The Man Within (5 page)

“Aren’t you going a little fast?” she asked, striving for calm despite the frantic pace of her heart.

“We’re almost there. I want to make sure we aren’t followed.” He turned quickly up yet another side road, bouncing over a rough gravel path that led through a densely wooded area. “I’m heading for my hunting cabin. Thankfully, it’s up high enough that the cell phones will work and Taber won’t have a problem landing there.”

She blinked in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Taber wouldn’t come for her; he wasn’t going to rescue her. Didn’t they know? Weren’t they aware that he had washed his hands of her months ago?

He sighed roughly. “That was a live feed, Roni. The world knows now, and I’m sure Taber’s on his way. When he gets close enough he’ll call me. Taber knows and the bad guys know. You aren’t safe here anymore.”

She swallowed past the thickness in her throat, fighting the roiling of her stomach. She had seen reports of the “bad guys.” Monsters were more like it. Holding on to her control wasn’t an easy thing to do. God help her, she had seen more than one report on the news regarding the fate of the poor souls the Council had targeted. It was the worst nightmare she could have imagined.

“God,” she whispered bleakly. “I’m sure I’ll wake up soon. But Taber won’t be here, John. He didn’t care when he made that mark and he sure as hell won’t care now.”

He had spent a decade pulling her out of one scrape after another. He had reached his limit and now she knew she couldn’t depend on his help to pull her out of this one.

John grunted as he cast her an incredulous look. “You keep dreamin’ that, Roni, and when you see Taber be sure to let him in on that little secret.”

She shook her head and started to pray. She was running seriously low on any other options to pull herself out of this particular problem.

Roni closed her eyes and drew in a deep hard breath as the shrill sound of the cell phone began to ring.

“Yeah?” John barked into the small phone. He was silent for long moments.

“On my way there. What’s your ETA?”

Roni wished she could pinch herself awake. She listened only distantly to the one-sided conversation, trying to avoid the fact that the past was about to bite her in the ass. Just what she needed, something else to disrupt the nice little routine she had established for herself. She might not be happy, but she was content. Content was a good thing.

“Told you so,” he announced softly, his voice triumphant. “Taber will be here in thirty minutes. We should be secure that long.”

Incredulity spread through her. He would be here? After fifteen long torturous months of letting her scrape by on her own, he would be here? That was right friendly of him, she thought, considering it was his fucking fault she was in this mess to begin with.

Roni glanced over as he clipped the cell phone back to his belt. She frowned, watching him intently. She hadn’t known John long, she admitted, but he was suddenly different, harder edged than she had been used to. It reminded her uncomfortably of Taber. That narrow-eyed, dangerous look that assured anyone daring to oppose him they could be in for a world of hurt.

She clenched her teeth, refraining from saying anything in reply. What could she say that wouldn’t be less than complimentary toward Taber? He created this mess, then left her to suffer the consequences. Fixing it would be a damned good thing for him to do.

“Here we are.” He nodded forward as Roni turned back to look at the cabin that appeared as they rounded a turn in the road.

Situated beneath a thick growth of trees, the small cabin and attached garage would be damned near invisible from the air, and just as hard to find on the ground. He pulled into the rough garage, shut off the engine and jumped from the vehicle.

Roni moved much slower. There had to be a way out of this, she thought with an edge of desperation. Things like this didn’t happen to people like her. Her life was supposed to be uneventful. She was dull. Boring. Hell, Taber hadn’t wanted her when he had the chance, what made anyone in his right mind think he would want her now?

He had fired her from the job she loved, the only escape she had known at the time from her demanding father. He had disappeared for months. Didn’t even speak to her the few times they had run into each other over the year or so. A mark on her neck was not going to change that, was it? Not as far as she was concerned it wasn’t.

The interior of the cabin was decorated with a miser’s hand. There was a lone couch in front of an unused fireplace, a dusty kitchen table and four chairs. No rugs, no curtains and dust damned near thick enough to plant petunias in.

“Bathroom’s in the back.” He pointed to the closed door at the far end. “Make yourself at home.”

He was too casual, too accepting of his sudden role as rescuer and guardian until Taber showed up.

“Why are you doing this?” She turned back to him, watching him carefully.

He looked at her, his eyes glimmering in surprise. “Doing what?”

“Helping me, so certain Taber will show up. What’s in it for you?”

He arched a flame-colored brow, amusement replacing the confusion. “I was just helping, Roni.”

“Bullshit,” she muttered, shaking her head in denial. “I’m not stupid. There’s more to it. What?”

She needed to make sense of something, even if it was the only helping hand that had been offered to her.

He sighed heavily. “More or less, that’s all there is to it,” he told her firmly. “I help Taber and the others when I can. That’s all. Besides, you’re a friend. I would have helped you anyway.”

Which still didn’t completely answer her question.

“Why is he coming here?” She pushed her fingers through her tangled hair, ignoring the trembling in her hand. “That mark didn’t mean anything when he made it. Why should it now?” This was the question that plagued her more than most.

“You can ask him when he gets here. I’m going out to make sure we weren’t followed. Stay in the cabin.” He unclipped the cell phone at his side. “Taber’s number is the first one keyed in. If something happens, you call him. You hear?”

She glanced down as he laid the phone on the table, feeling her mouth dry out with fear. “What could happen?”

She met his gaze as she raised her head, her heart racing in warning. He watched her, his expression somber.

“Like I said, others would have seen that broadcast. And some of them are a hell of a lot closer than Taber was. I just want to be cautious.”

She swallowed tightly. “Mercenaries?” She had heard the reports of the constant battles Taber and his family had fought through the years with the men sent to either recapture or kill them.

A glimmer of sympathy lit his eyes. “Yeah,” he finally muttered. “But we should be secure. Only a few people know about this place, and by the time anyone figures out where we are, Taber should have you safe and sound wherever he thinks is best. You’ll be fine.”

He turned before she could comment and left the shelter. Only then did she notice the gun he carried in his other hand. It was black, lethal, and he sure as hell carried it like he knew what he was doing with it.

Great. She collapsed into one of the dusty kitchen chairs and stared around the one-room cabin with a sense of despair. Mercenaries were after her. Just what she needed on top of everything else.

She lifted her hand, rubbing the mark on her neck that had caused so many problems. It ached more than normal. Not a painful ache, rather one with the remnants of pleasure, reminding her of the incredibly sensuous feel of Taber’s mouth there. His teeth scraping her skin, his tongue laving it heatedly. She shivered uncontrollably at the memory.

Jerking her hand back down, Roni stared at the cell phone for a long second before she rose to her feet and paced to the small, dusty window beside the door. She could call him. She should let him know just how much she appreciated the mess she was in right now. Dammit, he wanted her out of his life, had made that plain. How was she was supposed to feel good about any help he would give her now?

She stared out the window, knowing that for now, there was nothing she could do. That sense of helplessness ate at her. She hated being dependent on anyone, especially for her life.

As she stared into the forest, she could see John canvassing the thickly forested area. His body weaved in and out of the trees, relaxed, yet on guard. He reminded her of some of those military types she had seen profiles on during the few times she found time to watch television.

Time was passing too damned quickly. There was no chance to think, to become accustomed to the sudden changes sweeping around her. No time to prepare herself to face Taber again. It seemed mere minutes before John re-entered the cabin and picked up the cell phone. He glanced at her as he coded in the call.

“I hear a ‘copter. That you?” he asked quietly, his pale blue eyes cold and confident. “Good. We’re safe and sound so far. I’ll have her waiting in the clearing.” He disconnected then looked over at her. “Ready to go?”

“No.” She pushed her hands into the pockets of her jeans. Wake up now, she thought desperately. Come on, Roni, time to wake up.

“Too bad.” He grinned as though he was more than aware of the fact that she was desperate to deny any of this was taking place. “Time to move.”

Chapter Five

It was surreal. Roni stood at the edge of the small clearing, watching as the helicopter swooped in and executed a perfect landing. Motioning her to stay back, John ducked and ran to the small aircraft while Roni tried to still the racing of her heart.

She wanted to turn and run; to escape back to the life she had led before the fateful trip in to town no more than an hour ago. But instinctively, she knew there was no escape. She wondered a bit distantly if she even wanted to escape. Hadn’t she dreamed of him nightly, ached for him every minute of the day since he had walked out of her life?

When Taber jumped from the helicopter, every cell in her body sprang to life. Between her thighs, an urgent pulse of desire began to beat, moisture pooling, gathering, preparing her for him. Her breath caught in her chest and not for the first time, she was caught completely off guard by the rough sexuality that seemed to shimmer around him.

He wore jeans. They rode low on his lean hips, lovingly conformed to his muscular thighs and long legs. The wide, dark belt accentuated the white shirt and the flat contours of his abdomen. His shoulders were wide. His devil’s black hair was tied back at his nape, giving him a savage, earthy appearance that speared straight to her pussy. She felt her juices spill from her hot vagina, her body beginning to ache, to throb for him.

She backed up as his gaze stayed locked on hers, his long legs covering the distance between her and the helicopter. She could see the fierce purpose on his darkly tanned face, his intention to claim her. She shuddered in sudden fear. This wasn’t the man she had known before. The man who had been gentle, considerate, his kiss a whisper of passion, his touch restrained.

She felt the sobbing breath that escaped her throat as she continued to back up, her legs weak, her mind consumed with the vision stalking toward her. He was acting on instinct. He was no longer controlled, as she had always known him to be. He was harder, savage. And he terrified her.

“Taber.” She stopped suddenly as her back met the rough bark of the tree behind her.

He stopped inches from her, his eyes a brilliant jade-green, intense, overpowering. In that moment, fifteen months of pain and anger overwhelmed her. Here he stood, staring at her as though he could devour her in a single bite, after destroying every dream she ever held in her heart.

Her fist clenched, and before she knew what she was thinking she struck with all her strength into the hard, tight muscles of his stomach. She had a feeling she hurt her fist more than she hurt him.

“Dammit,” she yelled as he barely flinched, his body tightening, his eyes narrowing in anger. “Look what you’ve done to my life. Thanks for nothing, Taber.”

“Mine,” he snarled. The sound echoed through her body, her soul, as she felt her breath falter, her eyes widening at the sheer animalistic sound.

Before she could react, he caught her hands in his, pushing them back against the tree, ignoring her frantic struggles, her strangled curses.

He leaned closer, his expression stark, primal. His gaze held hers captive as his large body pinned her smaller one to the rough bark. Roni fought to breathe, to draw precious air into her body, to clear away the dazed arousal spreading through her mind.

She could smell him: dark hunger, intense male and heated lust. The scent of him wrapped around her senses, drowning her in the bleak knowledge that had come to her only because his animal instincts demanded it, not because the man within desired her.

“Let me go!” she screamed, trying to kick out at him, to break the hold that was both fierce and yet gentle. She was trembling, shuddering with her own anxiety and surging emotions, and her need to hurt him as much as she was hurting now.

He leaned closer, his hard chest pressing against her breasts, sensitizing her nipples even through her bra and torn shirt. Her head was pressed back against the tree, her lips parting as she fought to breathe, to ignore the call of lightning-hot desire ripping through her body that mixed with the blistering rage.

And then he growled. His lip lifted at one side, revealing the longer, dangerous canines at the side of his mouth. The sound—a rumbled warning of danger and excitement—came a second before his head lowered and his heated, demanding lips covered her own.

She would have fallen if he hadn’t caught her. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer as his head angled, slanting his lips across hers, his tongue pressing forcibly into her mouth.

Drugging, exhilarating, the touch was lightning and heat, a morass of conflicting sensations that swept through her body like a tidal wave of impressions, swamping her beneath their force.

Her fingers curled, her hands straining against his grip on them. Her nails bit into her palms as she whimpered against the demanding thrust of his tongue. God, the taste of him. Dark honey, sweet and tempting, lured her with the promise of passion even as it pulled her into a lust that threatened to destroy her.