99% of the world’s population was completely unaware of the horrors that were happening right under their noses. In their neighborhoods and their towns. Tomi had crashed headlong into that seedy 1%. If only he could have spared her that. “Were you?”
“I told you, no. No one touched me.” Her lips trembled, almost as if she were ashamed.
Cole wanted to reach across the table and take her into his arms. Instead, he watched every nuance of her expression. “Why?”
If the other slaves had been used before being sold at auction, there was no reason Tomi hadn’t been. Was she lying out of shame? And if that were the case, there would be no corner on this planet where Luis could run from Cole’s wrath. He wouldn’t lock that sucker up in federal prison—he’d rip his insides out with his bare hands.
“I knocked out the one guard who tried to touch me. And then Luis didn’t want to damage the merchandise. He said he had someone special in mind for me, and he ordered his guards to keep me locked up in a room.”
“The Frenchman.” Dammit, her story was falling too close to Stahl’s.
“What?”
“Nothing, keep going. You say Luis like you know him?”
“I worked for him for almost a year. I was his son’s nanny.”
“Since when are you a nanny?” They hadn’t seen each other since they were practically kids themselves, but Tomi had never struck him as the overly responsible type. Or the kind of women who had the patience for kids.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You think I’m not good enough to take care of a child?”
That stubborn tilt was back to her chin. Cole knew he’d stepped on the wrong side of her red line. “Not what I meant at all.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I just never pictured you with children.”
“Just because you couldn’t picture me with kids doesn’t mean I didn’t want any.” She threw the words at him like a well-aimed barrage of bullets.
“Tomi, we’re not here to talk about kids. We’re here to talk about the auction.” He put some force behind his words to try to drag her back to the conversation they needed to have.
“Okay Cole, let’s talk about Luis and his slaves. Why were you there?” Her entire demeanor shifted. She threaded her fingers together and planted her elbows on the table, leaning toward him. There was an earnest look in her eyes. An entreaty. But he couldn’t give her the assurance he knew she needed from him. Not after what Stahl had threatened.
“That’s not what we’re talking about. What do you know about Luis’s operation?”
“Exactly what I told you,” she fired right back.
“You never noticed any events like this happening before you stumbled into that party? If you worked there for a year, you would’ve been privy to all of Luis’s activities.”
She would’ve seen people coming and going from the mansion. At the very least, she must have had dozens or even hundreds of the conversations with the criminal. Maybe Luis had let something slip. Cole made a mental note to check in with the FBI agent.
“Luis is a very private man. We only talked about his son; he never spoke to me about his business.”
“So, you and Luis weren’t…” Cole gestured with his hand and shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t truly believe they’d been intimate, but he needed to hear her say it.
“No, I wasn’t sleeping with him,” she bit out, her cheeks turning bright pink. “Not that it would be any of your business if I had been. This conversation is over. I’m leaving.”
Cole let her get all the way to the back door before he spoke. He needed to take away any foolish hope she had of leaving this place, of leaving him. He was the only person who could protect her from Luis, and this was the only place where he could reliably do it. “If you leave, my brothers will bring you back.”
She stiffened, even under that baggy shirt he’d provided for her, he could see the ramrod set to her shoulders. With her back to him, she said, “So, I am a prisoner here.”
“If that’s what you want to call it, but I’m not letting you leave. I need you to trust me.”
Tomi spun, her tangled blonde hair flying out around her face. “Trust you? You bought me.”
Cole shrugged. He couldn’t answer that. Not without giving away the operation. “In a way.”
“$3 million isn’t ‘in a way.’ You can’t do this, Cole.”
The knowledge that he was hurting her made his chest tight, but Cole couldn’t tell her the truth. “I’m sorry, but you’re staying here.”
“You never told me. Where’s your friend?” Her tone turned bitter, accusatory. She started trembling. “Don’t you intend to share your slave with him?”
Adam Wise still lay unconscious in a hospital bed, fighting for his life. That thought alone reinforced Cole’s crumbling resolve. If he jeopardized their mission now, they would lose the last remaining chance to find Tara and all of the other missing women.
“I don’t like to share, Tomi.”
10
Tomi curled her fingers, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. She wanted to scream. To fly across the room and slap that possessive expression right off of Cole Fury’s face. Somewhere, in the very smallest part of the back of her mind, she’d held out a fading hope that Cole was her rescuer in disguise. His questions about Luis had set that hope alight.
But the look in his eyes just now…he truly meant that. He thought she belonged to him.
Well, if he thought she was just going to crumble and cave and give in to this insanely horrible situation, he had no idea whom he’d bought.
At one point in her life, she would’ve given anything to be possessed by him. For years, she’d dreamed of his hands on her, his commanding voice in her ear. Telling her to scream his name as he took her. His strong hands squeezing her nipples. Spanking her until she begged. But there was one essential difference: in all of her fantasies, she was willing.
“I won’t let you touch me.”
Cole rose from his seat, his movements slow and unhurried. With measured steps, he closed the distance between them, cupping her jaw so she had to look up to see his face.
Maybe this is all just a nightmare. Some dream I’m having on the plane to Mexico.
“You’ll beg me to touch you.” His soft words sent another shiver through her body, and dear Lord, she hated herself more than she hated him at that moment, because that shiver wasn’t fear. It was anticipation.
“Never.”
“I want three days. Three days of your willingness and submission. That’s all.”
Her brain went blank. Three days? That didn’t make sense. None of this made sense.
Cole towered over her, and his presence seemed to curl around her—overwhelming and dominating. And yet, his touch was so soft. So inviting.
“I can’t,” she finally choked out.
“Why not?” he asked just as softly. His thumb smoothed over her cheekbone, gentle and feather light.
And yet she felt as if it scorched her. Her skin was hypersensitive to his touch. What the hell was wrong with her? She knew there was something horribly wrong with this situation. But she still wanted him.
“Please, Cole, don’t do this. It’s not right. This isn’t you.”
“I’ve thought about you nearly every day for the past ten years,” he said, staring into her eyes without looking away. “When I couldn’t sleep at night, your face haunted me. When I dreamed, I felt your touch on me. Every time I passed a damn honeysuckle plant, I was reminded of you.”
His words grew harsh, and Tomi sucked in a breath. She used to wear a particular honeysuckle body spray for him.
Cole continued his onslaught on her senses, her emotions. “Every time I kissed another woman, I closed my eyes and pretended it was you. Always you.”
Sweet mother, what was she supposed to say to that? He’d thought about her that much? Even though she’d left him in the way she had?
You’ve thought about him the same way. You know it�
�s true.
His words were too blunt, too raw to be a lie. And for the first time since she’d seen him in that horrible auction room, Cole’s expression wasn’t blank. It was burning.
Her knees almost gave out, and no matter how hard she tried, she didn’t feel like she could get enough air into her lungs. She searched his gaze, looking for… Shit, she didn’t know what she was looking for. None of this made sense.
“Please, Tomi. I swear to God I won’t hurt you. Please give me this.” Cole closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to hers, his breathing harsh. Hers was equally so.
Tomi closed her eyes, wanting him more than she wanted air. Water. Food. If she gave in, what did that make her? “Cole, I’m not a slave. I’m not something to be bought and sold.”
“I don’t want a slave. I want you.”
God, how he wanted her. The aching need he’d suppressed for the past decade came roaring to life, kicking his senses into overdrive. He saw and felt and heard every minute detail about her. Her soft, rapid breathing. Her satiny skin. The way her nipples beaded beneath the fabric of the T-shirt. All the signs of arousal were there. He could feel it rising within her, an unstoppable tide.
“Cole—”
He’d made progress and he couldn’t lose her now. If he couldn’t have her, he’d incinerate on the spot. “I’ve always wanted you, Tomi. Give me this.”
The invisible magnetism between them pulled his lips to hers. His breathing hitched, his abdomen pulling up in tense anticipation, as he feathered his lips across hers. It wasn’t a kiss; it was a gentle questioning. He was asking for her permission. He’d meant every word. He would never take anything from her she didn’t want to give.
Her small fingers came up and covered his. He paused, afraid she was going to rip his hand away from her face. Instead, she pressed his palm between her hand and cheek. He could feel her entire body trembling beneath his touch. “I don’t know if I can do this. It’s not right. Owning someone isn’t right.”
Her voice was so husky. At any moment, she could take off running or shoo him away, but she didn’t.
That made his knees weak. Dammit, he had to get himself in control. She’d abandoned him. He’d hated her for what she’d done. But you never stopped wanting her. “Just three days. I swear, Tomi, I only want to give you pleasure.”
And to possess her, mind, body, and soul. The dark need had been awakened inside him, and it was all he could do not to pin her against the door and rip off her pants and take her. Instead, he reined in the beast and pressed a light kiss to her nose. Her closed eyelids. Her forehead. Committing the curves of her face to memory.
Tomi still didn’t speak. He needed to hear her say the words. Was she waiting for him to convince her further?
His brother, Carter, had been right. She needed time, a gentle hand, but at the same time Cole could feel her submissive nature reaching out for him to take control.
As slowly as he could manage it, Cole brought his other hand up, cupping her face in his palms, and dipped his head to hers, taking her lips in a gentle but firm kiss. She melted into him, parting for him. Cole didn’t waste a second; he pushed his tongue inside and took possession of her mouth, demanding she give him what he wanted.
Tomi made a soft little moan and her hands went to his forearms, holding him to her, not pushing him away.
Fuck, she tasted like heaven. Sweeter than he remembered. His dreams didn’t touch her reality.
Cole slanted his head to the side, taking more, going deeper with each sweep of his tongue.
He was drowning in her, losing his sense of purpose and the reason behind why he was here. If he didn’t pull back, he’d lose control. Cole gentled the kiss, forcing himself to pull back. He threaded his fingers through hers and pinned her arms to the door next to her head. Then he leaned his straining body into hers, letting her feel exactly how much he needed her.
“Do you feel this, Tomi? Do you feel how I ache for you? It’s not me who’s in control, it’s you. This is what you do to me. Don’t deny me this.”
Her lips chased after his, seeking out his kiss once more, but Cole held himself back. He had to. He had to hear her say it.
“Kiss me.” The little minx tried to bring his face down to hers.
If Cole hadn’t been on the verge of ripping the seam in his jeans, he would’ve chuckled at her demand. But he wasn’t in a laughing mood. As soon as she gave him the information, he was going to take her until neither of them could think or breathe, and then maybe, just maybe, he’d have enough of her to satisfy a little edge of the need clawing his insides.
“Tell me, tell me you’ll give yourself to me.”
She tried to kiss him again, and he pulled back, locking his arms out in front of him so he could keep her where he wanted her. Pinned against the door and unable to make a move. It was a subtle power play that was driving her wild.
Tomi gave a frustrated groan and opened her eyes, her gaze spitting fire at him. “Why? Why is it so important that I give you my permission?”
“Because, I told you, I won’t take what you don’t willingly give. I’m only asking for a few days.” There was a rough edge of desperation in his voice, but damned if he wasn’t desperate.
“What’s the big deal about three days? We both know it doesn’t mean anything if I give you permission. You bought me. You own me. If you really wanted my permission, you’d let me walk out the door right now.”
Fuck all if he could argue with such a logical statement. At that moment, Cole hated Agent Stahl for tying his hands. How the hell was he supposed to convince Tomi to trust him, when he couldn’t tell her the truth?
He felt the resistance go out of her body, but it wasn’t the way he wanted. She stopped fighting for him—and against him all in the same breath. “You and I both know this isn’t my choice.”
He should’ve kept his mouth shut, but he’d never had an easy time controlling himself around her. “Dammit, Tomi, that’s not true. I meant what I said…I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”
“Then let me go,” she said so softly he had to strain to hear her.
“I can’t,” he answered honestly.
Her shoulders slumped and some of the fire in her eyes died. “Then I can’t give you three days. I can’t give you anything.”
With a snarl of disgust at himself for putting her in this position, Cole flung himself away from her and stalked to the refrigerator, yanked a beer from the door, and ripped off the bottle cap. “Go to your room. Just go.”
He could hear Tomi’s sharp intake of breath from across the room, followed by the quick slaps of her footsteps as she all but ran from the kitchen. She slammed her bedroom door and Cole winced. God, he was an asshole. He took a swig of beer and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth, attempting the impossible—to erase the burning sensation left where her lips had been melded with his only moments before. His cock strained against his pants so painfully, he had to reach down and readjust himself. Why couldn’t he just take her? He knew he could make her orgasm. Hell, they’d both been pretty damn close just a few moments ago.
And then he heard her muffled sobs through her closed bedroom door. Cole closed his eyes and braced his hands on the counter. He hated that he was the reason she was crying. This was why he couldn’t take her, because the thought of hurting her in any way that didn’t bring her pleasure made nausea roll in his gut. How could he have ever thought she would agree to such insane terms? She thought he was one of them, that he’d bought her, and he’d neither done nor said nothing to convince her otherwise. No wonder she was confused.
What did Stahl expect him to do? If he forced her, she’d never trust him enough to tell him the truth. And he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
He couldn’t reveal that he was working with the FBI on this case; that option was off the table. Fuck, it was off the entire planet. But Tomi needed a reason to trust him. She needed to know that he wasn’t like those other men at the
auction.
Cole left his beer, half drunk, sitting on the counter and straightened. He scrubbed his hand down his face, praying for an answer. And an answer finally came.
11
Tomi cried until she couldn’t cry anymore. She cried tears she’d held in since the day she’d broken it off with Cole, and then she cried some more because of all the messed-up crap that had happened to her over the past week. Over the fact that she’d never see little Rafael again…that he would be raised by a monster to become a monster. And when she was done crying about that, she cried over losing Cole all over again.
When he’d kissed her, the past had come rushing in with such force she hadn’t had a hope or prayer of stopping it. Somehow his kiss was more intense than she remembered. He’d matured, grown more confident in his touch. She knew instinctively he could give her exactly what she needed; he’d seemed to read her every thought right there against the door. He’d been gentle at the moments she’d felt close to breaking, and he’d pushed precisely when and how much she’d wanted him to. Hell, he’d done such a masterful job, she’d nearly given in to his demands.
She’d had to run from the room before she could change her mind, and what did that say about her? Suspecting what she did about him, she still wanted to give herself to him.
And yet…he couldn’t silence the little voice in her head, the one that was still marveling over what he’d said to her. All these years, she’d told herself that he’d moved on, that she was the only one still thinking of their relationship. Tomi blew out a long breath and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She should’ve known better after the intense and wild relationship they’d shared. She’d been foolish to think he’d easily get over her. But this wasn’t the answer.
Surely, Cole could see that. Surely, he wasn’t really into human trafficking.
Despite everything she’d seen and Cole’s failure to explain the situation to her, she just didn’t believe he had anything to do with Luis’s enterprise. Maybe she was naïve, or maybe she was that stupid, but there was no way a man as honorable as Cole Fury had stooped to this level.
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