Live Wire

chapter 8




She was fine.

She was fine.

Jordan had to keep repeating the words to himself as he they made the drive to D.C.

A quick stop to ascertain the damage, then Nik had taken the front passenger seat for Noah who moved to the far back as Jordan quickly bandaged the arm while Micah drove.

Had the assailants meant to strike her?

Jordan couldn’t help but think that they hadn’t. For some reason, the bullets had seemed carefully placed. As though the wound was meant to confuse and frighten her, nothing more. Make her vulnerable and easy to capture.

The low-level explosion in her living room had been more for effect and noise than anything else. Each move had been designed for one purpose, to corral her. To weaken and disorient her.

As Noah drove to their destination, Jordan let his fingers play with the curls that cascaded over the arm wrapped around her shoulders.

He’d managed to get a painkiller in her by lying and telling her it was an antibiotic. The dosage had been more than enough to knock her out and force her to rest during the drive. There wasn’t a chance in hell she would have taken it otherwise. Tehya detested taking pills for any reason. Even the brutal headaches she often suffered were simply dealt with rather than drugging up, as she called it.

She would be madder than hell once she awoke, though. The last time he had slipped a painkiller into her, she had suffered from a brutal headache that lasted more than a week. That last day he’d gone to her suite to check on her and found her nearly incoherent with pain. At that point he had simply had enough.

But she had awakened without a headache. She’d been mad enough to throw a glass at his head, but she had been refreshed and clear-eyed rather than weeping in pain. It was a choice he made easily. Especially this time. What he saw in her eyes made him insane. He had to find a way to force her to rest.

Force her to close those haunted emerald eyes and ease the pain that filled them. Force the ragged, uneven breaths that were holding back sobs to even out.

She was breaking his heart.

From the moment those wide eyes had met his as they realized someone was attempting to gain entrance into the house, they had shattered with the knowledge that her security was being stolen.

Knowing she had been found, knowing someone was following her, wasn’t nearly as destructive to her as the attack on her home. What they had done to her tonight, Jordan could easily kill over. The men who had violated her home had damaged it so severely, that they might have irreparably damaged the roots she had finally found the courage to put down.

“We’re ten minutes out,” Noah said quietly. “Nik is texting Kell Krieger.”

Jordan gave a brief nod. “I want to get her to the Four Seasons. We can’t layover at the senator’s place. The risk to Kell’s family is too high.”

“We haven’t been followed,” Micah protested irately. “Damn, has Tehya’s lack of confidence in me, f*cking affected you too, Commander?” There was no heat in his voice, but there was definitely irritation.

“Would you bet Risa and your children’s lives on it?” Jordan asked him. “Would you take us into your home if you had any other choice?”

Jordan stared into the rearview mirror, watching the former agent’s expression. He knew Micah’s training, and he knew they weren’t being followed. That didn’t mean they couldn’t be tracked.

Micah grimaced. “Four Seasons,” he stated.

“I thought you’d see it my way.” Jordan nodded. “Our only contact with Kell or Senator Stanton will be no more, no less, than required as a close acquaintance and business associate unless we have no other choice. Our first contact will be made at the party tomorrow night.”

“Mikayla has Tehya’s wardrobe nearly completed. She was able to use the sizes from the weekend attire she made for her just before we disbanded.” Nik was proud of his wife, a successful dressmaker whose name was increasingly being shared among the elite as “unique” and a “must-have” when it came to their social attire. Fortunately, with the additional seamstresses she’d hired, she was able to get the dresses Tehya would require completed quickly.

Jordan gave a short nod as he forced himself not to hold Tehya too close. He wanted to pull her close enough that she melded with his flesh. That he could heal her pain simply by wishing it done. Damn, he couldn’t bear what he knew tonight had done to her.

“Stanton and Krieger are going to require updates as well as mission planning,” Noah said quietly. “Arranging that could be difficult if we’re going on acquaintance only and using your real identity.”

Jordan gave a shake of his head. “We’ll invite them to lunch at the Four Seasons to discuss various business concerns Kell and I share. We can take care of everything there.”

“We’ll need to come up with explanations for our presence as well,” Noah reminded him.

“We weren’t expecting this, and you didn’t plan for it.” There was an edge of smugness in Noah’s tone.

“Don’t bet on it,” Jordan snorted. “When we arrive at the Four Seasons, contact John and Travis; they’re already there and you’ll find our suites are waiting for us.”

Nik chuckled lightly. “Haven’t you given up trying to catch him without a plan, Noah?”

Noah snorted. “Not in this lifetime. One of these days, I’ll catch him, though.”

Jordan’s lips quirked at his nephew’s response, but Noah wasn’t kidding. He’d been trying to catch Jordan without a plan for as long as he’d been walking. Thankfully he just hadn’t been around to see the effects when Jordan overlooked an angle. There was a reason he was so f*cking careful.

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Micah chuckled. “Hell, you’re just like him, Noah. We all are since working with him. One of these days it will be our kids trying to catch us without a plan.”

Noah and Nik both responded with amused groans, but Jordan couldn’t regret the training he’d drilled into them for so many years. Even Tehya hadn’t escaped, and the proof that she had listened lay in the carefully packed emergency bag she’d had ready when it came time to run.

Just as Noah had proved himself when he contacted a nearby retired Special Forces commander and two of his men to move into the apartment over his garage and watch over his home and family on the small rise next to it. And the others had made arrangements for their families as well. Just in case.

“Make sure the men we hired to cover Grandpop, Sabella, and Grant are in place,” Jordan told his nephew. “I don’t expect trouble there, but I’d rather be safe than sorry once we begin flushing out whoever is giving the orders here.” Contingency plans, back up positions. He was accused often of being a paranoid son of a bitch, but that was preferable to the alternative.

“We’re moving up on the Four Seasons,” Micah said as he maneuvered the Hummer through the streets toward the exclusive hotel.

“Contacting John and Travis,” Nik announced, his harsh voice darker, deeper than normal as he glanced back at Tehya sleeping in Jordan’s arms.

She was like the kid sister of the unit, Jordan knew. During the months they had been out of touch with her, they had tried to maintain their distance, believing it was what she wanted.

None of them had ever imagined that Killian had used the time he had been at the base, before the group had disbanded, to reprogram her phone.

The satellite phone and the Viper had been “gifts” from the Ops that would allow them to always be in contact with her. Just in case their identities were cracked or the team were somehow threatened.

“Travis and John are taking care of camera surveillance at the hotel while Lilly and Bailey are running interference,” Nik reported as he held his phone to his ear. “We’ll pull up to the rear entrance where Lilly and Bailey will get you to the suite without being seen. Micah, Noah, and I will take care of the Hummer and collect another secured vehicle.”

Jordan gave a tight nod before maneuvering Tehya carefully in his arms, wincing at her mumbled moan.

The small, drowsy whimper pierced his heart. The painkiller he had given her was a powerful one and still, the pain had slipped past it enough to pull a low cry from her as he moved her.

“In ten, Jordan,” Micah advised him. “Ten, nine, eight…”

At one, the vehicle slowed to a crawl as Jordan pushed the door open and stepped from the vehicle with Tehya in his arms.

Lilly Harrington Caine, Travis’ wife, was at the door, swinging it open as Jordan rushed past her. Just inside, John Vincent’s wife, Bailey Seaborne, a former C.I.A. agent waited patiently.

“We have twenty seconds on surveillance interference,” Bailey told him quietly. “We’re using the staff elevator.”

They stepped inside the open elevator as Lilly followed then quickly inserted an electronic key, overrode the normal controls, and hit the button for the top floor.

“You have the Presidential,” Bailey told him. “John checked you in night before last. Micah, Nik and Noah have the attached suites on each side. We’ve received the intel on the attack on the house via Commander Reece and we’ll have that to you as soon as John and Travis return.”

“Reece?” Jordan questioned roughly as he shot her a furious look. “And how the hell did he get anything on it, let alone intel?”

Bailey gave a brief shake of her dark head. “I have no idea. But he was in contact with your backup team within seconds of them going in and coordinated satellite and strike intel with them. He wants contact ASAP and he’s questioning his exclusion from the Op.”

“F*ck him,” Jordan muttered as the elevator slid to a halt.

“This way.” Lilly, moved quickly along the thickly carpeted hall to the open double doors of the suite just above the elevator hallway entrance.

She closed the door as he stepped quickly inside the room and headed to the bedroom at the far end of the suite.

“A physician has been contacted,” Lilly informed him. “He’ll be here within the hour and slipped in as well.”

Jordan stepped into the bedroom and headed for the large bed across the room

Cloud soft, gleaming white, the comforter had been stripped back to reveal a protective covering that had been placed to keep the blood from the silk sheets below.

Laying Tehya on the bed carefully, Jordan drew the serviceable sheet at the side over her.

“She’s sedated,” he told Lilly as she stood at the end of the bed, her dark, moss-green gaze concerned as she watched Jordan lay Tehya down carefully. “It’s only a flesh wound, but…” He wiped his hand over his face. How the hell was he supposed to tell her that he just couldn’t bear to see the pain in Tehya’s eyes any longer?

He was a hardened soldier, but Tehya just did thing to his heart.

“But she breaks your heart when you have to look in her eyes and see the shattered dreams,” Lilly stated softy, her aristocratic face drawn into an expression of concern and sympathy. “I completely understand why you would sedate her Jordan. It’s likely the only way she would have slept.

“Is everyone aware of what she does to me?” he smiled with an edge of self mockery. “And here I thought I was hiding it.”

Lilly’s smile was gentle, soft. “Everyone but Tehya, I would guess,” she said. “And I believe she has a problem seeing beyond her perceived beliefs of why she isn’t good enough for you to see the truth of what you do feel. Besides, being Sorrel’s daughter is a tremendous burden to her. She’s terrified it will become a burden for you as well.”

Jordan shot her a sharp look.

“She knows being Sorrel’s daughter isn’t something I give a damn about.” He shook his head faintly. “There has to be another reason why she was so determined run.”

Lilly gave a bitter snort of laughter. “No, Jordan, trust me, once you accept that you came from pure evil, getting past it is never easy. If I hadn’t had Travis to keep me centered when I learned that lesson, I might not have survived.”

Lilly had been forced to face the fact that her own mother had considered her flawed, broken. And that she had carefully planned her own daughter’s murder.

“Contact Travis and John, make certain everything is going as planned,” he ordered her as he looked around the room, searching for anything that would indicate a problem. “And tell him I want the Intel Reece provided, ASAP.”

Lilly had begun to give a quick nod when Bailey stepped into the room.

“John and Travis are here,” she told Jordan. “The doctor’s ETA is twenty minutes. He’s being met by Nik, Micah, and Noah. They’ll escort him through the rear entrance and up here.”

Jordan glanced down at Tehya, hating like hell to leave her alone.

“Go, I’ll sit with her,” Lilly told him as she moved to the comfortable recliner next to the bed, and smiled back at him. “I promise, she’ll be fine with me.”

He knew she would be, and it wasn’t as though Tehya’s problem was life-threatening. Still, pulling away from her and stalking into the main portion of the suite was nearly impossible.

When she awoke, she would be groggy and pissed the hell off. And strangely enough, he wanted to ensure he was the one with her. The only one to watch out for her until she was feeling herself again.

As he stepped into the combined living and dining room, John and Travis turned from their discussion, their gazes flickering in concern to the open bedroom door.

“She’s still asleep,” he answered the unspoken question in their eyes. “F*ck, I knew it would happen, I just didn’t expect it so soon.” Travis raked his fingers through his dark blond hair in frustration. Jordan almost wished he could just tone down whatever he was feeling to that level as well.

“Always plan for the worst,” Jordan sighed. “Though to be honest, I didn’t expect it to happen this quickly myself.”

“The backup team we were lucky enough to have in place in Hagerstown did manage to get a few prints,” John injected. “As soon as we have a hit on those from our contact at the FBI, maybe we’ll have a better idea who or what we’re looking for.”

“Remnants of Sorrel’s organization,” Jordan informed them. “I’m almost certain of it. I just can’t figure out why, after all these years. What kind of threat does she represent that has someone going to the trouble, not to mention the expense, of launching such a search and attempted capture of her?”

As Jordan spoke, Travis shot John a hard look.

John grimaced at the obvious message in the other man’s gaze.

“I know you wanted Killian excluded from this,” he said as he reached to the table for the heavy file. “A courier dropped this off about half an hour before your arrival. Evidently there has been some movement over the past few years to reorganize and revive Sorrel’s operation.”

“By who? And why do they need Tehya to do this?” Son of a bitch.

Tehya was right. Somehow Sorrel was reaching out from the grave to haunt her.

“According to the information Killian has managed to pull together, whoever’s behind it believes Tehya is a key to the funding the operation.” John moved to the table and pulled out the chair in the front of the file.

Casting a quick glance to the bedroom door, Jordan followed.

“Here’s the will Tehya’s grandfather, Bernard Taite, left before his death.” A stack of legal papers was pulled from the file. “According to this, if Francis Taite, or one of her children, were ever found, then their inheritance would be incredible. The Taite main estate, which is currently occupied by his brother, Stephen Taite, and his family, would be immediately turned over to the heir. That includes two large estate homes, four guest cottages, various cars, limos, servants, jewels, you get the picture.” John waved his hand to the will.

“The Taites are one of the richest families in France,” Travis picked up. “They’re related to both the French and English crowns, with Stephen Taite holding the position of not just the third cousin to the king but also included on his board of advisors.”

“How much would Taite industries pay to have their heir back?” John asked. “Better yet, how much would any or all of them pay to see her disappear forever?”

“How much would she be worth if she could be brainwashed to obey the whims of her captors instead, if they had managed to capture her that night?”

The sun was rising beyond the narrow slit of the heavy curtains across from the table.

Travis sat back and stared at the will for long moments.

“As the legal heir to the Benard Taites fortune, the amount would be more than I want to sit and figure up for them.”

Neither did Jordan, but the amount would be enough to make any man risk the attempt.

“Any word in there concerning who contacted Arthur and Tenneyson concerning the true details of Tehya’s death?”

John picked up the papers in the file and rifled through them for a moment before pulling the printed report free.

Jordan accepted the page, his gaze moving to read the detailed report, as a frown pulled at his brow.

“Origination, Hagerstown, Maryland,” he murmured, then looked at each man. “Did you track the number?”

“The number went back to here.” Travis pulled the report free.

The number had originated from Room 714 of one of the better hotels in town.

“At the same time, Tehya was registered there while she was having interior work done on the house.”

“The caller didn’t reveal her location, though why he bothered to keep it quiet made no sense,” John grunted. “Because they revealed her name.”

“Be too helpful and you can sabotage yourself,” Jordan pointed out. “The caller gave just enough information to ensure the story was checked.” He tapped his finger against the file. “How did Killian acquire the information?”

“He sent a four-man team to Afghanistan after you discussed returning Tehya to base. He asked that you contact him concerning that, by the way,” Travis stated mockingly.

Jordan gave a quiet snarl of disgust.

“Yeah, that’s what we thought, too,” John approved. “But he had a team still working this. They’re currently in France attempting to put together a list of known associates for Ira Arthurs and Mark Tenneyson. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Jordan shook his head before leaning back in the chair and glaring at the curtains covering the windows across from him.

Some habits were impossible to break. He still kept the blinds pulled securely in his apartment in Texas. He had noticed, though, that Tehya kept the curtains over the kitchen sink open. She had been attempting to break the habit.

“You won’t find the person behind this on any list,” he finally told the other two men. “If Arthurs, Tenneyson, or anyone else sent after her knew who they were working for, then their name would have already shown up.”

John’s muttered curse just about summed it up.

“Travis, pull together our contacts in France,” Jordan ordered. “What I want to know is, who among the elite moneyed set had ties to Sorrel that weren’t found until after his death. Anyone related to him who would have the means to pull this off, or anyone among his social set who could reorganize the business or revive it. I’m betting we’d find the name on that list.”

As he moved to close the file, he caught a shadow of movement from the bedroom doorway.

Turning his head, he caught the sign from Bailey that Tehya was waking up.

“This is connected to the Taites, their money and influence,” he finished as he rose to his feet. “Arthurs and Tenneyson are watching the Taites, and it’s obvious they’re watching for Tehya. Let’s see what happens when we give them something.”

He didn’t wait for their opinion. Moving across the room, he headed for the bedroom and the woman too many damned men seemed way too interested in.

“She’s waking up.” Lilly nodded to Tehya with a soft smile, as Jordan entered the bedroom. “Doc will be here in a few. See if you can get her to cooperate. We all know how much she loves the medical profession.”

“Which means not at all,” he grunted, his gaze moving to the bed and the woman in it.

Lilly’s brows lifted, waggled, and a knowing grin crossed her face as Tehya’s lashes flickered open. The door closed softly as Lilly and Bailey returned to the front room.

Staring down at her, Jordan held back his grin as that first drowsy irritation crossed her face before her gaze adjusted, knowledge filtered through, and irritation turned to a spark of anger. As she caught sight of him.

“You drugged me,” she breathed out heavily. “A*shole.”

“We have a doc heading in to check the wound,” he told her. “You were in pain, Tehya.”

She gave a weak little snort. “This ain’t my first rodeo, cowboy.”

No, it wasn’t. She’d been wounded before.

She amazed him sometimes. One minute she was in tears over the invasion of her home, and in the next second so blasé about a f*cking gunshot wound that the thought of the past she had lived had sweat popping out on his brow.

“It may not be your first rodeo, but you were too weak and you’d lost too much blood for my comfort level,” he informed her. “You needed to rest until we could safely stop, check the wound, then call a doctor in to look at it. You may need stitches.”

The weak little glare she shot him was almost amusing. It would have been, except for the anger he glimpsed in her eyes. That look assured him there might be hell to pay once she managed to regain her strength and lost the grogginess.

To a point, sometimes, he could maneuver her, but there was no controlling her. Especially when she was pissed. And Tehya was edging very damned close to pissed where he was concerned.

“And if we had been attacked while on the road? What then?” She struggled to sit up in the bed, her expression irate before she winced at the pain to her arm

“Let me help you.” He reached for her, only to have her slap his hand away with a glare. “Dammit, Tehya, you’re going to cause yourself to start bleeding again then you’ll really need stitches if you pull the adhesive I used loose.”

Tehya slowly pushed herself from the bed, the grogginess in her head making her teeth clench.

She really didn’t like being drugged. And she had no problem letting anyone know when there was something she didn’t like.

She’d learned quick enough that Jordan and his men did not care if she suffered her anger in silence.

She ignored him, pushing herself up with her good arm until she was sitting on the side of the bed and glaring at him. “Answer me,” she bit out, her voice strengthening marginally. “What would have happened if we had been attacked on the road and I was unconscious? I would have been dead weight, Jordan.”

“Good thing you don’t weigh much,” he quipped, then watched as she dropped her head, shaking it slowly. She wasn’t even considering the other side of the coin. She would have been vulnerable to enemies with an unknown agenda. All she was considering was whether or not she would have slowed him or the team down.

“I had everything covered, Tehya,” he promised when she said nothing more. “It was an hour-and-a-half trip and you were hurting like hell. You’ve lost sleep, and you’re riding on nerves. I wasn’t going to let you suffer like that when I knew the pain medication would help. Besides, there was an antibiotic with it. You have a head start on fighting back an infection.”

Tehya lifted her head and stared back at him, outraged. She couldn’t believe he had drugged her. How dare he have taken such a decision out of her hands?

“I f*cking hate drugs,” she snapped, realizing her voice was still too weak to really hold any force. “And I was fine. It hurt. I was pissed off that my home was invaded, but if you had trusted me you wouldn’t have drugged me. What did you have to do, Jordan, that you didn’t want me to see or hear?”

Jordan always had plans. He was especially good at those contingency plans that no one was aware of but him. Had that had something to do with the reason he had drugged her? Was there a part of what was going on that he didn’t want her to know?

She watched as his gaze narrowed, his expression tightening with a hint of anger and disbelief that she had asked the question. “I’ve always trusted you, Tehya.”

“Whatever,” she snorted back at him as though it didn’t matter, and she didn’t believe him in the least.

But she wanted to believe him. God, she needed to believe him right now, because she felt as though her entire world were being jerked out from under her. “Where’s the shower? I stink of blood. God, I hate that smell.”

She needed to clear her head and clean the feeling of betrayal from her senses. Even more, she wanted to escape the memories that the scent of blood triggered.

Her mother’s blood, fresh, oozing from a knife wound that was too deep and refused to clot. “I’m okay.” The sickening iron stench invading her nostrils as she tried to help her mother apply a tourniquet. “It’s okay, sweetie. See, Momma is fine.” Her mother, so weak and still trying so hard to smile despite her pain.

It was too much. She didn’t want to remember, she didn’t want to feel what she had felt each time her mother had nearly been caught.

“Let me help you up.” Jordan didn’t take no for an answer. Before she could evade him, he moved to her and all but lifted her from the bed.

She pushed away from him as soon as she was standing steady on her feet, the irritation combining with the drugged, out of sorts feeling. If she had the strength, she’d kick his ass. She wished she just had the strength to kick him.

Well, she’d try to kick his ass. She might consider it anyway. Threaten him. She wouldn’t get far.

“Drug me again, Jordan, and I’m out of this little game. I’ll show you and my would-be captors exactly what I’ve learned during my time in hiding and disappear for good.”

She hoped he believed her. She prayed he did. Because if he ever did anything so asinine again, she might very well end up trying to kill him herself.

“Tehya.” His hold became firmer on her arm as the expression on his face hardened to pure make dominance. “Don’t threaten me. And don’t run. I promise, if you run on me I’ll make damned sure you understand the error of your ways within twenty-four hours flat. Are we understood here?”

She stared back at him furiously.

“I’ll tie you to a bed and f*ck you until you can’t consider running ever again, sweetheart. I’ll make sure you’re so tired, the memory of pleasure so deep, the ache for more so ingrained inside you that even the thought of running will be erased from your mind.”

Her brow arched. “If I had known that, Jordan, I would have run years ago,” she told him, her voice lowering as she allowed her gaze to rake over him suggestively.

He wasn’t the only one that knew how to use the hunger burning between them

He was aroused. His cock was pressed hard and tight behind the zipper of his jeans. And she remembered clearly, very clearly, exactly what it was like to have him buried inside her. To have his cock stretching her until she was certain she could take no more, thrusting inside her, throbbing erotically against nerve endings that felt fully exposed.

As her gaze returned to his, she watched the blue darken, glitter with hunger and dominance. And just that fast her p-ssy was aching and wet, and all too ready for him. God, what was she going to do when he was gone. How would she survive losing him a second time when even the dream of a home wasn’t there to fall back on.

Slowly, he drew back, rather than following through with the threat. Disappointment clenched her chest and had her drawing in a ragged breath.

“The doctor will be here within the next twenty minutes,” he warned her, his tone low and dark with a hint of sex. “Be careful Tehya, or he’ll see more than either of us want him to see.”

Tehya escaped to the shower though she would have preferred his touch. The suite they were in was gorgeous, elegant. Marble floors in the bathroom with a walk-in shower and large Jacuzzi tub. Heat lamps lit up above her as she flipped the lights on, spreading an edge of warmth through the room as she undressed, adjusted the temperature of the water, and stepped beneath the heated spray.

She was careful to keep her arm out of the spray. Stepping back from the stream of moisture, she washed her hair awkwardly. To rinse it, she turned her side to the water and worked the lather from the long curls.

It took twice as long as usual but when she was finished, she felt as though she might actually be able to think clearly soon. The warmth of the shower helped clear some of the drowsy lethargy from her head and though she still felt weak, at least she didn’t feel as though she would fall asleep on her feet.

Wrapping a towel around her, she held back the wince at the sharp pains to her arm as she finished. Painkillers would be nice if they didn’t knock her on her ass. Unfortunately, that was exactly what they did. They left her feeling worse than the pain did, without the benefit of being aware of what the hell was going on around her.

As she stepped from the cubicle, she came to a hard stop her breath suspending in her chest as excitement began to rage through her body once again and anticipation dampened her p-ssy.

Jordan stepped into the bathroom.

He’d obviously showered as well. His thick, black hair was still damp, and he had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.

God, his feet were bare.

A man shouldn’t have sexy feet, but he did. To be so damned big, they were strong, male, and powerful. Even his damned toenails were perfect.

“What do you want?” she asked, her voice husky, breathless from the hard fierce throbbing of her heart in her chest.

He should be illegal. He should have to wear an ugly disguise when he was in public to weaken his effect on the female of the species. Because she wasn’t the only woman to grow immediately wet at the sight of him.

“Doc is here,” he told her, the lazy drawl in his voice filled with knowing arousal as his gaze slid over her body. “Keep the towel on. He’ll need access to the arm though.”

Tehya rolled her eyes, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew the wound had to be checked. The towel was large enough that she was well covered, but it still left the heavy slice on the outside of her bicep accessible.

Thankfully, the doctor was old enough that she felt reasonably comfortable, and he was well supplied with all the tools of his trade. One of those tools was a numbing cream that he used on the wound before bandaging it.

Within minutes the worst of the pain eased, giving her some relief without the grogginess of the pills.

“You need to pack that stuff in your bag.” She informed Jordan. “Steal it or something.”

“The wound isn’t too bad,” the doctor assured them as he and Jordan both ignored her. Though, bless his heart, he left the tube on the table as he repacked his bag and stared down at her with kind eyes. “You should feel right as rain once you’ve slept for a while and the wound has a chance to start healing. Keep the cream on it, keep both cloth and adhesive bandages. Don’t use the arm any more than you have to and you shouldn’t have any problems.”

He laid out a small bottle of medication. “It’s not too strong, even for your system.” His lips quirked in a grin. “Mr. Malone explained your sensitivity to painkillers. It has some pain medication and antibiotics. Once every four hours unless you want a nasty infection.”

She stared at the packet and clenched her teeth in frustration. She detested pills and medications of any sort. No matter what they said, the stuff always made her groggy at the very least.

“Take one now, my dear.” The doctor laid one of the oval pills in her hand. “Have you ever seen gangrene? I’m certain one so pretty wouldn’t want such a nasty infection.”

She swore he was in league with Jordan.

She took the pill. If it knocked her out and she managed to wake up safe and sound, then she would make certain Jordan paid for it. And the look she shot him promised retribution, because she knew, somehow, he had found a way to manuever this pill thing.

As the doctor left the room and the door closed behind him, Tehya gathered up the change of clothes Jordan had laid out for her.

Soft lounge pants, a loose T-shirt, and warm socks. She kept them in her go-bag. A girl never knew when she was going to need to be comfortable. That and makeup, and she was usually good to go in almost any situation.

Pulling her make up bag from the pack, she took out the moisturizer before placing the bag on the chest.

“What are you doing?” He stepped in front of her as she headed for the bathroom.

“I’m going to get dressed, Jordan,” she said sarcastically.

“It’s time for bed, Tehya,” he shot back in return. “And you don’t need to get dressed for that.”

Hell, when he dropped his voice like that he made her stomach clench in hunger. There were times when loving him, needing him as she did, could be a terrible distraction. And this was one of those times.

“I’ve already slept, remember?” She argued as she shot him a glare.

“That was no more than a nap,” he scoffed as he blocked her way once more.

What the hell was his problem?

“I’m too restless to sleep.” She narrowed her eyes back at him suspiciously. “Go away, Jordan. Surely you can find something better to do than aggravating me to death.” If he couldn’t think of anything, then she was certain she could.

Jordan grinned. “That’s okay, baby, I have a cure for that.”

The towel fell to the floor as Tehya felt her breath catch. Her body flooded with heat and sensitivity. The cool air of the air-conditioned room washed over her. It was an additional caress as she felt Jordan step behind her. The warmth of his chest warmed her, creating a feeling of security even as she felt the arousal beginning to surge out of her control, as his hand slid slowly down her arms, gripping the hand of her good arm and guiding it up until she curved her fingers along the nape of his neck.

Jerking against his grip she almost escaped, only to be pulled back into his arms as he chuckled wickedly and replaced her hand. Why was she fighting him? Oh yeah, that’s right, he had drugged her, deliberately, when he knew she hated it.

“Stop fighting me, Tehya. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

He obviously hadn’t expected her to try to escape again. This time, she made it free of his arms and turned to face him. She had every intention of telling him exactly what she thought of his high-handedness. Despite the fact that there wasn’t a time that she didn’t crave his touch, that didn’t mean he had to be so confident that she was his for the taking.

The she saw something in his eyes that had the juices spilling from her p-ssy, lubricating the bare folds and sensitizing her *. A blazing dominant lust that all but glowed in his eyes and tightened his expression in intense, carnal, burning arousal. A powerful need she could already feel herself weakening to.

She had always suspected it lurked there. That overwhelming, pure dominance gleaming in those sapphire blue eyes as his gaze raked over her body.

“What am I doing, Jordan?” she asked, her lips parting to breathe in roughly as she dared to challenge him. “Refusing to put my head down and obey your every whim? Is that what you require in your women? Submission? Damn, and here I don’t do submission so well? Perhaps you should spank me.” She licked her lips slowly “Or something?”

She was naked and defying him, and there was a thrill racing through her that made her feel intoxicated. For now, a sense of power began whipping through her. A knowledge, an instinct where her lover was concerned. Where her own hidden, unrealized needs had once lain dormant, she could now feel them rising fast and out of control.

Jordan watched the challenge building in her eyes, the steamy seductive heat as it made her expression drowsy with sensual hunger and a need for that challenge to be met and conquered.

He was going to f*ck her until they were both gasping for air and too weak to move. Until there wasn’t a chance in hell she could forget exactly who her very beautiful, very aroused body belonged to.

Tehya stared at him, her breathing heavy and rough as she sensed that sexual edge sharpening inside him. The look in his eyes sent a chill of anticipation racing up her spine. She had never seen that expression on his face before, never done more than catch a fleeting glimpse of the powerful needs he had hidden so carefully.

“You’re mine,” he bit out suddenly, forcefully, shocking her with the depth of the declaration. “As long as we’re in this together, by God, you’re mine and you will survive this, Tehya. No matter what I have to do to ensure it. And you will not fight me further where your protection is concerned.”

Oh, she wouldn’t?

“Kiss my ass,” she retorted, knowing damned well the affect it would have on him.

His lashes lowered, blue fire erupting in his gaze as the words slipped past her lips, and reacted on his senses.

“Oh baby, with pleasure. It will be my absolute pleasure.”

As pure unadulterated lust exploded in his eyes, he gripped her wrist and pulled her quickly to him, straight into his arms, his grip unbreakable as he held her snug against him.

Her nipples were so hard, so sensitive, they throbbed with the swollen response that tightened them as they rasped against the material of his T-shirt. Her sex flooded with warmth, with the slick essence that prepared her body for his possession. The reaction was so quick, so strong it swept through her control and laid it to waste with immediate response. Her breath caught, a gasp parting her lips and giving him the opening he needed.

Jordan took complete advantage. His lips lowered and the kiss shattered her defenses, if there had been left against him. His lips possessed and marauded stroking over her lips and throwing her headlong in desperate need. She met the kiss, suddenly so aroused, so out of control that she met his kiss with the same forceful need that he spilled into her.

They ate at each other’s lips. Tongues dueled, fought for control of the kiss, and for control of each other

The wound on her arm was forgotten. Whether it was the cream or the drugs or the lust, or a combination of the three, she wasn’t certain. She also wasn’t hurting for anything but Jordan’s touch.

Straining to get closer, to feel the touch of him against every cell of her naked body, Tehya moaned in distress. She couldn’t get close enough. She couldn’t kiss him enough, couldn’t taste him enough.

She couldn’t claim him hard enough or fast enough for the hunger raging through her. Her hands pushed beneath his shirt, finding hard male flesh and curling her nails against it.

His arms were around her, clasping her tight to him as she fought to touch more of him, to holding him closer to her. She felt herself lifted, moving, until she felt the bed against the back of her legs. She felt sensations brewing, whipping inside her. A storm she couldn’t resist and pleasure began whipping through her.

Jordan tore his head back, his blue eyes flaming as she met his gaze.

“Kiss your ass?” he growled. “Oh baby, I’m going to do so much more than that to your gorgeous tight little ass.”