by Anya Summers
She had no idea what time it was; her phone was downstairs in her purse. Nor did she know where Jack was at. Had he not come back after she had fallen asleep? Was he all right? She had no idea what time it was, other than that it was late. The world outside the windows was pitch black.
And it was quiet. Too quiet.
Rayna shoved the covers off and climbed out of Jack’s bed. After a quick trip to the bathroom, she went searching for him. She padded downstairs and found most of the lights turned off. She looked at his living room, remembering the night of their date.
But she didn’t find Jack. Maybe he’d had to go in to the station and would be back by morning. She wished he would have woken her up before he left her alone. Then she headed back upstairs with her phone this time, just in case. If she was alone, she wanted to have it with her. Especially since she didn’t have her firearm.
At the top of the stairs, she heard movement in the spare bedroom. Had Jack decided to sleep in there so as not to disturb her? Sweet of him to do so—unnecessary, but sweet nonetheless. She turned the handle and pushed the door open.
Rayna was taken aback at what she saw. Computer monitors. A dozen of them, at least. Jack was sitting at a desk, watching the screens.
What the hell?
She crept forward until she realized what she was looking at. “Want to tell me why you are fucking spying on me?”
Jack swiveled in his chair. He held up his hands and stood. “Rayna, let me explain.”
Rage seethed through her in lacerating waves. She gestured at the screens. “Explain why you have been watching me? Why? So that you can lie to me?”
“That’s not it at all. Hold up.” He whipped out his phone. “Let me call Agent Carson and he can clear this all up.”
“David? He’s here? Then that means…” Her heart almost stopped. Dominic had found her. Again.
She backed out of the room, horrified, stumbling away from Jack. Blind panic rose in her being. She padded into his bedroom, searching for her clothes. It was time to put her plan into action. She had to get out of here. Had to escape Jackson Hole and Dominic. Here. Now. Today.
She had everything she needed in a safe deposit box downtown. All she had to do was toss a bag together, head into town, and wait for the bank to open. She’d buy a plane ticket and be on her way out of the country by noon.
It was time to leave the North American continent and put her failsafe plan into action. It was the only way she could be sure he wouldn’t find her. She had sunk the majority of her inheritance into a Swiss bank account. Among the passports David had gotten her, she had a backup set with an identity she had not used yet.
She would use that one to get her to Switzerland. Then she would undergo plastic surgery to completely alter her face. Spend six months there recovering, then find a remote place on the globe where no one had ever heard of her.
“Rayna, wait.” Jack grabbed her arm.
“No. I need to leave,” she said, shaking her head. She jerked her arm out of his hold. There was no way he could stop her. Not now.
She yanked her shorts on and slipped her feet into her shoes. He gripped her bicep a second time. She tried to yank it from his grasp, but he went all Dom on her and used his superior strength against her. In under a minute, he had her up against the wall with her hands secured behind her back. She kicked back with her right leg, aiming for anything soft she could find.
“Stop, Rayna. I’m not letting you leave,” he snarled.
Her fury peaked. “Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it? I never should have trusted you. When will I learn? Get your god-damn hands off me.”
“That’s enough. If you would cool your jets for two seconds and let me explain—”
“I don’t want or need anything from you,” she spat. She struggled against his hold.
He moved lightning fast. He picked her up and placed her on the bed, wedged himself between her thighs, and gripped her wrists between his hands. Then he reached into his nearby nightstand and lifted out his pair of leather cuffs.
“Don’t you do it,” she warned, struggling to get away. Betrayal burned her soul and brought angry tears to her eyes.
Did Jack listen? Nope. He fastened her wrists in the cuffs, connected them together above her head, and held her still. “Look. I’m calling Agent Carson and Chief Sheffield. It’s time for this charade to end. You should have known from the start what was going on. I’m not in charge of this operation.”
He leaned forward a tad and withdrew his phone from his back pocket, then dialed a programmed number. “Carson. She knows. Meet us at the station in thirty minutes.”
She heard David mutter fuck through the receiver before Jack hung up, dialed his chief and said the same thing.
“Let’s go.” Jack stood and hauled her to her feet.
She held out her hands. “Are you going to take these off?”
“Not until we get to the station.”
“Am I under arrest because I found you snooping on me? Seriously? And with your lifestyle cuffs, at that?”
She heard him grind his teeth. “I will remove them when we get to the station.”
“You know I can take them off myself.”
“You think so?” His gaze narrowed, then he not so delicately tugged her arms behind her back and connected the cuffs.
Sometimes, she should keep her big mouth shut. She seethed. He led her from the bedroom down the stairs, grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter and steered her out to his truck. He picked her up and set her in the passenger seat. He even fastened her seatbelt for her.
He shut her door and walked around the hood. She turned and looked out her window. She couldn’t look at him, even when she felt him climb in beside her and slam his car door shut.
They drove in silence. Maybe some part of Jack knew she would blow a gasket if he prodded her, that she had been pushed too far for one night.
But the truth was, if she did talk, she would scream and bellow at the heavens, at the unfairness of it all, at the fact that her heart was breaking all over again. Only it had never hurt this much before.
Damn Jack for making her fall.
Chapter 23
Jack escorted Rayna into the police station. On the drive there, he’d felt the walls she’d erected between them grow higher and thicken. All he wanted to do was protect her, and yes, love her. But he had failed in the most basic tenet of a Dom and sub relationship—honesty. He’d demanded it from her, even knowing there were parts she couldn’t tell him, while he had not been honest from the start.
Had it only been last night that he had claimed her before the entire club?
It seemed like a lifetime ago. The early fingers of dawn painted the horizon as he walked her through the station and ushered her into the conference room.
“Would you like some coffee?” he asked.
She took a seat and glared at him, not saying a word. She wrapped her arms around herself in stony silence, a mulish expression on her face.
Chief Sheffield walked in a few moments later, followed by Agent Carson. Rayna’s gaze narrowed. Carson shut the door behind him.
Rayna leaned forward in her seat and snarled, “How could you, David? How could you not tell me he was here?”
“I did it for your protection. We’re close to apprehending him. And I didn’t want to worry you.”
Rayna rolled her eyes. “So tell me, what was this plan of yours? I’m assuming you were all in on this?” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and waited for them to respond.
Agent Carson took point. “Rayna, I thought it best—after our last conversation a few years ago—to keep you in the dark about this operation. I engaged Chief Sheffield for local assistance, and we brought Detective Stone in to—”
“To spy on me,” she said. She had this whole fuck off vibe emanating from her small form.
Agent Carson shook his head. “To protect you. I wanted to make sure you had someone there with you at all times
, while my task force and I worked to bring Travino in.”
“I see. And did it work?” She tilted her head and glowered at the agent.
“We’re still working on it,” Carson admitted.
Rayna shoved back from her seat, stood up, and leaned forward against the table. “You had no right to play with my life like this. None. And there are no excuses you can make that will make this better. You should have told me, all of you.”
“You’ve been through enough with this case, with Dominic Travino. I didn’t want to burden you with more,” Agent Carson explained with a sigh.
Rayna nearly went nuclear. She jabbed a finger in Carson’s direction. “You promised me, David, that if he ever came after me again and you knew about it, that you would warn me so I could leave the country. You swore to me.”
Agent Carson shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced down for a moment before he looked at her. “What would you have me do? Watch you run for the rest of your life? That’s not what Nicolas would have wanted.”
Rayna jerked back like she’d been struck. “There’s a lot Nicolas never wanted, but he’s dead. I’m not. So what’s the plan now?”
“If we all could take our seats, we can discuss where we are at and what to do moving forward,” Chief Sheffield said, attempting to be the calm voice of reason.
Rayna scowled at all three of them, but she did as the chief asked. She sat with her arms crossed, face stony, and listened to Carson and the chief, and what he had discovered. Her gaze turned frigid as they discussed their plans to catch Travino.
Gone was the warm, willing woman who had cuddled with Jack so sweetly. Across the table sat Victoria Giancarlo, daughter of famed mob boss Raoul Giancarlo, assessing each of them through hard eyes.
Jack realized he’d messed up. He had let his emotions cloud his judgement where Rayna was concerned. He should have told her so many things. Things he’d never thought he would want to say to anyone. But he did now. When it came to her, he did. Which meant he had to man up and make his case.
They were meant to be together. He wasn’t a big believer in a higher power or anything like that, but he knew fate had brought the two of them together.
And he wasn’t going to let her go.
When they finally left the station that morning, the sun had risen and it was another glorious day in Jackson. It had been a long twenty-four hours. But Jack understood what he needed to do. He was going to lay his cards on the table and see if it was enough, if he was enough to keep her here with him. They would face Travino together and he would protect her; with his life, if need be.
“We need to talk, Rayna,” he said as he drove her back to his place.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
He fumed. The discussion could wait until they were home. And then, if he had to tie her to the bed to make her listen, he would.
Chapter 24
Rayna stormed into Jack’s house the moment he opened the door. She needed to get her purse and phone, then she was out of there. She’d call a cab to get her to her SUV at the club. Terror and fury mixed together. How could he have done this to her?
She was an idiot. How could she not have seen that he’d been lying the whole time? Gullible, party of one. That was her. The entire relationship had been a set up from the start. Her heart, the organ she had sworn to protect with steel reinforcements since the day her father dragged her into his office so she could view Nicolas’s body lying in a pool of blood, was breaking—shattering into a million pieces because she’d failed to keep a minimum safe distance.
And now it was her heart bleeding out through the cracks of betrayal.
“We aren’t finished with this discussion.”
She closed her eyes and prayed for strength as she headed into the living room where she last remembered seeing her purse. “I’d say we are, Jack. I’ve learned everything I need to know. I’m going. I don’t want to see you again.” Or touch him. Or have him hold her once more and make her believe this tough, dominant alpha might cherish her. It was too much, the pain too intense.
The door shut with an audible slam. She turned, ready to go unlock the door and escape, only Jack didn’t let her. He prowled toward her with his long-legged swagger. The air in her lungs backed up. She scrambled backwards until her back hit a wall and she could go no further.
Jack boxed her in against the wall.
She snapped her eyes shut and turned her head to the side, unwilling to look at him. She knew she had used her heart, because she felt it breaking. It was sad, really. Rayna had begun to hope, down in the dark recesses of her soul that maybe, just maybe, here in Jackson Hole, she could finally stop running. That maybe she had found someone she could be with. That maybe she could eventually share the truth about her identity with him and not be cast aside, but protected and, if she were really lucky, loved.
But now she understood her luck was shit. He’d known who she was all along. And her guilt at not being able to tell him the truth about her past transformed into fury that seethed, needing an outlet.
“Look at me,” Jack commanded harshly.
“No.” She refused, ignoring his order, even as her belly flip-flopped like a fish tossed onto dry land at doing so. She never for one second forgot that he was a Dom and that defying him came with consequences. But in this instance, she didn’t give a shit.
Jack growled, actually growled. He pressed his body against hers, trapping her against him, then gripped her chin, turning her face toward him. She tried to fight his grasp, jerking her head against his hold. But he was stronger and brought her face up to his. “Look at me, babe. Please.”
It was the please that did it. The plaintive gruffness lacing his voice. She lifted her lids until she was staring into the vibrant hazel orbs, the flecks of green and gold glowing with his naked emotions. She sucked in a swift breath.
“I’m sorry. I never meant for it to go this far.”
“What did you mean? Because from where I’m standing, I was just a convenient lay. Did you get off on the fact that you knew who I was the whole time? Like I was some big joke?”
“It was never like that. Never. You know that, you’re just upset over—”
“Being lied to about why you were really here. Do I know that? Do I, really? My entire life, my entire upbringing, was one big giant vat of lies. I lost everything I ever cared about because of those lies. And you lied to me from the moment you moved in next door. It was all staged for my benefit, so you could wheedle your way into my life. The fact that I ended up in bed with you was just a side benefit.”
“Is that what you really think of me? That I’ve been feigning my feelings for you? That it was all just pretense?”
“What would you have me believe?” she cried, feeling the fight seep out of her to be replaced by agony.
“That I’ve fallen for you. That I can’t imagine my life without you in it. And the thought of you in danger of any kind makes me insane. I would lay down my life for yours if necessary.”
Of all the things he could have said, this was the least expected. Her heart quaked.
“Jack, I—” Have fallen too. But people around her died.
He cupped her chin and lowered his face until they were a breath apart. “Tell me you don’t want me. Tell me you don’t feel something for me.”
The words stuck in her throat. Everything he felt for her was naked and present in his gaze. When she didn’t respond, he started to withdraw and pull away, the light dimming in his eyes. She stopped his retreat the only way she knew how.
Rayna brought her hands up to his face. The rough stubble lining his jaw tickled her palms. And she brought his face back down to hers while she raised herself on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his.
Jack groaned against her mouth, closed the tiny distance between them and took over the kiss. He plundered her mouth, his tongue plunging inside to claim her. She poured herself, her heart and soul, into that kiss, showing him her feelings through h
er touch as she returned his embrace with equal fervor.
Jack gripped her hair with one hand and possessively circled the back of her neck with the other, tilting her head back further to change the angle and take it even deeper. That simple, singular dominant move turned her blood into liquid fire in her veins.
Rayna had never thought she was submissive—until Jack. His brand of dominance shattered any illusions she had about her wants and needs. He brought forth a part of her being that had been missing in her life. He made her whole.
His hands trailed down her sides, his mouth never leaving hers. He lifted her up. She went willingly, wrapping her legs around his waist with little urging necessary on his part. His big hands palmed her butt, squeezing the globes as he rocked his jean-clad pelvis against the vee between her thighs.
He moved, carting her up the stairs in his arms. He lifted his mouth from hers, leaving her free to nibble on his ear and the soft spot beneath. His chest rumbled with a growl. Entering his bedroom, he kicked the door closed with his foot, not stopping until he was dumping her on the bed. He followed her down, his lips claiming hers once more for a torrid duel while his hands quickly and efficiently stripped off her shorts and panties.
She tugged at his tee shirt.
He lifted his mouth, stood, and reached over his head to yank his shirt off, doing that manly, one handed, sexy as hell move to take his shirt off.
When she was about to reach for him to pull him back down on top of her body, craving the feel of him, he said, in his low bedroom voice that she loved, “On your hands and knees, with your sweet ass my way. And lose the shirt.”
Rayna did not hesitate. She rolled onto her hands and knees so that her knees were right on the mattress’s edge and tugged the material of her shirt up over her head. Jack’s large hands were at her back, unclasping her bra, shoving the straps off her shoulders.