“Donovan paid them really well to forget he existed,” Dare said. “The electric company has the meter near the highway, and he gets his mail in town.”
For the rest of the meal, Lyra kept her thoughts to herself and ate her tacos, afraid she’d say something stupid. Nick and Dare talked about a new surveillance case for a woman named Letty Johnson.
“I’m leaving to get right on it after we finish taking a look at those aerial maps,” Nick said after he crunched a mouthful of taco and swallowed. “Mr. Johnson supposedly gets off work at the courthouse some nights at eight, but when I checked with a clerk, she said he always heads out right at five. Never fails.”
“Should be an easy mark.” Dare wiped his hands with his napkin. The two men had devoured their five tacos in the same amount of time it had taken Lyra to eat two. “Asshole gets off early, screws another woman, then gets home late and tells Mrs. Johnson he worked into the night.” Dare scowled. “A woman deserves better than that kind of cheating scum.”
“Yep.” Nick pushed back his chair, stood, and grabbed his plate and fork. “The photos should be interesting.”
“You really take pictures of people having affairs?” Lyra couldn’t keep her mouth shut as she grabbed her own plate and stood. “Like on TV?”
Dare gave a low laugh and Nick raised an eyebrow as he said, “How else do you expect me to prove he’s fu—” He cleared his throat. “Prove that he’s cheating with another woman?”
“Oh.” Would her cheeks ever stop flaming around this man? “Must be, um, interesting work.”
“Most of the time surveillance is pretty boring,” Dare said as they carried their plates to the sink. “Not much exciting about sitting in a car or tailing the mark. Especially when they don’t follow a regular schedule. The guy Nick will tail could go straight home tonight, and he’ll follow him tomorrow, possibly the next day and the next, until he catches the SOB at it.”
“Dare, though,” Nick said as he looked directly at her, “becomes a little too involved with his work.”
“Shut up, Donovan,” Dare growled. “I do my job.”
Nick faced Dare head-on. “Let’s just say at times you forget it’s not personal.”
Lyra’s skin went hot. She was one of those people Nick was talking about.
Dare took a step closer to Nick, his hands clenched at his sides. Nick just shook his head and went back to cleaning the kitchen.
When Dare looked at her, Lyra turned away and kept her eyes averted. Somehow, she’d forgotten she was just another person he’d felt the need to protect.
When they finished putting away the leftovers as well as cleaning up the dishes, table, and countertop so that everything was absolutely spotless, Lyra followed Nick and Dare down the flight of stairs.
Nick paused and looked from Dare to Lyra, and his hard gaze rested on her. “She stays here.”
Dare rubbed his hand over his afternoon stubble. “She’s okay, Donovan.”
For a long moment Nick looked at her.
“She needs to see,” Dare said. “It’s possible she can help us.”
Nick’s eyes never left hers. She held her breath. He finally nodded and turned away.
She and Dare followed Nick as they went all the way to the end of the hallway and down another staircase. Their footsteps were loud against the wooden floor as they walked along a different hallway and into what must be the master bedroom. It was huge and masculine with its polished wood floor, thick wood furniture, taupe and brown bedding and furnishings.
But when they went into his large walk-in closet, hair at her nape prickled. Everything was close around her. Too close.
Lyra shook her head and took a deep breath. She could do this. Whatever it was, she could do it.
At the back of the confined space, she thought she saw Nick push something on the wall. She nearly jumped when a piece of the hardwood floor rose up a couple of inches, then slid to the side. Nick immediately climbed down a set of metal stairs. When she glanced at Dare, he gestured for her to follow Nick. Her body tingled and she felt a little light-headed. The fact that they were in a closet made her feel a bit on the claustrophobic side, but going down into a room below the closet? She closed her eyes and opened them again. She could do this.
Lyra sucked in a deep breath and positioned herself so that she could grab the metal handrails. They were cold beneath her palms. She slowly headed down the steps into the low-lit room.
When she reached the bottom, she turned and her stomach dropped. A room filled with computers and monitors. Different from Neal’s, yet the same.
Huge monitors, computers, electronic maps, and a zillion other high-tech gadgets filled the place. Blue light flickered throughout the dim room, and she was so overwhelmed by it all that her head spun.
She was barely conscious of Dare coming up behind her until he kissed the top of her head. She shivered and goose bumps prickled her skin as she looked up at him. He lowered his head and gently brushed his lips over hers and smiled.
The tension in Lyra’s muscles increased despite his closeness and gentleness. He rubbed both her arms, then released her to walk to where Nick was waiting. The other man had a hard, impatient look.
When she heard what they were talking about, her stomach turned to lead. Lyra’s feet seemed to take her to Dare’s side of their own accord. Her heart pounded and her throat grew dry.
“We can get him for underage sex,” Dare was saying, “as well as polygamy. Most of all, I’m pretty sure from what Lyra talked about that they could be running drugs.”
“If that’s the case, then we’d have something to put them away for a while,” Nick said. “If we can just figure out a way to prove it.”
Nick went on, “When I looked into the cult after talking with you, I gathered some info and learned a smaller Temple of Light compound is here.” Nick and Dare pored over a large image of a satellite map on a huge screen. The glow reflected against Nick’s and Dare’s faces. “We didn’t get a clear shot because of the weather and the trees,” Nick said. “We’ll work on it.”
Dare nodded, his jaw tight.
“They’re building their new compound at the base of the Huachuca Mountains.” Nick used a pencil and pointed to the location. “Here’s the perimeter fence, and they appear to be well guarded. All of these shapes are probably tents where the cult members live, and these dots are cult members. From the intelligence I’ve gathered so far, they’ve set up satellite compounds all over the U.S.”
The Temple of Light really was here. And the cult had spread across the country.
Sweat dampened Lyra’s forehead and she felt like hot needles pricked her skin. All she could do was stare at the map, yet her head swam and she didn’t see it. With satellite communes everywhere, she probably couldn’t ever run somewhere they wouldn’t find her.
“This other map is of their main compound just outside of Sandy, Oregon,” Nick was saying.
She shuddered at the mention of the place she now thought of as hell. Was Neal still there? Or was he here, in Arizona, now?
Lyra wrapped her arms around her belly. Images, smells, and sights filled her mind.
The nightmare of when Neal had told her about being the Chosen was like a fist slamming into her belly. Everything was vivid, like it was happening all over again. He had taken her into a room like this one and told her of her “destiny.” He had touched her breasts. Had forced her to touch his penis.
Bile rose up in Lyra’s throat and she clapped her hand over her mouth. In the distance she heard a male voice, and then two strong hands grabbed her upper arms.
“No.” She struggled to get away from the hands. “I won’t. I won’t.”
The strong hands shook her and her head fell back.
The dim room came into focus and she saw Dare’s eyes fixed on her, his jaw tight. She immediately went limp, her knees giving out on her.
Dare drew her into his embrace and held her. “It’s all right, honey,” he murmured agains
t her hair. “Everything will be all right.”
Hot tears leaked from her eyes and dampened his shirt. Her entire body trembled. “It’s not,” she said against his chest. “It will never be over.”
She pushed him away, looked around the room, and trembled all over. “I’ve got to get out of here. Got to get out of here.”
Lyra didn’t know how she made it back up the stairs and out of the high-tech room. All she remembered was Dare taking her to her bedroom and helping her out of her shoes and jeans so that she had just her T-shirt and underwear on, and then he tucked her under the sheets and quilt.
Dare scooted onto the bed behind her, on top of the quilt, all but his boots on. He molded his body against hers and wrapped his arm around her waist. She trembled even as he held her tight and whispered soft words. “I’ll never let them get their hands on you, Lyra. Never.”
Her voice shook. “You can’t stop them. No one can.”
“I can, and I will.” He squeezed her tighter. “Now rest.”
Lyra didn’t think she would be able to relax, but eventually she slipped into dreams filled with images of being taken back to the compound and Dare coming to rescue her on a great black horse.
* * *
Anger seared Dare’s veins and he could barely contain himself as he held Lyra. He wanted to go after Neal Barker so badly that his body ached with it. He’d slam his fist in the bastard’s face for what he’d done to Lyra, and he’d feel the satisfaction of Barker going down as he hit him again and again.
For a long time, Lyra remained tense in his embrace, her breathing short and choppy. But eventually her body relaxed and her breathing slowed and became deep and even. Every now and then she would jerk as if she was dreaming or having a nightmare. He nuzzled her hair and breathed in her sunshine-and-roses scent.
It was only early evening, but the room was dark thanks to the closed wooden shutters and the fact that he’d turned off the lights. Lyra had been through so much in the past three days that she needed to rest.
Finally, when he was fairly certain she wouldn’t wake, he slipped from the bed, careful not to disturb her. He settled into a chair in the room. He braced one elbow on an arm of the chair and stroked his jaw as he studied Lyra. Her features looked relaxed, and he hoped her dreams would be peaceful.
How could they stop this Neal bastard from going after Lyra anymore? What could possibly stop him and keep her from being on the run?
Dare ground his teeth. With the information Lyra had given him, they had enough info to get Neal Barker in deep with the law if they could prove it.
How could they get the law into the main compound to expose any of this? And if Barker was put away, how long before he was out and after Lyra again?
Nick had headed out on his run by the time Dare left Lyra’s bedroom. He made his way back to Nick’s surveillance room to take a look at the satellite map of the Oregon compound again. When he was in, he moved to the table in the center of the room and switched on the light beneath the maps. He studied the main compound intently, frustrated that everything on the map wasn’t better defined. They couldn’t formulate a plan without knowing every bit of the layout of the compound and the position of the guards.
They’d have to figure a way to get him. Too bad the SOB wasn’t in Arizona.
He clenched his jaw, tempted to slam his fist down on the satellite image. Better yet, put his fist through a wall. What the cult leader had done to Lyra…
Damn. Everything she’d gone through—Dare only had a vague. Different scenarios churned through his mind and every one of them made him want to knock the shit out of Neal Barker. Repeatedly.
A plan. He had to come up with a plan. Other than storming the main compound with a small army, he was clutching at straws.
He turned off the screen so that it no longer showed the map, then turned to the stairs. His boots rang against the metal as he made his way up. When he was in the closet, he found the hidden button and closed the surveillance room. He strode up the series of stairs and hallways to Lyra’s room. Her door was open, and when he slipped into the near darkness, he saw that she was no longer in bed.
Damn. He shouldn’t have left her alone.
Dare made his way upstairs to the great room and found Lyra sitting on one of the couches in the dim lighting. She was clutching a pillow and curled up in just her T-shirt. She looked so beautiful with her tousled hair and her sleepy expression.
Soft country music played in the background. A slow song started up and Lyra startled when he said, “Dance with me.”
13
As Dare approached her, Lyra felt a thrill deep in her belly. There was something in his eyes, something in the low timbre of his voice when he’d asked her to dance.
She’d never danced before—at least not since junior high school. She started to tell him so, but before she could say anything he was already at her side. He took her hand in his and helped her rise.
The moment she was up, he wrapped her in his embrace, and she sighed. He smelled so masculine and felt so good, his body warming her through her T-shirt. The soft country song surrounded them as he held her close and they began slowly moving to the music. There was magic in the music, magic that wove through her thoughts and around-their bodies.
She slipped her arms up his neck and into his thick hair.
“Honey, what you do to me,” Dare murmured against her hair. “Every time I see you, I want to touch you. I want to hold you. I want to make love to you.”
Lyra let out a soft sound of surprise and looked up into his eyes. For a long moment he held her gaze as they swayed to the music. Then he lowered his head and softly brushed his lips across hers. She closed her eyes and sighed into his mouth. He nipped her bottom lip, causing her sigh to turn into a moan.
Dare slipped his tongue through her lips and explored her, teasing her by tangling with her tongue, then running his along the edges of her teeth. She wanted to taste him fully, and she matched his kiss. What started out as slow and gentle became more intense, more needy. He slid his hands from her waist down to cup her ass and press her even tighter to him.
Lyra’s heart pounded harder and faster. He tucked her head beneath his chin and held her. She’d never felt such a sense of safety, security, like nothing could ever hurt her. With Dare it would be easy to let herself go. To let herself believe that everything would be okay.
She tilted her head up, bumping his chin. He moved his head back and their gazes locked. They continued to move slowly to the beat of the song as they looked at each other.
“Do you get this close to all the women you help?” she asked, a little tremor to her voice.
Dare stilled and they no longer moved with the music. His eyes grew dark, almost like a storm shadowing the sky, and his expression no longer relaxed. “Don’t even begin to think like that. You are special.”
Lyra tried to look away, but he took her face in his hands and brought her around to look at him again, and she said, “There’s nothing special about me.”
“Everything about you is special.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “I’ve never met a woman like you. You’re strong, smart, beautiful.”
She tried to shake her head, but his hands kept her still.
“Look at what you’ve done, what you’ve been through,” he said. “You lost your father. You ended up in a dangerous cult, and the bastard subjected you to shit no one should have to go through.”
Tears burned her eyes, and she opened her mouth, but Dare wouldn’t let her say anything.
“You escaped. You were homeless but brought yourself out of poverty. Despite everything you’ve been through, you’ve made friends, you’ve made a good life for yourself.” He moved his hands from her face and stroked her hair. “You are special, Lyra Collins. And don’t you ever think you’re not.”
She buried her face against his chest and clung to him. He was so solid, so real. She barely knew him, yet her heart was opening up to him. How could she
let that happen? Dare held her tight. He asked nothing from her, just gave.
She tilted her head to look up at him again. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“I shouldn’t be touching you like this,” he said as he drew back.
“Why?” She kissed the curve of his neck and felt his warmth against her lips. He smelled so good.
“With everything that’s happened to you,” he said with a low groan. “You need time to rest, time to sort your thoughts.”
Her lips met his again, then she pulled away and smiled. “Right now, my thoughts are perfectly sorted, Dare Lancaster.”
He pressed his mouth to her hair, and she felt the rise and fall of his chest as he inhaled deeply. “You’d better think long and hard about what you’re saying. What you’re doing to me.”
“And what you’re doing to me,” she said softly. “I can’t help it. I don’t want to help it. What I want is you. That’s not going to change no matter what happens. No matter how much you tell me I need time.” She raised herself up on her toes and brushed her lips against his in a whisper-soft movement. He groaned against her mouth. “What I want, what I need, is you,” she said.
Dare pressed his lips to hers and the intensity of his kiss took her breath away. He wasn’t gentle. His kiss was hard, dominating. The stubble on his jaw was rough against her face as he moved his mouth back and forth against hers.
His big hands squeezed her ass cheeks. He began to move his palms a fraction at a time over the flare of her hips, to the indentation of her waist, and farther up until his fingers rested just below her breasts.
Lyra tightened her hold on his hair as he kissed her, held her. She prayed for him to touch her nipples, and when he brushed his thumbs over them, she thought she was going to lose her mind. She arched into him and he rubbed her nipples harder.
She couldn’t stop kissing him, didn’t want to stop kissing him. They were so close she felt the pounding of his heart against her chest, the throb of his pulse where her arm rested on the curve of his neck.
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