Big Bad Wolf (40 page)

Nick pulled a small case out of the back pocket of his jeans as he locked eyes with Jaymee. His blue-gray eyes were clear and steady.
“I’ll not do that even if you set it off accidentally.
If you go, you’ll take me with you.”

He opened the case and extracted the small instruments inside.

“Nick, please.”
She begged him with her eyes, her voice.
“You’re being unreasonable.”

“Don’t you have confidence in my skills, babe?
I’m more than a big, bad wolf, you know.”
His voice was teasing, as if it wasn’t a matter of life and death at that moment.
“You did say I have elegant, clever hands.”

Jaymee felt tape being pulled from her skin and she flinched at the sting of skin and body hair parting from the glue.

“Don’t move your thumbs, no matter what, sweetheart,” Nick continued, the deep timbre of his voice down to a croon.
“Really, when I told you I wanted you tied up, I meant in a more spread out position, Jaymee.
This one makes access difficult, to say the least.”

“Nick, this is no time to joke!”
She couldn’t believe he was capable of such calm, even making fun of the situation.

“Is she all right?” Jed interrupted from the doorway.

Nick didn’t turn around as he slowly cut the knots and pulled
at the tape binding
Jaymee’s wrists.
“Get out and make sure Grace and you are out of the way,” he calmly instructed.
“This one will take some time, cousin.
If you see my flashlight, come back on the roof to help me get her out through the skylight.
I don’t trust any of the doors.”

Jed, understanding the situation, didn’t argue.
“We’ll be waiting for your flashlight.”
Then Jaymee heard his fading footsteps.

“Did you miss me?” Nick asked as he continued working at the tape.

Jaymee looked at those long eyelashes, the sensual lips, the stubborn lock of hair across the forehead.
She noted the muscle ticking in his jaw.
He probably needed distraction more than she did, she realized with sudden insight.
The thought of her in danger would affect his concentration.
She must keep him from thinking she was hurt.

“Maybe,” she told him, forcing her voice to relax.
“But only the nice parts.”

She was rewarded with his sexy, crooked smile.
He looked at her again.
“The next tug is going to hurt.
The tape is wound around your thumbs.”

She nodded.
She understood the consequences if her thumbs jerked from any kind of pain.

“Ready?” he asked, keeping the smile on his face, although his eyes were oddly remote.

“Ready.”

She concentrated on her thumbs, stiffening them so they didn’t react from the expected sting.
Her breath caught sharply when the tape was ripped away, but she managed to keep her thumbs inert.
The air in her lungs hissed out in relief.

“Good girl.”
Nick picked up another small instrument. “Now, which nice parts did you miss, hmm?”

It was impossible to undo the rest of the knots and tape without hurting her.
He had to work while she still held on to the module.
Slowly, he pried open the small cover on top of the casing in her cupped hands.

Jaymee closed her eyes, trying not to think of what might happen if something went wrong.

“Your ass,” she told him.
“It’s a nice part.”

“Oh yeah?”
Nick’s eyes narrowed as he studied the electronics in the device.

“Your lips.
Your hands.
Your chest.
Your belly button,” Jaymee continued.

“You’re forgetting the best part,” he reminded her, as he spliced the wires.

She opened her eyes.
“Which part is that?” she softly queried.

“The big bang,” he said, and gave her a leer.
Reaching down, he picked up the tiny snips.

Her smile was brilliant, even though her lips trembled.
“Is it going to happen next?”

She looked meaningfully at the snips in his hand.
Nick leaned forward, carefully positioning the snips.

“Not if I can help it,” he whispered, his head dipping closer to hers.
He looked at the module one last time before giving her his full attention.
His eyes were unwavering, dilated from the intensity of his feelings.
“Don’t move your thumbs.”

Jaymee couldn’t really see him through the tears threatening to come out.
His lips were soft and warm against her own cold, dry ones.
His tongue flicked across them, wetting her lips and comforting her gently.
She didn’t mind if it ended this way, she thought in a daze.

“I love you,” she told him, as she heard the sharp snipping sound.

Silence.
Nick counted his heartbeat, his lips still on Jaymee’s.
Slowly, he straightened up, thinking Jaymee’s tear-streaked face was the most beautiful thing in the world.

“Silence is golden,” he gravely told her.

Her smile was tremulous, and the tears flowed again.
“You owe me a big bang,” she managed through the tears.
“I can’t deduct that from this week’s paycheck.”

“I’ll pay up,” promised Nick.
If they got out of this helltrap safely, he added, as he methodically untied her bound wrists.

Her hands and feet hurt even more once they were free, and Jaymee moaned softly as Nick rubbed them with strong, tender hands.
God, she loved those hands.
And she remembered.
She had told him she loved him, and she knew he’d heard her.
Those words had come out naturally.
Her only thought then was if she were to die, she wanted him to know the truth.

“Thank you, my hero,” she said aloud, getting off the sofa with his help and stumbling as her limbs refused to support her.

“You can thank me later, boss,” Nick drawled, then swung her into his arms.
“Let’s get you out of here first.”

He carried her out of the room, stopped long enough at a front window to flash a light to signal Jed, and moved on back under the skylight.

Jaymee curled her hands around his strong neck, reveling in the easy strength and secured warmth.
She had never felt safer.
For a while, alone in the house, she’d imagined dying and him never knowing how much she loved him.
Now he knew.
And she didn’t care.

Jed’s dark head appeared above them, and minutes later, they were climbing down the ladder off the roof.
When she finally stepped back from the house, Nick immediately lifted her off her feet again, and Jaymee didn’t protest.
She felt weak and needed him close by.
When Grace squeezed her hands anxiously, she smiled back at her.

“I’m OK,” she told her.

Nick passed Jed a telling look.
“Don’t go in there.
I’m going to have to comb through the whole house to make sure they didn’t leave any surprises.”

“No!”
Jaymee tightened her hold around his neck.
“No, call the police instead.
Let it stay like that forever.
I don’t care.
I don’t want you in there.”
The words tumbled out in panicked phrases.

“Jaymee…”

She didn’t care she was at the edge of hysteria.
The thought of him blowing up with the house was even more frightening than when she was alone in there, contemplating death.

“No, no, no!”
Her voice was adamant, fierce.
“If you risk your life in that stupid...empty house, I’ll go back in there with you.”

“I’ll call in a team,” Jed suggested quietly.

“Then Command will know where you are,” Nick pointed out, as they kept walking.
“I thought you wanted a stretch of time to do what you needed.”

Jed shrugged.
“I’ll think of something.
Disappear before they show up.”

“Please, Nick, don’t go in there,” pleaded Jaymee, interrupting the two men.
She wasn’t in the mood to stay out of their business.
This was her business now too, damn it!

Nick looked down at the face of the woman who had almost died because of him.
The feeling of helpless rage he was holding in check was threatening to break through again.

She had almost died.
And it was all his fault.
It humbled him to know she would have willingly sacrificed herself so he would be safe.

“All right,” he relented.
“We’ll work out an alternative.
But no one goes near or into that place till it’s swept by a team.”

Jed nodded.
“Go take Jay home now.
We’ll talk later.”

“Meet me there in three hours,” Nick said, his eyes still holding Jaymee’s.

He carried her all the way back, hardly out of breath as he made his way through the woods.
She clung to him, her hands stroking the back of his neck, her lips occasionally bestowing kisses anywhere they made contact.
They didn’t say a word in the gathering darkness as he walked, yet their hearts whispered and conversed, knowing how precious each passing moment was.

Bob, Lucky, and Dicker were still at the house when Nick climbed up the back porch and entered the kitchen.
Bob’s lined face was filled with worry as he took in the disheveled appearance of his daughter, the bruises on her face and arms.

“Good God, what happened?”
All three men got up from their seats.

Nick shook his head when Dicker pulled up a seat for him.
“I’m taking her upstairs.
She needs rest.”

“What happened?” Bob asked again.
“Are you all right, Jaymee girl?
Who were those men Rich and Chuck were talking about?”

“Not FBI,” replied Nick, a hard edge to his voice.
“Where are those two bastards, by the way?”
He wasn’t done with them yet.

“Took off the moment Chuck came to,” Lucky said.
“You OK, boss?”

“I’m fine, thanks to Nick.
Don’t worry, I’ll be back to work in the morning.”

“You just rest up.
I’ll take care of work,” Bob cut in.
“Go on and take her to her room, Nick.
We’ll talk about this later.”

No one questioned Nick’s actions, letting him take Jaymee to her room.
They understood something serious had occurred, recognized Nick had saved Jaymee from something.

“Don’t you worry, Jay,” Dicker called after them.
“Take tomorrow off.
We’ll get the roofs done.”

Nick carried her straight into the connecting bathroom after he kicked the bedroom door shut.
“A nice warm bath first,” he murmured.
“You need a good scrub, woman.
You’re all sweaty and dirty.”

“You too,” Jaymee said.
“You can put me down now, you know.”

“I want to carry you forever,” he said, simply.

Jaymee felt his tension and understood his desire to keep her close to him.
They had almost lost each other.
“I love you,” she told him.

“I know.”

He didn’t tell her he loved her too, but she could see it in his eyes.
There was a tenderness in them that seemed to make his eyes bluer, and her breath caught at the deep yearning in them.
She felt his emotions in the way he held her so tightly against his body.
She supposed it wasn’t easy for a man like Nick to say those words, not when he had been trying to sever the ties emotionally the last few days.

They bathed each other slowly, touching and exploring.
She kissed him, soothing the fury that rose when he saw the ugly bruises on her in better light.
He traced every part of her, as if committing her to memory, growling now and then as he found a scratch here, or a cut there.
He handled her with the attention of a mate, with such a gentle touch it made her want to cry.

After the bath, he carried her to bed, babying her, taking care of her every need, as if she w
ere
the most precious thing on earth to him.
And Jaymee let him.
She’d never felt like this before, out of control, yet also still in charge.
His hands were demanding, yet caring.
His kisses had an urgency that was both passionate and reverent.
His mouth found the vulnerable pulse in her neck, coming back to it again and again, as if her heartbeat reassured him somehow.
He leisurely explored the hollow in her throat, the dip between her breasts, the womanly curve of her abdomen.