Hot & Humid (4 page)

Rainwater slicked her wrist. Brine yanked hard popping her hand free of the cuff. Thane cursed when the cuff came back to hit him in the face. Surprised, she dove for the truck door. She jumped out, leaving the passenger side hanging open wide. She took off for the woods, slipping through the mud as she went.

“Brine!”

He shouted her name as he gave chase. She had to get away from him. Fast. It didn’t take long before Brine was back into the thick of the redwood forest. There were lots of hiding places, but she kept running and leaping over roots. She glanced over her shoulder as she rounded a sequoia. Thane was hot on her tail. He was going to catch her if she didn’t keep moving.

She cut right and dove between trees. Brine sunk down to her knees between the thick roots of two trees. She heard the sound of his boots go crashing by. She gripped the thick bark. He called her name again over the storm.

“Brine! You’re going to get lost out here.”

She looked around. The access road that brought her to this point wasn’t visible from this spot. She tried to backtrack in her mind. How far had she run? She wasn’t sure. She once went fifteen feet past a paved trail and was lost in the forest. Fear rippled down her spine. Off in the distance, she heard Thane calling for her. It’d be easy to answer. Brine caught her breath, bringing down her racing heart.

She should try to head back to the road while Thane was out of sight.

She could sense him rather than see his presence. He was stalking her through the woods. She didn’t believe for a minute that he’d give up on her. He was out there waiting, watching to make his move.

A thrill of erotic danger danced over her skin. She didn’t know this man. Nor did she know what he was capable of doing to a woman. They always said it was the chase that got men off. Playing hard to get and not giving in to what they wanted. Playing hard to get was what Brine did best. Hide and seek was her specialty. No man ever got close enough to Brine to capture her heart.

Native blood ran strong through her lineage, especially on her grandmother’s side. When she was young she discovered that she had a way of communicating and being one with nature that allowed her to blend in. Not many could pull it off the way she could. She could move silently when she wanted.

Thane moved closer. She could sense him tracking her by the disturbances she’d made on the forest floor. In her haste to get away, she hadn’t thought far enough ahead to hide her tracks. He was smart but she knew she could outsmart him from this point on. She’d give him points for his tracking skills only if he found her.

A plan skated quickly through her mind. She’d backtrack to his truck and steal it. That thought gave her pause. Was she really going to steal his truck?
Oh boy.
Grand theft auto was not on her list of things to do today. That meant she’d have to go for plan B.

Brine blended herself in with the background as Thane emerged from around a sequoia. His predatory eyes skimmed over the foliage she was hidden within. She stilled her breathing. He didn’t see her. Relief fluttered through her body. He moved around, searching. He knew she was nearby but he couldn’t find her.

“I’m leaving! Have a nice life!” he yelled.

A sigh shuddered through her body. Thank goodness he was giving up on her. She could go all night and day when it came to this game. Off in the distance, she heard his truck horn honk a jingle and the tires squeal down the road. Brine rolled onto her back, letting the rain wash over her face. She let her fingers thread through the forest floor. The soft texture was soothing and comforting. It was difficult to admit that her body had awakened by the touch of his hand.

Thane was a complicated man. A sexy man. Dangerous to her sense of balance. It’d been a long time since Brine met anyone like him and an even longer time since she let anyone get close enough to play tongue tag.

A worthy adversary.

Brine liked poking the bear. It was one of the things she got off on. Riling a man brought a shot of lust to her blood. Everyone knew there was a thin line between fighting and fucking. Since she wasn’t fucking, she loved a good fight. Brine wondered how far she could push Thane before he broke. She suspected he wasn’t a man that easily lost his cool when it came to women. No, he probably was always in control.

Ten minutes and some change went by before Brine started to move slowly from her hiding spot. The rain still slanted down through the trees. Big dewy drops sprinkled down around her and had her looking where she knew he wasn’t. Brine thought about the long walk ahead. She’d have to hit the access road and hike it down to Vick’s Brew & Que where she could call Stephanie to come pick her up.

It was a little ways down, but if she hurried she could make it before nightfall. Brine kept off the access road and tried to keep to the tree line but it wasn’t long before she got off track. It took her hours to hoof it down to Vick’s. Bikes and trucks were parked out in front of the bar. Music vibrated the log walls.

She stomped the mud off her boots as she opened the door. Music pumped from an old juke in the corner. Peanuts dusted the floor and every seat at the bar was taken. The dance floor was rowdy. Pool balls clacked from the back room and shouts erupted from the corner. All eyes hit the door as the rain chased her inside. She ignored the looks and went straight for the payphone in the hallway by the restrooms.

“Well, look what we have here. Aren’t you a pretty little thing.”

Brine picked up the receiver and cast a glace over her shoulder. The guy in the hall was a big one all the way around. No dial tone. The thing was busted. She slammed it down hard.

“I bite,” she said.

“I bet you do, shhhugar.”

He came in close, blocking her escape from the hallway. The music would drown out any scream that spilled from her lips. She was in big trouble and she knew it. “My boyfriend’s the bartender.”

“Dake? Naw, he’s got that pretty little new waitress thing he’s been screwing in the office.”

“She’s with me.”

The sound of Thane’s voice coming over the brute’s shoulder was a short-lived relief. She was trading one problem for another. She stepped forward, patting them both on their shoulders. “How about you two work this thing out while I go powder my nose. I’ll go home with whichever one of you is still standing.”

She sashayed her way into the restroom and locked the door behind. There were two stalls. Above the last stall a foot-tall rectangle window was cranked open. Two thin chains kept the glass from opening all the way. That was her way out. Brine went into the last stall and stood on the toilet. She reached over the stall and unhooked the chains. The window eased down and sat nicely on the windowsill.

Brine tested the window with her weight. If she slid carefully along the windowsill, she could escape both men. Brine balanced her weight on top of the stall and hooked her leg over the top. She leaned on the windowsill and looked at the ground on the other side. It was at least eight feet down. Pounding sounded on the door.

“Brine! Open up!”

Thane was going to break the door down if she didn’t hurry. “Just a minute! I’m going number two!”

“Open the door!”

She slid her legs through first and was about to lower herself to the ground when the bathroom door slammed open. Her gaze locked onto Thane. She let go and landed with a thump in muddy runoff. He’d followed her down from the mountain. How else would he know where she was?

The sneaky man was good.

She took off for the woods. Darkness consumed her. She knew this was dangerous. She shouldn’t run too far. She’d get lost. Brine stopped several feet in and circled back around. Option one was to wait him out again, she thought. That sounded good to her as she played quiet. She eased back into the darkness and bumped into a solid wall of man.

She screamed and Thane lifted her off her feet. She fought his hold, but he was stronger. He set her on her feet and pushed her solidly against the tree. She felt him shoulder to boots with her bottom fitting snugly against his crotch. They were both breathing fast and in unison. Rain slipped down the bark, spilling between her breasts.

“You’re trying my patience. I can’t leave you out here alone. Either I drive you home or I call in the law. What’s it going to be?”

She didn’t want to go anywhere with him. Deep down she knew it was handing over control of a situation out of control. She was tired. Using Thane for a ride home was better than going back into the bar to maybe get a phone call out to Stephanie. “You.”

“Good choice. I don’t see a girl like you spending the night in the can.”

“A girl like me. What’s that supposed to mean?”

His hand brushed over her cheek. “You’re soft.”

“You don’t know me that well if you think I’m soft.”

“You’re not the pain in the ass you’re pretending to be. For some reason you like to push men away.” He brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I plan on getting to know you
very
well. You won’t be pushing me away.”

He held her close for several extra seconds. Longer than he should have. Longer than was appropriate for any man. Of course, they stopped being appropriate the moment they traded spit. His heat seeped through her wet clothing. Slowly, he backed up. Lightning snapped nearby with thunder echoing on its heels. It was enough of a distraction for Brine to take off again. He was reaching too late for her as she slipped through his arms.

Brine stumbled over the thick roots. She was caught around the waist before she hit the ground. Thane snapped the cuff around her wrist again, tightening it to her skin. He lifted her up over his shoulder again and made the trek around the back of Vick’s to his truck. Brine watched the ground disappear. Her gaze went to his muscular ass.
Not bad.

He opened up his truck and scooted her across again.

“No running this time. Got it?”

There was a lethal intensity about him that Brine knew to pay attention to. Thane was getting close to snapping and she didn’t want to be anywhere near him when he did. It was then she knew how dangerous the fire was she was playing with. Perhaps she made a mistake in ruining his day. Deep down she knew this mess wouldn’t be over when he dropped her off at her house.

Chapter Three

He started the truck, taking her wrist with him as he did. He ran a hand through his dark hair, sending rainwater dripping down his back. She owed him a thank you for saving her from the drunk guy back in the hallway. Brine didn’t like owing anyone anything.

She shivered from the cooling night and he cranked up the heat. Then he reached behind the seat dragging a soft black leather jacket out. He dropped it around her shoulders, pulling it close under her chin. His kindness wasn’t a surprise, but endearing. She turned away from his gaze as she inhaled the spicy scent of his cologne. He smelled good.

She shivered as she studied his hard profile as he drove. There was something erotically pleasing about watching a man do things. She never imaged that a man driving an oversized work truck would catch her interest, but it somehow it did.

“What?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Where are you taking me?”

He gave her a long, hard look as he headed for the double-lane highway. One that told her that she was walking a thin ledge made of sandstone. She could see herself easily slipping on the sand and falling right into his arms.

“Home. Unless you had other plans?”

She shook her head. “Home is good. How do you know where I live?”

“I called the paper and spoke with Stephanie.”

So that was how he found out about the two-family house she split with Poppy’s Psychic’s Shop. She hoped Stephanie didn’t mention the toy shop Poppy ran in the back room.

She looked away, suddenly embarrassed by the thought of someone like Thane driving her home. Elam was a man of wealth. As far as Brine was concerned, they didn’t exist in the same world. Wrong and right side of the tracks didn’t even begin to describe their differences. Brine was definitely on the side marked Superfund site.

Sexual tension vibrated between them. Brine didn’t know how to handle the sudden erotic pull this man had over her. It was confusing to her sensible side.

They were silent as he drove through town, speeding past beautiful homes. He’d pulled their cuffed hands to his leg to drive more easily, forcing her hand to feel the heat through his wet jeans. Oak Street was on the crummy side of town with storefront shops that flashed twenty-four hours and things cashed fast. A train whistled off in the distance as he turned down the alley between buildings. He drove up and parked in front of her place, leaving the truck running.

“Thanks for the ride. Do you mind?”

She held up her wrist and he arched one of those dark brows. She knew that now that he had her he wasn’t going to let her go without a fight.

“I told you that you’re mine. I take care of what’s mine.”

Brine yanked her wrist away. “I am not yours. Now, let me go!”

“Not going to happen like this. I’m not going to let you walk away while you’re angry with me.”

“I’m not angry with you.”