She turned away. “You’re imagining things.” She had no intention of Gabriel realizing it wasn’t only his own overwhelming presence she found unnerving, but also his resemblance to Caleb.
“Am I?” he mused.
“Stop teasing her, Gabriel.” Angela punched him lightly on the arm. “I don’t want you to frighten her off staying with us for longer than a few days!”
“Me, frightening?” He affected an innocent expression. “It’s been mentioned that I’ve become something of a pussycat since the two of us got together.”
It was the word Caleb had used to Lena in regard to his eldest brother…
Caleb.
Caleb.
Caleb.
All roads, all thoughts, led Lena straight back to him.
“Did I forget to add the pussycat I had in mind is a tiger?”
Lena’s heart literally stopped beating, and the air whooshed from her lungs at the sound of Caleb’s voice. She was pretty sure the color had drained from her face too as she turned sharply to look across the room to where Caleb lounged in the doorway.
Her first thought was, He looks exactly the same.
Why she should have expected him to look any different, she had no idea. She only knew that he was still the same Caleb she… She what?
Her feelings for Caleb were still a confusing jumble.
She had accepted what he’d said to her on Androcco. That once she was back home, she would realize her feelings toward him were more gratitude than anything else. She had even tried to make herself believe that these past six weeks.
Except they didn’t feel like gratitude when she woke in the middle of the night, longing to have his arms about her. Or the times her body ached with the need for him to make love to her.
She was assailed by those same feelings now as she drank in the sight of him from head to toe. That overlong and silky dark hair, those piercing, pale green eyes, the high cheekbones, slash of a nose, sensuous lips, and strong and determined jaw. His body looked lean and muscular in the black T-shirt, combat trousers, and the biker boots he seemed to favor rather than the tailored business suit he had worn on Petros. Probably because Dmitri was the one who wore suits, not Caleb.
“I brought a guest home with me,” Gabriel drawled unnecessarily. “Angel and I will go and tell Mrs. Williams we have one more for dinner while you two get reacquainted.”
Caleb stepped aside to allow for his brother and Angel’s departure, but he only had eyes for Lena as she stood uncertainly in the middle of what was obviously her new bedroom. “Settling in okay?” He eyed the open packing boxes on the floor.
“Yes.” She swallowed. “Thank you.”
“Is it good to be back?”
“Of course.”
He frowned as Lena not only kept her answers brief and polite but also kept her eyes averted from meeting his. He had been looking forward to seeing Lena again since the moment Gabriel told him she was coming back to England, and now she couldn’t even look at him.
Whereas he couldn’t stop staring at her. She looked…amazing. Her hair shone deeply auburn in the overhead light. Her face was a little pale, but her complexion was smooth and creamy and slightly more rounded than on Petros, as was her figure. She had put on a little of the weight she had lost on the island. The slightly fuller curves suited her, made her look more like the woman in the photograph that had first drawn him to her. He could have no idea whether her eyes were still that luminous gray when she hadn’t been able to look at him since that first surprised glance in his direction.
Was it embarrassment she felt? Because of the intimacy between them on Petros. Or maybe she was hurting? Because seeing him again was a stark reminder of those painful months of captivity.
He had known things would be a bit awkward between the two of them initially when they met again, but he had hoped—
Never mind what he’d hoped. Obviously, his being here was making things difficult for Lena. He reined in his feelings of disappointment, knowing he should perhaps have waited longer before seeing her again. Given her more time to settle into being back in England.
Except he hadn’t been able to stay away. He had needed to see Lena again, if only to reassure himself she really was okay. Her subdued behavior implied that okay was all she was.
His being here obviously wasn’t helping that situation. “I can easily tell Angel and Gabriel I can’t stay for dinner, after all.”
Her gaze flickered up to meet his. “Why on earth would you do that?”
His grimace was rueful. “I shouldn’t have… My coming here was obviously a mistake.” Even if it was all he’d been able to think about on his flight back to England earlier today.
“Why?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m making you uncomfortable.”
“You don’t make me uncomfortable, Caleb.” She sighed. “I’ve been trying to act normally all day. To play with Daniel. Talk with Angela. But—” She sat abruptly on the bed, eyes still downcast. “Out of everything that’s happened today, you’re the only thing that seems normal.”
“That’s the first time anyone has called me that for a long, long time,” he drawled self-derisively. The fact they were continuing to talk at all was enough to encourage him to step farther into the bedroom rather than retreating, as he had intended.
Lena frowned. “Then I can’t be normal either, because this”—a wave of her hand indicated the two of them—“feels like the first real conversation I’ve had in weeks.”
Caleb winced. “It can be difficult for other people to understand, and relate to what you and I have been through.” He sat on the bed beside her. Not close enough for her to feel he was a threat, but enough for her to know he was there. “Some people don’t want to relate, would rather just pretend it never happened. That doesn’t mean they’re lacking in understanding. Okay, some people will never understand,” he added at her skeptical glance. “But others, like your parents and my brothers, can’t bear to think of us having suffered in that way.”
She eyed him quizzically. “You sound as if you’ve given this a lot of thought.”
“A lot of therapy because of the PTSD.” Although, strangely enough, he hadn’t had a single episode in the last six weeks. His therapist seemed to think they might have turned a corner, and that maybe he wouldn’t have them as often as in the past. Caleb hoped she was right.
He’d been kept very busy since returning from Petros. So far, he and his brothers had managed to find and bring home half a dozen more girls, including two of the ones who had been taken at the same time Lena was. They still had a lot more to look for, but it was a start.
He now shared that good news with Lena.
“That’s wonderful!” Her eyes were still that beautiful luminous gray, and they were shining brightly into his at this moment.
“I still have a lot of leads and names to follow up on.”
“I have no doubt you’ll find them.”
Her confidence in his abilities was warming. “I hope so.”
She looked at him searchingly. “How have you been, Caleb?”
“Good.” He nodded. “Alexandre has been very helpful in giving me access to Spiro, and I’m getting what information I can from him— Trevor!” He stilled. “The boyfriend’s name was Trevor!”
“What…?”
Caleb rose restlessly to his feet. “Spiro’s boyfriend disappeared off Petros that day, in one of Spiro’s boats, before Alexandre’s men could arrest him,” he explained. “I had a description, obviously, but I couldn’t remember his name. Now that I have a first name, maybe I can dig something else up about him in Spiro’s personal papers. I’m pretty sure the Greek would have been keeping him. There might be money transfers, stuff like that.”
She looked puzzled. “Why do you need to find this Trevor?”
Caleb grimaced. “I have an uneasy feeling about him.”
“In what way?”
“I’ve never been sure as to whether h
e was another captive, part of the overall illegal operation, or just the boyfriend. I don’t like loose ends.” He shrugged as Lena continued to look puzzled. “And Spiro is refusing to answer any questions about the other man. In fact, he denies all knowledge of him. I’m assuming because he doesn’t want his wife to know about him.”
Her eyes widened. “She doesn’t already know?”
“Apparently not.”
Lena had no idea how Spiro’s wife couldn’t know about her husband’s sexual preferences. “The fact her husband is being accused of selling young women for profit isn’t bad enough?”
Caleb paced the confines of the room. “He’s denying that too, and for the moment, she’s sticking by him. In fact, she’s on Androcco right now, trying to get him released on bail.”
Lena’s fingers curled into her palms. “Will she succeed?”
“Not if Alexandre has any say in it,” he assured her grimly. “And he does.” He stopped pacing. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this anymore. You’re trying to put all this behind you, not relive it.”
Strangely enough, it was a relief for Lena to be able to talk about it again. Her parents had avoided the subject, but she accepted that was because they were trying to protect her, so she hadn’t pushed it either. She knew her parents just wanted to give her time and peace at her grandparents’ villa so she could heal.
She hadn’t told anyone else what had happened to her. Not because she had anything to hide, but because she didn’t want her friends to look at her differently.
Even if she was different.
Something had changed inside her on Petros. She was no longer the carefree Lena, unsure of what she wanted to do with her life and hell-bent on having a good time until she did decide. She now knew exactly what she wanted to do with her immediate future, at least. She had already applied to go back to university to take a degree in law. It might take her several years, but she ultimately wanted the ability to be able to put men like Clive Sinclair and Spiro Dukakis behind bars for the atrocities they had committed.
She had grown steadily quieter during her weeks at the villa. Had no interest in shopping or partying with her friends. Preferred her own company, or reading a book. She had tried to do all those other “normal” things at first, but her heart simply wasn’t in it. Deciding what she wanted to do with her future had been the first positive step she had made in weeks. Coming back here to be with Daniel, if only for a few months, had been the next.
Seeing Caleb again had been the biggest draw, of course.
But she didn’t want him to now feel any sense of responsibility for her or her welfare. He’d done what he needed to do on Petros. Had rescued her, as he was now rescuing other women like her. The last thing he need ever feel where she was concerned was a sense of obligation or responsibility.
“So, we’re to be the two witnesses at the wedding next week!” she brightly changed the subject at the same time as she rose to her feet.
“So I hear.” Caleb nodded, knowing exactly what Lena was doing and happy to go along with it. For the moment. To his mind, Lena was too calm. Too subdued. He knew from personal experience there would come a breaking point for her, and before he left tonight, he intended to warn Gabriel to look for the signs of when it did. “Never thought I would see the day Gabe got married.”
“It’s eight years overdue, from what I hear,” she teased, walking toward the bedroom door.
Caleb followed her out into the hallway. “Cute little guy, isn’t he?”
“He looks just like his father.”
“True, and cuteness is the last thing anyone would ever associate with Gabe.” Caleb deliberately spoke loud enough for his brother to hear as they joined the other couple in the sitting room.
His brother held up the middle finger of one hand.
“Or charm either, for that matter,” Caleb drawled.
Dinner that evening was so unlike those rare times in the past when Lena had been invited to eat with the Sinclairs. It was less formal and a lot more fun. There was a lot of teasing and bantering between Gabriel and Angela, and Gabriel and Caleb. By the end of the evening, Lena felt far less intimidated by the eldest Knight brother.
“Will I see you again before the wedding next week?” she found herself asking Caleb again some hours later, having felt no hesitation in accompanying him to the door when he said he was leaving. If Angela and Gabriel thought that was odd, she didn’t care. Only Caleb’s opinion mattered to her.
He looked at her searchingly. “Do you want to see me again before then?”
She could say no. It would be far less embarrassing and sound less needy. But it wouldn’t be the truth. She had enjoyed Caleb’s company this evening. Felt relaxed, was more herself in his company than at any other time since leaving Petros. So instead of giving the polite answer, what was expected of her, she answered him with honesty. “Yes.”
“We could have dinner together tomorrow evening?”
Her eyes widened. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“And if I am?”
A blush colored her cheeks. “Wouldn’t the two of us going out on a date be going slightly backwards?”
Caleb knew she meant because the two of them had already been intimate. Had sex together. But circumstances had shaped their initial meeting and what happened next. Now he would like to spend more time with Lena. To get to know her better. For her to get to know him. As Caleb, not Dmitri.
Which wasn’t to say he didn’t also want to take her to bed again. Because he did. Badly. Very badly, when he considered some of the fantasies he’d had about this woman since they’d last been together.
He hadn’t been in the least interested in sex when he returned from Afghanistan all those years ago, and the cuts and bruises on his body had made it impossible anyway. And once he was recovered enough physically, he had realized he was totally screwed up mentally. The last thing he wanted to do was take a woman to bed, fall asleep, and then end up trying to attack her in the middle of the night because he was caught up in a nightmare and thought she was the enemy.
That night on Petros with Lena was the first time he’d spent the whole night with a woman in eight years.
And he’d fucked it up. Oh, he hadn’t tried to physically harm Lena, but he had rejected her when she woke him from his nightmare. And then added to it by turning his back on her. Not because he didn’t want her, but because he was fucking embarrassed at having revealed his weakness.
He’d had six weeks to regret doing that.
Night after fucking night, his cock aroused and throbbing, wanting, and the only relief he had to offer was his right hand.
It had been a long six weeks.
Because it was Lena he wanted, as he had wanted her from the moment he first saw her photograph. No other woman, just Lena.
“Maybe,” he conceded. “But I’m asking anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Yes…?”
She smiled at his obvious surprise. “Yes.”
“Right.” He nodded. “I— Are you sure?”
“Very.” Lena took a step closer to him, her breasts almost touching his chest as she added softly. “Caleb, why did you reject me that night on Petros?”
He groaned. “I didn’t reject you—”
“Yes. You did.”
He closed his eyes briefly before looking at her again. “I was fucking embarrassed. I’ve never— No woman has ever seen me like that before that night. I didn’t want a pity fuck, okay?” He ran an agitated hand through his hair, her close proximity playing havoc with his control.
“A pity fuck?” She snorted, the frown leaving her brow. “Wasn’t that what you gave me?”
“Hell, no!” His denial was vehement. “A herd of stampeding elephants couldn’t have turned me back from taking you that night,” he admitted ruefully. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever set eyes on.”
“I am?” she prompted shyly.
“Hell, yes.”
> “I happen to think you’re rather beautiful too.”
It was his turn to snort. “Men aren’t beautiful.”
“You are.”
“My scars—” Her fingertips against his lips prevented him from finishing that statement.
“Your scars are part of your beauty.”
Caleb eyed her uncertainly. “They are?”
“Yes.” She nodded, her gaze meeting his. “I would like to see them again. To kiss each and every one of them.”
His mouth went dry. “You would?” Not exactly the most scintillating conversation, he mocked himself. He sounded like a bloody moron. Maybe because all the blood from his head had gone south in a matter of seconds!
She chewed her bottom lip before speaking again, plumping their fullness even more. “I would very much like the two of us to go to bed together again after dinner tomorrow evening.”
Caleb could see Lena’s feelings of vulnerability in the uncertainty in her eyes, even as her gaze continued to meet his. He didn’t like her feeling that way. Not with him. He would never, ever do anything to hurt her.
Except he now knew he had when he turned his back on her on Petros. He wouldn’t do that again, no matter what it cost him in heartache once her curiosity had been satisfied. He would deal with his own pain once she had left his life. Again. “As Caleb or Dmitri?”
“Both.”
“Both?”
“Dmitri’s dominance is…intriguing. Caleb’s lovemaking is…very thorough.”
“Thorough?”
“Intense.”
“Okay.”
Lena almost laughed at the wary expression on Caleb’s face. “I did what you advised, Caleb. I went home. I put our time together on Petros into perspective. I even went out on a couple of dates.”
He tensed. “Oh?”
She nodded. “All I could think about the whole time was the night the two of us spent together.”
His tension seemed to increase rather than decrease. “And six weeks later, you want to see if it’s as good as we remember it being.”
Her eyes widened. “Was it that good for you too?”
“Yes.”
The heaviness lifted in her chest. “Then yes, I want to know if it’s as good as I—we, remember.”
Capturing Caleb (Knight Security 3) Page 10