Quinn II (Undaunted Men #2) (3 page)

“Which is?”

“What is the big secret that I’m not supposed to find out about?” I stiffen and chew on the inside of my cheek, thinking about how I can weasel out of this one.
 

“It’s complicated.”

“You’re such an asshole.” Then she quotes me verbatim, “
Trust me, even if she found out, I’ve got her in my back pocket. I’m certain she won’t be running away from me anytime soon, by then it’ll be too late.”
She pushes against my chest, willing me away, but I don’t budge. “Explain that one to me, Quinn!” she screams out.

I grab her firmly by her shoulders, willing her to settle down. “Dammit, stop it for a minute, will you? I must’ve meant something to you, or you would have left my angel pendant behind. You still took it with you, knowing what that necklace meant to me, and you knew what I was handing over when I gave it to you. There was no ruse in that. I was being genuine. I was handing you my heart, not a piece of metal with a gem tacked on.”

Her eyes open wide, glistening against the firelight as she clutches the pendant tightly in her hand. She looks away and stares off into the distance, but I won’t allow it. I guide her chin back toward me, getting ready to call her bluff on so many other things, and for a fleeting moment, a look of guilt crosses her face. It doesn’t last for but a flash, before she becomes angry again, giving me another
 
piece of her mind.
 

Vexed, she jerks her chin back, pulling away from my light grasp. “Don’t you even think about dissing all my concerns, just because I didn’t leave your pendant behind.”
 

Both my brows rise in surprise at her outburst. Damn, she’s a feisty one. I half scoff, not knowing how to reply. I know I need to address this
secret
, but I can’t, not tonight. “All right, Sweetheart. You win tonight’s battle. Can we at least get a few hours’ sleep, and then we’ll pick up the pieces tomorrow morning?”
 

I lean down and brush my lips against hers, and she shivers. Her lips feel so soft, supple, and brand new. My heart suddenly aches for the way we’ve fought, and for the reasons she left me. “The feelings you evoke in me are unreal,” I whisper reassuringly over her lips, “and when you ran away with my heart like that…shit, Lexi, I’m still tore up on the inside just thinking of what could’ve happened to you.”
 

I kiss her again because, dammit, I need to feel her, need to hold her tight and never let her go. “I know you have doubts as to whether or not my intentions are on the up-and-up, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. I might be controlling, but I’d never hurt you, Lexi. You should know this by now. I’d never hurt you physically, or cause your heart pain. You do believe me, don’t you?” I ask with hope in my voice.
 

It kills me to think she doesn’t trust me in these ways. I’m not ready to let her go, and I’m not ready to hand her back over to her father. I’d live out on these trails for weeks on end if that’s what it will take for her to bond with me. My comrades would have a field day with that - the infamous ladies man being reigned in.

Another few days on the trail have passed, totaling almost two weeks that we’ve been together. Hell, I don’t really know exactly how many days have gone by; I kind of lost track of time being with her. It’s very unlike me, but I’ve milked each day for all it’s worth before I have to call her father back as promised.

Ever since her admitting to me the reasons she ran away, I’ve tried my damnedest to be reassuring of my true intentions at every turn. I guess it took her running from me to realize not everybody copes with accelerated changes the same way. She had been run through the gamut at a breath-taking pace, and she couldn’t keep up. It became fight or flight time, and between the two, it's the fight I can deal with. When she’d chosen flight, it damn near crushed me.

Because of those reasons, I had my doubts about telling her the full truth. She’s not ready to hear the fact we didn't meet by chance. Everything is going perfectly and I’m hesitant to tip the scales this early in the game. Instead, I shared with her who was on the phone. It was Stryker, one of my best friends; that much was true. For every piece of repeated verbiage she threw at me from the one-sided phone conversation she'd overheard, I had a bonafide answer. When I had said I gave my angel pendant away, and how women love that shit, it was my way of trying to get the message across to Stryker just how serious I was about her. He knew what that pendant meant to me, and women can typically relate with a material object given to them by a man. I even went so far as to apologize for sounding so crass about some things; it was simply male banter, and it was done in poor taste. Thank God, she accepted everything I told her.

The aftermath of her runaway attempt has left her clingier, but I've been doing my best to put her mind at ease. She’s still very skittish and on edge with her surroundings. I've talked in detail about it with her to make sure she gets in the right frame of mind and stays there. I can't imagine what either one of us would be like if she had been violated. I constantly force her to think of the positive. If Stryker were here, he’d have a field day analyzing her mind, and then he'd tell me ad nauseam how to deal with her. Usually, he just gets on my nerves with his psycho-babble-bullshit, but right now, I could sure use him.
 

Of course, I don’t know what kind of baggage this past boyfriend Vince had bestowed upon her. I don’t know how deep some of her hang-ups run. I haven’t broached the subject of her coming home with me again, and she hasn’t asked. She has agreed that we can slow down our hiking and not be in such a rush to get anywhere.
 

I’ve taken up my favorite pastime of hunting in order to feed us fresh meat as we continue to hike south. There is something so incredibly wholesome and primitive about being able to provide the basic essentials for a loved one with my own two hands. She’s been a good sport about trying different game, such as dove and rabbit, and I’ve made it a point to clean and skin the game I’ve killed before bringing it back to camp. I think after she saw me field-dressing the rattlesnake, she gave herself a mental block about wild game.

With each day, we grow closer and closer. I want to fuse her heart with mine before we get to the end of the trails. I really need to tell her the truth about her father having hired me. Even though I know it’s wrong, I somehow justify not telling her as a simple lie of omission, which I have to do all the time in my line of work. I need her to know that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what we have is real. I don’t want her second-guessing this relationship.

I watch Lexi as she combs through her long, chestnut hair, and I sit in silence for a moment, admiring her beauty. The length of her hair reaches halfway down her back, so thick and beautiful. I’m amazed when she starts to pick up strands of her hair, weaving them into a pattern without using a mirror. She sits on our sleeping bags, exuding grace and poise. She must've done more than ride horses to get that kind of posture. She had to have competed in shows.

I don’t even know how many times I’ve had sex with her; it’s been too many times and in too many places to keep count. I even wake up in the middle of the night to claim her. I think of the movie,
Forrest Gump,
where his friend talks of having shrimp at least a hundred different ways, and I chuckle at my own warped sense of humor. Sex on a stump, sex in a tree, sex on the rocks, sex under the stars…the list is never ending.

Once she has her hair braided, up and off the nape of her neck, I slip in behind her and nibble along her exposed skin. She giggles, and I grin over her ear.
 

“Quinn, you’re tickling me. What are you up to?”

“I just need a taste of my woman,” I murmur as I press my lips to the outer shell of her ear. I feel her shiver, and I smile, knowing I can affect her with a simple kiss. “I’m getting ready to head out to go scouting,” I whisper over her skin. I really plan on calling the guys, so I can finalize my plans to bring her to my house.

“Can I come?” she asks hopefully. I’ve let her come with me the last couple times, teaching her how to scout and what things to look for, depending on the game I’m after.
 

“Not this time, baby. I’m going to be moving in areas I don’t want you in.”

“Quinn,” she whines, because she really does enjoy the adventure, but I also know she still doesn’t like being left alone.

“What if I told you the likelihood of you running into a few snakes was rather high this time?”

“Oh…yeah…never-mind.”

“So much for being concerned about me. What if I get bit?”
 

“Oh, c’mon,” she scolds playfully. “You could shoot drunk and blindfolded, and still hit the head of a penny fifty yards away.” I tip my head back and laugh. “Why are you laughing? It’s true.”

I shake my head at her, lean in, and give her a chaste kiss on the lips. “All right, Sweetheart. I’ll be back.”

Kimber looks as if she wants to come with me, but I make her stay behind to watch over Lexi. I stoke the fire one last time, then head out.

Once I’m far enough away from camp, I pull out my SAT phone. I take a deep breath, because I'm not looking forward to this particular call, knowing I’m going to have to fight her father tooth and nail for her.

I don’t even think the phone rings once before Moretti is growling into the phone, literally growling. No
hello, kiss my ass
, but a manly growl.
 

I arch a brow and ask, “Are you done yet?”

“Where the fuck are you guys?” he demands.

“Safe,” I grind out, giving him the only answer he needs to know. “I’ve kept my end of the deal. I’m calling to check in like I said I would.”

I can hear him taking a drag off a cigarette on the other end of the line to calm his nerves before he speaks. “I’m a little terrified at this point to ask questions,” he gruffly admits. I bet he has been wondering with each passing minute of each day how many times I’ve had his daughter underneath me.

I chuckle out loud at his candidness. “Alrighty then, I’ll fill you in.”

“I have every expectation that you will,” he says with sarcasm.

I cut to the chase and tell him point blank, “I’m taking Lexi home with me.” The line goes eerily silent for a few beats, and I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve lost reception. “Are you there?”

“Yes, I’m here,” he says, sounding vexed. “I thought I hired you to do a job, not be her damn gigolo.”

I’m a little taken off guard - shocked might be the better word for his abrupt rudeness – but I turn around and use the same derisive tone he just used on me. “Yeah, imagine my surprise when I found out she isn’t pregnant.” Even though I knew to expect his anger, it still pisses me off. She’s an adult for fuck’s sake.

“Excuse me?” His tone is full of riled astonishment.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t know, Tony,” I rumble, cold and hard. “Don't insult my intelligence.”

“Son of a bitch,” he murmurs under his breath. “I didn’t know, but I had my suspicions she wasn’t.”

“What other suspicions do you have that you're not telling me about? Who are you getting your intel from, Vince?” Tony doesn’t respond, and I have my answer. My voice rises from contained irritation to pissed off. “Do you have any fucking idea what he’s doing to her?!”

“Look,” he tries to reason with me, “it’s complicated. I can’t discuss this over a phone line.”
 

“So you've known what Vince has been doing to her all along?” Incredulity lines my voice. I can’t believe this bullshit. “You sorry motherfucker. Why am I not surprised you can’t tell me important intel about your daughter over the phone line? Oh, yeah, silly me,” I spit out derisively. “We wouldn't want to compromise this mission by making me privy to such pertinent information, would we? Well…anyway, you have my address. Lexi and I should be home within a couple days. I’ll send a postcard, let you know how she’s doing.”

“Quinn, just so we're clear,” his voice is full of supremacy and hard as steel, “people don't talk to me like this and get away with it, let alone fuck with my plans. You want to question me, I will tell you the answers when and if I deem it necessary. Don't mistake my like for your being able to over-ride my authority. So I'm going to tell you one last time...”
 

“No, Tony, I'm going to tell you,” I angrily interrupt. “Not only have you held shit back from me, but you're still being elusive. I was ambushed!” I yell. “I was almost fucking shot as I stepped into the line of fire for you, for your daughter. Hell, I'm still risking my life. Is this really the best you can do for me? For your own child?!” I'm so fucking mad I can't see straight. I just want to throw my phone into the woods and watch it smash against a tree, but I need it to contact Stryker. Although, with the death grip I’ve got on this SAT phone I might wind up destroying it yet.

Tony lets out a heavy sigh, his voice turning apologetic. “Look, I’m sorry, Quinn. You're right on all accounts and you have every right to be mad. I, too, just want to see Lexi safe. For reasons I cannot discuss at the moment, you have to know my hands are tied. I don’t know how all this got so crazy, but don’t keep me from my baby girl. At the very least, let me meet the both of you somewhere when you surface from the trails. I promise I can explain everything to you then.”