Page 7 of Kane's Bounty
Chapter 2
When she woke up, Lena’s ears pounded from the air pressure and she had to clear them before she could face opening her eyes. An untouched glass of water sat on the small tray between their two seats.
“Is that for me?” she croaked.
He turned and smiled. “Yup.”
Her stomach did a flip-flop. Kane was devastatingly good-looking. She would have thought he’d be a male model rather than a bounty hunter when she noticed him in the bar back in Savannah. His height and broad shoulders hadn’t looked so good when she was hanging over his back, but she had to admit his ass had been outstanding from that vantage point. Then, when she’d seen those sapphire-blue eyes, her heart had actually jumped in her chest. If only he hadn’t been the source of her immediate trouble, she wouldn’t have minded a quick tumble in the hotel room with a man who looked like him.
As it was, he was an enigma. He captured her, but then saved her, and now she wasn’t sure what he was doing.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
It was distracting having him so close. It had been a long time since she’d been with a man and even longer since she’d wanted someone. “As if I’ve been tossed around like a beanbag.”
He laughed, but never took his gaze away from her. “It’s a strange thing about being a telepath. Some people are harder to read than others. You have a strong, complicated mind, but still I get a sense of what you’re thinking. You understand, don’t you?”
“Yes.” She could not help wanting him. He was all hard male lines and warm musky scent. Everything about him screamed sex.
He leaned over the console between their seats. His lips grazed her earlobe and his breath titillated her every nerve. “If you don’t change your line of thinking, I’m going to take you right here in this plane and I would much rather wait until we are in some nice beachside hotel with crisp white sheets and vodka in the minibar.”
“Is that why you’re helping me, Kane? Is it because you want to fuck me?” She smiled. Her body hummed with wanting him, but still the words that came out of her mouth were harsh. It was who she had become over the past few years. She didn’t like it, but there it was.
His tongue tickled her ear and he gave no reaction to her words. “I haven’t even decided if I’m going to help you yet, Lena. At the moment, I’m just protecting my mark.”
Most men would have lied to her, but he didn’t. She liked the idea he would have sex with her, but he wouldn’t pretend it would stop him from turning her in. A low chuckle escaped her lips.
He leaned back in his own seat, but continued to watch her. “Tell me what it is you took from Thorn and why all these various hunters are after you.”
“Do you have a last name?” she asked.
His smile nearly had her spilling everything before she knew if he could be trusted. How was a girl supposed to combat perfectly straight, white teeth, full lips and a day and a half of dark beard?
“Lakeland.” He didn’t say anything more, just watched and waited for the answer to his question.
“I didn’t steal anything. I left with only what was mine,” she said.
He raised his eyebrows.
“But the thing that’s yours is what Thorn wants?”
“Yes.”
“Does Thorn use a sixth sense?”
The question surprised her. “He’s a dowser,” she said before she could think of a reason to avoid answering.
“So, he senses the power in other people.”
“And objects,” she added.
“Do you use a sixth sense, Lena?” He leaned close to her again. His lips were only a millimeter from hers.
“No, not exactly.”
“But you have an item he desires, yet can’t use.”
“Yes.” There was no sense in lying. Kane was smart and would know.
