Watched from a Distance

by Allison B Hanson

  When the sun had long abandoned them, and his stomach growled in protest, he decided it was time to make his move. They would need to stop in the next few hours for the night. He had a plan, and he was going to have to trust part of it with the woman curled up against the passenger window.

  It was time to find out how loyal Lena really was to Viktor Kulakov.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The smile Lena had tricked out of Dane at lunch was a distant memory. Dane was back to being his stoic, angry self as he pulled over and flipped through the flyer he’d picked up at their last stop. If ignoring her were a sport, he would have a gold medal.

  Every time she thought she might be breaking through the stone wall, she had the door slammed in her face again. She’d allowed him to drive, and still he couldn’t do more than grunt out a grudging thanks and go back to treating her like something stuck to his shoe.

  Fine. She got it. She was trash. He hated her. But did he need to put so much energy into it? No matter how much he didn’t like it, they were in this together. They needed each other.

  She was almost ready to ask him where they were going, and what the plan was, when he spoke first, making her jump in surprise.

  “Can I see Kulakov’s credit card?” he asked.

  “Why?” She’d been paying for everything so far.

  “You’ll have to trust me.”

  She laughed once, then pulled her brows together. “Wait. You’re serious?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You think I’m going to hand over the card so you can run off with it? I’d be stranded with no choice but to tell Viktor you got away. I get that you hate me, but at least have the balls to kill me yourself.”

  She shook her head. She’d already trusted him enough for one day. She’d let him drive, and it hadn’t won her any points. This give-and-take couldn’t be one-sided.

  “I’m not going to run off with the card. If you’ll remember, I need you to keep making those calls to Kulakov so he doesn’t kill my son.”

  She swallowed and looked away. He’d hit her in the soft spot. She didn’t like being reminded his son was in danger and she was the only thing keeping Tobey safe.

  With a quick exhale, she pulled the card from her back pocket and held it out. Whatever he was going to do, she just wanted all this to end. She was too exhausted to keep fighting on both fronts.

  “Okay, I’ll trust you. Please don’t force me to do something I will regret for, what would undoubtedly be the very short, rest of my life.”

  He simply snatched the card from her fingers and made a call to secure a hotel room with two queen-size beds. When he had completed the reservation, he handed the card back to her.

  “That was it?” Her jaw dropped. “That was the big mystery? You called in advance to get our room?”

  “Yep. Do you want to drive now?”

  Something was wrong. She was certain he’d called a hotel in Nashville, but they were still heading east. She glanced at his profile as he sat in the passenger’s seat glaring out the window. What was he up to?

  If she thought he’d actually tell her, she might have worked up the courage to ask him. A half hour later, he abruptly pointed to an exit and ordered her to take it.

  She was almost past it, so she ripped the wheel to the right and took the ramp faster than she should have. He cursed and grabbed the dash. The tires squealed on the pavement, but they stayed upright and moving.

  At the stoplight at the end of the ramp, he told her to turn left and directed her to a hotel at a different chain than where he’d secured the room.

  “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He jumped out of the vehicle without asking for Viktor’s card. So, why…

  When he was almost to the entrance of the hotel, she gasped in awareness.

  He was making it look like they were staying in Nashville when they were really hours away. If he planned to do the same thing the next night, they could be thousands of miles away from where Viktor would think they were.

  She was impressed. It was a clever plan.

  But what would happen to her when they got wherever they were going…?

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Going against every rule of etiquette he’d ever been taught, Dane removed his bag from the back of the Jeep and left Lena to carry her own. It had been difficult not to continue to drive when she looked so tired.

  It was becoming more of an effort to be rude to her than to just act normal. His anger had faded slightly when she’d handed over the card without first demanding to know what he was doing with it. She’d said she trusted him.

  The way she’d practically begged him not to force her to do something she would regret, made it clear she didn’t want to have to report anything to Kulakov that might put Tobey in more danger.

  He’d become convinced she felt guilty about what had happened, which could only mean she really hadn’t known the plan ahead of time, as she’d said. She was simply following orders.

  Orders she didn’t agree with.

  “You didn’t ask why we’re here instead of the hotel where I booked the room.”

  He’d seen her looking at the ad in the hotel flyer when he was dialing the number. He’d expected her to pretend she didn’t see, or act like she didn’t notice.

  “You don’t want Viktor to know where we’re really going,” she said as she followed him to their room. “When we don’t show up in Nashville, they will automatically charge the card and it will look like we stayed there.”

  Her ability to figure it out was notable. But it left him confused as to why she hadn’t questioned or stopped him.

  “You haven’t asked me where we’re going, either,” he said when they were inside the room and the door was secured behind them.

  She shrugged and let her bag slip down her arm to the floor. “You’ve made it pretty clear you don’t trust me. I wasn’t going to waste my time asking you when I know you won’t tell me.”

  “I had planned to tell you if you asked,” he said almost defiantly.

  “And would you have told me the truth?”

  His lip pulled up on the one side and he shook his head. “No. I wouldn’t have.”

  “Then I guess I’ll find out when we get there. Unless you’re planning to off me before then.”

  She’d implied he was planning to kill her on more than one occasion. Did she honestly believe he would do that? Could do that?

  Okay, so maybe at first he had wrestled with the idea, and he’d even told her he wanted to, but they were past that now. He knew he couldn’t do it. And not just because he needed her to contact Kulakov at the scheduled times.

  “I’m not going to kill you or leave you behind,” he promised as he looked her right in the eye. “As you’ve said, we’re in this together. At least for the time being. If we get to a point where things get too intense, I’ll make sure you’re left with an adequate excuse to protect yourself against Kulakov’s wrath.”

  She gave a humorless laugh. “Do you really think there is such a thing? If I lose you, Viktor will kill me. And then he’ll kill Tobey. We need to stick together. However much my company repulses you, you can’t leave me. I won’t tell Viktor where we are. You have my—” She stopped and shook her head, probably realizing her word didn’t mean shit to him. The way she was about to give it to him freely, however, did mean something.

  Maybe it wouldn’t take much effort to get her on his side, after all.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  As much as Lena just wanted to fall into bed, she wanted a hot shower even more.

  “Do you mind if I use the bathroom first?” she asked politely. If Dane wanted to hate her, she wouldn’t put up a fuss, but she was going to kill him with kindness in the meantime.

  “No, go ahead.”

  He’d tossed his bag on the first bed, so she took the second one.

  She took longer than necessary in the shower, enjoying the hot water flowing over her tired body. When she stepped back in
the room, he wasn’t there. Then she noticed the keys to the Jeep and his phone were still on the desk, and relaxed. Anyway, she was much too tired to worry about it. If he wasn’t back by morning, she’d figure out what to do then.

  Her head hit the pillow and her world spun out into oblivion.

  At some point, a hard body slid in behind her.

  Dane’s warm skin smelled of hotel soap, and she let out a shocked sigh when his hand moved around her waist and worked under the shirt of her pajamas. She took a moment to wish she hadn’t gone for the winky-face emoji pajamas and had instead gotten something a little more sophisticated. At least she’d shaved her legs.

  When his thumb found her nipple, she forgot about the pajamas and focused on the intense sensation. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had bothered to touch her breasts.

  Two years ago, when she and Brandon were still together, he hadn’t bothered anymore. He’d simply done his thing and rolled off her to fall asleep.

  By contrast, Dane was quite skilled in the art of satisfactory breast manipulation. She let out a moan, and stretched so he could reach the other side.

  His lips touched the side of her neck and moved up to her ear. “Is this okay?” he asked. Whether he meant being in her bed or what he was doing to her nipple, the answer was the same.

  “Yes. Please.”

  Unable to stop herself, she shifted so her backside was pressed firmly against his hot arousal. “Oh God,” she murmured, hoping she remembered how to do this without embarrassing herself.

  Instincts kicked in and she rubbed her body against his, wanting to feel the strength and safety of his body. She should touch him. She wanted to, but wondered if she was allowed…

  Reaching behind her, she found him naked. She wrapped her fingers around his hardness and gripped him tightly. He moaned his pleasure against her shoulder.

  His hand slid from her breast, across her stomach, and under the waistband of her pajama shorts. She squirmed in delight. Lower and lower, until his fingers reached the spot where she ached most. She writhed against him. God, it had been so long. How she’d missed the touch of a man. And this one was so incredibly skilled…

  “Please,” she begged, not caring if she sounded desperate. She was beyond pride as she tilted into his hand until he was touching her in just the right spot. “Yes. There.” She tried briefly to control her breathing, but gave up when his fingers entered her.

  “Do you want me?” he asked.

  At another time, she might have replied with something witty, but at the moment she could only squeak out her answer. “Yes. Please. I want you so bad.”

  Then, right as things were really getting good, someone shook her arm, dragging her from a sleep so deep she would have sworn it was real.

  The light between the beds snapped on, and Dane was standing over her with that annoyed look on his face. He shook her again, even though her eyes were now open.

  “Wake up. You’re having a bad dream.”

  She almost cried at how wrong he was. It hadn’t been a bad dream.

  It had been terribly, amazingly wonderful. She squeezed her eyes shut again.

  But it wasn’t real.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Dane turned off the light and shifted onto his side so his back was toward Lena. Not that she would be able to see his erection in the dark, under the sheet, but still he felt the need to hide it.

  Having her find out he’d responded to her moans and cries for more, would undermine his role as the indifferent asshole he was attempting to portray.

  Even worse was knowing he’d responded to her even before she’d started moaning and writhing on the bed.

  When he’d walked into the room, she was already sleeping. He couldn’t help but notice the way she’d kicked the blanket off one side, and how her leg continued, bare and smooth, up to the short shorts of her new pajamas.

  The winky-faces mocked him. Especially the ones blowing kisses with a heart.

  He’d taken a cool shower, and not just because the hot water had started to run out.

  Now as he lay there trying to sleep, he could only think of being with her at the bar. Talking and having a good time. The anticipation of sleeping with her as they walked to the hotel, and that kiss. The kiss that had melted through the cold ice around his heart.

  It had been perfect, right up until she’d knocked him on the head with a bottle and he’d woken up in hell.

  That was the part he needed to focus on. The real Lena Scott.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Lena managed to fall back to sleep, but it had taken a long time. She was embarrassed…not to mention frustrated.

  Would it have been so horrible for him to touch her? He was a man. In her experience, they weren’t all that picky when they went without female attention for very long. Any female attention would do in a pinch.

  He must have been attracted to her on some level. She’d been able to lure him to her hotel room with the promise of nakedness.

  Apparently clobbering him on the head had the effect of a perpetual cold shower, because other than the erection the night she’d massaged his leg, he hadn’t responded to her with anything but disgust.

  When she woke again, she heard the shower running. That was odd, since he’d showered the night before. Why would he need to take another…?

  Oh. A cat-like smile stretched across her cheeks. Maybe she had affected him, after all. She moved to the door to listen and thought she’d heard a muffled groan. She had no way to know if it was due to a release of pleasure, or if his leg was bothering him.

  She decided to let herself think it was pleasure. That was more fun. Flopping back in bed, she smiled up at the ceiling. This was a new day. With new potential.

  As her thoughts whirled around all the possibilities for the hours ahead, her phone rang. Instantly, the smile fell from her face, replaced by the false, brittle substitute she’d created over the last months.

  Chapter Thirty

  Dane had woken with a hard-on the likes of which he hadn’t experienced since he was eighteen. Trying to think it away hadn’t worked. In fact, that had only made it worse. The early sunlight was coming through the sheer curtains and he’d been able to see the outline of Lena’s body.

  He’d noticed the spill of brown hair across her pillow, and the way her tank top had pulled to the side and was inches from exposing a nipple. That nipple had been hard, most likely from the air conditioning in the room. But he liked to think it was because she’d been dreaming of him again.

  Not that he was sure she’d been dreaming of him last night. She hadn’t said a name in her sleep, and he’d thought maybe she had a boyfriend. Even the resulting ridiculous wave of jealousy had done nothing to subdue his erection.

  After an hour of watching her in the darkness, and aching at the sight, he’d given up and gone to the bathroom to relieve his misery in the shower.

  The relief lasted about three seconds. What was it about the damned woman that turned him on so much?

  He took another shower.

  Once he was somewhat under control of his body again, he got out of the shower and gave himself a stern look in the mirror and opened the door to the bedroom to go out.

  She was talking on the phone. Or rather, video-chatting.

  He stopped, and hovered by the door to watch and listen. She didn’t look up. She hadn’t noticed him. He didn’t dare move, so he wasn’t close enough to see who she was Facetiming with.

  She was smiling at the screen. He frowned. He barely knew her, but well enough to know this was not her real smile. Even the strained smiles she’d reserved for him were not like this painful, twisting parody of features.

  Despite the distress on her face, she somehow managed to sound happy. “I see it. It’s so pretty. Did you make that?” she asked in a voice that indicated she was talking to a child.

  His frown deepened.

  “Yeah. I colored it myself. Dis is you, Mama.”

&nb
sp; He froze. Mama? Lena was a mother?

  Anger erupted anew. He’d hated what she’d done—putting Tobey in danger—but somehow, knowing she was a mother herself made it that much worse.

  And here she was, making kissy sounds into the phone and waving at the screen. As if she was at work at the salon rather than on a road trip to kidnap a man and turn him over to a killer.

  What kind of person could do such a thing?

  “I love you, baby. Be good.”

  “I’ll see you soon,” a little girl’s voice answered.

  “Yeah, sweetie. Real soon, I promise.” She was still smiling, but it had transformed into something ugly and terrified.

  “Bye, Mama.”

  “Bye, baby.”

  She held the phone to her lips and closed her eyes for a moment as if steadying herself. When her eyes opened, she gasped with shock at seeing him standing there.

  Or maybe it was at the look on his face. He was livid and wasn’t holding back his hatred.

  “It must be nice getting to say goodbye. I wasn’t allowed,” he said bitterly.

  “It’s not—”

  “Please don’t lie. I’m not even that surprised. One thing I would like to know is, how do you look in your daughter’s face and not see Tobey?”

  “You don’t understand.” She stood and opened her mouth to spew her defense, but he wouldn’t let her speak.

  He was incensed. His body literally shook with pent-up rage. The night before, he’d told her he wasn’t going to kill her, but now he wasn’t sure if that was true. He tasted copper in his mouth, and his muscles readied to leap on her and snap her damned neck.

  “I understand perfectly,” he ground out. “Your child is safe and happy, while mine is tied up somewhere, scared and alone. I don’t even know if he’s being fed.” Damn it. His voice cracked on that last word.

  Tobey was older now, but when he was little there would be days when he ate everything he could get his hands on, and other days he wouldn’t be hungry and he’d just pick at his food.