Mine - HelenKay Dimon Page 0,33
other ideas—booted up and followed him. It was either tackle her, shoot her or acquiesce. He picked the third but grumbled and swore about it until she rolled her eyes and followed him anyway.
“Get over it,” she said, as she scanned the trees around them.
“You are not very clear on the whole concept of protection, are you?” He’d had people fight his role before. She made it a full-time job.
“And you’re not getting that I’m an expert shot.”
“I saw your work with a hatchet. I don’t doubt it.” The woman’s skills surpassed those outlined in her file. The suggestion that she was soft or administrative only pissed him off. Made him want to defend her, but he doubted she needed anyone speaking on her behalf. “You seem to be good at everything, actually.”
She stopped and turned to face him. “Are you talking about sex?”
Now there was a conversation jump he was happy to take. “No, but I’ll talk sex with you any time.”
It didn’t matter that she wore a heavy jacket and gloves. That she had a plaid scarf wrapped around her neck and tucked up under her chin. Or that she was all bound up with only pink cheeks and big eyes staring out. Natalie mentioned sex and his body defied the cold. Heat crashed through him, and his mind spun to memories of her breasts and how the tips fit in his mouth.
She stole his willpower until he had to fight the clawing need to scoop her up and carry her back inside. Having sex with her only made him want to experience more sex with her. Different positions. Holding her down. Stretching her out.
So much for the idea of being civilized.
“All those comments about being in charge turned out to be bluster.” She stomped her feet and caked snow fell off. “You’re actually pretty unselfish.”
He had no idea what the hell that meant, but it sounded kind of lame. Like, not what you wanted the woman you hoped to sleep with that night to say about you. “I’m not clear if that’s a compliment.”
“It definitely is.”
He decided to believe her. Then he went back to walking. Standing around seemed like a good way to freeze the soles of her boots to the ground, and he had better plans for the afternoon.
“Good.” But he did need her to understand a few facts about him. Better to be clear and in agreement than risk surprises. “You are wrong about one thing though.”
“Which is?”
“Being in charge in the bedroom doesn’t mean being selfish.” He didn’t know what kind of men she’d been with in the past, but he knew who he was. Sex meant pleasure. Sometimes hot and fast. Other times slow, drawing out every minute and every breath.
“Well, sure. I—”
“It’s about timing.”
She shot him the side eye. “Okay.”
“I am going to tie you to the bed and fuck you senseless.” Her breath hit the air in a visible puff, just as he’d hoped it would. “I just have to know no one is coming up behind me with a knife when I do. That means we wait to make it happen.”
She tucked her gloved hands in her pockets. “I thought you were convinced we were safe here.”
“I never said that.” She knew better. There were too many variables. A chance that someone out there with a big wallet had made an offer Gabe could only combat with a bullet.
“You have the perimeter set up.”
Motion detectors. Infrared sensors. A few traps to welcome anyone who stepped in the wrong place. The usual. “Sure, I’m not a fucking novice.”
“Then?”
“Neither will the person be who comes after us.” This was a game for grown-ups. He lived in a world where experts littered the ground. Finding someone to venture out here would not be a burden if someone really wanted to find her. If that happened, the cat-and-mouse chase would begin. The only way to turn this was to keep running or convince the people after her, if there proved to be any, to back off.
“You still think people are coming.”
“Possibly.” He kept walking and watching, doing the job he’d been sent out here to do.
“Don’t.” When he lifted an eyebrow but stayed quiet, she kept talking. “No hesitating and hiding things from me because you think that will somehow keep me safe.”
Time to come clean. She deserved the facts. Her knowing would double his strength . . . and likely make keeping her there even harder. “The same biplane has flown over