Keep (Command #2) (13 page)

She rolled her eyes. “Please.”

“You think I’m lying?”

She said exactly what was in her head. “I don’t know how it could be true.”

“It is.” He took a step to her, so he was close enough he could reach out to touch her if he wanted. If she’d allow it. Her resolve was softening with every moment she stood under his gaze. Was he aware that he wielded an enormous amount of power over her?

“I don’t understand,” she said, her voice faltering. “You got what you wanted.”

“What makes you say that?”

She shot him a look to tell him he was stupid. “We had sex.”

“Believe me, I remember.” He took another subtle step closer and his voice fell to a hush. “You think that’s all I wanted?”

She couldn’t breathe. He was too close, his eyes too intense. Like the plane, this room was too small to contain him. When she tried to back up, his hands stopped her.

“What is it you want?” she asked, her lips trembling.

He gave her a smile, an even mixture of sweetness and longing. “Everything.”

Her legs almost crumpled beneath her. What he wanted was so much worse than sex. So much harder for her to give. After Paul, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to find another man to trust. To care about. Certainly not to love.

“You can’t have that,” she said.

“I know.” But he kissed her anyway. Her traitorous body leaned into it, enjoying his mouth on hers. It sent a jolt through her. Her heart wanted to leap from her chest. This couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let it.

“I’m sorry about what I said last night.” He whispered it against her lips.

What had he said? Why, exactly, was she mad at him again? His addictive kiss disoriented her. He brushed the hair back out of her eyes, his hand settling on her cheek.

“But I’m not sorry about what happened between us. Not in the slightest. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but that wasn’t one of them.”

This kiss put the others to shame and made the earth’s axis shift.
No
, her brain screamed at her.
Too much. He’ll take you over just like you let Paul do.
You’ll become nothing.
She flattened her hands on his chest and pushed as hard as she could, which only resulted in her nearly toppling over.

“Thank you for the clothes,” she said, stepping back. She had to put space between them.

He stared at her.

The confused look in his molasses-colored eyes turned and set, like this was not acceptable. He would demand more, and she’d be crushed beneath him. So she had to stop him before it was too late for her.

“I won’t give you what you want,” she said. “I’m not capable.”

He blew out a breath. “I proved you wrong before.”

“You won’t this time.”

He considered the statement carefully. Then, he gave her a gaze that spoke volumes. Sweet Shawn had been replaced with Adversary Shawn again. “Put your shoes on,” he said. “I’d like to have dinner in the restaurant downstairs.”

“Did Jason say that was okay?”

He looked smug as he strolled over to the door and opened it. “Jason will be joining us. In fact, your sister will be, too.”

“What?” She stepped into her shoes and hurried alongside him. Jason brought Laurel out of hiding? Kara was halfway through the door when the realization brought her to a halt. “What’s happened?”

“Something good.” Shawn’s strong arm slipped around her waist and guided her towards the elevator doors where Markus lingered.

Kara felt exposed in the restaurant, even in the intimate booth with high walls, and Markus seated nearby.

Her sister’s five-month belly was already round and noticeable. Laurel’s dancer’s frame exaggerated the pregnancy, and that pregnancy seemed to give Laurel the strength of two full-sized men instead of a twenty-five year old woman. Her sister’s embrace was ferocious. Kara still wasn’t used to seeing Laurel as a brunette. Otherwise, they very much looked alike; Laurel was a travel-sized version of her big sister. Kara gave as warm a hello as she could, but her focus was on Jason, who looked as relaxed as Shawn.

“What’s going on?” She slid into the booth, the older Dunn beside her, trapping her in. Beneath the table, his hand rested casually on her thigh, and she allowed it in her distraction.

“The Italian AISE confirmed they have Juric in custody.”

Breath by breath, weight began to fall from Kara’s chest. “He’s been recaptured?”

Jason nodded. “Last night. Ethan’s working to get him extradited to the US.” He leaned back against the booth wall, tossing a thick arm around Laurel’s shoulders. “Let’s give it a few days for the word to spread to the people after Juric, and then you can go home with some security in place.” His dark eyes flitted to his brother’s, and returned to her. “Security that’ll report to me.”

In her relief, her hands dropped to her lap. Right on top of Shawn’s. “It’s over?” She said it aloud, convincing herself.

“Yes.” Laurel was practically beaming.

Shawn gave an arrogant smile. “Your interview is scheduled with Diana tomorrow at ten.”

Wait a minute, what? Her mouth hung open.
That… bastard.
Her teeth snapped shut and her hands clenched into fists. She should have seen it coming from the victorious smile he’d flashed earlier.

“Do you think I like being manipulated?” The words burned in her throat as she flung his hand off of her.

“No, I don’t, but —”

The hand returned, so this time she sank her nails into it and enjoyed watching the muscles of his jaw tighten in discomfort.

“Stop that,” he said, his voice annoyed. “Don’t be so stubborn about this. Take me out of the equation and realize this is a great opportunity for you.”

“Are you telling me what to do? Seriously?” Kara turned to her sister. “Is that a Dunn family trait, or is it just this one?”

Laurel raised an eyebrow. “I believe I warned you about him. In fact, I’m pretty sure I told you that Dunn men are nothing but trouble.” She gave her husband a sideways grin.

“Ich liebe dich,”
Jason said quietly.
I love you.

Her sister set his hand on top of her stomach, closing hers on it. “I don’t get tired of hearing that.”

Shawn leaned in, exhaled slowly, his warm breath rolling over Kara’s skin. “All I’m
asking
you to do, is what you already agreed to. Know that if you don’t, you’ll spend the rest of your career wondering.”

She didn’t know which she disliked more: that he was probably right, or that he knew it.

Shawn understood why Kara ignored him throughout the rest of dinner; he knew he deserved it. As soon as Jason had left Shawn’s office this morning with the good news, Shawn had set the wheels in motion for bringing her on board at Osterhägen. He wanted her both professionally and personally, so he could satisfy both of those desires in one simple move.

He also wanted to track down her ex-husband and beat the shit out of him. It should have been obvious with the way Paul had introduced himself that Kara was a possession to the man and not an equal. Shawn had come across enough C-level men who acted that way, whose wives were treated as servants. Power can corrupt and Shawn knew even he wasn’t totally immune to it. He’d have to overcome all of his own obstacles, and Paul’s too, before Kara would give him a true chance.

At the end of dinner, the conversation drifted to the moment Kara had discovered Shawn was traveling with her on his plane, and he felt a twinge of worry.

“I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal,” Kara said, “since he looked like he was going to die.”

Worry spiked into panic as he searched for a way to steer the conversation in another direction. “I was —”

“What? Why?” L said, confused.

“Because he’s afraid of flying.”

Fuck.
L and Jason turned to him, L’s face skeptical and Jason’s annoyed. His brother asked him in German why he had told Kara that. She’d been ready to leave him on that plane, so it had been a ploy. He’d had to give her another reason to stay.

“I never said I was afraid of flying. I said I don’t enjoy it, which isn’t a lie.” He watched Kara closely, unsure how she would take this revelation.

Not well, was the answer. She gave him a deliberate look, pure and cold. He wasn’t proud of the manipulation before, and now…. he most definitely regretted it.

“Wow,” she said, in a deceptively calm tone, “You are quite the actor.”

“Kara, I’m sorry. I —”

She put her hand on his hip, shoving him toward the end of the booth so she could escape. “Let me out so I can say good night.”

He stood and let her stand as well, but used his size to keep her in place. For the first time since dinner began, she gave Shawn her attention. “I don’t want your apology.”

The dominating side of his brain seized control. “You’re not going to get one.”

He might as well have knocked her legs out from under her. “What?”

“I didn’t lie. I don’t like flying, and, yes, it’s a control thing. I wasn’t sure you were going to stay on the plane, so I decided to exaggerate my discomfort.”

“You decided
—
”

“I’m willing to do what’s necessary to get what I want. You should know by now that that includes not fighting fair.”

He drove the point home when he yanked her into his arms and crushed his lips to hers, making resistance impossible. She was angry with him, flustered… but they were standing in the middle of the restaurant and had an audience. She wouldn’t want to make a scene.

Too fucking bad because that’s exactly what he was going to do.

His hands were on her back, pressing her into him, flattening her amazing breasts against him. He couldn’t help himself. A hand slid lower to rest on the curve of her ass and a jolt of surprise went through her body. There was a noise from the booth as Jason cleared his throat, but Shawn ignored it. His tongue invaded her mouth, and the corners of his own lifted in a smile when she allowed the possession. Reluctant, then welcoming it. She could be mad, but her body responded to him regardless. It wouldn’t deny him because it wanted this almost as badly as he did.

It was harder than he thought it would be to relax his grip on her and step back, leaving her looking adrift. “Markus will pick you up at nine-thirty for the interview. I have appointments all day tomorrow, but you can tell me how it went over dinner.”

He said goodbye to his annoyed-looking family and walked away, realizing he liked the shade of red she flushed when she was angry the most. And if she was mad now, just wait until tomorrow.

Kara hooked the clasp closed on the sexy black bra Shawn had unknowingly bought her, letting it give her some satisfaction. A matching bra and underwear made her feel pulled together, like she could channel some man-eating runway model.

Shawn Fucking Dunn. He’d walked out on her last night, after feeling her up in front of the entire restaurant, leaving her head spinning. He wanted her. Not just sexually but
everything
, and she wanted him. There was no denying him, and no desire in her anymore to deny him. What was wrong with her? God, just thinking about the kiss flooded her with heat. How could she want more, when half of what he said was pure manipulation? Why did she like this?