Moon Dance (36 page)

Whatever had happened with
Cole and Larissa, Dana was fairly sure she deserved it. She wasn’t
even going to ask, because she wanted to imagine the worst and
wallow in her punishment for all the wrong things she’d done. She
took the stabbing feeling, and she cultivated it, forcing herself
to sit with the feeling, knowing it was justified.

Cole drove the car into the
sunrise. The sky was lightening, and there was just a hint of the
rising sun. The sky was stained the faintest shade of
pink.

But she was a liar, and she
was weak, because she only made it about a half hour on the road
before she turned to Cole and demanded he explain about the wine
glasses.

He was surprised. He
laughed. “Are you jealous, Dana?”

She hunched down in her
seat, daydreaming about punching him. What was the use of denying
it? “Yes.”

“
Do you really think that I
could have done anything with her?”

“
You did in the
past.”

“
Before us,” he said. “I
haven’t been with a woman besides you since this all got
started.”

She raised her eyebrows.
“You haven’t?”

“
It’s not as if you can say
the same thing.”

“
Well, no, I’ve never been
with a woman at all.”

“
That isn’t what I meant,
and you know it.”

She sighed. “You’re right.
I’m the one who’s an unfaithful whore here. I’m the one who slept
with you right after finding out my husband was dead.”

“
You’re not a bad person,
Dana. Stop that.”

She knew he was wrong.
She
was
a bad
person. But somehow, she couldn’t help but want to be happy anyway.
She fought against feeling awful, even though she deserved to feel
that way.

Cole explained to her that
they were driving away someplace, hoping to hear from his sister
Deedee about Piper, but prepared that Enoch might come instead. If
it was Enoch, they’d fight him off, kill him if they had to, and
then they’d get to Piper. Cole said nothing was going to stop him
from finding the little girl.

And Dana believed him. “So,
we’ll just drive around until then?”

“
I guess,” he
said.

She looked out the window.
“Cole, aren’t we close to your old house?” The one where he’d kept
her prisoner, the one where she’d killed for the first time, the
one where Hollis had died.

“
Yeah, it’s only a few miles
away.”

“
What happened to that
house? Did you sell it?”

“
No, I still own it, I
suppose. I couldn’t go there when I was on the run from the SF. Too
obvious.”

“
Right,” she said. She
considered. “Maybe we should go there now.”

He gave her a funny look.
“Really?”

“
Maybe it’s perfect. It’s so
obvious that they’d never look there for us. Besides, if they
thought of it, they probably already cleared it.”

“
Maybe,” he said. “It
wouldn’t bother you to be there? After everything you went through
there?”

“
No,” she said. “In fact,
I’d like to see it again.”

* * *

The house looked worse for
wear. From the outside, the yard had gotten overgrown, grass
overtaking the stone walkway to the door. It was locked up tight,
and Cole didn
’t have a key anymore, but
they were able to break in through a window in the living
room.

Inside, the place was
covered in dust, but everything was just the way that Dana
remembered it the last night they’d been there. The couch in the
living room still sat against the wall. The couch where she and
Cole had made love for the first time.

She remembered his body over
hers, his voice soft and deep.
Give
yourself to me.

Seized by some force, she
was compelled out of the living room. She ran to the door in the
kitchen that opened onto the steps into the basement and flung it
open.

“
Dana?” Cole’s voice sounded
far away.

She felt around for a light switch, but
of course, there was no power in the house. So, she began
descending into the darkness, one step at a time.

“
Dana.”

She turned around.

Cole was at the top of the
steps. “What are you doing?”

She didn’t answer. She
turned back and continued her descent into the belly of his house.
The place where she’d awoken all those years ago, arms chained
above her head, fear pulsing through her like a live
thing.

As she went lower and lower,
deeper and deeper, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and
she could see her surroundings. There was a small window near the
ceiling, grimy and dirty, but letting through gray
light.

Nothing had been touched. There were
the chains. Hollis had used them to chain her up again, sneering at
her that the only way a guy could make time with her was to tie her
up.

And there. The smear of dark
red on the concrete. Hollis’s blood. Cole had killed him right
there.

She stepped around it and went over to
the chains. She picked them up, fingered the cold metal. It was
smooth against her skin.

“
Dana.” Cole stood at the
bottom of the steps. His voice was tattered.

She didn’t look at
him.

“
I’m going to find someplace
for the two of you,” Cole said. “For you and Piper. Someplace that
no one will ever find you, where you can be safe. And then you
won’t see me again. I promise. This time I really will leave you
alone.”

She dropped the chains, and
they hit the floor with a clatter. “What?”

“
You were right,” he said.
“You were right to keep her from me, and to stay with Brooks. All
I’ve ever done is cause you pain.”

She turned to look at him.
“That’s not true.”

“
We both know it
is.”

She swallowed.

He was talking again, his
hoarse voice echoing against the cold walls down here. “When I was
gone before, you were happy with Brooks. You were raising your
daughter. And then I crashed back into your life and—”

“
I
wasn’t
happy.” Her mouth twisted.
“You knew it. You said—”

“
I’d say anything to have
you.”

“
Something happened down
here, Cole. I’m not the same.”

“
Yeah, I ruined
you.”

“
It doesn’t matter whether
or not I’m ruined. Maybe I was better before, but I can’t go back
to that now. I am what I am.”

He shook his head. “What are
you saying?”

“
I don’t think I want you to
leave me alone.”

He winced. “Dana, you can’t…
I don’t deserve… I’ve done terrible things to you, and you’ve never
done anything to me.”

“
Is that the problem? You
want us to be even?”

He licked his lips. “What do
you mean?”

“
Come here.” She
beckoned.

He hesitated, and then he lurched
forward.

She grasped a handful of his shirt and
pulled his face down to hers. She kissed him. And then she let
go.

He looked dazed.

She picked up one of the chains and
snapped the cuff over one of his wrists.

Startled, he looked down at
it. “Wha—?”

She had his other wrist
encircled before he could finish the word.

“
What are you
doing?”

She kissed him again. “Shh,
Cole. Let it happen.” And something leapt inside her in perverse
pleasure,
his
words coming out of
her
mouth.

His eyes narrowed. “Wait a
second. I’m not sure if I—”

She cut him off by tugging
on the chains. They were looped over a pipe in the ceiling, and
when she pulled on the ends, Cole’s hands stretched up over his
head, elongating his body, lifting him and exposing him. She
secured the chains against the wall, so that he was held in
place.

Cole’s eyes darted wildly
around the room, and his breath came in short gasps.

She went to him, pressed her
body against his, stroked his cheek. “It’s okay,
beautiful.”

He shut his eyes. “Is this
why you wanted to come here?”

“
No.” She backed away,
folding her arms over her chest, surveying him. “I didn’t plan
this. It just seems… right.”

His hands wrapped around the
chains above him, and she saw him struggle against them. Just for a
moment, as if he was testing their strength. He gave up almost
immediately, sagging against them, beaten. He opened his eyes and
gazed at her.

She smiled. “I’ll be back.
Sit tight.”

He let out a strange,
strangled noise. “You’re leaving me?”

“
Not for long,” she said in
her most soothing voice. She flew up the stairs, her whole being
thrumming with power and excitement. This was the allure, then.
Having someone at her mercy. Having someone rely entirely on her
for everything. It was heady.

She rustled through Cole’s
kitchen, opening drawers until she found a pair of
scissors.

And then she went back to him. The
muscles in his arms stretched and strained above his head. They
were smooth and hard and beautiful.

She held up the scissors so that he
could see them.

Something very nearly like
fear flitted across his expression.

“
Relax,” she said. “I’m not
going to hurt you.” She moved closer, and she fingered the hem of
his shirt. She put the scissors to the fabric and sliced through
it.

Cole exhaled sharply.

She looked up at him. His
face was so close to hers.

She cut straight up his shirt, all the
way to the collar.

It fell away from his chest,
hanging like curtain, baring his body. She took him in, all the
lean angles and smooth flesh. His compact, wiry frame, skin hugging
tight to his muscles. The trail of dark hair over his flat stomach.
And the scar from where the bullet had gone into him. It was newly
healed, pink scar tissue against his smoothness.

She ran her fingers over it.

Heat was gathering between her legs. He
was so enticing like this, and the sight of him roused thrills
within her.

“
Dana,” Cole
rasped.

She smiled at him. “Shh…”
She finished cutting his shirt, running the scissors through the
sleeves so that she could pull it away from his body.

Now his upper body was bare, and she
walked around him, trailing her fingers over his shoulders and
back.

He shivered, and goosebumps rippled
over his skin.

She pressed her body into
his spine. She reached around to touch his chest, his stomach. She
pinched one of his nipples.

He stiffened, but he didn’t
make noise.

She walked around to face
him, and he was the most stunningly gorgeous thing she’d ever seen,
half uncovered and bound. She kissed him, letting her tongue dart
into his mouth, and she was surprised by the force of his
response.

She moved away to kiss his
jaw. “You’re mine, Cole,” she murmured.

He exhaled again.

“
Say it,” she
prompted.

“
I’m yours.” His voice was
gravelly, unsteady.

Her hand snaked down his
body. “Are you hard for me? Is this turning you on?” She cupped
him. She smiled in satisfaction. “Good.”

He swallowed, holding her
gaze with his own. “What are you going to do to me?”

She smiled wider. There was
apprehension in his voice, but there was something else underneath,
something playful. He was enjoying it.

That made her enjoy it even
more.

She unbuttoned his pants.

He tensed in anticipation.

She unzipped him. Then
yanked his pants and boxers down in one quick motion, pushing them
down around his ankles. She knelt down and tapped on his bare calf,
and he lifted his foot to allow her to remove his clothes. She
remembered that he’d used this move on her before, that she’d been
tied up with her own bra, and he’d stripped her naked.

Now she’d removed all of his
clothes. She stood up to look at him.

The gray light filtered into the
basement, illuminating the hard swells of his muscles. He was
exquisite.

And his cock stood up straight, pushing
out from his body, so hard and swollen it almost looked
painful.

“
Mmm…” she whispered. “I
think I like you this way, Cole. All stretched out and showing me
everything.”

His breathing quickened.

She stared down at him. The
head of his penis was red and huge, almost purplish, and he was
thick and straight and engorged. She liked the obviousness of his
arousal, how easy it was to see that he wanted her. And she liked
that he was entirely at her mercy at the moment. The juxtaposition
of his strength and his vulnerability gave her delicious shudders.
She put her fingertips against his hips and traced circles over
him, each one coming tantalizingly closer to his
erection.