Page 164 of Unexpected Temptation

“It is.” His hold on me tightens. “I hate to do this, Liberty, but it’s the only way I can manually lock this place down so your friends can’t creep their way in through technology.”

“You know my name.” No one knows my real name.

“I know everything,” he says before kissing me. It comes out of nowhere, surprising the hell out of me. Just as much as the small prick I feel enter my skin before the world starts to fade away. Everything is like a dream pulling me under. Vane Bartow is the last thing I see before I fall asleep.

But then again, I often see him there.

6

VANE

Her eyes flutter open, and she glares at me immediately, sleep draining from her like water from a reservoir. She’s in my bed, the entire compound on lockdown, my trap snapped firmly shut on her just as I planned.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” She sits up and looks around, scanning for a weapon, no doubt.

“I needed to get you alone.”

“What?” She yanks the duvet up to her throat.

“You’re a tough woman to track down, much less hang on to. I figured if I set a–”

“Trap,” she hisses. “This whole thing was a trap.” Her gaze darts around the room again. “What do you intend? Sell me to some enemy government? Ransom me back to Buffy?” She gives a humorless laugh. “She’d never pay up.” Her eyes narrow. “But you wouldn’t want money. What is it? A competitor has some sort of secret tech you’re after? You think you can leverage me to–”

“You have quite the imagination.” I smirk and sit on the corner of the bed.

She shrinks back. “What is this?”

“Exactly what I said–I wanted you alone.”

She swallows hard. “You don’t mean to, to …” Her cheeks burn scarlet as she looks down at the black duvet.

“I’d never hurt you,” I interject quickly. “I need you to know that.”

Her shoulders relax the tiniest bit, but the skepticism doesn’t leave her face. “You drugged me and dragged me into your bedroom. I can’t trust anything you say.” She glances down at herself. “Where’s my gear?” An edge of panic coats her voice.

“It’s safe. Just as you are.” I stand slowly, carefully, doing my best not to stress her more than I already have. “I drugged you so you wouldn’t hurt yourself. I know you’re a fighter.” I press my fingers to my nose. “As evidenced by the fact that you nearly broke my nose. I couldn’t have you trying anything as I put the place on lockdown. It was safest that way. But now, you have free rein.”

She quirks a brow. “Cool. So where’s the weapons cabinet?”

The side of my mouth twitches with the hint of a smile. “In time, Liberty. But for now, how about some dinner?” I stride to the bedroom door and open it. Felix is sitting outside. Typical to his tuxedo cat DNA, he gives me a haughty glance and prances past, jumping onto the bed and walking right up to Ocean, as if he’s asking her who she is and if she’s free later. When she reaches out eagerly to pet him, a bizarre wave of jealousy washes over me. I quickly swallow it down. “He’s bossy, and he leaves hair on everything. Fair warning.”

“That’s okay. I’m bossy, too.” She smiles, the tension leaving her as Felix purrs and rubs his head against her chin. “I bet you aren’t bossy at all. I bet you are sweet. Are you a captive too? It’s okay, I’ll bust us out of here. You aren’t in danger. I’ll take you away from the bad man.” She baby-talks the little brat, and he eats it up, his whiskers at attention.

I want to get in bed with her, touch her, talk to her, tell her everything is as it was meant to be–but I don’t. She needs space. I’ll give it to her. After all, it’s not as if she’s going anywhere. Cass has already canceled every meeting I had on the calendar for the next two weeks. The president was pissed, but she’s just going to have to wait. Ocean takes precedence.

“The kitchen is to the left.” I glare at Felix for a moment as he turns and looks at me over his shoulder. “If you want wet food tonight, you’ll lay off.”

“Oh, don’t listen to him.” Ocean plants a kiss on top of his head. “If there’s wet food, you’re getting double servings. And then you and I can knife that guy over there, steal all his top secrets, and head out. Sound good?”

The traitorous bastard purrs and butts against her head again.

I grumble under my breath and walk away. I need to start the lemon sauce, after all. Ocean’s favorite meal is chicken piccata with a side of garlic mashed potatoes. I’ve studied the recipes from her favorite restaurant and copied them exactly, right down to the amount of salt and pepper.

Glancing back, I see Felix shoot into the hallway and then Ocean peeking out the door. “It’s just the two of us, but I’m afraid I had to lock up anything you could use as a weapon. Once you’ve come to terms with our relationship, I think–”

“Relationship?” She steps into the hall and crosses her arms, the movement pushing up her breasts.

Heat rushes up my spine as I look at her, the curves of her body on display beneath her black tank top and yoga pants. It’s like a dream to have her here, right in my grasp. But I have to go slowly. It’s not like she’s going to get away–and soon, I’ll convince her that this is where she belongs.

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