wasn’t going back to Estonia to marry some prince she’d never even met. Not now, not ever. At least not until she got the opportunity to choose her own future.
“Look, I’m not being paid to worry about your petty worries. I’m supposed to protect you from the men who are trying to kidnap you. That’s why if you pull anything like that again, I’ll tie you to the bed and never let you go.”
Damn! That was an image that would stick! His hand on her upper arm as he wrapped it around her again sent a chill chasing along her spine. Why did his provocative words sound like something she wanted to try? Shouldn’t it make her want to run faster and harder in the other direction? What was wrong with her?
The partially open door swung wide as he nudged it with his booted foot and pushed her through ahead of him. She couldn’t control the flinch when she heard the slam behind her and he finally let her go to throw the three deadbolts once again.
“Your prisoner or theirs…what is the difference?”
He crossed to the kitchen, reaching inside the refrigerator. He pulled a bottle of water free and guzzled half of it down before turning to face her again.
“With me, you get the opportunity of seeing your father and sisters once more. With the Russians, more than likely, you’ll never see daylight again. Which sounds like the better choice to you?”
“This is ridiculous though. Are we supposed to just stay here until the world falls down around our ears? Do you have a solid deadline for when I can get back to my life?”
“I’m working on it. We might be here for a few extra days, but as long as you stay inside, you should be safe.”
She crossed her arms and made her way to the steps. As she slowly climbed up to the loft, she said, “Well, I do not expect any more insanity like what happened at the truck. Keep your hands to yourself.”
“No problem on my part. I won’t touch you again…even if you beg me.”
With a snort, she stopped at the top of the staircase. As if she’d beg him…
She just hoped he never tested her. She wasn’t about to be the fool who said, ‘do as I say, not as I do.’ She’d just have to ignore her desires and deny her urges. She could do it. And if she could convince herself of that, surviving Russian Mafiya goons should be a piece of cake.
One long, tortuous week had passed since the kiss, and Alex was going completely crazy. This cabin was too damn small. They kept stepping all over each other. If he wanted something to eat, she was in the kitchen, and if he wanted to crash on the couch, she was there reading a book. Except to gather supplies or information,
he couldn’t leave her without worrying she’d pull another escape attempt. For now, he had other men he trusted stationed nearby to prevent any more incidents like the recent chase through the woods. So far, she hadn’t tried anything else, but he got the feeling she was just biding her time. She was a jackal after all. He knew from experience tricky plots were second nature to jackal shifters.
It wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t notice every little thing about her, every minute of the day. Her fresh, feminine scent constantly lingered throughout the air of their shared space. The soft exhalations of her sighs that expressed her obvious boredom and frustrations amused him and made him like her all the more for their shared situation. He didn’t want to be here anymore than she did…at least that’s what he kept telling himself.
Even now he couldn’t help throwing furtive glances over his shoulder as she lay stretched out on the couch with a book in hand, her toned legs, barely draped by the oversized t-shirt, giving his mind ideas of spreading them wide and…no, no…he couldn’t go there. Wicked thoughts turned into wicked deeds. He needed a run through the woods as badly as she kept reminding him she did.
He also really needed to get her some clothes. His t-shirts on her body gave him too many dangerous ideas about what he wanted to spend their long hours doing together.
Right now, he was cooking, which he hadn’t done in a very long time. Not since his mother first left. It brought back too many memories of being in the kitchen with the woman who raised him to the age of ten and then left, never to be heard from again. Like Tasia, when things got tough, she thought running was the best course of action. It still made him angry all these years later. Yet, sitting around was driving him crazy, and the only activity that kept him distracted for a long period of time was banging pots and pans around in the kitchen. Even now, he was chopping tomatoes while some garlic and onions simmered in a skillet. The aroma was filling the cabin, finally giving him a break from her delectable, tempting smell. He just needed to keep his hands busy.