Savage Scheme (8 page)

As Nate explained the ins and outs of his property, Libby mentally inventoried every bit of information he offered. She didn’t know what it was but the back of her neck was tingling and that only meant one thing. Trouble was coming. She asked vague questions about the security boxes she saw in the dim light, making it seem as if she didn’t know what they were. She found herself fascinated as he explained his own system to her, the pride in his work evident. As it should be. She was impressed with the system he used. It was clearly custom built with advanced features she hadn’t seen before. He told her where the city was in reference to his home as well as the water, two things she needed to know. Her options for escape were limited. She always chose a city for the bustle and the ability to blend in and disappear easily. In Nate’s seclusion, even though the quiet of the land, the tranquility in the air called to her, it made becoming invisible a challenge. The sound of an owl piercing the silent late evening air caused her to smile. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard anything but her own adrenaline mixed with car horns and bustling traffic.

“What’s that smile about?” he asked, pulling her into him.

“Even the air out here is different,” she commented, looking up at the darkening sky.

“You’re looking like you could get used to it,” he suggested. 

“Too easily,” she admitted. The sound of a car pulling down the driveway caught their attention. “Pizza’s here!”

Nate chuckled and she followed him back to the house.

***

Libby lay across the couch with her feet propped on Nate’s lap. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so relaxed, so content.

“Did you have enough to eat?” he asked her, squeezing her calf.

“I think I had too much,” she teased, patting her belly.

“Yeah, you should really slow down on that,” Nate told her sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Libby laughed. “Would you mind if I used your computer? I must have lost my phone, I can’t find it anywhere and I need to check my email.”

She was a good liar, he had to give her that. He knew she didn’t have her phone with her, he hadn’t found it in her bag when he’d quickly gone through it earlier. She’d seemed protective of the bag ever since she’d shown up at the airport and he needed to find out what she was hiding. He was hoping for a phone, to find some sort of communication with her father and he’d taken advantage of the situation when she took a shower after she quite literally rocked his world. Disappointed when he found only clothes and makeup, nothing to tie her to the man at the center of his mission, he folded and placed everything just as they were. He knew she had weapons in her bag. They were concealed in compartments he couldn’t figure out how to open and with not enough time he had to simply admit they were there. While he’d been out at the store he’d made sure to watch the security camera’s his brothers had insisted on installing throughout his house when he’d sent the message that Libby would be coming home with him. He’d seen her contemplating his office and finally give into whatever war was going on inside her gorgeous head. He’d had a moment of panic when he realized he had been looking through her file on his desktop and luckily his mother had unknowingly saved the day. Thank God for excessively loving mothers. He wanted to both laugh and take Libby into his arms at the sight of her and his mother sitting on the couch. She was obviously out of her comfort zone, but his mother had the uncanny ability to make anyone feel welcome. He was surprised at their embrace as she left and when he walked her to her car it was speculative curiosity he was expecting, not the approval he received that sent warning bells off in his head.

Not wanting to let on that he had been watching her earlier, he directed her toward his office. “Sure, it’s just through that door. When you’re finished, I was thinking we could throw on a movie. Or just go to bed.” Nate watched as she stood and threw her head back laughing as he wagged his eyebrows. There was something about Libby that made him want to tease her. He wanted to make her smile, to see her eyes spark when her lips turned up. Something told him she hadn’t had nearly enough of that in her lifetime and there was something about being the person that provided that for her warmed something inside of him he thought was frozen forever. There were some things about Libby that made him feel things he had never felt with anyone before. He was quickly realizing that his relationship with Angela was one that started out fast and passionate but fizzled out just as quickly and in the end left him with a lot of wasted time.

He listened as she closed the door slightly for the privacy she assumed she had. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Cameron telling her that Libby was using his computer. The reply from his brilliant sister told him that she was logging on and would monitor exactly what Libby was doing. Once she signed into her email they would have complete access to what was seemingly her only source of outside communication. The capability of his sister scared him sometimes and made him thankful she wasn’t a snoop. She could hack into anything and he questioned if out of all of their nightmares put together if Cameron’s weren’t the worst. She never once complained, but Nate knew, being the brains of their entire operation, the first point of information contact, the filter for each mission, the things his sister has seen and heard made him wonder if they were hardening a soft soul.  

His phone vibrated in his pocket twenty minutes later,

Information acquired, meeting tomorrow morning at the Barn - 9am

Shit.

He wanted to know now what information Cameron had gotten on his little wildcat and before he finished typing his message Libby walked out looking more distanced than he’d ever seen her.

“Hey, everything okay?” he asked, keeping his tone light. She looked up and painted a tight smile across her mouth.

“Fine.” Growing up with three sisters and countless women, he knew exactly what that response meant - anything but
fine
. It was obvious whatever she had found or received in the past twenty minutes hadn’t been good news.

Pushing himself off the couch he moved to her wanting to break down some of the walls she had immediately built up. Wrapping her in his arms he felt her stiffen at his contact and then melt into him, her arms circling his waist pulling him closer. He kissed the top of her head, threading his fingers through her hair as he pulled her head back suddenly wanting to distract her from whatever tornado she had just been thrown into. Slanting his lips against hers, he felt her response instantly causing his own that was now pressing against her stomach. Their tongues fought for dominance and he wanted to throw her down to the ground and slam into her as she nipped at his bottom lip. Using his head for once around the woman who constantly distracted his common sense, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled away, resting his forehead against hers.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked through his heavy breathing. He realized he wanted her to talk to him about whatever she had found and not because of the mission. He was screwed. Royally.

“The only thing I want to talk about is this,” she told him, her voice husky as a mischievous grin curved at her kiss swollen lips while her palm gripped his jeans.

“Baby...”

“Shh.”

He groaned as she slid down his body to her knees, her fingers frantically working his zipper as his head fell back and he gave into the pleasure she offered. God damn, he wasn’t just screwed, he was a man who lost his focus with one woman’s touch and that wasn’t just dangerous. It was fucking deadly.  

Nate woke to the sound of the security alarm piercing the quiet of the night. He felt Libby tense against him. Moving his lips to her ear he warned her to stay quiet. Nodding her head she mimicked his movements as they slinked out of the bed. Knowing it was the system that lined the perimeter of his land that was triggered, he knew his house was safe. For now. Throwing Libby a t-shirt, he grabbed his sweatpants off the chair, keeping clothes available for this purpose. Looking up to make sure she was okay, he was surprised to see that his t-shirt still lay on the bed as she stood waiting for him in black pants and a black t-shirt of her own. Cocking an eyebrow, he didn’t have time to question where she procured her sexy Lara Croft outfit. Although he had a feeling, the last thing she was going for was sexy, his dick didn’t get the memo. Grabbing his gun from his bedside table drawer he motioned for her to follow him into the living room. Activating the security screen on the wall, he noted the area the system was activated but all movement had stopped. Whatever or whoever had triggered the alarm was either lying in wait or gone. Grabbing a hoodie, he zipped it up and pulled on his running shoes, noting Libby was doing the same. He wasn’t taking that chance.

“Stay here. The windows are bulletproof, but I don’t want you in sight. Stay in my office.”

Her little snort shouldn’t have gone straight to his pants. “Not on your life. Lead the way Boyle.”

He clenched his jaw in frustration. He didn’t want her in danger. He had no idea what was waiting for them in the dark, and he had no idea the level of her training although her reaction to the alarm going off and the way she managed to get dressed and remain soundless gave him some idea. And he didn’t want her calling him Boyle, damn it. He wanted her to call him Savage, his real last name, not the bullshit one he told her. Boyle was his last name before he became a Savage. It was his biological father’s name and he hated that it was the first name that came to mind when she’d asked him and he hated the fact that it was coming out of her mouth now. Wrenching the door open he moved out into the chill of the night air feeling Libby behind him, following his lead. He appreciated that she accepted his silent orders. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but what was becoming glaringly obvious was that her training was at a much higher level than he originally guessed. He would almost assume, by her movements, that she had military training. She moved like a soldier, hell, she moved like a special ops agent.

The land around where the system was triggered remained untouched apart from a small area of dirt. Bending down, he ran his hand over the disturbed soil where it looked like an animal had tried to dig himself a home. Letting out a slow breath, the chill in the air caused a white fog to surround him.     

"It looks like it was just an animal," Nate said, looking over his shoulder. Damn, she must have thought he was a paranoid idiot but in his line of work it was necessary. He and his brothers had made some enemies and he wasn't taking the chance with Libby even if it was a bunny. He rolled his eyes finding the faint rabbit footprint in the dirt. Standing up, he turned to face Libby, finally noticing the gun in her hand. Momentarily stunned he felt his fingers grip his own tighter as he slowly moved his eyes to her face which was surprisingly void of any emotion. God damn, who was this woman? She obviously wasn't who she said she was, that much was clear now. Why would an office admin need a gun? He’d been asking himself that same question ever since he’d found the small handgun in her purse at the winery. And how would she know to move as quietly and efficiently as Libby did? Nate needed her to talk and to talk now. Moving silently past her, he heard her fall into line behind him and without looking he knew her eyes were searching anywhere but ahead. She was constantly surveying their surroundings, making sure another rabbit didn't jump out of the bushes to attack them. He knew because it was exactly what he was doing. 

He closed the door behind them securing the lock. Turning he watched Libby place her gun on the coffee table directly in front of her. Now that he could see it in the light it was clear the weapon had been modified, just as her other one was. Black, deadly, dangerous - he was wondering if he should start to worry or be turned on. 

Sitting in the chair across from her he kept his gun in his hand, resting it on his thigh as he stared between her and her glock. 

"Want to tell me why you have a gun?"

"Want to tell me why you do?" He had to give it to her, she didn't back down and the challenge in her eyes almost made him want to tell her the truth. Almost. He couldn't take that chance with her. If he knew women, he knew that once the truth came out that he was using her for a mission to get to her father that beautiful woman and her more than deadly gun would turn on him. What surprised him the most was that he wasn't able to find her gun earlier when he went through her bag. He knew it was there, but it was clear the bag had been custom made. Specifically to hide weapons. Like guns.  

"What other toys did you bring with you?" he asked instead, avoiding her question. 

"A few others. You won't find them, even if you do go through my shit again." He grinned at her raised eyebrow. So the woman knew more than she led on. Interesting. She thought she had the upper hand and he was fine to continue letting her think that, for now. 

"Tell me about your training, Libby." 

"Why don’t we start with yours?" she asked him, leaning back against the couch. It was obvious that their night time excursion had tired her out. He could see the dark bags under her eyes, the weariness in her body as she continued to maintain her indifference. It made him wonder if it was the adrenaline that had exhausted her or because she had been expecting something, or someone besides a bunny to trigger the system. If it was the latter, he needed to know and he needed to know now. But she was making it quite clear she wasn’t going to talk unless he was. It looked like it was going to be a quiet night filled with unanswered questions hanging between them.

“Come on.” He stood up, reaching out a hand to her.

“Where are we going?” she asked skeptically.

“Back to bed.” He could almost see some of the tension leave her body. There was something about having to talk about her secrets that caused her to completely shut down. To have to talk about who this person was that she turned into when faced with danger - she was a machine. Dangerous, emotionless. He wanted to know who created her because in the times that he’d spent with her he knew that wasn’t who she was. The soldier she turned into was trained to react without feeling. But around Nate, she was warm and funny and she had a smile that attacked his heart in ways nothing ever had.

Knowing Libby tucked her gun under her side of the mattress, he pulled her against his chest and pressed his lips to her hair.

“Sleep now, wildcat. I’ll protect you,” he whispered into the quiet, assuming she’d fallen asleep.

“Or maybe I’ll protect you,” she mumbled. She was impossibly cute, he thought with a grin. It was a risk having her in his home, in his bed. He wasn’t so sure anymore that she held the information they needed to find her father, but he had a feeling she held onto information she didn’t even know she had. He just had to figure out how to get it. Without hurting Libby in the process. It was an impossible feat, he knew that. He didn’t know when her feelings became so important, all he knew was that now they were and he would do anything he could to try and protect her in the process.

Libby turned around to face him, snuggling her face into his neck. “All you’re thinking is keeping me awake,” she grumbled sleepily. “Go to sleep.”

Closing his eyes, he shut his mind off and allowed her warmth to wrap around him. He would worry about the mission tomorrow.