Authors: Tina Folsom
“Wrap your arms and legs around me,” he ordered.
Fear made her comply without protest. She clung to him like Velcro, his breath hot at her ear.
“Don’t lose your hold on me. I’ll jump, and I promise you, you’ll be safe.”
Something in his voice settled her pounding heart and slowed her breathing. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought it was tenderness she’d heard. She must be out of her mind if she assumed that. “Yes.”
Leila buried her face in his neck when she felt him kick the window out with one foot.
Simultaneously, the flames broke through the door, the force of the blast catapulting them outside. She prepared for the inevitable hard impact on the sidewalk, but it never happened. Either she was dead or Aiden had landed on his feet.
“You can open your eyes now.”
Hesitantly, she peeled her face from his neck and blinked. As if nothing had happened, they were suddenly standing on the pavement in front of her building, not a scratch on them. She had to be still drugged, because a landing like this was impossible, particularly after practically being tossed out the window by the flashover.
“How—?”
But she didn’t get to ask her question, because his lips prevented her from speaking. As if he’d done this a hundred times before, his mouth slid over hers. His kiss was one of pure possession, exploration, and desire.
To her surprise, she responded to him without thought. She blamed the fact that she’d just escaped a burning apartment. Or the drugs he’d somehow managed to spike her drink with at the Irish bar. Perhaps she was in shock. There was no other sane reason why she would kiss back a man who’d clearly broken into her apartment, set it on fire, and was about to kidnap her.
Right, no sane reason, other than the fact that he tasted so male and so virile. His hands on her back pressed her against his rock hard chest where she felt his heart beating as fast as hers, while his tongue forged into her mouth, ravishing her as if he hadn’t kissed a woman in years and was starving for a taste. Maybe as starving as herself, for she couldn’t stop stroking her own tongue against his, dueling with him, exploring him like he explored her. It was madness, and wrong on so many levels.
But her body didn’t listen to her brain, which tried to tell her to push him away. On the contrary, just as she’d felt aroused when she’d fantasized about him earlier, liquid heat now pooled at the juncture of her thighs. And he could probably feel the heat through his clothes. It was madness.
The distant siren of a fire engine brought her back to her senses and made her pull her head back, severing the contact. He stared at her, his eyes hooded, his lips red and moist from the passionate kiss they’d shared.
Then he suddenly turned his head as if he heard the siren only now. “We have to go.”
Above her head, she glimpsed the flames shooting from her apartment window. She tried to free herself from him, dropping her legs to the ground and pushing against him, but he was stronger. “Let me go,” she begged.
He shook his head, his expression dark. “No. Twice somebody tried to kill you tonight. I’d be crazy to let you out of my sight.”
What had he said?
“Kill me?” was all she could echo, darting nervous looks around her, desperately hoping for the fire engine to shoot around the corner, so she could find help from them or the police that would surely arrive instantly.
“I’ll explain everything later, but we’ll have to leave now. You’re not safe here. They know where you are.”
Ignoring her protests, he carried her to a parked car across the street. A click and the car’s lights flashed briefly, indicating that the doors were now unlocked. Without ceremony, he dumped her into the passenger’s seat and slammed the door shut behind her. In the darkness, her fingers fumbled for the handle, her shaking noticeable now. Before she could open the car door, he was already in the driver’s seat and yanked her hand toward him.
His dark eyes bored into her. “You might not trust me right now—God knows, the circumstances don’t speak for me—but if you want to live, you have to stay with me.”
Without waiting for an answer, he engaged the engine and pulled the car into the street. In the back mirror, she saw the fire engine careen around the corner. They’d finally arrived to save the building from total destruction, but it was too late for her. She was at Aiden’s mercy now. And who knew what his plans were.
Leila glanced to her side, her eyes falling onto his groin once more. The bulge in his pants was barely noticeable now. Not that it was any consolation. Once he brought the car to a stop somewhere, once they’d arrived at whatever destination he had in mind, he would do what he’d planned all along. Forcing her …
Would she react the same way she’d reacted to his kiss? Would she simply let it happen without giving any resistance? Would she allow him to take her without putting up a fight? Hell, she’d allowed the kiss; not just allowed, she’d participated with more enthusiasm than she’d ever kissed a man with before. It could only be the drug that had made her react like this, dulled her defenses so he could do with her what he wanted.
“What did you drug me with?” Maybe if she knew what it was, she could somehow fight its effects.
He didn’t take his eyes off the street as he weaved through traffic. “I didn’t drug you.”
“The drink at the Irish pub,” she insisted.
He shook his head. “It was pure whiskey. The bartender poured it for you. You saw it. He brought you the glass. I couldn’t have put anything in it even if I wanted to.” He paused and gave her a sideways look. “Which I don’t. I want you in possession of all your faculties.”
So she would feel pain? Humiliation? “Why are you kidnapping me?”
“I’m not.”
“Could have fooled me,” she mumbled under her breath.
“I heard that.”
She shrugged, resignation rearing its head. What did it matter what she said to him? He seemed determined to do what he wanted to do. None of her protests would fall on fertile ground. She might as well save her breath. Or not. “Where are you taking me?”
“To a safe place.”
Suddenly he removed his hand from the steering wheel and clasped it over hers. Her entire body coiled in tension. Was he going to fondle her here in the car? Then maybe she could grab the steering wheel and cause an accident. It would give her occasion to escape.
Yeah, if you survive the accident.
Shit, why was she such a coward?
“Leila,” he said so softly, she whirled her head to look at him, trying to make sure he was still the same man, because for all she knew, she could be hallucinating. As she had earlier when she’d thought she’d seen him pass through the locked door.
It looked as if he wanted to say something, but then he didn’t. Instead, he pressed a button on his steering wheel. She heard a dialing tone, then the sound of a speed dial. The call was answered on the first ring.
“Aiden? What do you need?” A male voice came through the loudspeakers.
“My charge’s apartment went up in flames,” Aiden explained.
Charge?
“Shit!” the man cursed.
“Listen, Manus,” Aiden continued, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Anything on the car yet?”
“Negative, Pearce is running the plates right now. Another half hour or so.”
“Good. I need you to listen in on the fire department. They just arrived at the scene and are putting out the fire. I need to know what they think the cause is. My guess is arson.”
Leila felt as if a fist clamped around her heart. Arson? Somebody wanted to kill her? No, that couldn’t be true.
“I’m on it. Is she hurt?”
“No, thank God, I got her out in time.”
He’d saved her, yes, he really had. So did this mean, he wasn’t the one who’d set her apartment on fire? Could she trust what she heard now?
“Where are you taking her?”
“To a safe place.”
“Call me when you get there,” the other man said.
“Later.”
He pressed a button, and the call disconnected.
“What are you? FBI? CIA?”
He gave a slow shake of his head. “Not exactly.”
If he wasn’t with the government, he had to be something else, something more dangerous. “Mafia?”
She knew her voice was laced with fear. Aiden had heard it too, because he gave her a long look before his lips parted once more to speak. “By the life of my parents, I promise you one thing: I’ll never hurt you.”
At his words, a single sob tore from her chest. She’d completely forgotten about her parents. Oh, God, what would happen to her parents if she was gone? Who would make sure they continued to receive the care they needed? Who would make sure the caregivers didn’t mistreat them? She had to fight to get away. Her parents needed her. They counted on her, even though on their bad days they didn’t always know who she was. Yet there was still a chance for them to at least gain back part of what Alzheimer’s had robbed them of—if only she was able to finish her research in time.
Besides, she wasn't brave enough to face death. There was so much more she needed to do, so much more of life she hadn't experienced. No, she couldn't allow this stranger to kidnap her and take her away from everything that was dear to her. She had to bargain with him.
TEN
Behind a dumpster in a deserted alley, Aiden brought the car to a stop. Leila sat in the passenger seat, her body coiled in tension, her lips pressed together as if fighting with herself not to cry. Given the circumstances, she’d reacted with far less hysterics than he’d expected from anybody in her situation.
Aiden realized it had been wrong to kiss her after all that had happened, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself. The fire had been so close, and fear had thickened his blood to the consistency of gel, making his heart nearly stop at the thought that she might get hurt. He’d never been so afraid for anybody else. Never feared losing anybody like he feared losing her. Even though he had no right to possess her in the first place.
But he’d needed that kiss. Needed it to make sure she was unharmed. Like a release, he’d craved it, and when she’d given in, he’d nearly come in his pants like a green teenager. The way she’d held him so tight and her tongue had played with his as if it were meant to be, had wiped every sane thought from his mind. Even now, he could still taste her like she’d imprinted her scent on him for eternity.
Gripping the steering wheel as if his life depended on it, he addressed her without looking at her, “I promise you, everything will be fine. Nobody will hurt you. I’ll kill anybody who tries.”
His words seemed to jolt her, because she lifted her head and turned it to look at him. When he glanced at her, he saw fear dominate her eyes.
“Please let me go. I'll do what you want. I won’t fight you. But then please just let me go. My family ...”
He barely listened to the rest of her words, because he wasn't quite sure he'd heard correctly.
She would do what he wanted?
Did it mean what he thought it meant?
“You really think I came to your apartment to rape you?”
And why wouldn’t she think that? He’d broken in, for lack of a better word, and when she’d first laid eyes on him, he’d had a hard-on the size of a baseball bat. Of course, she’d jump to that conclusion.
When she said nothing, but only looked at him with fearful eyes, he reached his hand to stroke hers but pulled back instantly when he realized what he was doing. Shit, he should keep his distance.
“Leila, I’m your bodyguard. I’m charged to protect you. I was in your place to watch over you.”
He ran his hand through his hair. How would he explain to her why she’d found him in an aroused state?
“My bodyguard? I would know if I’d hired a bodyguard.”
He expelled a tense breath, uncomfortable that he had to reveal who he was. It was only done in the direst of circumstances, which this situation probably counted as.
“I’m not the kind of bodyguard you can hire. I get assigned. I don’t ask questions, I do my duty.” Most of the time. With Leila, he’d done a little more than just his duty. Watching her masturbate and kissing her after he’d rescued her wasn’t part of the Cloak Warrior’s code of conduct. Nor his own personal code.
“I don’t believe you.”
That was to be expected. He nodded. “Do you remember that you locked your bedroom door after you ran into me in the hallway?”
“Yes.” She thrust her chin up in a sign of defiance. Strangely enough, he liked that gesture. She was no pushover.
“A moment later, I stood in your bedroom. You saw how I entered.”
She shook her head. “No. I was still half asleep. I was dreaming. It couldn’t be.”
Aiden focused on a strand of hair he wanted to push out of her face. She looked so much more feminine with her hair down rather than tied in a ponytail. “You weren’t dreaming. You weren’t even asleep yet.”
She gasped, her eyes widening in horror.
Oh shit!
He hadn’t wanted to let her know that he’d been in her bedroom earlier, that he’d watched her. It had simply slipped out.
Leila’s mouth opened in disbelief as she scrambled toward the door to get as far away from him as possible. “You were in my bedroom?”
“Leila, I’m sorry ... I didn’t mean to ... I ... I’m sorry.”
“Oh, God, no. How could you?”
He’d asked himself the same question, yet he still had no answer for it.
He turned his head and looked out into the darkness. Quietly, he answered her question with one of his own. “Do you find the thought so utterly disgusting? I know you didn’t want me to come home with you when we were in the bar, but you fantasized about me. I couldn’t have been that revolting to you.”
Why was he challenging her? Why couldn’t he simply let sleeping lions sleep? But to know that she knew what he’d done gave him a thrill he hadn’t felt in a long time.
“You were there? The entire time? All the while as I was …” She pressed her eyes shut.
“You called out my name. Twice.”
She lifted her head. “I can fantasize about who I want! And you had no right to watch me!”
“No, I didn’t,” he said, sobering. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I have no excuses.” And he wouldn’t make any up now. He alone was to blame. He and his uncontrollable lust that even now was coursing through his veins.