And he was taking in every inch of her face, her expression, whatever he saw in her eyes.
“You’re not okay.”
Duh. She’d just finished puking her guts up while escaping.
Thank God he had changed shirts and cleaned his blood up, but there was still a smear of red at his hairline. The sight of it had her stomach turning, as memories raped her mind.
“I’m fine now,” she assured him, giving a brief shrug as she moved to pass him.
He caught her again. His fingers curled around her upper arm as her breath caught in her chest, and tears clogged her throat. The past was too close. There had been too many times that she had seen the results of Sorrel’s horror. The pictures he had sent her. See what you caused, baby girl? Come home to Daddy so he doesn’t have to hurt anyone else.
Sorrel had played with her. Just as someone was trying to play with her now. Who? He’d had no partners other than her brother.
“Tey?” His voice was a dark croon as his head lowered, his hand smoothing to her hip, fingers burning through the thin material of the short T-shirt dress she had changed into.
Her eyes closed as his lips pressed to the bared curve of her shoulder and he pulled the material to her side. When he placed her head against his opposite shoulder, she felt her breath hitch in her throat.
She could feel the warmth of him against her, his hand stroking up her back, then returning to her hips. The sheer gentleness, the tension of banked hunger, the need she could feel, unspoken and louder than words, surrounded her.
“Take me with you.”
The plea escaped her lips before she could pull them back. She was terrified to let him out of her sight now. The panic building inside her threatened to send her running back to the bathroom.
She had spent so many years knowing each time she was separated from whoever attempted to protect her, they died. They were tortured, left lifeless after hours of pain.
“Tey,” he whispered her name again, his fingers tightening on her hips once again. “Play your part, sweetheart. John, Travis, Bailey, and Lilly are going to rush you to the senator’s as the others carry me out. I’ll be there soon.”
He moved to pull back.
“No, not yet.” Her hands tightened on his shoulders, the need to hold him in place overwhelming now. “Listen to me, Jordan. Every time. Every time they left me and thought I was protected, they were killed.” A sob escaped her lips. “You know they were. They were tortured.…”
It was all she could see. Jordan, his expression twisted in agony because he hadn’t talked. Jordan wouldn’t talk. He’d never tell anyone where she was if she were hidden. And they would ensure he died in agony.
“I’ve got this, baby.” As he lifted his head, his hand rose and cupped her cheek, his gaze locked with hers.
This wasn’t the man she had worked with. If she had dared express concern or fear for his life then, the ice that was so much a part of him would have kicked in.
It didn’t this time.
His gaze actually softened, his lips quirked in tender amusement, but in his expression she saw his refusal to do as she asked.
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“I’ve got this,” he repeated, his lips touching hers, brushing against them. “When we’re finished here, it’s going to be over, and you’re going to be safe. I won’t have it any other way.”
She had to clench her teeth against the urge to beg. This expression she knew. There was no changing his mind, and John, Travis, and their wives would ensure she was where she was supposed to be.
“Noah has my back,” he promised her. “Nik and Micah have his. I’ll slip into the senator’s estate tonight, as soon as we’re finished.”
She tried to shake her head, tried to speak. His hand tightened on her jaw, his lips covered hers, and the kiss he gave her rocked her to the soles of her feet.
His lips rubbed against hers, stroked, and sent heat flushing through her system in a slow burn that, at first, seemed harmless enough.
The heat rose slowly, enveloping her, flowing into her blood and spiking it with a hunger she couldn’t deny, or hide.
Her arms curled around his neck, her fingers feathering into the back of his hair as a moan whispered past her lips, and the need to hold on to him began to grow inside her.
She felt the hunger beginning to infuse both of them, his body tensing, his cock pressing more firmly against the juncture of her thighs as his hand slid up her leg.