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Sudden silence filled her mind as blinding light eclipsed the darkness of her nightmares. Heaving in gulps of air, the room around her slowly came into focus. Thalia froze, her gaze centering in on a pair of beady, black eyes that floated in front of her face, studying her like a puzzle.Where the hell amI?
Afraid to move, she dragged in another labored breath as she assessed her surroundings. A shabby, palm ceiling hovered a good ten feet above her; rough cut timbers interwoven with aged two by fours. Dried frond leaves hung broken and half-hazard, a slender shaft of light beaming down from a bare spot near the center. One window, which was shuttered, and one door. Two possible escape routes, three if she could pull herself through the hole in theroof.
Pain sliced through her chest as the monkey shifted its weight.Oh shit!Her hands were tied above her head. She didn’t know much about monkeys, but she was sure her face would be toast if she pissed it off or scared it. God only knew what or who would come through that door if it started making noise. “Nice monkey,” shewhispered.
As if the thing had read her thoughts, the monkey let out a cackling screech and reached to touch her face.Ohhhh!Thalia drew her head back as far as the pillow would allow, her chin disappearing into her neck as the monkey fingered her bottom lip.Shit, shit, and double shit. This is not good.She could feel her scream clawing its way from her lungs. As she’d reached her panic threshold, willing to face her captor’s wrath instead of this crazy wild animal, the door opened and the monkey jerked its hand from herface.
“Get off her, Winston.” The monkey chirped and scurried off the bed. Thalia’s eyes darted to the new threat. Six foot two, maybe three, broad chest, corded muscles in his arms and legs, and the deadliest amber eyes she’d ever seen.I’m screwed.This was no tourist or zoo keeper. She knew a killer when she saw one. Judging by the amount of pain radiating through her body and the sweat soaked sheets, she was in no shape to fight him off. She’d have to be delirious to even think aboutit.
The sound of his boots scuffing against the floor as he approached had her muscles coiling against the pain in a fight or flight preparation. He would win, but she was determined to give him one hell of afight.
Grant stood over her for a moment, studying her reaction to him. “Relax,” he finally ordered, squatting down onto the edge of the mattress. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Damn if he couldn’t get lost in those eyes. They were a paler blue today than he’d seen yesterday. Almost silver and filled to the brim with a fear-laced determination he couldn’t help but admire. “What’s your name?” His hand paused above her leg when she flinched away fromhim.
“Jill,” she bit out, searing him with another icystare.
Lie number one.“Ah, she speaks English.” Grant nodded. “Okay,Jill.” He slowly lowered his hand to the sheet and lifted it away from her thigh. “I guess that makes me Jack,” he mumbled as he carefully laid the back of his hand to her torn flesh. “Oddly enough, I’ve never been one ofthose.”
He watched her closely as he felt for signs of heat or infection. She’d nearly knocked his lights out the night before when he’d gotten up to check her wounds. He’d had to tie her arms to the head rail on his cot to keep her from tearing out her stitches before she’d finally passed out again. Not wanting a repeat performance, he kept a wary eye on her unbound legs as he checked herstitches.
“Well, Jill.” He re-covered her bare leg and reached for the top of the sheet. Ignoring her wordless protests, he peeled down the white cotton sheet, sparing only a quick glance at her plump, bare breasts as he examined the cut over her ribs. “The good news is the swelling above your eye has gone down enough so that you no longer look like a science fiction experiment. The bad news is your leg is infected. You need adoctor.”
“No. No doctors. Ican…”
“Yeah, I figured as much.” Grant watched her struggle against her bonds. She froze when he pressed his hand to her bare chest. “I said relax. Do you want me to untieyou?”
Her eyes darted up to the cord around her wrists in another wordless plea. “Well, see, I only have one problem with that.” Grant smirked and pointed to the cut on his cheekbone. “Seems you have one hell of a right hook,Jill.”
At least she had the decency to look contrite as she studied his face. He knew it was an act. She would fight balls to the wall as soon as he released her. He counted on it, in fact. “That’s okay, I don’t need an apology. I know you didn’t mean it. You were pretty out of it last night.” He reached for the knot above her head but stilled, searching out her gaze. “You won’t do it again, willyou?”
He almost laughed at the puppy dog eyes she gave him as she silently shook her head.Well, here goes the neighborhood. He took a little longer than necessary to work the knot free, watching as her muscles bunched and coiled. He could almost feel the energy rolling off her body as she prepared to strike. It was one of the things he missed about his job. Reading the people he was hunting, feeling the energy around him shift and move as the final fatal sceneunfolded.
One last tug and the cord fell free. She pulled her hands down to her chest and calmly worked at the strands until they slid from her wrists. Almost teasingly, Grant shifted and turned his back to her. She certainly didn’t disappoint. Striking like a cobra, she jackknifed from the mattress, looping the cord over his head and wrapping it around histhroat.
With a knee in his back, she pulled hard against the cord. Grant had to admit, he’d underestimated her strength a bit. The hand he’d slipped between his neck and the cord began to lose feeling as the cord cut into his palm. He was beginning to think twice about playing games with this chick. With a twist and a shove he was out of her snare and had his hands wrapped around both her wrists. He dodged her knee as she shoved it at his groin, but he couldn’t hold back the curse when she bit down on the back of hishand.
“Goddammit!” She was like a damn fossa mongoose; lean, mean, and quick as hell! Grunted curses filled the air as he hoisted her from the cot and then pushed her back into the mattress. No more games with the rabid carnivore. Her arms pinned beside her head, he straddled her hips and hooked his ankles over her shins to keep her from kneeing him in the back. “Enough,” he growled as he hovered aboveher.
Her nostrils flared as she dragged in a series of frantic breaths. Her skin, which had been so pale and gray, was now flushed pink with excitement. He watched as her silver eyes flared with heat, her pupils dilating to encompass the hypnotizing swirls of gray. Grant was astonished. Every misconception he’d had of her being a broken victim flew right out the window. Christ, she was playing him. And she was enjoying it every bit as much as hewas.
His cock, hard and aching, pressed against her pelvis as the heat from her naked body washed over him. He was suddenly aware of her bare breasts pressed against his chest and found himself wishing he’d decided to go shirtless that morning. Her pink lips parted, her warm breath washing over him as their eyes locked. He fought hard against the need to kiss those lips, to slide his tongue into her hot, wet mouth and devour the taste of pure wildness that radiated from her soul. She didn’t need a snare to capture him. He felt himself being drawn in like a bee to an exoticwildflower.
His body warred with his mind as his head dipped a fraction closer. His instincts screamed for him to back away from the edge of the cliff. He knew what she was doing. It wouldn’t work, but damn if he wasn’t tempted to call her bluff. He could almost taste her breath on his tongue before her eyes shifted, breaking the spell as she relaxed against his hold and turned her head away. “What do youwant?”
Grant blinked away the fog that had wrapped around his brain. “Your name,” he said with a sigh, laboring to keep his heart rate down and his dick in hispants.
“I toldyou—”
“Yourrealname.” Gathering his wits, he tightened his grip on her wrists. “I told you I wouldn’t hurt you. It doesn’t mean I’m not capable of it. I’m not going to rape you. I’m not going to hold you prisoner. You’re free to stay as long as it takes for your wounds to heal, although you’ll probably die soon without antibiotics, but you’re also free to leave whenever youwant.”
When she wouldn’t look at him he gathered both her wrists in one hand and turned her chin to him with the other. He could see the muscles tick in her jaw as she clenched her teeth against the forced acquiescence. “If you attack me again, I’ll have no choice but to tie you to this cot and call the civil police to come get you. Is that what youwant?”
He sensed her surrender the moment it happened, could see when the panic returned to her eyes. She was definitely not a fan of law enforcement. Not that he blamed her. He’d lost count of the different thugs, groups and countries that had put a bounty on his head. Lucky for him, no one knew who he was. Hell, even he couldn’t remember his real name at times. He’d used so many aliases and disguises over the years that it was hard to keep track. When he’d left the States after cleaning up the mess he’d caused for Daniel, he’d decided to stick with his Grant Kendal identity. Grant had woken him up to who he’d become and he never wanted to forget that. He had a feeling she didn’t quite have that kind of anonymity to hidebehind.
He watched her struggle to give up that small piece of herself. There was no rush. He had all day if she needed time to work it out. Her teeth worried her bottom lip as she stared at the wall beside them and his cock twitch back to life. If she kept that shit up she mightnothave all day. Either way, he was going to have to rub one out before the day was out.The sooner the better.The last thing he needed was to let this fossa lead him around by hisdick.
She wouldn’t meet his gaze as she took in a shuddering breath and focused on the ceiling above him. “Thalia,” she breathed out a sigh, her eyes then locking onto his like lasers. “ThaliaBrezlin.”
Grant studied her expressions.Almost the truth.It was close enough. “Thalia,” he nodded. “I like it. It fits you.” He slowly released his grip and rolled to her side, crashing to the small mattress beside her, crowding her against the wall. Folding his arms behind his head, he smiled and gave her a flirty wink. “Well, Thalia. Welcome to Isle deGrant.”
