Maya Banks - Whispers in the Dark

 Though she remained still as he’d directed, she kept watch from half-lidded eyes as an attendant walked over to pump their gas. Nathan rolled the window down, put a finger to his lips and then handed the man some money.

 Nathan rolled the window back up and settled back in his seat. To anyone else, he looked relaxed, but Shea knew better. His eyes were in constant motion, looking left, right, ahead, and then checking all the mirrors.

 His hands gripped the lower portion of the steering wheel and even his feet were in position in case he needed to drive away fast.

 A few minutes later, the attendant appeared at the window holding the receipt. Nathan waved him off and eased away from the pump.

 Still, Shea waited until they were on the road and Nathan reached over to touch her arm.

 “You can sit up now.”

 “Where will we go?” she asked as she pushed the blanket down her legs.

 “I want to turn south and head back toward Crescent City. The jet is hangared at the airport there and is the most expedient method of travel, not to mention the safest if we can manage to get there in one piece.”

 “We can’t leave yet! We don’t know if Grace is here. Or where she is. We need to be able to watch that surveillance footage.”

 “I said I want us there so we have that option,” he said calmly. “I’m going to call my brothers in. I sent the footage to Donovan. I just hope to hell it was all uploaded before they blew the shit out of that room.”

 “Who were they, Nathan? I don’t understand. I don’t understand any of it. No normal people come into a house and blow a hole in the wall. They looked…military.”

 His expression tightened. His face darkened into a cloud and his eyes took on a brooding heat. “They certainly looked professional.”

 “I’m scared. If these people are military, what chance do we have against them?”

 Nathan dropped one hand from the wheel and reached for Shea’s hand. Her fingers trembled against his palm and he squeezed, unsure of what to say to reassure her.

 Hell yes, they’d looked military. Black ops. Off the books. Just like KGI. Who knew who was running the show, but they damn sure meant business.

 Shea stiffened as if just remembering something and then pulled out the small leather journal that she’d found in the tunnel. She ran her finger over the surface, a mixture of grief and uncertainly in her eyes.

 “You can turn the light on. It won’t bother me,” he said softly. It was getting dark enough that he doubted she’d be able to read for long in the fading light.

 She let out a sigh that was tinged with sadness. “I don’t want to draw that much notice. I’ll read it when we get to wherever we’re going.” Then she glanced up. “Are we getting a room? What are we doing exactly?”

 “I’ll get us a room. Not the same place as before. Then I’m going to call my brothers. After we talk, you and I will decide—together—what our next step will be.”

 She stared at him in a way that made him want to pull the jeep over, forget the danger they were in and haul her into his arms.

 It was like he hung the damn moon, and all he could think was that he’d damn near gotten her killed because he hadn’t listened to his first instinct, which was to get her as far away as possible and lock her in the deepest, most secure vault he could find.

 “Thank you,” she said in a sweet, husky voice. “It means a lot when you say we. It makes me feel like I’m not quite so alone. It makes me not quite so afraid.”

 A possessive snarl rose to his lips. He had to swallow it back. This caveman reaction he had around her was baffling. It took over his senses and rendered him incapable of rational thought where she was concerned.

 Getting so crazy over a woman simply wasn’t him. He liked—no, he loved—women. He mostly understood them or at least he knew the right things to say and when to keep his mouth shut.

 He never had a shortage of women friends or even sexual partners. At least before his captivity. But none ever commanded this overwhelming insanity that seemed to grip him when he was with her. Hell, not even with her. All he had to do was think about her.

 “It’s going to be we from now on,” he bit out. “There is no you. No me. Only us.”

 Her eyes widened. Her mouth opened but then shut as if she had no idea how to respond to his directive. Good. Some things she just needed to accept. This was one of them.

 Their lives—their souls—had been inexorably entwined from the moment she slid into his mind. There was no easy way to separate her from him, and he had no desire to try.

 He wasn’t some helpless captive. It wasn’t like he had no choice and was stuck with this connection to Shea. He wanted her with every part of his heart, mind and body. The connection that had been forged in hell was only growing stronger the more time they spent together physically and mentally.

 “We have a few hours yet. I know you’re pretty keyed up, but is there any chance you can rest? Are those cuts bothering you?”

 In response, she frowned and lifted her fingers to touch the nicks and cuts on her neck. The blood had long since dried and her obvious puzzlement told him that she hadn’t even realized she’d been injured.

 There was one particularly long gash where a larger piece of glass had caught her. The blood was still wet there. It didn’t look too serious but it needed cleaning and possibly a stitch or two.

 “I’m fine,” she murmured. “Not sure I can sleep, but I’ll  try.”

 “We’ll figure this out, Shea. My brothers are the best there is at what they do. We’ll find Grace. We’ll find out who’s behind this.”

 “I want to believe you, Nathan. I want it more than anything. I’m trying. I trust you more than I trust anyone.”

 “I know, baby. Soon this will all be over and we can focus on more important things.”

 She raised one eyebrow but he left the statement dangling. She knew damn well he referred to him and her, but now wasn’t the time to press further. He’d let her know she belonged to him. For now it was enough.

NATHAN pulled off at a rustic lodge situated on Lake Talawa. He left Shea in the jeep and went inside to inquire about vacancies. There were several empty cabins situated along the shoreline and one deeper into the woods, away from the others. The clerk jokingly referred to it as the honeymooners’ lodge.

 Nathan played along, grinning his delight over being afforded privacy. He made the appropriate jokes about getting away for a few days, took the keys and then hurried back out to Shea.

 The road leading back to the cabins was narrow and dusty. The moon shimmered over the water, reminding him of home. In other circumstances, he’d be thrilled to be on the lake. Throw back a few beers with his brothers. Do a little fishing. Be lazy and talk about old times.

 In truth he wasn’t looking forward to a reunion with his brothers. They were going to be understandably pissed that he’d taken off. Not just taken off on his own, but appropriated a KGI jet in the process. Yeah, Sam was going to have a kitten over that one.

 But if they could help him keep Shea safe, he’d take whatever ass kicking they wanted to dole out.

 He parked behind the cabin so the jeep was out of sight. Then he gathered his gear, motioned for Shea to get out, and they headed toward the dark cabin.

 Soon they were inside. It was a little musty but otherwise clean. It had all the basics, but Nathan didn’t plan to be here long enough to worry over whether the kitchen was stocked.

 His first priority was to see to Shea. She looked shell-shocked. Her eyes were glazed, whether in pain or confusion, he wasn’t sure.

 “You need to hit the shower,” he told her. “I need to take a look at those cuts. One of them looks pretty bad.”

 She lifted the backpack that contained the new clothes they’d purchased and shuffled toward the bathroom. Exhaustion and adrenaline letdown radiated from her. Imminent crash. He saw it coming a mile away.

 He followed her inside the bathroom and found her sitting on the closed toilet seat, her shoulders sagging. She looked so damn vulnerable, but he knew her to be anything but. Okay, so maybe she was vulnerable, but she definitely wasn’t a shrinking violet. She was a big surprise in a little package. Fierce and unafraid to get the job done.

 His admiration for her grew with every passing minute he spent with her.

 He tossed his bag onto the counter and then knelt in front of her, gathering her hands in his. “You okay?”

 She nodded. “I will be. I promise. I’m not freaking out on you, Nathan.”

 He smiled. “I never thought you were. Can you take that shirt off? I need to get a look at those cuts. You caught several shards to the back as well. Cut ribbons into your shirt.”

 She glanced up in surprise and then tried to turn to look over her shoulder. It didn’t surprise him that she didn’t realize the extent of the cuts. She likely hadn’t felt a thing at the time. But now that she was coming down, she would start feeling the discomfort.

 Carefully he peeled away her shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra and her breasts bobbed free of constraint, soft and so plush. He stood and glanced down her back, relieved to see only knicks and shallow cuts along her shoulder blades.

 There was one cut in the curve of her neck, running over the ridge of her neck. That was the one he suspected needed stitches. The rest could be cleaned, medicated and allowed to heal without dressing.