Rules In Blackmail. Nichole Severn

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СКАЧАТЬ Because those heated, confusing minutes of them under the blanket in front of the fire together hadn’t exactly gone as Jane had expected. His skin had pressed against hers from chest to toes, his very prominent arousal at her lower back, and the way he’d feathered his fingertips over her shoulder... Jane swallowed back the memories. His touch had felt good, real. Then again, she’d lived the past few months as a hermit and wouldn’t know the difference between her own arousal and the simple need for human contact. Jane shivered. No. That wasn’t it. She’d recognized the difference. She just hadn’t felt that kind of drowning heat in a long time. Her insides burned to close the distance between them for another passing glimpse of it, however fleeting.

      But Sullivan’s reaction had been simple biology. There’d been a naked woman pressed against him and his body had responded. He didn’t want her. Because no matter how many heated moments they shared, how many times they laughed together or how long they talked, Sullivan blamed her for his brother’s suicide. Plain and simple.

      “I’m already having the files brought from your town house by another operative on my team,” he said.

      Pressure built behind her sternum. Sullivan might not use all of his training from his military days for Blackhawk Security, but from what she’d read of him, he never missed a clue. She cleared her throat, stuffing her hands into her sweatshirt pockets. “Good idea. I’ve already gone through most of them, but another set of eyes might uncover something I missed.”

      Jane’s stomach growled again.

      “You need to eat and rest before Elliot gets here with the files.” Sullivan stood, his wide shoulders blocking her view of the living room and the fire popping and cracking in the fireplace. Muscles flexed across his chest and arms, and Jane swallowed the rush of saliva filling her mouth. “I don’t come up here often so I’m sorry to say there’s nothing more than a few MREs lying around, but there should be enough in the duffel bags we brought to last us three days.” He searched the living room. “Where did you put the bags after I tried to kill myself out there? I’ll make us something to eat.”

      Jane’s responding smile to his willingness to feed her disappeared. Exhaling, she ran her hand through her hair. Crap. “I left them outside. I wasn’t thinking after I pulled you in—”

      “Don’t worry about it.” He stepped right into her, that massive chest of his brushing against her. Staring down at her, Sullivan bent at the knees to look her right in the eye, his hands posed above her arms as though he didn’t dare touch her. And she didn’t blame him. The difference in height between them was laughable, but she appreciated the even ground now. His hands rested around her upper arms. Her insides flipped as his body heat spread through her, but she didn’t pull away. “You had your priorities straight. You saved my life. I’ll get them. About how far did you drop them?”

      Good. He’d just go get them. Her breathing eased the longer he kept his grip on her, but it took a few seconds to clear her head of his proximity enough to answer. “Beyond the tree line. I don’t think it snowed enough to cover my tracks. You should be able to follow them to the bags.”

      “All right. And when I get back, we’ll call Anchorage PD to have them put an APB out for that tow truck.” He dropped his hold on her, spinning toward his discarded gear drying over the fireplace. A shiver rushed through her, but Jane held her ground as Sullivan donned his shoulder holster and thick coat. He reached under the built-in desk where the keyboard drawer clicked into place and removed a Glock, disengaged the magazine and pulled back the slide to check the chamber. He moved in quick, confident steps to reload the magazine and put a round in the chamber as though he’d done the same moves a thousand times before. Which he probably had. “I shouldn’t be gone more than five minutes.” He checked the batteries in the flashlight next. “If anything happens while I’m out there, use the burner phone to call the last number I dialed. It’ll put you directly through to my guy Elliot. He’s the closest right now, and he’ll get here as fast as he can.”

      Jane nodded. He wouldn’t be gone more than a few minutes, but she pointed toward the gun. “Do you have an extra one of those for me? Just in case.” They’d already proved anything could happen. For crying out loud, a tow truck had blindsided them on purpose. She wasn’t about to make it easier for this psychopath to get to her.

      A smile lit up his features before he turned toward what she assumed was the only bedroom in the cabin. Mere seconds later, he handed her another Glock. “This is my service weapon from the SEALs and my favorite gun. If you have to shoot it outside for any reason, make sure there’s no snow in the barrel and that you’ve warmed it up. Otherwise, it might blow up in your hands.”

      “I went through weapons training, too, remember? I know how to handle my guns in cold weather.” Jane hit the button to disengage the magazine and pulled back the slide to clear the chamber, just as Sullivan had done with his own gun. Faster than she thought possible, the guarded curiosity in Sullivan’s eyes changed to something dark, primal. She clenched her lower abdomen. Air stalled in her throat. She focused on the gun in her hand. “Besides, you won’t be gone that long. I’m sure I can manage to take care of myself for five minutes.”

      “Of that—” he secured the Glock he’d taken from under the desk in his shoulder holster, eyes scanning her from head to toe “—I have no doubt.” Sullivan disappeared out the door without looking back.

      The goose bumps along her forearms receded the longer Jane stared after him. There was no denying it now. She’d seen the way he’d looked at her, the way he’d held on to her earlier. He wanted the intel she’d called in a few favors to get, the one with his real identity inside. Because there was no way that man wanted her for any other reason. No matter how deep he’d buried his past, she’d uncovered the truth and she’d known the second she confronted him with it, she would pay for using blackmail. What was he going to do? Torture her with desire until she gave him everything she had on him and his family?

      Jane leaned against the countertop, Sullivan’s service weapon comfortable in her grip. Now that she thought about it, torture by desire was one of the better ways to go. Especially with a six-foot-four, muscled, powerfully built SEAL. A smile pulled at her lips. Crap, she imagined that outcome between them all too easily. The heat, the explosion of passion, the—

      The front door slammed open and her muscle memory hefted the gun up. She aimed, ready to pull the trigger. Adrenaline pumped fast through her veins as Sullivan swung his head around the thick, wooden door. Jane dropped the gun to her side, heart beating a mile a second. She could’ve shot him. “You scared me to death. Do you always barge into a room like that?”

      Sullivan stomped his boots on the mat at the door, then headed straight for the burner phone on the kitchen counter. He brushed against her, but instead of heat penetrating through her jacket like before, she only felt cold. Something was wrong. Stabbing the pad of his thumb into the keypad, he brought the phone up to his ear, those sea-blue eyes glued on her. Darkness etched into his expression, and Jane took a step back to give him some space. “The bags are gone.”

       Chapter Four

      The guns, extra ammunition, food, tracks, everything was gone. Looked like Jane’s mysterious stalker had tracked her back here after all. The phone rang once in his ear before Elliot Dunham, his private investigator, picked up.

      “Go for Dunham,” Elliot said.

      Sullivan checked his watch. “How far out are you?”

      “Five minutes.”

      “Make СКАЧАТЬ