Page 11

J uliette

Swimming.

The cool water felt good. I was spinning, floating. Feeling weightless.

A sudden pull forced water into my mouth. Suddenly, hands were wrapped around my throat. Gasping, I shoved and pushed, moaning as water filled my lungs. I was suffocating.

I was dying.

“No!” I grabbed my throat and sucked in several breaths. Blinking, I tried to focus, anticipating monsters.

A huge face appeared in front of me. A beast ready to tear me limb from limb.

Jerking back, I issued a sharp cry, but a familiar thump caught my attention.

When I was finally able to focus, I realized big brown eyes were framed in a huge, furry face, with lopsided ears and a wide-open mouth completing the creature.

“Tank,” I gritted out, half laughing as soon as I did. “It’s you.”

He whined appropriately, instantly lifting one leg to hand me a paw. Tentatively, I reached out. “You are a nice little boy. Aren’t you?”

Woof.

Thinking my words were an invitation, he crowded my space and instead of trying to push him off as I’d done before, I allowed him to lick my face. His tongue was raspy and long, his saliva refreshing.

“Okay. Okay, boy.” He finally settled down a few seconds later and I glanced around the room, realizing I’d been lying in bed.

Another hard swallow gave me the strength to glance down at myself.

I was still wearing the same soiled clothes as before.

I wiggled my legs to make certain they were still working. My shoes had been removed.

I stunk to high heaven.

“Where’s your master? Huh?” The only sound being his heavy breathing combined with mine wasn’t necessarily comforting. “Kage?” I called, my whispered word met with silence. “I guess he’s not here.” Where would he go?

After wrestling myself from underneath Tank, I pulled back the covers. The ache in almost every muscle remained and my mouth was dry as a bone. Noticing an unopened bottle of water on the nightstand, I was instantly grateful, cracking the plastic and pulling the slightly cool water to my lips.

I’d learned from before, taking small sips at a time. Fortunately, my stomach didn’t regurgitate. I was starving. A good sign. But what I needed more than anything was a shower. The stench of myself and the damp space I’d lived in for days lingered on my skin.

Tank allowed me to climb off the bed but trailed behind me as I headed to the bathroom.

“You’re not allowed inside buddy. Okay?” I disliked dogs and now I was talking to one. Well, he was adorable. I’d give him that.

His whine brought a smile to my face. Maybe the pup would add some comic relief since my companion and savior obviously had a bone to pick.

Or a stick stuck up his carved ass.

I closed the door, sagging against it. At least I was free.

For now.

One look in the mirror and I grimaced. I looked like shit. Thankful to find soap and shampoo, I turned on the shower, stripping off my clothes. The moment I stood under the spray, I closed my eyes.

Barely seconds later, everything came flooding back into my mind. The abduction. The fear. The brutality.

And the man who’d saved me.

I tipped my head, allowing the water to cascade down my body, my concerns about the man’s identity completely shot down by the strange warmth pooling between my legs.

My God. I’d just been rescued, although we weren’t out of the woods yet, and I was thinking about him as some sexual being. Well, his body was built for rough sex.

What are you thinking?

Maybe it was good that I could fantasize about the man.

That meant I hadn’t remained in a state of shock.

The thoughts remained, filling my fractured mind with dirty images as I scrubbed dirt from my body and washed my hair.

Not once, but twice. And still, I had the creepy-crawlies, envisioning the horrific insects I’d encountered.

Once I was clean, my skin tingled. I reached my arm past the shower curtain, easily grabbing a towel. As I wrapped it around my chest, my thoughts returned to sinfulness, but there was no shame. Not this time.

Kage was the definition of all male.

Tall? Check.

Chiseled? To perfection.

The perfect shade of sun-kissed dirty blond hair? Absolutely.

The demeanor of a pit bull? Oh, you bet.

An expression screaming I was a burden? Definitely, and that alone had pissed me off.

Not that I’d had my choice of saviors. The nagging voice in the back of my mind continued to tell me I needed to be nicer to him, acting grateful that he’d come to my rescue. And I was. His personality just grated me the wrong way.

As I stepped out, I tripped, and a yelp flew from my mouth. Only then did I realize the towel was far too tiny to cover every inch of my body. At that moment, the door was thrown open, one gruff-looking monster of a man barreling in.

Just as the towel slipped from my fingers.

There’d been a few ‘oh-shit’ moments in my life, but this had to take the cake. I’d never paraded around naked in front of a stranger.

His chiseled features had taken on the look of a killer and with the weapon in his hand, I jerked back, certain I was going to die.

The awkward slow as molasses moment no one ever wanted to face fell between us.

With narrowed, hooded eyes, he lowered his gaze all the way to the floor as if studying the way the towel was pooled around my feet.

One blink didn’t rid me of the apparition or the fact I noticed the thick, throbbing bulge between his legs. Oh, shit.

Act natural. Just breathe.

Kage finally averted his eyes, his chest heaving. “I thought something happened.” Every time he spoke it was as if he had gravel in his mouth.

At least his deep voice jarred me back to reality. “Do you mind?” Ugh. In contrast to his deep and commanding voice, mine sounded like I was auditioning for a Minnie Mouse part in a local theater.

Huffing, he turned around and abruptly walked out.

I snagged the towel, hating both the fact I was still feeling woozy and that he’d seen me naked in all my less than stellar glory.

At least in my mind, but not necessarily in his.

I bit back a giggle and struggled to wrap the towel around me, finally succeeding on the third try.

When I glared at myself in the steamy mirror again, the distortion didn’t take away the wicked smile on my face.

After a quick reminder we were tucked away to avoid being shot, I carefully opened the door. The last thing I wanted to do was to slide back into the filthy clothes. Maybe he had an extra tee shirt I could wear.

I walked out, still lightheaded from not eating, but much stronger than before. He was fiddling with items stuffed inside a bag, his jerky movements an indication he was either furious with himself or with me.

I hadn’t been the one to break into the bathroom.

His breathing remained labored and he wasn’t looking at me.

“Um, I woke up and you were gone. I just wanted to take a shower.” I wasn’t certain if I was asking for his after-the-fact permission or what.

“That’s fine. You followed my orders. That’s all that matters.”

There was no reason for his stark, gruff attitude to irritate me, but it did. I knew I was overwrought. I could feel the edge that brought out the bitchy side to me. As much as the grateful girl knew I should be groveling since he rescued me, the trust factor still wasn’t there.

At least not completely.

But I bit back a nasty response and took a few steps closer. “You wouldn’t happen to have a tee shirt or something I could wear. Would you? I’ll try and wash out my clothes later, but as you noticed, the towel isn’t very big and there isn’t a robe or anything.”

Kage barely glanced in my direction, keeping his eyes pinned on mine while reaching for a plastic bag.

I don’t know why I was just noticing the stubble blooming under his chiseled cheekbones and cresting across his strong jaw.

My nipples immediately hardened as I imagined the feel of the stiff beard scratching my sensitive skin.

Everything about the man was overtly masculine, but the way his eyes bore down on me with fiery admonishment kicked my annoyance up another notch.

“I bought these for you. We may need other supplies, but I figured you’d want something else to wear. You also need to eat. Slowly.”

There was no smile, but at least he didn’t act as if he was waiting for a huge thank you.

He wasn’t getting one.

I snatched the bag, turning around before looking inside.

I’d had no expectations of what a man like him would think appropriate but was relieved to see a touristy tee shirt and shorts.

When I dug a little deeper, I noticed new tennis shoes similar to the ones I had and…

wait. What? Underwear. I gingerly pulled out not one, but two thongs.

Both were in neon colors.

What the hell was he thinking?

A wash of heat crisscrossed my chest, rising to my face and I almost burst into giggles. If he’d bought underwear with Garfield on it or even the days of the week, that would have been less awkward.

When I turned around again, uncertain what to say, he was glowering at me. I couldn’t tell if the look was pure hatred or something else altogether.

I’d grown up immersed in a culture that nurtured men into becoming spoiled and arrogant.

Extreme wealth had a way of stripping away any concept of decency and even humanity.

I’d dated a few men who’d taken man-child tantrums to a new level, always whining about their lot in life.

All while counting the numbers in their trust funds.

Men now wore entitlement like a badge of honor.

My God, they were all so fake, all carbon copies of each other. I could line one against another in a room and everything about them from their attire to the sports cars they’d owned since they’d gotten their driver’s license would be exactly the same.

Bor-ring.

I included my father in the category. I adored him, but his over-the-top behavior didn’t suit my craving for independence.

I’d hated all of it. The lavish parties. The events my father had required me to attend. That’s why I’d left the life in search of something that could make me happy for me. No one else. At least that was one reason.

Sadly, money, power, and influence had followed me like a thick, coiled rope around my neck.

What I didn’t have experience with were rugged men who couldn’t care less about politics, money, clout, or anything else wrapped around a basketful of greed.

Maybe that’s why I was so attracted to this hulk of a man. He was the epitome of a bad boy. Guns a-blazing. Maneuvering a vehicle like some racecar driver. Right down to the colorful tattoos on his arms.

Even his name emblazoned images of fiery passion.

He didn’t have the decency to look away. I did, heading straight into the bathroom and closing the door. This time, Tank hadn’t tried to follow me to keep me safe from the grouchy man.

Furry traitor.

At least until we were back on American soil, I could enjoy the perks of being in his company. That was all I’d allow myself. The last thing I needed was to fall into some crazy trap with a man like Kage Rollins.

Savior or not, he was absolutely the most dangerous man I would ever come in contact with.