The Risqué Target (28 page)

When they hit the thruway, Tantum was sure they hadn't been followed. He let out a relieved breath. She was safe. His eyelids felt so heavy that he wanted to lean his head back and close them. Instead, he shifted them to the woman who had exhausted him.

Her face tensed in response. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Ignoring her demand, he examined her. “Did you escape them?”

“They never had me.”

“Then how the hell did you know I was here?”

She smirked. “Never underestimate your opponent. Isn’t that what you always say?”

“But I’m not your opponent, Nala.” He strove for a calm tone. What he really wanted was to wipe the contemptuous look off her face.

His phone vibrated. He dug it out of his pocket. “Hey, Bucky, what's up?”

“Finally! I’ve been trying to reach you. Nala’s all right. She’s been in hiding. They don’t have her.”

“Yeah, I know. She’s right here with me. But how did you learn that?”

“Well, you know I’ve been in touch with Nala’s AC, Gidget. When you insisted on going to the park alone, refusing any backup, I took a chance and told Gidget about the meeting. It worked. She confided in me that Nala was safe, but when I tried to tell you, you didn’t answer your phone.”

Tantum looked over at Nala. So that’s how she’d known! “I couldn’t get to my cell. I was a little preoccupied,” he said.

After he hung up, he turned to Nala. “Where the hell have you been?”

“What do you care? As I recall, you wanted to be rid of me.”

It confirmed what he feared. She’d read the emails. That was the reason she left him.

Sure, he’d emailed that information to Bucky. The alternative—keeping her with him—was far too dangerous. On the verge of falling in love with her, he’d determined that letting her go would be the best thing for her. And sure, he’d put it bluntly.
I’ve gotta get rid of her
. What was he supposed to do, go all flowers and hearts about it to Bucky?

But now the pain in her angry eyes crushed him. He longed to soothe her, to tell her the truth, but he it just wasn’t something he could say. Instead, he snapped at her. “Obviously I
can’t
get rid of you.”

“Then drop me off. Move on with your life, I’ll move on with mine. I’m not your responsibility, Tantum, and I certainly have no desire to be anyone’s burden. If you haven't noticed, I can take care of myself!”

The knife continued to twist in his chest. He’d hurt her, but it wasn’t going to last much longer, and at least he wasn’t selfish enough to try to hang on to her. If he did, she’d only suffer in the long run. He didn’t know how to love. Not in a healthy adult relationship. But the way he felt about her, he wished it wasn’t true.

He stared at her, a small part of him begging to tell her the truth. He shook his head at her and the notion. “Get used to me being around a little longer, sweetheart. I’m not leaving you until this is over.” Then he’d leave her. But no sooner.

“What about Gabe? You lied. You knew who he was!”

“Nala,” Tantum said, drawing in a breath. Now wasn’t the time to reveal the whole truth. “We’ll talk about that later. I’ll explain everything to you, but first we need to get somewhere safe. Give me directions to where you’ve been hiding. If I couldn’t find you, I don’t think anyone else will.”

“If
you
couldn’t find it? Damn you’re cocky, Tantum Maddox.” She crossed her arms, probably throwing a silent resentful fit.

He grinned. “I prefer to call it ‘confidence’.”

****

When Nala saw the man pointing a gun at Tantum, her heart had dropped to her toes. There’d been no need to think or feel, only to act. Now she wished she could keep her heart and brain unplugged. That it could all be that simple. As simple as when he needed her.

She peeked over at him, his attention focused on the road. She’d almost managed to forget how breathtaking he was, from his golden flesh and dark features to his overbearing confidence. Everything about the man was a total turn-on. She’d tried to fight it, but really, she knew she’d longed to see him again.

His face was hard, unyielding, and unreadable. He’d lied to her. He’d known Gabe. Could there be any good explanation for that? To the depths of her heart, Nala wanted to trust him, but she didn’t see how.

Clearly he was on task, adhering to his assignment. That was why he’d come to rescue her. It had nothing to do with caring about her. This had to end soon, this torture of being around him, wanting him, having him inches away but unable to reach out to him. It crazed her. Frustration built inside her, threatening to release itself as fury or a full-blown panic attack. She took a deep breath and mentally counted to ten.

A raindrop splashed against the windshield. Then another and another, until they were driving through a storm. The downpour made music on the car roof, replacing her countdown with its tranquil melody.

Recognizing the old, weathered wooden fruit stand on the side of the road, she said, “Almost there.” She pointed. “Turn here and drive about two miles.”

Tantum frowned, squinting out through the foggy, rain-drenched windows. Trees hugged the narrow dirt road, making the dreary day even darker. It was impossible to see beyond them. His frown twisted into a scowl. He turned to her, the look in his eyes as perilous as the storm outside. “Exactly where are we going?” His even tone broke through the clatter of the rain.

So now he had some problem about where she'd been hiding out? After all that had happened, he was the last one with any right. She lifted her chin and glared back at him. “A hunting lodge, and we're here.” She dismissed him with her tone.

He parked the car, but when she went for the door handle, his hand upon her wrist stopped her. “Here?” He did a quick surveillance of the area. “It's too secluded, nowhere to run if—”

She snatched her arm from his tight grip. “Like I said, I can take care of myself, Tantum. I've done it all my life, and I’ve done all right here for weeks. I don’t need you. In fact, you can leave now.” She got out of the car. The rain had slowed some, but her boot heels sank into the soft ground. She had to work to keep her walk to the porch looking proud.

“I don’t think so, sweetheart.” The deep, husky voice was close to her ear, too close. He’d followed her. Taking hold of her, he turned her around to face him. His hair glistened with droplets clinging to the stray tips. “I didn’t wait six weeks just to let you go, Nala.”

She loathed herself for the hope that went through her. “Whatever it takes to finish the assignment, hey, Tantum?”

“No,” he said on a low growl. “I came back for this.” He crushed her body to his and kissed her.

A riot of emotions surfaced at his touch, at the aggressive effectiveness of his mouth. Urgently he claimed her lips. Suddenly she didn’t care why. All she cared about was the fervent caress of his seeking tongue, and all she could do was follow suit. The rain didn’t cool her heated body. It only matched the wetness already building inside her.

Meeting the slow burn of his gaze, she pulled his coat away from his shoulders and let it fall to the ground. Her hands ran along his soaked t-shirt. She pulled it over his head and tossed that, too, upon the ground.

His jaw flexed, and she saw a familiar twitch at the corner of his right eye. “Keep it up, Nala.” He snarled his challenge.

Savoring his power and the strength of his magnificent body, she slipped her fingers over his broad, bare chest. “I plan on it, Tantum,” she taunted, unafraid. Drenched from the inside out, she needed him. She touched his thick neck and stroked up to his cheek, nudging him to come back to her, to look at her. She needed to see desire in his beautiful eyes. She needed proof it was real.

Heart pounding, anticipation eating her, she watched him lower his head, and with that single motion came the blaze of a fire hotter than hell itself. The rain fell on his naked skin. There was no moon, but even in the near-darkness his eyes reflected the rain, looking like an untamed ocean. Their seductive gleam dared her to take him on, to handle the storm raging within him.

“I want you.” She kissed him, searching his hostile gaze. “I need you.” She kissed him again, welcoming the terrible twos, undeterred by the contempt he might feel.

“I don’t think you entirely understand what you're saying,” he rasped dangerously.

“Oh, I do,” she said, finding the band of his jeans, playing with the cool metal button that came between her hand and his powerful manhood. “Why don’t we go inside, and—”

“No.” His hand slid beneath her pants. “I can't wait to go inside.” He pulled her jeans down and ripped the thin g-string from her body. Then he fell to his knees on the wet grass. Pulling her jeans free, he lifted her leg over his shoulder and secured her by the ass. His head nuzzled between her thighs, and his balmy mouth found her heated center. His tongue lashed out, licking her to a passionate frenzy.

Not sure whether she grabbed his head to hold on or to bring him closer, she held on tight. Blinded by the darkness, by the sheer ardor of his unbridled act, she was lost to the tantalizing motion of his mouth. “Tantum….” Breathing heavily, shuddering, she felt her control weakening. It happened so quickly she couldn’t fight it. “I'm going to cum,” she gasped.

He responded by thrusting a finger deep into her, adding to her torment, taking the last of her control. One hand behind his neck, drawing him in, the other clamped on his firm shoulder, the waves rippled through her. Overpowering spasms burst endlessly. Her legs shook and then slackened. She was about to fall.

He put her leg down, but dizzy from the soul-shattering orgasm, she dropped to her knees. Crouching, he wrapped his arms around her body and stroked her cheek. The intensity in his eyes was fierce and wild. “Nala, you don’t know what you put me through, disappearing like that,” he said huskily. “I worried about you.”

Taken aback by the open display of concern, the genuine hurt in his voice, she said, “I can take care of my—” She was starting to sound like a broken record, but he needed to trust that she could.

“That,” he said, “is not the problem. He stripped off his jeans, and his need for her sprang out into the moonlight. “Nothing satisfied me until I had you safe in my arms.” In one swift movement, he thrust into her. “Nothing mattered until I could feel you like this.” He grunted harshly as his hot flesh delved deeper into her.

The wild aroma of the earth came to her nose. The roughness of the grass and dirt stung her sensitized skin. The rain fell harder, slapping the leaves overhead and blurring the trunks of the trees. The wind rushed against her ears, but nothing in the world could compare to the savage power of Tantum between her legs.

She melted into his strength, into the wild supremacy of his being. Water poured from his body, streamed from the strands of his hair and down his fervid face.

“Tell me you won't leave me again,” he gently demanded as he withdrew and plunged back into her. “Promise me.” His forceful, merciless thrusts demanded her surrender.

Consumed with need, she gave in to him. “I’ll never leave you.” Instead of fear, she felt only certainty of what she had admitted not only to him, but also to herself.

“You're mine, Nala.” He pulled her even closer. “You belong to me, and I'll never let you go.”

Even more shocked by his declaration than her own, she felt traumatized, yet elated. She wanted to cry.

Remembering their discussion about being someone's possession, she recalling how it had appalled her to imagine being owned by someone. Now it was as if a switch had flipped. She found herself under his dominant spell.

She realized she wanted to be his.

“Yes, Tantum. I'm yours,” she cried out, desperately wanting to add
, “I love you
.” But those three words would be more damaging than possession, more threatening than obsession. Once she said them, she couldn’t take them back. She was willing to sacrifice her body and surrender her heart, yet she still panicked at the thought of uttering those three little words.

“Hold me tight, sweetheart.” His warm breath brushed her neck as his arms gathered her to him with violent necessity. “I can’t hold back any longer, Nala. I've waited too long for you.”

“Please….” Air caught in her throat, and with her emotions choking her, she arched her back. “Tantum, please let it go, baby. I'm ready.” she whimpered, clutching his shoulders as he lifted her hips from the ground. She needed to become one with him.

The rhythm heightened, turning as erratic and savage as he was. Wild like the wilderness around them, primitive and unrestricted, he thrust fiercely. With each impact, the intolerable pleasure built. She bucked and tightened around him, and when she couldn’t take it anymore, when he stroked and reached that point of no return, she called out his name.