Sloane (13 page)

He took my hand. “Sloane,” he murmured. “You’re
trembling.”

I shook him off. “Because I’m so angry with you. I
have people to rescue, you know. You’re… distracting me. Now, get
out.”

“Listen—”

“Get out, get out,
get out!
”

He backed away, hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay.”
He paused as he opened the door. “I’ll call you.”

And then he was gone.

* * *

“Any good strategies yet?” said Axel’s voice over the
phone. The sound of it reached inside me, coating everything like
dark chocolate. I hated that he could do that to me. I hated that
I’d answered the phone. He’d barely been gone for four hours, and
I’d spent most of that time trying to calm myself down after what
had happened between us.

The truth was, I had felt something powerful when he
was kissing me. It was possibly the most powerful kiss of my entire
life. But I couldn’t be sure about that, because I hadn’t been
kissed in a while, and maybe I’d just forgotten how good kissing
was.

But I didn’t think so.

I didn’t want Axel kissing me. He was completely the
wrong kind of guy, in every single way. He was a player. He always
had those strippers from his club draped all over him. If he wanted
to have sex with me, then he’d probably take what he wanted and
leave me all alone, and I had more respect for myself than to let
that happen. Axel Whitman was not going to play me for a fool. I
had better sense than to fall for his charms.

I knew that. I was sure of that.

I wasn’t sure why I’d picked up the phone.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” I said.

“I see,” he said. “Well, then hang up.”

I didn’t hang up.

“Look,” he said, “I’m sorry I distracted you from
trying to rescue Leigh and your brother. And even that Griffin guy.
If Leigh liked him enough to marry him, he can’t be all that bad. I
know that’s the most important thing right now.”

He was apologizing? Well, that was kind of sweet. He
wasn’t the kind of guy who apologized very often.

“So,” he continued, “I left you alone so that you
could think of a plan. What’d you come up with?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Fucking nothing.”

“That sucks,” he said.

“It’s your fault.”

“Why?”

“Because of… what you did.”

“Be more specific, Sloane. There’s a lot of things I
did.” He just wanted me to say it out loud, didn’t he? Fine.

“Because you kissed me. It made me all… flustered,
and I couldn’t think.”

His soft laughter echoed through the speaker. “Like I
said, I’m sorry.”

I clutched my phone tightly. He wanted me to be
honest, did he? Maybe I would be. “I don’t want you kissing
me.”

“That’s what you say,” he said. “But I don’t believe
you.”

“Well, maybe a part of me wants you to kiss me. But
that part of me is stupid, and my brain knows better.”

“I don’t understand that. You want me. I want you. We
both know it.”

“You don’t want me, though,” I said. “You just want
to use me. You want to get in my pants, and then you’ll get bored
with me and move onto some other girl.”

“You don’t know that.”

“It’s the kind of person you are.” I took a deep
breath. I was going to blurt this out, even if it embarrassed me.
Holding it in was making me nuts. “You don’t care about other
people. You use them. You use girls. I watched my brother Silas do
the same thing. There was a different girl in his bed every night
of the week. But I would never be one of those girls. Because I
know that if I get involved with someone, then I’ll care about him.
But you won’t care about me at all.”

He was quiet for a minute. “So, you’re afraid you’ll
fall madly in love with me, and I’ll break your heart?”

“What? No. I could never fall madly in love with
you.”

He laughed again. “See? That’s what I thought. So,
there’s no problem, Sloane. I’m awful, remember? I’m arrogant and
shallow and all those other things you said. You could never care
about me.”

My head hurt. Was he really saying that I should have
casual sex with him,
because
I hated him? “No more kissing,
Axel.”

“Okay,” he said. “Maybe we could just get in on
without actually kissing. No intimacy, just our bodies against each
other—pure sensation, pure passion.”

“I’m hanging up.” But I didn’t.

“Maybe you’re not having any good ideas about how to
save the others because you’re thinking too hard about it. Maybe
you need a distraction.”

“No,” I said. “The reason I haven’t figured it out is
because I’ve
been
distracted.”

“Let’s go out,” he said.

“Axel, do you understand that my brother is being
held against his will?”

“Yeah, but for days, right? What’s another night
going to matter? Besides, it’s not like you have a plan.”

“I’m not going out.”

“Why not?”

“I just told you why not.”

“I’m downstairs,” he said. “I have a car outside,
with a driver. A change of scenery will help you think. Come out
with me.”

“It’s like you don’t understand the word ‘no.’”

“Come out with me, Sloane. I want to see you.” There
was an longing rasp to his voice, and it make my stomach turn
over.

“No,” I said, but my voice was a whisper.

CHAPTER NINE

“What are you wearing?” Axel made a face.

I was still in the same jeans and t-shirt that I’d
been wearing earlier. Axel was wearing a periwinkle blue jacket
over navy blue pants. He had a matching navy bow tie. I gave him a
nasty look. “What are
you
wearing?”

“I wouldn’t be caught dead with you in that outfit,”
he said. “You can’t go out wearing that.”

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll go back to my room then.” I
turned to go.

He caught me by the elbow and tugged me back against
him. “Not so fast, love,” he purred.

I shoved him. “Keep your hands off me.”

“I’m going to have to take you shopping,” he
said.

My jaw dropped.

“What? Don’t you like shopping?”

“You are so, so rude,” I said.

He put his arm around me and steered me out of the
lobby. “So are you. I’m going to buy you clothes, and you aren’t
even grateful.”

* * *

“It’s orange,” I said from the other side of the
dressing room.

Axel’s voice floated through like silk. “It
complements my ensemble. Besides, it’s not orange. It’s rust.”

The dress had a V-neck and no sleeves. The bodice was
fitted, but it had a flowing skirt that hung in lots of layered
pieces of various lengths. It would probably hit me about mid-calf.
I almost never wore dresses. Putting one on just to go out made me
feel as if I was getting way too dressed up.

“Sloane?” said Axel. “You okay in there? You need me
to help you undress?”

“Shut up,” I told him. Actually, it was kind of cool
that he was being so attentive. I tugged my shirt over my head.
“So, do you do this for all the girls you kiss?”

“No,” he said. “I’ve never kissed a girl who was as
clueless about fashion as you are. Generally speaking, it’s a
prerequisite.”

I rolled my eyes as I unbuttoned my jeans.

“You’ll need shoes,” he said. “I’ll speak to
someone.”

“You don’t know my size,” I said.

“I remember it from the shoes I got you for the
benefit,” he said.

I took the orange dress off the hanger and stepped
into it. I reached back to get the zipper, but I could only get it
halfway up.

I contorted my body in all kinds of strange ways for
several minutes, until I heard Axel’s voice again.

“She’s bringing shoes,” he said. “Don’t you have the
dress on yet?”

My voice was strained. “I can’t get the zipper.”

“Open the door.”

“No,” I said.

“Sloane, open the door.”

I sighed and opened the dressing room door.

Axel spun me around so that my back was to him and
then zipped me up. He pushed me forward so that we could both see
me in the mirror.

I had to admit the sight of both of us there was
stunning. Axel was right. The navy blue and rust color were very
nice together. The dress fit me perfectly. It hugged my torso,
molding to my breasts and the dip of my waist. I stared at the two
people in the mirror, and they looked like some kind of power
couple, like two very important, very attractive people. Was it
possible that I was one of them?

Axel nuzzled my neck. “I like the dress.”

Tingles traveled down my neck and up my skull. I
sighed. “Don’t do that.”

“I like
you
in the dress,” he growled. “You
look amazing.”

“Stop it.” My voice wasn’t strong.

He kissed my earlobe.

I gasped.

LEIGH

They shoved Griffin back inside the room, and I’d
never been so happy to see him in my life. I ran to him, throwing
my arms around him and kissing any part of him I could get my lips
on. “You’re okay, you’re okay.”

He held onto me, brushing my hair out of my face.
“Doll.” He kissed me long and deep.

Behind us, Silas cleared his throat.

We stopped kissing, but we didn’t stop touching each
other. He kept his arm around me, and I held onto him. I pressed my
face into his shoulder. He stroked my hair.

“Knox is dead,” said Griffin.

“What?” said Silas.

“I saw him,” said Griffin. “They had him strapped up
to a table and his neck was cut. He was just lying there like a
slab of meat.”

Silas paled.

I squeezed Griffin tighter. “What did they do to
you?”

“That’s just the thing.” He kissed my forehead. “I
don’t…” He shook his head. “I can’t remember. I remember that they
brought me into this room, and that there were examining tables in
there. Knox was on one of them, and they made me get on another. I
struggled. I tried to get away from them, but they shot me in the
head. I went dark. And when I woke back up, there was a man
standing over me. He was wearing a white lab coat, and he had a
huge syringe with a big needle. He plunged it into my arm and then…
everything’s kind of fuzzy after that. I remember voices. A woman…
There was…” He let go of me.

I went after him.

He dragged his hand over his face. “The next clear
memory I have, they were taking me back here.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “Oh my God. They’re
going to kill us.”

Griffin grabbed me again, holding me tight. “No, I
won’t let that happen.”

We were all quiet.

Suddenly, Silas spoke up. “I’m digging a tunnel.”

I broke away from Griffin. “What?”

Silas pointed at the bathroom stall, where he’d been
spending most of his time. “I’m using one of the spoons. There’s
some water damage back there. The concrete’s kind of crumbly.”

“The spoons are plastic.”

“Yeah, well…” Silas shrugged.

That was never going to work. I gaped at Silas, who
turned and went back into the bathroom stall.

I watched him go. What was happening to us?

Griffin rubbed the top of his head.

I put my fingers to my lips. We had to get out of
here.

CHAPTER TEN

I crossed my legs on the bar stool and leaned over
the martini that Axel had bought me. I had to admit that I felt
very elegant in my expensive orange dress. I’d tried to buy it
myself. After all, it wasn’t as if I didn’t have my own money. But
Axel wanted to buy it, and maybe I didn’t argue as hard as I could
have. It wasn’t so much that I liked having men buy things for
me…

Honestly, I wasn’t really sure if any man had ever
bought anything for me. I hadn’t really done much actual dating.
Most of my experience with guys had been in the form of hook-ups at
parties and things. And afterward, we’d spent the remainder of our
time together hanging out at each other’s houses and watching
movies.

Anyway, regardless, Axel had this old-school charm
going on for him. With the suits and the insisting on buying
things, he kind of made me feel like I was in a Jane Austen novel.
Although, I guessed he was basically Willoughby or Churchill or
Wickham, and all of those guys turned out to be royal jerks in the
end. I knew that Axel wasn’t ever going to be Mr. Darcy, but that
didn’t mean it wasn’t kind of fun to have him pay attention to me
anyway.

He was doing that. Paying attention. He’d been
staring at me and only me since the minute he’d picked me up
earlier. Even when he ordered our drinks, he watched me while he
talked to the bartender.

Something about it took my breath away.

“I never wear dresses.” I toyed with the stirrer in
my drink.

“No?” he said. “Why not?”

I shrugged. “I guess I always thought they were
uncomfortable, but I’m not sure anymore. It’s kind of nice letting
my legs breathe.”

He grinned. He put his hand on my knee and slid his
fingers under my skirt.

I giggled. “I told you not to do that.”

He moved his hand. “I’m sorry, it’s just very hard to
keep my hands off you right now.”

“Sure it is.” I took a sip of my martini. “That is
such a line.”

“A line?” He drew back, mock offended. “I don’t need
lines. I’m Axel Whitman.”

I snorted.

“You’re laughing at me?”

I nodded. “Yeah, you’re always saying that. Like it
means something.”

“If I say often enough, it does.”

I just rolled my eyes. But there was something
different between us now. I was still giving him shit, but there
was something decidedly more playful about it. He was getting to
me, and I was letting him. And… I don’t know, I was liking it.