by Nia Arthurs
But someone was dying!
She couldn’t sit back and watch them.
Her feet were flying over the tiled floor before she’d given herself permission to move. She dove to the bed and crashed into Kross, shoving him over.
The woman breathed deeply. She scrambled off the bed and tore out of the room, leaving Jewel behind.
“No,” she mumbled, gaze caught on the door. “No, wait! You can’t leave me here!”
The door slammed in response.
“I see.” Kross stared scornfully at her. His hands went for her blouse. “Take it off.”
She looked at him, eyes widening in horror. “Please. No. I’m sorry.”
“Since you don’t want to be special tonight, I’ll treat you the way I treat them.” He pinned her down with one hand and straddled her legs so she couldn’t kick him off, all while working the hem of her pants with expert fingers.
She tasted blood and realized she’d bit down on her lip so hard that it punctured. Fear and disgust swirled in her stomach. Her body tightened as he invaded her.
Her mouth opened.
A scream welled from her chest, a sound of pure pain and anger and regret…
“Jewel!” A voice that was neither hers nor Kross’s resounded in her ear. “Jewel!”
Her eyes flickered open.
Darkness.
The clock on the stand read two a.m.
She was staring up at a worn white ceiling. A fan whirred to her left, throwing cool breeze at her sweat-stained skin.
No Kross. Just a shoddy room with horrible wallpaper, a small lamp on a nightstand and…
Finn.
She was safe.
Or was she? Kross was out there, at this very moment, planning his next move. One that involved her. She couldn’t go back to that life. She could never return to him.
Jewel would rather die.
You know Kross would be more than happy to accommodate.
She launched to a sitting position, her mouth open and a wheezing sound pouring out of it.
Panic.
It invaded her mind, took everything hostage. Her bravery was trapped in a corner somewhere, hands and legs twined with thick white rope. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t go head to head with Kross after all he’d done to her.
After all she’d let him do.
“Jewel.” Finn’s voice was softer now, like a man corralling a rabid dog. Jewel looked at him.
Though he was handsome, he looked nothing like Kross. No, where Kross had been unnaturally beautiful, Finn was ruggedly appealing. If one looked close enough, they could find things about him to nitpick.
Like the thickness of his eyebrows.
Or the ears that were smaller than average.
Or the hair on his forearms that thickened going towards his elbows and peeking out from the T-shirt behind his chest.
“That’s right,” Finn coached her gently. “It’s me. You can breathe.”
Tears cropped in her eyes.
Which made her angry. Why was she crying again? After nineteen years of bawling at the drop of a hat, when would she learn that those tears did absolutely nothing?
They didn’t keep her mother’s boyfriend from sneaking into her room at night.
Didn’t protect her from Kross.
Didn’t stop the pain or the hurt.
Nothing.
She angrily swiped the tear that had fallen on her cheek.
“No one’s going to touch you,” Finn said, a healthy distance away. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
As she looked into his hazel eyes, something clicked into place.
Jewel believed him.
Man, how she believed him.
Slowly, painstakingly, she reached out and clutched his T-shirt. Jewel felt him stiffen as her hand connected with his side. She ignored his reaction and let her other hand slowly wind over his back.
Leaning in, she tucked her chin in the dip between his neck and shoulder.
Finn smelled like the air-conditioning in his car, wintery and fresh. She closed her eyes and memorized the scent. It was different, unique to him. She grounded herself in his touch, treating him like the teddy bear she’d pull out back home when the memories overwhelmed her and she needed something to bury her face in.
Wordlessly, Finn eased up and sat on the bed. She adjusted herself accordingly, hugging him tighter.
He was no Mr. Cuddlepants.
For one thing, his body was too hard and broad to compare to her fluffy teddy bear.
But there were a few perks.
Mr. Cuddlepants never rubbed her back in comfort. And he definitely didn’t talk back.
“Bad dream?” Finn murmured.
She nodded, unable to speak.
“It’s okay.” Finn rubbed his hand over her back in comfort. “You’re okay, Jewel. I won’t let him do anything to you. Ever.”
She pulled away and stared at the bedspread. “Could you… sleep with me?” His shocked silence had her reeling to clarify. “Not with me. I meant, would you sleep up here?” She patted the other side of the mattress.
Finn’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Why?”
Jewel pushed her nerves away and admitted, “I have a teddy bear at home that helps me sleep, but I didn’t bring it.“ When he still looked unconvinced, Jewel grabbed a pillow and set it between them. “I’ll sleep over there and you can sleep here. I’m not going to cross the line.”
“You promise?” A corner of his lips quirked upward.
He was teasing her.
Jewel’s answering smile was fragile, but at least the scary dream was starting to lose its effect. Terror slid away from her mind like smoke in a dying fire. The longer she spoke to Finn, the better she felt.
“What’s your teddy bear’s name?” he asked.
“Mr. Cuddlepants.”
His eyebrow twitched, but he didn’t make fun of her. “And who’s more handsome? Me or him?”
“I’m not sure.” She rubbed her jaw, amused by the way he was trying to distract her. It was so obvious and yet so heartfelt that she was, unwittingly, moved. “He’s a little softer around the middle and I kind of dig that.”
Finn laughed. “I see.”
Jewel scooted back so he could fit on the narrow bed, making sure to leave the pillow between them. She knew it was a flimsy barrier. If Finn intended on touching her, he could just as easily pluck it and toss it to the floor.
But he wouldn’t.
She wouldn’t have invited him up here if she didn’t believe that he was a man of self-control and self-restraint.
Unicorns, as her friends would call it.
Finn clicked off the light.
Immediately, the room was thrown into shadows.
She listened to him breathe for a minute, adding yet another item to the list of differences between the handsome man sharing her bed (at her request, which was even more shocking) and the teddy bear back in her shanty.
Jewel heard rustling and glanced over at Finn. He had rolled over so he was lying on his back.
He grunted. “I know I’m acting as your stuffed animal right now, but honestly, you’re doing me a favor. The floor was cruel to my back.”
“You sound like an old man.”
“Ouch.”
Jewel slid her palms beneath her cheek. “How old are you?”
“Old enough to know that question isn’t a compliment.”
“It’s not an insult either.” She chuckled. “You seem young, but that beard… it adds a couple years.”
“How many?”
“Ten.”
“Ten?” He levitated off the bed and gawked at her. “That’s not a couple.”
“Maybe.” She giggled.
He smiled softly and settled back into the bed. “From this interrogation about my age, I’m assuming you don’t want to talk about it.”
“What?”
“The dream.”
Jewel went still.
“I guess I should call it
a nightmare,” Finn said gently. “Was it Kross?”
“Yes.” Fragments of the dream paraded before her. She dug her fingers into the pillow that separated her and Finn, anchoring herself to reality while waves of nausea rolled in her gut.
“I was having a nightmare too.”
“You were?” Jewel glanced at him, intrigued.
Finn nodded. “It was about your friends. The feisty one, Carrie? She had me in a headlock and Jo was stuffing my face with lemon pie.”
“That was surprisingly vivid.” Jewel snorted.
“Imagine how horrifying it was for me.” He gave an exaggerated shudder. “I’ve never seen a pack of women more protective than them. How’d you all get so close?”
“I’m not really sure.”
Finn slanted her a disbelieving look.
“I mean it! I was so shy when we first met. The girls probably thought I was a mute. But Sky never gave up on me and they kind of just pulled me into their group.”
Kross felt a million miles away whenever she thought of Sky, Carrie and Jo. Her friends were all crazy and fun and charming. She could only ever hope to be like them.
“My friend, Nolan, he’s just like your crew.”
“Kind and loyal?”
“Loud and nosy.”
Jewel scrunched her nose. “I dare you to say that to their faces.”
“Are you kidding?” Finn snorted. “I don’t have a death wish.”
They laughed, the quiet chuckles rolling through the room like a calming wave.
“I’d like to meet Nolan,” Jewel mused eventually. “If he’s anything like you, he must be great.”
Finn went quiet.
Jewel cringed. Should she have said that? Did it sound like flirting?
Her mind flew to a warped zone of self-doubt and over-analyzing.
She’d invited Finn to share her bed and then complimented him. What if he got the wrong idea? What if he thought that her usual discomfort around men was just a front and that she was interested in him sexually?
Jewel inched away from the pillow separating them until her leg wobbled off the bed. She hauled herself back before catapulting over the edge of the mattress and shot a quick, terrified look at the man lying beside her.
“I’m not that great,” Finn said.
Jewel paused, wondering what he meant by that. She’d heard a strange, wistful note in his voice.
Curious, she asked, “I don’t understand.”
Finn grunted. “It’ll be sunrise in a few hours. You should try and get some rest.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to.”
“I’ll be right here,” Finn said calmly. “Nothing’s going to happen tonight.”
Jewel closed her eyes, but she didn’t hold out much hope for falling asleep again.
The fan whirred, pushing cool air through the room. Finn’s breathing was a soothing soundtrack to the rotation of the blades. The insects outside belted out throaty songs.
Jewel thought of the first time she’d met Finn, how handsome he’d looked reaching out to help her to her feet. How she’d rejected him instinctively.
She thought of how his hair had curled in the rain and the slope of his forearms as he’d sheltered her from the storm.
To her surprise, Jewel eventually drifted to sleep.
17
Finn got up before Jewel. He stretched, his hands knocking the bed-board. When the clatter of his knuckles against the frame caused Jewel to stir, he froze and lifted his head so he could peek over the pillow.
Jewel was sleeping soundly on the other side of the narrow bed. Tendrils of her bun had come undone and framed her cheeks. Sunlight splayed past the blinds over the windows and highlighted her dark skin. Her eyelashes fluttered and her nostrils flared with every deep breath.
Even with half her face pressed into a pillow and her mouth slacking she looked stunning.
Finn rose and padded softly to the bathroom. After taking care of business, he returned to the main room and swiped his phone off the stand. His eyes bugged when he saw his notifications.
There were over forty messages.
Some from Tiffany.
Most from Nolan.
As he’d predicted.
Finn sighed and glanced at Jewel. She threw her leg over the pillow and burrowed her face into it. He imagined her doing the same thing to him and then brushed the thought away.
Jewel was too fragile to desire a physical relationship with him and, even if she did, his life was… complicated.
Finn searched for a corner of the room where he could talk to Nolan privately. Leaving Jewel alone was not an option. Not with Kross on the loose. He didn’t need his sister’s killer sneaking in here when he was gone and disappearing into the wind.
His phone lit up.
Nolan.
Finn ground his teeth together and checked the locks on the front door before striding to the bathroom. The walls in here were as thin as paper, so he’d just have to talk in codes.
He leaned his hips against the sink and called Nolan back.
His friend picked up immediately. “What’s going on over there? I thought the girl didn’t know anything about Kross? What happened to ditching her?”
“There’s been a change of plans,” he said quietly.
“What the hell does that mean? Is she in contact with Kross or not?”
“It was a recent development.” Try last night. “But I think we’re on the right track with this product. I’ll need a test done on some equipment though.”
“Why are you being so vague? Is she there?”
“Yes.”
Nolan gasped. “Where are you?”
“The guesthouse.”
“If she’s in the room with you that means…” Nolan coughed. “Did you sleep with her? I thought you said she had an aversion to men?”
“Don’t worry about that part. How soon can you get here?”
“Finn, if you’re messing around with some local girl, you need to let Tiff know. She’s over here acting like you’re some soldier going to war, holding out hope that you’ll come back home.”
“One problem at a time, Nolan.”
His friend sighed. “I’ll book the next flight.” His voice picked up with excitement. “I’ve always wanted to visit Belize. I wish it wasn’t under these circumstances, but what can you do? Just have to make the most of it.”
“Right.” Finn almost rolled his eyes. Nolan was ecstatic to visit a Caribbean country and this little speech was all for show.
“Do you think Kross knows you’re with her?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t gone into detail, but I’ll tell you more when you get here.”
“I’m buying my ticket now. I’ll be there in a few days.”
Finn ended the call and pocketed his phone. When he eased out of the bathroom, he noticed Jewel yawning and arching her back. Her hazy eyes caught on his and then turned alert.
“Hey.” He hung back, always aware of her need for personal space. Finn invaded when he needed to, but right now, he wanted Jewel to invite him in.
And she had, if asking him to sleep with her was any indication.
“Hi.” Her voice was hoarse, scratchy. “What time is it?”
He checked his watch. “Eight. You don’t have to go to the bakery, do you?”
“It’s Sunday, right?”
He nodded.
Jewel closed her eyes and raised her hands toward the ceiling in a full-body stretch. “Sweet Treats isn’t open on Sundays, so I don’t have to worry about that today. Tomorrow, though, I might have to resign. I can’t put Sky and the others in danger.”
“Let’s not make life-changing decisions on an empty stomach. What do you feel like eating?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Come on.” Finn eyed her slim body. Jewel wouldn’t be any worse for wear with a few extra pounds. “Nolan told me about how rich and flavorful the food in the Caribbean is. I’ve been itching to taste some real
Belizean tacos since I got here.”
Her brilliant smile flitted into view before she covered it with a hand. “I do know a place.” Her eyebrows scrunched together as she asked, “But what about Kross? If he’s still out there, who knows what he’ll do?” She shook her head. “Maybe I shouldn’t go out in public right now.”
Finn wanted Kross to find them, but Jewel didn’t need to know that.
“You left your phone at home?”
Her confused expression intensified. “Yes.”
“Then unless Kross tailed us—and I didn’t see any cars following us last night so that’s highly unlikely—we should be fine.” He walked over to the blinds and shot it open, letting light flood in.
Jewel squinted against the glare.
Finn stood in front of the window and planted his feet apart. “The night’s over. The sun is shining and it would be a shame to let it go to waste.”
This time, Jewel didn’t hide her grin.
Man, that smile of hers was dangerous.
She’s young enough to be your sister.
His physical attraction aside, Finn was on a mission and Jewel was a means to an end. He couldn’t let a pretty face distract him from his real purpose.
But the more he tried to lecture himself, the more he wanted to be the one to break past all of Jewel’s barriers.
“Okay.” Jewel shuttled off the bed, full of energy. He doubted she’d be that cheerful if she knew his thoughts.
Finn gave her a few minutes to get ready. When Jewel emerged from the bathroom, she was wearing the dress from last night. He noticed the way she kept tugging the hem down and handed her one of his hoodies.
She stared at it as if she’d never seen a jacket before.
“Here.” Finn shoved it under her nose. “You can put this on if it’ll make you more comfortable.”
Wordlessly, she took it from him and yanked it on. The black hoodie covered her knees and the extra material flowed over her arms, enveloping her like a super-sized suit.
Finn tried not to cringe. The moment he’d felt Belize’s humidity, he’d shoved his jackets deep into his bag. He still had no idea how Jewel survived wearing such thick clothing, but if it made her more comfortable, he wouldn’t say anything.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
She bobbed her head.