Dare You to Run (27 page)

Heat teased her cheeks at saying it out loud. Sure, she knew everyone was fully aware of the fact that Vitus had spent the night in her bed, but it still felt so personal. Not that she'd ever really had any true privacy. Vitus was the one true intimacy in her life. She didn't want to share it.

“Explain what you mean by ‘continuing to be lovers.'” Vitus's expression had gone hard. She felt the muscles running down her neck tightening.

“Um … he knew I went to see you.” It was like a balloon popping in her face. Horror gagged her as she realized she'd led her sire's goons straight to Vitus and given Jeb more fuel for his hatred.

She'd failed.

That bit of knowledge felt like a boulder sitting between her shoulder blades. She'd meant to warn him, and all she'd accomplished was stirring up what she had invested so much effort in trying to mask. All of the meekness and shows of obedience. It had all been part of a plan to throw Jeb off the scent of what she truly thought.

She let out a sigh. “It's just another reason why I have to go back. I have to face him, deal with him directly. At least if I go back, you two can disappear.”

Vitus scoffed. “You know it's not that simple, Princess. Your daddy has us marked for headstones. He'll always be worried that you'll change your mind.”

“You'd have a chance,” she said. “Which is more than you are going to have if we stay here. Obviously they know whose plane we left in or that drone wouldn't have found us.” She shot a hard look at Dunn. “You're getting dragged into this now too.”

He curled his lips back and sent her a grin that told her he'd welcome the attempt.

“That bravado won't help you.”

“And you think your bravado will do the trick?” Vitus asked. “Your father just paid someone to kidnap you and cut a part of you off. What makes you think he doesn't have a good plan for forcing you to slip Carl's ring on? I'm not letting you walk back into that and I'm sure as hell not going to see you trade your compliance for my safety.”

She was right back to guarding her ace in the hole. Unable to show it because of the promise she'd made to Colonel Magnus.

“What I think is that I don't like you three putting yourselves between me and Jeb. It isn't right.”

“You've got one thing down.” Saxon spoke up. “It isn't right, but for more reasons than what your father is doing to you. I'm in this for more than you. Tyler Martin killed two of my men when he came after me earlier this year. Your father is protecting him.”

“So, you're using me?” she asked. “Nice try but I don't believe that.”

Saxon shrugged. “I don't have a lot of options, and your father isn't the only one who knows how to hold a grudge.”

“You're all sidestepping the fact that they know we're with Dunn. How long do you think it is going to be before they figure out we're here?”

“Longer than you think,” Dunn informed her. “I don't own this place.”

“Jeb's people will have a list of every friend you have.”

“Which is why we're in a place that belongs to a man I hate. Officially and very well documented.”

Damascus stared at him, shocked into silence. Dunn seemed to enjoy the moment. He tilted his head to the side and offered her a wink. “Shamus Campbell and I decided years ago that we'd be a lot more use to each other if the rest of the world thought we hated each other's guts. We throw a few punches at each other from time to time to keep the fire going.” His eyes were glittering by the time he finished filling her in. “No one will ever think I'm here, in his place, or that he is letting me use it.”

It was suddenly really clear where the guy got his arrogance from. He earned it.

“Again, how long are we going to hide?” She felt like she was trying to shoot holes in their reasoning with a straw and a spitball. “How long before your section leader has to give you up? He will, you know. He'll fold at some point because the price will just become too great. Jeb excels at that sort of thing.”

She turned and left, making her way down a hallway to a bedroom. Vitus wouldn't listen to her and she just couldn't bear to watch him toss away the only chance he had to make a getaway.

*   *   *

“Surprised to see me?”

Kagan didn't flinch, but it was a near thing. He blew across the surface of his coffee, taking a long time to take that first sip while Tyler Martin sat next to him on the park bench. Women with baby strollers went by as old men clustered around the picnic tables across the way playing chess. Above them all, the dome of the White House was in sight.

“Nope,” Kagan answered at last. “Not surprised. You're smart, even if your loyalty seems to go to the highest bidder.”

“Every man has his price,” Tyler replied. “You just take your worth in what you think is respect. I gave up on that pipe dream years ago.”

“So it seems.” Kagan turned to look at Tyler. “What do you want?”

“A trade.”

“And you think I'll toss in with you, when I know you'll turn over the second it benefits you?” Kagan chuckled, but the sound wasn't pleasant, not by a long shot. Tyler didn't miss it. He considered his ex–section leader for a good long time, weighing his expression.

“I need the girl.”

“Seems you need a few more of my men in the ground too,” Kagan cut back. “I'm no sellout. You know that.”

“It's in your best interest to bring them back now, before you get ordered to by the powers that be. Do it my way, and you'll have time to pull your men out of the line of fire.”

Kagan grunted. “Now why would you offer me such a nice, pretty little peace offering? You were trying to wax them a few months ago. Think I've forgotten that?”

“If I have the girl, I can work a new deal, one that won't include cutting through the Hale brothers. I never had anything against them personally.”

“Ah.” Kagan returned to sipping his coffee and looking across the park. “Carl has realized your services are for sale.”

“You may not like it, but as I explained to you before, this is the way the world is now. Men like us can no longer feel secure in our service. The powerful have gotten too big. We either give them what they want or get flattened when we end up in their path.” Tyler ended on a heavy note. “You know it's true, otherwise you would have put a bullet in my skull while you had me chained to that interrogation table.”

Kagan lost interest in his coffee, his temper straining against the hold he had on it. Tyler was so close, so damn close and he wanted to choke the life out of him with his bare hands, so that he could feel the bastard struggle for his last breaths.

“Get me the girl. I'll get Ryland off the Hale brothers.”

Kagan grunted. “I'm almost tempted to say yes, just to see how you manage to pull that one off. Ryland's a crazy son of a bitch. So fucking punch-drunk, he can't see how close he is to cutting off his own nose just to get his vengeance.”

“He is,” Tyler agreed. “But there is a bigger dog in the fight now, one that can pull on Ryland's chain. Think about it. We've worked well together for years, no reason to burn that bridge. He'll get her anyway. We might as well profit from it.”

Tyler Martin stood and started off down the path that wound its way through the park. Kagan didn't need to see the car that pulled up to the curb to pick him up. He knew it would be there; just as he expected his cell phone to buzz a few moments later. He looked at the text from Colonel Magnus and took a few large swallows of his coffee before tossing it into a trash can on his way back to his own people.

*   *   *

“You're not asleep.”

Damascus rolled over and looked at Vitus. God, she loved the way he stood. There was something so powerful, so solid about his stance. She could have sworn she could feel his strength radiating through the space between them. The semidarkness of the room just added to his persona.

“No. How could I sleep when I know you're wasting your chance to escape?”

He moved closer, coming to sit on the side of the bed. She should have felt exposed, wearing only a nightshirt and a pair of underwear but with Vitus she only seemed to notice just how comfortable she was.

“I can't abandon you, Princess.”

She heard the promise in his voice, and it made her shiver. The ripple of sensation traveled down her spine until it hit her toes and left them curled.

“You can't be responsible for me.” She sat all the way up and he reached for her, stroking her cheeks with a touch that set off a pulsing need deep inside her.

“I can,” he confirmed in a deep tone, one that she was tempted to take solace in.

“I'm poison.”

He'd made it across her cheek to where her hair was a bushy cloud. “You're a toxin, I won't argue the point.” He was threading his fingers through her hair, sending little waves of delight across her scalp. “Thing is, I'm addicted to you.”

He leaned in, holding her head so that he could press his mouth down on top of her lips, claiming them in a kiss that stole her breath. It was scalding hot and so sweet, she moaned softly as she felt her will disintegrating.

He was there and too close to deny her craving for him. She reached for him, grasping his shoulders as she kissed him back, seeking the taste of him, needing to brand it into her memory. Desperation fueled her and he answered with a vigor that left her breathless. He tore the sleep shirt up and over her head, grunting with victory as she landed back on her haunches in nothing but her underwear. He was looking at her, raking her from head to toe and then back to her bare breasts.

“I love your tits.” He leaned over and licked one nipple. It puckered in response as she gasped and gripped his head, holding it to her while she arched back to offer herself to him.

He made good use of her submission, sucking the little nub into his mouth and sending a bolt of need straight down to her clit. He was drawing on the sensitive point, pulling, nursing at it like a starving man, and it released the same hunger in her.

She needed to touch his skin. “Strip.”

It was an order, one that she issued in a husky tone she hadn't realized she possessed. He chuckled, releasing her breast as she caught a flash of his teeth because he was smiling so wildly.

“Yes ma'am.” The bed moved as he stood, but he stopped with his hands on the hem of his shirt. “Stay.”

She made a low sound that earned her a chuckle from him as he pulled his shirt up his body, reveling the cut abdomen and defined pectoral muscles of his chest. When the shirt was gone and he was looking at her again, she caught the determination in his expression.

“I said stay. As in, don't move, Princess.”

Vitus reached for the waistband of his pants. He popped open the button and moved to the next one on his fly. “You're going to do what I say for a change.”

“Like hell I am,” she argued before she rolled back and pulled her underwear off. There was a grunt from Vitus, but she kept rolling and ended up standing on the other side of the bed. She was closer to the windows in the room, the ones that were open to let in the night air and moonlight. It cast her in a white glow, one that she knew his night vision was perfectly capable of seeing.

“You will not tell me to sit still, Vitus.”

He took a moment to undo his boots before he shucked his jeans and came around the bed in nothing but skin. She bit her lower lip because she wanted to purr with satisfaction, but it seemed too dramatic, even if true.

“I'm really sick of everyone telling me what to do.” Her voice had lowered because he was coming closer, closing in on her, making her belly flip as her clit pulsed and every inch of her skin felt like it was a hundred times more sensitive. Thank God she'd stripped, because she couldn't have tolerated anything against her body, except him.

“I know the feeling, “he said softly. “I'm getting real tired of you pushing me away.”

He reached out, touching her belly, just above her navel. She jerked, drawing in a stiff breath as it felt like she was branded by that contact. It was all she could do to keep her eyes open because her brain was shutting down, leaving her only responses.

He drew his hand up, stroking her body between her breasts and further up to the delicate skin of her throat.

“I want to hear you tell me you want to marry me.”

His voice was a husky whisper, like it came out of his soul. It was an echo of her own.

“I love you.” She stepped toward him, feeling his hand slip around her neck to clasp it, capturing her even as she moved into his space. It was a vow she made with more than her words. She was committing to him with her actions, giving every inch of herself, without a backward glance.

He took her mouth, claiming it with a kiss that stole her breath. It was hard, just like him, the restraint he'd been using falling aside as their skin met. She opened her mouth for the thrust of his tongue, feeling his cock jerk against her belly as she pressed up against him completely. Somehow, she'd forgotten how small she was compared to him, having to rise up onto her toes to kiss him back. The difference in their strength should have intimidated her. Instead, she seemed to absorb it, adopting a boldness to match his.

Vitus scooped her up, cradling her as though she weighed nothing, and took her toward the bed. He rolled them across the cool sheets until he was on his back and lifted her up to sit on top of him.

“As you like it, Princess. You do the telling tonight.”

He stroked her sides, cupping her breasts for a moment before he lifted her up as she reached down to place his cock at the entrance of her body. He eased her down, making sure she was ready to take him. She didn't care for him holding her back, urgency pounding through her. She gripped him with her thighs and rose up as he grunted.