Burned Deep

by Calista Fox

  I was at a loss, though one thing was clear. This did not bode well for anyone. Dane in particular. And I could see the toll it took on him. But he was obviously more worried about me.

  Taking my hand, he said, “Come on. We’ll get some stuff from your house and then you’ll stay at mine until we’ve figured this all out.”

  Panic seized me. “You don’t think—”

  “I don’t know what to think, Ari. Except that you take that route when no one else does. So what the hell am I supposed to—”

  “Dane, no one knows about us. Why would…?” Okay, Amano knew. But other than that … “No one outside this room knows about us. And I’m not involved in anything confidential at the moment. I’m just getting started with the launch preparation.”

  “I’m not taking chances, okay? The media-room fire and now a snake in the stairwell?” His piercing emerald eyes left no potential for argument. “Just let me handle this, Ari. Let me take care of it.”

  “How?” I asked, though my voice wasn’t very steady—like I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to know his answer.

  “I have my ways.”

  chapter 17

  Snake-tat guy flashed in my mind again.

  “I’ve seen you ‘handle’ things,” I told Dane. I got to my feet and stepped closer to him. “You’re talking about violence here, right?”

  His gaze narrowed on me. “I’m talking about doing whatever I have to in order to protect the Lux—and you. Especially you, Ari.”

  My heart pounded heavily. “Dane … I can’t … I mean, that’s—” I shook my head. Turned away. My eyes squeezed shut.

  He was willing to go to any extreme to stop the attacks. To even the score. However he looked at it. And that disturbed me as much as it provided a hint of relief that he wasn’t going to let anything happen to the hotel or me. That whatever the threat, he could contain it.

  At the same time, I worried over that extreme. How far he’d actually go. I’d caught enough glimpses of his angst to know a storm brewed within him. If anything went more haywire at the Lux—and involved me—what would be his breaking point? And how volatile would the tempest be?

  I wasn’t a fan of rage. I’d grown up in a house full of fury and explosive tempers. There’d been a few too many instances in my life when I’d encountered someone on the verge of massive destruction.

  “Ari,” Dane said as he laid a hand on my arm. “Just take a few breaths. Trust me.”

  I opened my eyes and faced him. “I’m a little afraid of what you might be capable of.”

  A bit of an understatement, but the truth nonetheless.

  He nodded. “Try to understand why it’s so important to me to—”

  “I don’t know why anything’s important to you, Dane!” I erupted. “Because you’re still not telling me everything!”

  Amano moved in and said to Dane, “I’ll manage everything here.”

  “I know you will.” Dane clasped the man on the shoulder, though Amano was a good three inches taller and maybe twenty or so years Dane’s senior. “I trust you. Thank you.”

  I had no idea what their relationship was, how long they’d known each other, or what had bonded them together, but I couldn’t dispute that the expression in Amano’s eyes, the intensity exuding from him, confirmed he was a solid for Dane. On his side all the way. Mine, too, given my association with Dane. Amano had been worried about me. Maybe even before the snake incident, if his diligent shadowing was any indication.

  Dane gathered up his laptop and some files and packed them in his bag. Then he put an arm around my waist and we left his office. In mine, the workers had finished and the new, slim corkboard cabinet was striking on my pristine white wall. But I didn’t have time to get all jazzed over it. Urgency radiated from Dane. He wanted me out of here. Fast.

  I wasn’t inclined to dillydally. I still trembled from head to toe. He helped me get all the things I needed in order to continue working over the weekend, including carrying an enormous stack of catalogs as I slung the strap of the laptop bag over my shoulder. He grabbed my tote and we headed out.

  The elevator arrived and he peered inside before letting me in. That freaked me out even more—was I going to have to watch my every step, peek around every corner, from now on?

  “Dane.” I swallowed hard. “What else haven’t you told me?” Because I had a disturbing suspicion there was a deeper plot to this nightmare.

  “Not now, Ari.”

  I simmered. His angst set me on edge. There was more to what was happening at the Lux. I could feel it in my bones. The investment group mishap was not anything to be discounted; I knew that. But I could sense there were things he hadn’t told me last night.

  We left the property and I fought to keep the questions flying from my mouth. He drove us to my townhome and I packed another bag and grabbed a couple more suits still on their hangers. Anxiety tore through me as we wound our way up Oak Creek Canyon.

  It was a gloomy afternoon with a light drizzle. Not our typical autumn weather. I started to feel as though the universe conspired against Dane and 10,000 Lux.

  I spared a glance at him and noted his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. I wondered if he pondered the same thing I did. Or if there was something a bit darker on his mind.

  A chill ran down my spine. Here was the problem with being so wrapped up in this man and his world. I really didn’t know him. Not as well as I should when I’d just been locked in a stairwell with a deadly snake.

  I shuddered.

  Best not to think of that right now, Ari.

  I needed to calm down. I tried to force my shoulders to loosen. They remained bunched much too close to my ears. My hands still shook.

  Dane reached over and covered them as I wrung them in my lap. “Calm down. You’re making me even more inclined to throttle someone.”

  I shot him a look. “But you’re not sure which someone, are you?”

  “Let’s just say, it’s time to get this under control.”

  “How do you plan to do that?”

  “Trust me to handle it, Ari.”

  I inhaled deeply, hoping it would steady me a bit. No such luck. I asked, “Don’t you have other partners who are concerned?”

  “Yes. Three others from the initial investment group. I’ll probably spend the majority of tomorrow with them at the house.”

  I nodded. “I’ll stay out of your way. I have a lot to do.”

  “You don’t have to work twenty-four-seven, baby. We still have almost three months till the grand opening.”

  “That’s really not as much time as you think in the land of event planning. And I don’t mind being so busy.”

  It’d always been the way I’d managed my life and my emotions. Part of the avoidance theory I’d adopted at a young age. In this case, it’d help to have something to focus on other than what had happened today. And how I’d literally spiraled out of control with Dane.

  I was alarmed by the inescapable acknowledgment of how deep I was in with this man and that there was no longer the retreat I was accustomed to making when the flame burned a bit too close to the skin. With Dane, I couldn’t seem to keep the walls up. More than that, I didn’t want to keep them up.

  That meant I had to coax more out of him. Really find out what he was involved with and how it truly impacted the Lux. And me.

  We arrived at his creekside, nestled-in-the-woods house and he unlocked the door for me, then grabbed our things from the SUV. He left our work bags in the foyer and I followed him down the wide hallway to a room opposite his. The dressing room.

  I pulled up short and gasped at the size of it. “Good Lord, Dane.”

  He set my totes on the rectangular marble-topped bureau with drawers and cabinets that was situated in the center of the room. He hung my clothes on the only empty rack against the far wall, with a ledge above and below for accessories or shoes. The wood was a rich mahogany and there was a three-way mirror in the corner, along with several chai
rs and end tables scattered about. The room was filled with his neatly arranged suits, shirts, ties, shoes, sweaters, pants. I took it all in, awestruck again.

  “I thought rooms like this only existed in movies,” I said, unable to process how much the setup alone cost, not to mention every article of clothing filling it.

  He opened two top drawers and relocated the T-shirts inside. Then he asked, “Will this do?”

  I stared at him, now befuddled. “You’re giving me drawers?”

  “You don’t want your clothes to wrinkle, right?”

  “Right,” I numbly agreed.

  Drawers. Wasn’t that a really big deal?

  Don’t think about it, Ari. Just unpack.

  I retrieved the yoga suits and other items I’d brought along and tucked them away. Dane stripped down, changing into another pair of loose black pants and a black tank top that fit him sinfully well, displaying his bulging biceps and conforming to his chiseled chest and abs.

  He held me spellbound as I removed my jacket and he gave me an extra hanger for it.

  “Thanks,” I murmured, completely captivated by him.

  I fumbled with the small pearl buttons on my French cuffs. He grinned when it became all too apparent that my now-trembling fingers weren’t because a snake had terrified me but because of how Dane excited me. So easily. He stepped forward and helped out, our gazes locked.

  He slipped the little orbs through the holes on the flap of my blouse and slid the material down my arms. He hung up the garment, then moved behind me to unzip the back of my skirt, easing it to my ankles so I could step out of it. My shoes followed.

  I opened a drawer again and skimmed my fingers over my clothes, none of them holding much appeal.

  “You want something of mine?”

  I glanced up. “Yes.”

  Rounding the bureau to his side, he pulled out an oatmeal-colored long-sleeved Henley.

  “This one’s comfortable,” he said.

  I unhooked my bra and put it in the drawer before shutting it.

  “Or maybe forego the shirt altogether.”

  I smiled softly. “Something tells me you still have work to focus on. It’s not even five o’clock yet.”

  He grimaced. A sexy expression like every other one coming from him. “I do have a Board of Directors conference call for a nonprofit that I need to prep for.”

  “Then prep.” I stretched on tiptoe and gave him a kiss. “What’s the organization?”

  “Children’s group homes.”

  My brows knitted. “Orphanages?”

  “They don’t really call them that anymore. They’re privately held and funded group homes.”

  “And you donate your time and money to them.”

  “Yes.”

  “Huh.” Warmth oozed through me. “That’s pretty amazing.”

  He lifted the shirt above my head. “You’d better cover up or neither of us will get anything done tonight.”

  I slipped into the Henley and he whisked my hair from inside the collar, fanning it out over my shoulders. The buttoned neckline dipped between my breasts and he didn’t bother to fasten me up, just left the material open so the rounded swells filled the gap.

  He seemed to admire me for several seconds. Then his head dipped and he kissed me.

  I clung to him, loving the nearness of him, the way he engulfed me with his entire sexy presence.

  When he broke the kiss, he kept me in his strong embrace and whispered, “What happened to you today scared the hell out of me.”

  “Dane—”

  “Just listen.” His voice was strained, tattered. “I’d be worried and fuming over any employee or guest finding themselves in that situation. Possibly getting hurt. But the fact that it was you…”

  His arms tightened.

  “I’m okay,” I tried to assure him.

  “No. You’ve been shaking since I pulled you out of the stairwell.”

  My face was buried in the crook of his neck as I said, “I have a serious aversion to all reptiles. I told you that.”

  “Ari, if Amano or I hadn’t been right outside the door—”

  “Don’t make me think about that. Please.” I had no delusions of the trouble I’d been in. Even if my badge hadn’t been deactivated, I could have been thoroughly engrossed in paperwork and bounded down those steps, right to that snake, giving it the perfect opportunity to strike.

  I shivered. Dane held me firmer against his hard body.

  “I wouldn’t forgive myself if you’d been bitten. You know that. I’m not sure I can for—”

  “Dane.” I wrenched free from his embrace. “It wasn’t your fault. None of this is your fault.”

  “Ari,” he said in a compelling tone as he stared deep into my eyes, “you don’t seem to get it. I’d be upset if anyone encountered what you did on my property. But again, the fact that it was you makes it infinitely worse.”

  “I’m not saying I’m not appreciative. I’m saying … I need to know what lies beyond all this darkness, all this anger. All this need for revenge.”

  He was quiet for several seconds, still gazing unwaveringly at me. Finally, he said, “You’re not the only one who grew up in an environment beyond your control. I had no clear idea of what happened to my parents. I just grew up without them. And for a while, I didn’t understand why Amano was always shadowing me, why I couldn’t go anywhere without him.”

  “How do you know him? How did you know you could trust him?”

  For that matter, the stunning and mysterious Mikaela Madsen flashed in my mind. What was her role in Dane’s life?

  He brushed strands of hair from my temple, distracting me from my wayward thoughts. “Like my lawyer, we go way back. Amano was head of security at my family’s estate. He stayed on after my parents died, to keep an eye on my aunt and me. He’s invaluable. I trust him explicitly.”

  “Was it necessary for him to stick so close to you?”

  “Yes. There were threats that I eventually found out about. Against me. Against my aunt, who raised me. I didn’t grasp what they were all about, until later on, when I was old enough to comprehend the amount of money I was heir to, the properties and businesses I owned.”

  He shook his head. My heart wrenched.

  “Dane, I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult that all was to process.”

  “It was the threats I focused on the most,” he said, that tense, lethal look that I had become all too familiar with crossing his face. “My aunt made sacrifices, did whatever she had to do to take care of me. I couldn’t stand anyone trying to take away what I felt she was also entitled to. The house, which I deeded to her as soon as I was able to, and a bank account that was supposed to guarantee—”

  He moved away from me.

  “Supposed to guarantee what?” I asked.

  With another shake of his head, he told me, “We could afford the best doctors, the best care for her. She shouldn’t have died.”

  “Oh, God,” I said on a heavy breath. “Dane.” I closed the gap between us and gripped his arm. “You can’t save someone just because you have money. But how—?”

  “Breast cancer.”

  I started to see things in a different light. He thought it was his duty, his responsibility, to take care of those around him, those who worked for him or had raised him. And because he’d always had a financial safety net, he’d likely considered himself invincible.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “But you can’t blame yourself for the position you found yourself in, or for what happened to your aunt. You can’t save the world, Dane.”

  This seemed to aggravate him further, if the flexing of his muscles was any indication. “You still don’t understand that my obligations are—”

  “I’m not an obligation,” I insisted. “Dane.” I searched his eyes, looking for exactly what he was trying to say to me.

  “Ari. You’re not seeing the biggest picture of all.” Leaning in close, he kissed me slowly yet intensely. The
n, against my lips, he murmured, “I’m in love with you.”

  chapter 18

  I didn’t know what to say.

  Apparently, Dane didn’t have a problem with my lack of words. His mouth sealed with mine and he kissed me possessively. My body melded to his and I slipped my arms around his neck, holding on tight.

  I experienced a different kind of bliss. Exhilaration over the way he fervently ignited my insides mixed with warmth from his admission until I burned with need.

  Breaking the kiss, I simply said, “Dane.”

  And he knew what I wanted.

  With one arm still around my waist, he reached for his suit jacket on top of the bureau with his free hand and dug out his wallet and a condom. He clenched the packet between his teeth as he whisked my panties down my thighs and I worked them off at my ankles.

  He led us to the armless chair next to the full-length mirrors and yanked his pants and briefs to his hips, rolled on the condom, and pulled me into his lap. I straddled him and he sank in deep.

  “Yes,” I whispered along his temple. “God, you feel so good.”

  I rocked slightly as his hands roved my body, slipping under the shirt I wore. He clasped my waist and pressed me against him, tighter, as he thrust into me. I gasped. He was thick and full and pumping deeper, faster.

  He palmed my breasts and massaged them, teasing my nipples into hard points. My head fell back and I let out a throaty moan as the sizzling sensations built. I curled my fingers into his biceps as he commanded my passion and pushed me higher.

  Dane swept the material covering me up to my chest and then his tongue flicked over my nipple, puckering the bud further. He drew the taut peak into his mouth and my insides ignited.

  I shamelessly, wholly sparked with this man. Everything he did sent me straight to the edge.

  And he knew it.

  His breath caressed my sensitive skin as he murmured, “Come for me.”

  My fingers tangled in his lush hair and I rocked more firmly, my hips undulating. He gripped my waist again and guided me into a quicker rhythm that made soft pants fall from my lips.