“I’ll be okay.”
Why the hell was she always pulling away from him? He was constantly trying to get closer to her while she was constantly moving away from him.
“I’m sure you will be, but I prefer to make certain of it.” He stared into her dark eyes, seeing the response in her gaze as his hands slid slowly down her arms. “I didn’t mean to be so hard on you when I took you.”
“I don’t break easily, Tanner,” she assured him, moving away from him again and heading for the bathroom. “I’ll take you up on those bath salts though.”
He followed her into the bathroom, his lips quirking as she moved na**d through the cavern. She wasn’t self-conscious about her nakedness; he liked that about her. She didn’t pretend coyness or shyness. She gave as good as she got and didn’t make excuses.
Moving into the small cave that held the bathroom, he reached beneath the sink and pulled free the bottle of scented salts.
“My pride sisters Dawn and Sherra like to keep their smelly stuff around.” He uncapped it for her and set it on the sink cabinet. “Take your time. I’ll fix breakfast now that you’re up.”
“So it’s morning?” she asked casually.
His lips quirked. “About ten.”
She stiffened as she adjusted the water running into the tub.
She finally sighed as steam poured from the hot water. “When do you intend to let me go?”
Straightening, she turned to face him, her long hair falling over her shoulder, framing her unique features.
“This isn’t a game, Scheme. The minute you walk out of here you’re dead, and you know it. Your father won’t let you escape, and even if he did, Breed Law sure as hell wouldn’t. Without his protection, you’ll be taken by the Breeds. Once in Sanctuary, you’ll be placed under Breed Law.”
“Then why waste your time like this?” She stared back at him somberly. “You confuse me, Tanner. What do you want? A few hard f**ks before you turn me over to your pride leader?” Her lips turned down sadly. “Why don’t you go ahead and do it? Stop torturing both of us.”
“Do you think I want to see you dead, Scheme?” he snapped back, enraged that she would accept death so easily. “I didn’t waste my damned time bringing you here just to see you executed under Breed Law or by your father’s hand.”
“So why did you waste your time?” She moved to the sink and picked up the salts before turning back to the tub and pouring a healthy amount into the water there.
She acted as though dying meant nothing, as though her life had no worth, and it was pissing him off.
“You could turn evidence against your father,” he stated. “Sanctuary would protect you, Scheme, for that information.”
She paused, biting her lip, her expression concentrated as she stared back at him. “I wish it were that easy.”
“Scheme, time is running out,” he urged. “I can’t stay here forever, and neither can you.”
“Then let me go.” She turned back to the cabinet, pulling towels, a washcloth and a bottle of bath gel from it before laying them on the small stool by the tub. “The answer is pretty easy, Tanner. I didn’t ask you to bring me here.”
“You’re asking me to let you die,” he snarled, furious. “You could live.”
“For how long?” Her expression enraged him. Cool. Composed. They might have been talking about the weather rather than her life. “If you truly want to see me safe, then prove it. Give me a secured cell phone and let me go. I’ll be safe.”
Her words made him crazy.
“Are you Jonas’s spy in your father’s organization?”
He watched her tense, pale. “You have another spy in Father’s organization?” she asked hesitantly, almost fearfully.
His teeth locked together. He could smell neither deceit nor guilt, but he did smell fear.
“Trust me, Scheme,” he whispered.
“Trust me first, Tanner,” she rebutted. “Just take me out of here and drop me off far enough away from the Coyotes searching for me, and give me a cell. I’ll contact you within hours.”
If she were still alive. And there wasn’t much change of that.