Page 9 of Danger and Dominance
Pure joy had lit up her face, and she walked forward as if in a trance, going straight for the staircase and placing her hand on the end of the banister, tracing her fingers over the carved decoration on the top of the column.
“I’ve never seen anything like this outside of a movie,” she said.“It’sbeautiful.And you just live here?”
“Yup.My brother and I like old stuff.”Jensen grinned.
“Me, too.”She turned and beamed at Jensen.
Yeah, she would not have liked his apartment at all.Not that it mattered, and it should definitely not make him feel jealous of her reaction to Jensen’s house.Jensen’s house was amazing.Everyone always agreed on that.
“Then you’ll definitely love this place.”Jensen chuckled.“So, you have your choice of where to sleep.My brother and I are both on the second floor, and there is a third bedroom there, but we also have the third floor, which is set up for guests.We figured you can pick wherever you feel most comfortable.”
David set down the suitcase when Cassidy hesitated.
“Why don’t we have a look around,” he said, walking toward her, gesturing to the stairs.“I can show you around and show you all the security, and you can make your decision once you’ve seen the house.”
Immediately, Cassidy nodded, looking up at him with not just relief but trust brimming in her hazel eyes.Trust that he knew what he was doing.Trust that he would keep her safe.
Something squeezed inside his chest.
He was so fucked.
4
Cassidy
The house was stunning.When she pictured a safehouse, she’d been picturing living inside a safe or something.A lot fewer windows.Less furniture.Definitely not somewhere that was beautiful, inside and out.Or somewhere that felt more temporary.Like a rental.
The second-floor room David showed her was nice, but the third floor was even better.It was obviously set up for guests, with two smaller rooms furnished with beds, a bathroom, and a huge rec-type room complete with a kitchenette.It was almost like an apartment unto itself; the only thing it was missing was a stove and oven, though there was a toaster oven and a microwave.If she wanted to, she could stay up here and be completely private, though if she wanted to actually cook, she would need to go down to the first floor.
“I think I’d like to stay up here,” she said, standing in the middle of the rec room.The house beside this one was close enough that she could see their windows, though their shades were drawn.Somehow, she liked the closeness.When she looked down, she saw nothing but yard on both sides.The bushes that divided them were too low for anyone to hide behind.
Unless Don could scale brick walls, he wasn’t getting up here.For a moment, she considered the idea of a grappling hook or something like that, but then he would have to break the window, and Jensen had already explained that the glass was incredibly difficult to break through.It wasn’t bulletproof, and firefighters weren’t going to have any difficulty getting in with their axes, but a regular hammer would bounce right off.He’d even offered to demonstrate, though Cassidy had reassured him that she trusted him.
“Absolutely,” Jensen said.“I guess if David’s done showing you my house, we can go get your bags.”He snickered when David shot him a look.
“You can go get her bags, Baby,” David said, making Cassidy and Kincaid blink.It didn’t sound like he was using ‘baby’ as an endearment, yet she couldn’t think of another reason why.
“Yes, Sir, Ginger, Sir,” Jensen said with a salute, clicking his heels together, though they didn’t actually click since he was wearing tennis shoes.David rolled his eyes, though the corners of his lips tipped up in amusement.Since he didn’t smile much, Cassidy was intrigued by the small change in expression.
“Ginger for the red hair?”she asked.
David turned back to her, one hand rising to slide his fingers through the red hair in question.
“It’s my call sign…wasmy call sign when we were active duty.We still use the same ones when we’re on a mission now, though we try to call each other by our real names for the most part when we’re not.Otherwise, Baby gets snippy.”The little smile on his face widened into an honest-to-goodness grin, and Cassidy couldn’t help but stare.
As hot as he was when he was brooding, he was even more attractive when he smiled.Especially when he was smiling at her.Her body was coming to life in a way she found utterly disturbing, mostly because it was so unexpected.His gaze met hers, and she felt a little zing go through the room… though she couldn’t tell if she was the only one feeling it.
“Is he ‘Baby’ because he’s the youngest?”she asked, dragging her gaze away from David’s and returning to look around the room.
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you all called the Spice Doms at the club?”Kincaid asked, not bothering to hide the laughter in his voice.Cassidy spun around again to look at David, whose grin had dropped into a look of resignation.
“Also, yes.The subs were kind of responsible for our call signs after seeing us together at the club.They came up with their own names for us, and they kind of stuck.”He shrugged ruefully, though he was still watching Cassidy rather than looking at Kincaid.She wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he was hoping to get from her, but she couldn’t help but giggle as he explained.“I’m Ginger, Mason is Posh, Drew is Sporty, Claudia is Scary, and Jensen…”
“Aw, poor Baby,” she said, outright laughing this time, though she quickly tried to stifle it when she heard Jensen coming up the stairs.His footfalls were very heavy, though he was moving fast.They all went out into the hall to meet him and saw that he had both duffles slung over his shoulders, the straps crossing across his chest, and her roller case in his hand.
Yet he hadn’t even broken a sweat coming up two flights of stairs with all of that on him.
