Commanding Her Trust (13 page)

“Erin?” he called again.

Still nothing, the kind of nothing that made the hairs stand up on his arms and his throat grow tight. Blake set the wok on the stove but didn’t turn on the burner. Instead, he headed for the stairs, wiping his damp hands on his jeans as he went.

There had to be a logical explanation. Maybe she had found the iPod in his suitcase and was checking out his playlists. Erin had always loved to play her music loud and he doubted becoming a mom had changed that.

A mom. Erin was a mom.

A mom who had left her little girl with a potentially dangerous man. The knowledge all but killed the spark of pleasure the idea of meeting Erin’s daughter had inspired.

What could have driven her to make that kind of decision? Was she so traumatized by her marriage that she wanted out any way she could, even if that meant leaving her daughter behind? Maybe she’d wanted to take her baby with her, but hadn’t had the money, as Rafe had suggested.

Or maybe she just hadn’t taken to being a parent the way he’d always thought she would.

They’d never really talked about kids in-depth, but even as a teenager Erin had seemed like the kind of woman who would grow up to be a great mother. The way she’d taken care of the younger foster kids in Phil’s house had always impressed him. She hadn’t just made sure they had something to eat or helped them with homework, she’d done her best to make them smile, to lessen the negative impact of living with Phil in her own small way.

Could she have changed so much in eight years?

Blake had to find out. She’d probably be pissed that he’d snooped around behind her back, but he intended to talk this through. Tonight.

He turned the corner, and his stomach dropped

“Erin?” He said her name one last time, even though the open window next to Erin’s bed assured him she wouldn’t be answering his call.

She was gone.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Erin

Erin burst out of the woods just as the sun was setting, painting the woods in soft rose light with dark blue shadows gathering beneath the trees.

Despite the cold mountain air, sweat dripped down the valley of her spine. Her face was scratched from fighting her way through the low-hanging limbs and her jeans were soaked through to the knee from wading through the snowdrifts. But at least she’d made it to the edge of the little town where she’d glimpsed lights shining the night before.

She hadn’t dared take the road. It would have taken too much time and Blake would have found her for sure. Even now, he might still find a way to stop her. He had to have realized she was gone and put two and two together to guess where she’d go now that she had her freedom. The town at the bottom of the ravine was the only sign of civilization, and the only place where she might find someone to help her.

“Or a bus station, if I’m lucky.” Erin took a deep breath and exhaled a puff of white. The temperature was falling fast.

Even warm from her run and wearing a heavy sweater, she was starting to feel the cold. Luckily the boots Blake had brought for her seemed to be waterproof, but her jeans were not. The damp fabric felt like it was freezing to the skin beneath. She had to find a place to get inside and get warmed up before she risked frostbite—hopefully that bus station she was dreaming about. A bus ticket and a snug little waiting room that served hot chocolate would be heaven right now.

Or maybe something a little stronger than hot chocolate. An Irish coffee sounded good. Anything to help numb the pain and anxiety flooding through her system. She’d only spent a
day
with Blake, but leaving him was as horrible as it had been the first time. Far worse than leaving the man she’d been married to for years.

But she couldn’t think about that now. She had to focus on getting the hell out of Dodge.

Erin set a swift pace down the street toward a line of wooden buildings resembling the main drag of an Old West town. She was still too far away to know for certain, but the businesses appeared to be mostly souvenir shops and outdoor supply stores. There were only a few cars parked alongside the street, but, hopefully, that meant there were a few townspeople who hadn’t headed home for dinner yet. Surely one of them would be willing to give her a ride to the bus station. Or at least let her use their phone to call someone to help her if there wasn’t a station in town.

Her cell had died sometime between leaving L.A. and arriving in the mountains. She must have forgotten to charge it before she went to work Friday night. Stupid and careless, but she hadn’t anticipated being gone from home more than a few hours. She certainly hadn’t imagined being kidnapped and ending up in a sleepy mountain town desperate to make contact with one of her few friends in Los Angeles.

They hadn’t known each other long, but she was guessing Cassandra from the bar wouldn’t mind driving a few hours to pick her up, as long as Erin paid for her gas and spilled all the sordid details of how she’d ended up stranded in the middle of nowhere. Cassie lived for gossip whether it be the Hollywood variety sold at grocery store checkouts or the intimate details of her friends’ and coworkers’ lives. She’d break every speed limit between L.A. and wherever the hell Erin was calling from as soon as she heard the words “kidnapped” and “ex-lover” in the same sentence.

The idea of the ride home with Cassie, however, made Erin pray there was a bus station close by. She didn’t want to talk about what had happened with her and Blake. Not now, maybe not ever.

She broke into a jog, swiftly closing the distance to the only business still open this late in the winter months. Skiing was a big tourist draw in these parts, but a little town at the bottom of a ravine too steep for the skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts to maneuver probably didn’t see much action once the sun went down. The tourists all flocked back to Arrowhead or Big Bear to eat and drink away the chill from a day spent on the slopes.

But even a tiny town like this one had the requisite mom-and-pop diner, serving eggs and pancakes in the morning and other down-home favorites the rest of the day. The blackboard nailed to the wall outside proclaimed today’s special to be chicken fried steak with potatoes and gravy and green beans.

Erin’s stomach rumbled, despite the fact that chicken fried steak would no doubt be a pathetic meal compared to the pasta Blake had been preparing for them up in his cabin. He’d told her he’d brought a bottle of Merlot to go with the food and cheesecake for dessert, and sounded so excited to share both with her.

To share the evening with her, period.

But how could he have really felt that way if he’d been so desperate to invade her privacy the second her back was turned? And not just invade her privacy by himself, but ask some friend of his to do it, to delve into her past and find out if she was a
criminal
, for God’s sake.

It made her wonder what he’d really thought of her all those years ago. If he’d known her as well as she’d thought, surely he would have realized she would never do anything illegal.

Scandalous and wild, yes. Reckless and stupid, probably. But not illegal. That wasn’t her. Never had been, never would be.

The sound of a car pulling down the road behind her made Erin press closer to the wall of the diner, hoping the awning shading the entrance would conceal her. With her blond hair and light blue sweater, it wouldn’t be that difficult to spot her from the road. And if Blake saw her, she was as good as caught. There was no one on the street to hear her scream for help, even if she managed to call out before he hustled her into the Expedition.

A quick peek over her shoulder revealed a beat-up Jeep trundling down the road, not Blake’s Expedition. She was safe for now, but the clock was ticking.

Blake was coming for her; she could feel it in her gut. He wouldn’t let her go without a fight, she knew that much. He’d feel betrayed that she’d run, as betrayed as she’d felt when she’d discovered how little he trusted the woman he professed to love.

But she should have known better than to fall for that so fast. It didn’t matter how much history they had. He was a stranger and she’d proven her heart should never be allowed out of the cage she’d put it in the past two years.

A bell rang above the door as Erin pushed inside the diner. The smells of frying meat and homemade bread engulfed her, making her stomach rumble again. It had been a long time since brunch and she and Blake had made sure she’d worked up a hearty appetite.

Erin’s muscles ached from their marathon lovemaking as much as her run down the mountainside. But those aches would fade in a few days’ time. No telling how long the aching in her chest would last. Her stupid heart had already grown ridiculously attached to Blake again.

So attached it raced with excitement, not fear, when a large hand suddenly closed around her wrist.

“I figured you’d come here. Only place in town open after five during the winter.” Blake’s eyes were dark and expressionless, but Erin could feel the anger in the iron grip of his fingers.

“Let go of me. I’m going home,” Erin said, keeping her voice low so as not to attract any more attention from the few diners scattered throughout the small restaurant. People were already staring, no need to make a scene.

Yet.

But if Blake didn’t take no for an answer…

“You’re going back to the cabin with me,” Blake rumbled in his deep, dangerous voice. “I’m going to do what we came here to do. Right now. Afterward, I’ll drive you home myself. Tonight if you want.”

“What I want is for you to let me go.” Erin tried to jerk away, but he held her tight. “I’m not going back to the cabin, and I’m not letting you touch me again. With a tattoo needle or anything else.”

“You’ll do what I ask you to do for the next few hours,” he assured her, his tone making her shiver.

“I’m not playing games anymore, Blake,” Erin said, hoping he read the truth in her eyes. “I will not obey you, I will not submit to you, and I’m not going anywhere with you willingly. You’ll have to use force.”

“I don’t have a problem with that.” His eyes glittered with anger and something else, something that looked a lot like hurt.

“Well, I do. Try to drag me out of here and I will scream for help,” she whispered. “I’ll tell these people to call the police and you’ll end up spending the night in jail.”

Blake made a sound halfway between a grunt and a growl. “That was your plan all along, wasn’t it? Act like you cared about me, get me to lower my guard, and then make a run for it?”

“Yep. Sure was.” Erin hoped the words hurt him as much as he’d hurt her.

That
had
been her plan at first. No need to let him know how her plan had changed, how she’d started to dream about the future they were going to have together.

“Like I said before,” Blake said. “You’re a great actress. You had me completely fooled.”

Erin flinched despite herself. Angry Blake she could deal with, but hurt Blake made her feel like she was being gutted by the pain in his words. It was almost enough to make her tell him the truth—that she’d been as fooled as he was until she’d heard him on the phone checking into her criminal background.

Criminal
background.

The thought made her grit her teeth. Anger banished the last of her guilt. This man didn’t know her and didn’t trust her. Talking would be futile.

“That must have been hard for you, pretending to be attracted to me, to be falling in love with me again,” Blake said, his grip on her wrist growing so tight Erin flinched again, this time in pain.

“You’re hurting me.”

“Good.” His eyes grew colder, but his fingers gentled on her arm.

Erin took the opportunity to jerk her hand free and back a few steps away.

“You should go.” She crossed her arms and stuck her chin in the air, willing herself not to show how upset she was. “People are starting to stare.”

Blake took a menacing step forward. “Let them stare. I’m not going anywhere without you, even if I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you back to the car.”

“So I guess you want to go to jail,” Erin said, a part of her wanting to slap the stubborn expression off of his face.

What was he thinking? This was insane. He couldn’t abduct her
again
in front of half a dozen people and expect to get away with it. He really would be arrested if he tried that.

“Is that why you kidnapped me in the first place?” she asked. “You have dreams of a life behind bars?”

“I’ll give you one last chance, Erin.” Blake stilled, watching her like a predator stalking prey he had no doubt he would catch. Eventually. “Walk with me to the car, or I’m going to carry you out.”

“You’re crazy if you think—” Erin’s words ended in a gasp as Blake did exactly as he’d threatened, scooping her over his shoulder in one smooth movement and turning toward the door.

“No! Put me down!” She yelled, pounding on his back with her fists.

How dare he? She was not a child or a dog who’d run off into the woods!

She was an adult who—no matter what her sexual preferences were—deserved to be treated with respect and to have people listen when she said “no.” Her husband might never have gotten that message, but Blake sure as hell would. She’d send the bastard to jail and see how
he
enjoyed having his free will stolen away.