Page 5

FIVE

Kane

Every protective instinct in me is screaming. Shelter. Food. Heat. Safe. Eagle must be safe.

The cabin is dark, almost eerie in the slashing light of the headlights, with the trees whipping violently above it. “The storm’s coming in fast.”

“Is it going to be bad?” Eagle asks from the back seat.

Lungs working double-time because of her mouthwatering scent, I grunt. “Bad enough that you will not be going outside until I say it’s safe.”

Keeping her out of the storm is something I can do. Too bad I don’t know if I can keep her protected from me.

I might very well be the biggest threat in Eagle’s world.

Her father… I don’t know what he’s capable of yet. But I have my suspicions. Only, I know what I want, and it will leave Eagle with scars, inside and out.

She’ll lose her virginity to a bastard, her mind screwed up by my obsession because she doesn’t understand the world yet.

Getting her warm, curvy body in my arms was right up there with the fucked-up mistake that landed me in prison after getting out of the U.S. Navy. I should have let the cops deal with my sister’s attacker… but fuck that.

Just like I can’t regret holding Eagle. At last.

“I didn’t know it was going to be that bad. Guess I should have been better about planning my escape.”

“If I was in the city and knew you were up here all alone in this weather, I’d be freaking the fuck out.” I get winded just thinking about that and can’t go on until I clear my throat.

“We’re gonna talk about what the hell you were thinking when you left, but not right now. Gotta get you warm and comfortable first.”

“Okay,” she breathes, reaching around the driver’s seat to rest her small hand on my chest. Right above the tattoo of the golden eagle… the one I got because of her.

Oh god. This is bad. It’s like we’re connected by some energetic tether already.

For months I’ve shot my cum into my fist with visions of her fevered lips on my skin there in that very spot. Eagle beneath me, her tits smashed against me, my cock buried in that taboo heaven between her young, lithe legs.

But I got it wrong. She felt even better than I could ever imagine when she was sitting on my lap, and we’ve both still got our clothes on.

Jeezus.

Unclenching my stomach, I force a deep breath. “I’ll be back. Gonna clear the place. Lock the doors until I get back.”

When I look in the rearview mirror, she’s wide-eyed.

“Understand?”

“I’m pretty sure I’m safe?—”

“Eagle!”

“Okay!”

Growling, baring my teeth like some kind of depraved animal, I stomp to the cabin, retrieve the hidden key—don’t even get me started—and fling open the door.

Only after I check the rooms like I’m searching for armed dust bunnies in all three of the small rooms, I build a fire and start the propane water heater.

I’m still jacked up… maybe more so when I take the steps three at a time down to the driveway.

Eagle’s pretty face is illuminated by the porch light. She locked the doors. The click of her unlocking them makes me grin when I approach.

She shivers when I open the back door, a blush racing up her cheeks that sends me into a feeding frenzy. “Good girl, come on, I’m carrying you. Don’t even think about protesting because you’re gonna figure out that I’m an immovable object.”

“My feet work fine.”

“So do my arms.” I scoop her up, instantly making my body vibrate. There’s probably a sound coming out of me like those power stations with all the warning signs on them.

Wind grabs at us, tossing her hair around, the strands catching on my five-o’clock shadow.

Her laugh is soft as she plucks the strands, the sound working some kind of dark magic on me. Chipping another giant hole in the barrier I’ve been trying to keep up between us.

“My hair likes your face.”

“My face likes your hair.”

Yeah, I fucking said that. I kick open the door and carry her over the threshold. The meaning does not escape me, making some kind of weird possessiveness cram itself up behind my sternum.

“I’ll draw you a bath, just rest here.” Reluctantly, I lower her down, making sure she’s steady. But it’s impossible to move.

Eagle stares at me a little, letting her gaze trace the cords of my neck, the edge of my tattoo rising up above the collar of my T-shirt. “You’ve done too much already.”

“Never, there’s never too much when it comes to you,” I tell her hoarsely, fighting the urge to press my hand to my chest to ease the building tension.

With a sigh, Eagle glances down, tangling her fingers together before she meets my gaze again. “Kane, you don’t have to pamper me. I know your job is to just get me and take me back.”

Yes. No. I don’t know the answer to what my job is anymore. The lines got blurred months ago.

When I force myself to move away, I pause by the open doorway to the bathroom.

But I can’t look back at her slight form standing there in the rustic cabin.

In the kind of place I like, not some fucking antique-filled multi-million dollar mansion.

Scrubbing my hand over the back of my neck, I try not to remember how Eagle felt nuzzled against me. Warm and trusting.

She needs to know who I am.

My voice goes rough. “Sometimes doing the job right requires a lot more.”