“He knew immediately I didn’t react to his voice. Not everyone does. That must have intrigued him because he started watching me. I’d spot him sometimes on the headlands walking with a woman, kissing her even, but he would be looking at my cottage.”
Savage didn’t interrupt her to tell her Brandon wasn’t intrigued with her because she hadn’t succumbed to the persuasion of his voice. Savage had recognized certain traits in her the moment he was with her. Not only that she had a gorgeous, curvy body, but that she might be more likely to be open to his needs. Granted, he was the kind of man who was trained in spotting every type of characteristic in others, but that didn’t mean someone like Brandon might not see those things in her as well. Savage didn’t tell her because Seychelle still hadn’t quite come to terms with her nature, and it would embarrass her to think anyone else might see into her darker needs.
“When I thought I’d lost you, Savage, I lost a part of myself. I felt broken inside. It was silly, really, because we were just friends. You’d made that clear. We hadn’t been together intimately …”
“I have to stop you right there, baby,” he said. “We were more intimate than I’d ever been with anyone. Ever. You knew it. I knew it. Both of us felt broken, and that was on me. I should have just told you what I was, but I was afraid of losing you, so I blew it before we even got started.” He pressed her palm tighter into his thigh. He couldn’t let her think she was the only one damaged by his careless behavior.
She flicked him a quick look from under her thick, dark lashes, and his gut twisted. Those blue eyes of hers did him in every fucking time. The smallest beginnings of a smile flirted with her lips, and that dimple on the left side of her mouth flashed briefly, making his heart turn over.
“I wasn’t myself,” she corrected. “I didn’t pay attention like I should have. By that time, I knew he was upset with me. I’d gotten Sahara back to her parents and out of his reach. He came with Doris, and I thought it was to find where Sahara was so he could get her to come back. I also thought it was to show me he could control Doris, my friend, to subtly threaten me through her. That wasn’t his intent either. I opened myself up inadvertently because I wasn’t paying enough attention. By doing so, I put you in danger.”
Her palm rubbed back and forth on his thigh, and she looked down at his hand covering hers, unable to meet his eyes, as if she was ashamed.
“Baby, I still don’t understand.” He didn’t. His brothers had been watching over her at the time, since she wouldn’t let him into her life. They’d even recorded the encounter for him. Savage had watched the recording several times and he’d been angry with her, but only because she’d been listless and despondent, seemingly not interested in Doris’s visit until she suddenly turned her head to look Brandon straight in the eye at something he said. The camera caught her look of absolute challenge. She had a fuck you look on her face. There was no mistaking it. Brandon wouldn’t mistake it. She had issued a challenge, and no way was that man going to back down.
“He used his voice on Doris all the time, having her tell him when someone was visiting Sahara and then later Tessa. He asked her details about you and me, and she told him, all chatty and innocent, but always on his side because wasn’t he wonderful.” She sounded sarcastic. “I should have known he was being too heavy-handed.”
She sighed and looked up at him again. This time he read remorse. Her eyes were overbright, a beautiful gem-like sapphire.
“He wanted me to stop him, Savage. He wanted me to shield Doris from him. That opened me up to him. He saw my notes and could trace them just as easily as I could trace his. That was what he wanted from me, a thread. He didn’t have to be stronger. He just needed an in and I gave it to him because I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Baby, you can’t think that way.”
“He wants you gone. Out of his way. I really made him angry. I turned down his invitation of a date, and he’s very vain. Then I interfered with Sahara and got her away from him. Then I did it again with Tessa. You’re mine, Savage. If for no other reason, he’ll try to take you away from me.”
“Before you decide this is all on you, let’s separate what we think is going on here. First, you think Brandon is the one who put out a hit on me. If he’s using a suggestion buried in his voice, he wouldn’t be paying for a hit, Seychelle.”