Page 53 of Dangerous Liaisons

Chapter Forty

The darkness was complete. Another low moan escalated to a blood curdling scream. Jesse stiffened against the wall where she sat on the mattress, jammed her eyes shut, and shoved her fingers into her ears. In the hours that had passed, she had distinguished five different voices. Bile rose in her throat. Perez was running an insane asylum, creating insanity by incarcerating and torturing the poor souls who had offended him. Lanton would have his final revenge. There would be no need to kill her. No need to worry that important information would be lost with her death. No. Perez would keep her alive in this room for a very long time.

Think, she told herself, think about something—anything—to get your mind off the incessant screaming that penetrated even her fingers stuffed inside her ears. But the hours of probing the cell inch-by-inch, and trying to conceive of a way out despite the solid walls had depleted her imagination. In capture situations, her instructors at Quantico had taught that the captors always slipped up eventually. They had with Cole. They would with her. She had to stay focused. Jesse gingerly shifted her position against the wall to accommodate the electrical burn on her back.

“In the meantime,” her instructors had said, “conserve energy.”

If she could just get the screams out of her head. Think of something, anything. Cole. She wasn’t leaving him behind this time. She wanted him. She’d wanted him from the start. If he’d made a move at the hotel, she would have ridden him all night. She hadn’t told him she’d confirmed he was telling the truth about surviving the massacre, or that she’d learned he’d seen Perez. Why hadn’t Cole told her he met Perez? He had to know that might convince her to let him work with her. What was it about him that made her give a damn? Was it because he stopped Lanton from taking back the money she took from the two accounts?

What about the night in the alley? Cole had seemed like such a greenhorn. A big guy who had no idea how hard bad boys could play. He had pissed her off, but she had admired the fact he came to her aid. Why couldn’t she shake the way that made her feel? Jesse pulled her knees to her chest. Fingers still jammed into her ears, she tucked her elbows close and rested her head on her knees. She hadn’t forgotten the warmth of Cole’s hands when he tended her leg in the hotel.

Screams penetrated her fingers.

Memory of him on top of her in the hotel bed rose in her mind. She startled at the vivid recollection of his weight, how he felt between her legs. Taut pressure in her nipples made her body feel light. She wanted to rub her breasts against his bare chest. Wanted him to flatten a palm against her hip and slide his hand downward. She gasped at the unexpected feel of his hand beneath the yellow dress he’d bought her.

Muted colors swirled in dim shadows around her as Cole traced a line up her leg, then her stomach to the curve of her breast. The weight of her body seemed to dissolve, and she felt as though her soul would float up and merge with his. He ran a finger around the edge of her breast, then drew a single line up to her nipple. She released a slow breath at the warmth of his hand as it covered the breast and gently squeezed. His erection pressed against the sensitive place between her legs. She cried out—

Screams unexpectedly filled her ears. Jesse straightened, blinking in the darkness. She looked around. Her body chilled with the sweat that had broken out across the surface of her skin. Jesse shivered. She’d fallen asleep. The screamer ceased for a second to catch a breath, then started again.

“Shut up!” she shouted.

To her surprise, the screams ceased. But only for a heartbeat.