Lie to Me (13 page)

Kella wanted to, but she’d already pushed boundaries, currently suffered the consequences, and she feared further retaliation.

“What? No witty comeback?” he prodded when she remained mute and just glared at him. “I’m disappointed. I thought you wanted to play.”

She whimpered, and in return his eyes dilated to slim pinpoints of black surrounded by ice blue. Bending his knees, he shifted his hold and caught her hip, using her leg to secure her in position as he rocked his erection against her pussy.

Fuck. Not a gun
. But a dick very interested in her.

A rough scrape of his cock against the curve of her core had her biting her bottom lip to halt her gasp. The cloth separating them resulted in more friction rather than eliminating the white-hot heat spreading from her center and to her limbs.

Holy fuck that is hot! Feels wonderful.

“Does this excite you, sunshine? Me in control? Dominating you?” Stone cupped her ass and ground against her, the hard seam of his leathers catching her clit. Nothing could’ve halted the shiver that went through her body.

A smirk twisted his lips as he lowered his head. Their gazes locked and held as he slid his mouth across hers, kissing the corner, to skate backward to peck the other corner. Kella stopped breathing and focused on the sensation of his near-smooch and the rub of his dick against her core...noting she rocked against him to increase the sensation.

“Such torture you do to this plump pad.” The tip of his tongue flicked along her bottom lip, and his coffee-scented breath puffed against her face. No one had ever kissed her. Sex was sex, a bodily function, something she’d done to survive, but a kiss was personal, intimate, and she’d never allowed anyone the opportunity to get this close to try. Even Stone hadn’t dared to steal one in their youth despite all his flirting.

Suddenly he released her and set her away from him. She blinked, trying to process the loss of his heat, the sensation of his mouth on hers, and the misery at losing the ache between her thighs.

Using his palm, he wiped
her
off his mouth. She flinched at the action, and the backhanded blow to her pride. He erased her taste while she’d wanted to get a better taste of him.

“You’ll do, but I prefer my wife’s kisses.”

Kella reeled as if he’d struck her and came up dead against the back wall comprised of steel and glass. Had he married since her escape? Unexplainable jealousy slammed through her.

He watched her like a cat watched a chipmunk it’d marked for death, yet his expression gave away nothing. She couldn’t even tell if he perceived her dismay over his rejection. While the rejection hurt, the worst part was that
she
had originally walked away from him, snubbed his offer of a future. How much had that hurt him?

Snubbed his future offer, as his slave and property, Kella, don’t forget that huge difference.

That reminder cleared her head a little, and she took charge of her emotions, tamping them down, while stiffening her spine and straightening her shoulders. Kella cleared her throat. “Thought you said you weren’t married any longer?”

He grunted, and watched her like he’d baited her just to discern her reaction. “Thought you said you’re a lesbian?”

Hard to believe moments ago she’d been aroused, would’ve let him in her pants without a second thought, and now fury swept through her. Married men were always trying to have sex with her. “Aren’t you a cliché?”

“You’re dangerously close to another insult.” The bemused grin teasing the corners of his lips hinted he wanted her to push him, so he could push her further.

“I’m dangerously close to kneeing you in the dick in defense of all women everywhere.”

He chuckled. “Please do. I’ll make you kiss the injury later.”

“You’re an...” Stone elevated his eyebrows, and she fell silent. It physically hurt to give in to him.

“Don’t disappoint, sunshine”—she shivered at the familiar endearment, but knew it meant nothing, he probably called every woman that, most likely hadn’t meant what she’d thought when they were kids either, not if he used it so easily with her—“I enjoy a good fight.” He sat on the bench next to the jewelry box and ogled her. His gaze slid along her body, and he pursed his mouth, but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what might be on his mind.

She turned just enough so she could lean her shoulder against the grimy windowpane, and went about inspecting the filth coating her fingernails. Cleanliness was an archeologist health hazard.

“Pity you gave up,” he said, and she peeked at him from beneath her lashes. Evident disappointment twisted his fucking sexy mouth into a displeased line. He lifted the container, placed it on his legs, and popped the lid. Fingering the jewels, he asked, “How much of this is real?”

“All of it.” Two of the pieces boasted diamonds as big as her thumbnail. The contents of the jewelry box were worth a small fortune. The find itself was a gold mine.

“As recompense for your insults, I claim the box of goodies for my wife.”

Kella bit her tongue. Disoriented by her first bout with adult arousal, and hurt by his rejection—which made little sense given their precarious circumstances—she would’ve given him any item he wanted on this train if it’d get him out of her hair. Anything for a free moment to catch her breath without his nearness confusing her further. She’d miss the monetary loss because the frams those gemstones would earn would feed her for well over a year. She’d scrounge for food if that were the price she had to pay. Wouldn’t be the first time she’d gone hungry or eaten from the garbage.

“Hope your wife enjoys the baubles.” She sniffed back the sudden burn in her sinuses and berated herself over her weakness. The first year on her own had taught her weakness got people killed...or worse. “Where’s your satanic sidekick?”

His eyebrows skyrocketed upward. She had no idea what spawned that reaction.

“Funny,” he considered her a long moment before continuing. “That’s twice you’ve referred to him as Satan.”

Kella gave a mental flinch. He had such an effect on her she forgot to watch her tongue.

“Only my wife has ever referred to James that way.”

“So you said before. I’m not seeing the importance of that,” she bluffed her way through the blunder, her belly rolling with the slip.

“I don’t believe in coincidence. Mackella—”

Her breath caught in her throat as he used his palm to brush dust off his thigh. Had he just called her by her given name or was she hearing things?

“—that’s my wife.”

Kella gave a relieved sigh.

“I’m looking for her. You know her?”

She held his gaze, her heartbeat thrumming in her ears. Loud. So freakin’ loud, she feared he could hear it. “Funny thing about coincidence, Regent, is that without happenstance, I’d rarely find my plunder.”

“And my wife?” A glint in his eyes hinted at something important, but once again it was beyond her grasp.

“If you’re looking for her, I’m surmising you ran her off, so she probably wouldn’t give me her real name anyway.”

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Stone rose to his feet, all six-four of his frame taking up all the oxygen in the room, his comment giving her the inclination he goaded her with a withheld essential. “Speaking of plunder, how many cars are in this dig?”

“One hundred sixty in that direction”—she nodded toward him, and then pointed behind her—“and ninety that direction.”

“How much is it worth?”

“A king’s ransom.” Trying to act normal rather than jittery over his questions about Mackella, she pulled her hair up, and tied it in a loose knot. “Why? You asking for first right of refusal?”

“No. If I want it, I’ll simply take it.” He rapped his knuckles on the box perched on his lap. “I’m staying at the Ritzzy under James Monroe.”

“Okay.” What’d she care?

“Meet me at my hotel this evening by nine or I’ll claim everything you have as mine,
Miss Ellason
.” He paused a moment before adding, “Including you.”

––––––––

S
tone returned to his hotel, leaving Mack behind. After their altercation on the train, he was even more certain she was indeed his lost bride. When he’d called her Mackella, she hadn’t hid her reaction nearly as well as she most likely hoped she had. He’d said little to James, just informed him Mack would join them for a late meal, but Stone was on edge, electrified in a way he hadn’t been since Kella’s disappearance.

She’d been hurt when he rejected her and pulled away from the kiss. But he’d been so close to stripping her and sliding into her, he’d had to put some distance between them. He would’ve given almost anything to watch her climax, but he wouldn’t consummate their marriage, not even with an orgasm, so long as she pretended to be another woman. Not because he didn’t find her attractive in her current visage because he’d proven today it didn’t matter what she looked like, he wanted her. End of story. In his mind, this served as proof Mackella Starke had been born for him. And that his puppy love had indeed been the real thing.

That little seed of doubt plagued him, though. He could be wrong, might be wrong, and James assured him he was. But if he was right...why’d Kella run from the protection he offered with his name. He’d told her he wouldn’t allow anyone to ever buy her, so he couldn’t understand her flight.

“You’re awfully quiet since meeting with Mack.” James parked the flyer at the edge of town and cloaked it after they exited the vehicle.

“Got a lot on my mind.”

“She pay you off with that?” His friend nodded at the jewelry box.

Stone grinned. At that point in their altercation, he suspected she would’ve agreed to anything to get rid of him. She sure hadn’t balked at him stealing a fortune from her.

“I more or less stole it from her,” he admitted and proceeded to recount the story of his theft.

James chuckled. “You’re an asshole.”

“That’s what she wanted to say.”

As they walked down the street side-by-side, James wore a brooding expression, thick grooves furrowing his brow. “Those jewels could mean her going hungry or not.”

Who knew James cared about the plight of commoners? Her dig would see she had food in her belly. “I threatened to take everything she had if she doesn’t show up tonight.” James gave him a sharp, judgmental glance. “Don’t be a dumbass. I won’t follow through, of course, unless she’s Kella.” Then he’d take the claim to safeguard
her
site.

James nodded. “I only know of one other holy terror that would go up against you. If she’s not Kella, she’s very similar to her in that aspect.”

“There are too many similarities to be coincidental.” Noting the workers pressure washing the wall to his left, Stone paused before entering the building. He shifted his stance to get a better look at the graffiti.

The words were faint, but he could make them out.

Break the chains of oppression
.

X-Diplomats.

Join the revolution.

“The X-Ds are a fucking nuisance here.” James shook his head as they entered the establishment. “I’ll warn you again not to get your hopes up.”

“And I’ll tell you I told you so when we prove she is Kella.” Stone inspected a busty blonde as she approached them, hips rolling in a sexual manner. “The blonde woman is headed straight for us.” Had she looked anywhere else other than at them, he wouldn’t have known they were her targets.

“Got her.” From the corner of his eye, Stone spied James placing his palm on the butt of his weapon secured to his hip.

“Regent,” she said as she performed a slight curtsy. A few customers glanced their way, not surprising since he hadn’t dressed like a nobleman or required attention in the normal way. “I’m Kris Stoddard. My employer, Mark Evans, requests a meeting with you in the hotel’s saloon.”

“How about this, doll,” James said cool as ice, while his fingers curled around her upper arm. She winced at James’s rough handling. “We’ll meet your employer on
our
terms.”

“But Mr. Evans—”

“Silence,” James hissed the command into her ear, but not quietly enough that others didn’t peer about as he guided her out of the lobby. And by ‘guided’ Stone really meant dragged. “Another word and I’ll slice your throat.”

It wasn’t an idle threat. He took Stone’s safety seriously. Snapping her teeth together in an audible crack, she seemed to realize her precarious position. At least the girl was wise-ish in that regard.

As James moved into the hallway toward their adjoining bedrooms, Stone knelt in the doorway and palmed his gun from his ankle holster. He took a moment to glance around the establishment. A handful gawked at their sudden kidnapping, but none made an effort to assist her. Delighted he wouldn’t have to defend their cause, he couldn’t help but wonder if Kella had been placed in a similar situation at any time since her getaway. Vulnerable women were susceptible to predators. The idea of Kella being harmed in any way made him see red.

Spying two of his guards in casual clothing, he shook his head, a silent command to hold their positions. Their training would ensure they’d notify the remaining four soldiers while awaiting further instructions.

As best he could tell, nothing and no one else appeared out of place, but this wasn’t their backyard so he watched their backs nonetheless. Once inside Stone’s room, she screeched and dug her heels into the carpeting. Probably thought they planned to rape her. She should’ve thought of that sooner in his opinion.

James rounded on her while Stone shut and locked the door.

Stone set the jewelry box on the table as a brief scuffle developed between James and Kris, but in a matter of seconds his bodyguard had her wrists cuffed.

“Shut the fuck up.” At James’s order, she went eerily silent. Her heavy panting was the only noise in the bedroom.

“Please don’t...” her voice trembled, and again Stone thought of Kella in a comparable predicament.

“If I wanted to hurt you I would, and you couldn’t stop me.” In that moment he sounded very much like the Satan Kella accused him of being. “My beef is with your employer.” James hauled her across the room and thrust her into the bathroom. Wearing a woebegone expression, she faced them as his friend said, “I’ll release you the moment our chat with him is finished.”