Page 30

And we had what? Forty-eight hours? Even as I let my eyes close, my mind began to race. Less now. He said forty-eight hours from when we spoke to them.
They still had to get to wherever the rendezvous point was and until then, we had to lay low or keep moving…
Bones sighed. “You’re safe,” he murmured, as if needing to remind me.
“I know,” I said and I did know. That wasn’t what had my mind starting to race. It was all the other…
“Tell me.” Two words. A simple prompt. A suggestion. I could ignore it, but even the gentle prompt had a fresh set of images and memories surging through my mind.
The weight of a hand clamping over my mouth.
The drag of a bigger body jerking me off my feet.
The loom of the dark eyed man ordering me to ride him.
The men invading my apartment.
The loft in the barn, the men climbing the ladder.
The man in the barn, his hand clamped around my throat?—
“Grace,” he said my name with his lips pressed against my ear. “Stay here.”
“What?” Oh, my teeth chattered and made that one syllable jitter and jump.
“You’re here,” he said, then bit my ear as if to prove it to me. That sting of pain seemed to tear away some of the haze. “Feel that?”
As much as I didn’t want to stutter, I pushed out the answer, “Yes.”
He bit my ear again, this time the sting became a throb and I dragged in a deeper breath. Oh, I’d been panting.
“Better,” he said. “Nope, keep breathing. Just because I give you a compliment doesn’t mean you get to stop.” I wasn’t stopping? “There you go. Deep breaths.”
He shifted a hand to rub against my stomach, stroking over my abdomen through the fabric muted the contact. Each slow circuit of his palm moved in time to my breathing.
Tingles prickled over my skin. It was like ice slicked up my spine and heat flushed up against it. I wasn’t sure whether to try and get closer or push the blankets off. Restlessness burned in my muscles.
“Grace.” This time my name landed like a verbal smack, knocking me back out of the tempest my wild thoughts seemed to be lost in. “Stay here.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Oh that came out a miserable complaint. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to go back to sleep and be able to sleep.” he all but growled the words and a fragment of hysterical laughter broke off in me. Right. There was Bones. “What do you need?”
The tone said I’d better answer or else. Honestly—I needed it. “Help me think about something else.”
“Like?” Fired like a bullet, no patience softened the blow.
“Anything…” I groaned, because the shaking was now everywhere. My hands trembled. My heart seemed to stutter.Everything quavered. I made my eyes stay open because I didn’t want to see any of those men if I closed them… “Please.”
I’d beg if I had to.
His grip shifted abruptly. The hand on my belly glided down to my panties even as he cupped my breast with his left hand. My nipples strained and I made the most pathetic sound as he slid his fingers beneath the fabric.
“If you want this to stop… tell me to stop.” Another damn order. The man could do nothing but tell me what to do.
Thank fuck.
Right now, I needed to be told.