by Lora Leigh
ed under the blankets, her slight body relaxed and comfortable. Her dark hair framed her sleep-flushed features as she breathed softly, evenly. No. There were no nightmares now.
“I want you to wake her up. She needs to eat and shower, then she can sleep until we head out tonight. I want her alert and focused.”
Elizabeth swung around, anger erupting through her system then. Protector or not, she wasn’t about to allow him to ruin the only true sleep Cassie had known in weeks.
“Do you have any idea how long it’s been since she’s slept so well?” she hissed. “I’m not about to wake her up.”
He sighed deeply. There was no returning anger, just determination.
“If you don’t wake her up, keep her up for a while, then she’ll sleep while we’re awake and be asleep when we all need to be at our best. Or even worse, too damned tired to hold onto us, or run if she has to. We have only a few nights to get her ready for the trip we’ll hopefully be making next. Now wake her up, or I will.”
His gaze was level, commanding.
“You can’t just make these decisions without talking to me first, Sinclair.” She was shaking, fury nearly robbing her of any control. “That’s my daughter. And I won’t allow you to jerk her out of a perfectly sound sleep just because you say so. And you sure as hell aren’t making any more surprise trips with her without letting me in on what’s going on first.”
Her fists clenched with her anger as she stared up at him. He watched her with that cool, assessing gaze, as though she were an amusing little insect under inspection at the moment.
“Tonight, with any luck, we head to Mike Toler’s ranch, just outside town,” he repeated, then surprised her further. “Mike is former C.I.A. and has some contacts and information I need about a possible safe house in Virginia. Until I find out if that house is available to me, I don’t want to say more. Mike will shelter us as long as we need, but I only want to stay a day or so. Long enough to acclimate Cassie to me, and to give you a chance to rest. Period. Then we leave. Satisfied?”
She pressed her lips tightly together. He wasn’t being mocking or sarcastic. He seemed perfectly serious.
“Let Cassie sleep a while longer,” she stated firmly. “Another hour. She’s just a baby, Dash. She needs this.”
She moved to step around him then, to make her way back to Cassie’s bed, when the pain in her thigh suddenly intensified, sending her stumbling as she forced herself not to cry out with the shocking strike of agony through the muscle.
She knew better, was her next thought, to move without thinking first. The pain from the flesh wound had been growing steadily and she had a feeling it was going to bring her problems. Now, it had thrown her back against Dash’s body as he caught her against his chest, then swung her into his arms.
She gasped. His chest was just as hot, just as firm, as it had been in the bathroom. His arms flexed beneath her back and thighs, muscles rippling with strength as he stalked to the sink counter across the room.
“I forgot about your leg.” Self-disgust filled his voice. “I should have taken care of that first thing.”
He sat her on the counter before she even had a chance to get used to being in his arms.
“Stay put,” he growled, giving her a hard, fierce look.
She stayed put. But she watched him closely as he went back to the bed, pulled out a small bag from his larger case then lifted one of the chairs and carried both back to her.
“Let’s check your side first,” he announced. “I know you cut yourself shimmying out of that window.”
She looked back at him in surprise.
“A piece of your shirt hung on that broken window,” he said. “There was blood on it.” He pointed out the rip as he started lifting her shirt.
Elizabeth tried to breathe in deeply, naturally, as his fingers probed the tender area gently.
“It’s not too bad,” he murmured. “When you get out of the shower we’ll put some salve on it and bandage it.”
She nodded silently as he lowered her shirt again and then watched her expectantly.
“I’m going to put you back on the floor. Take off your jeans so I can check that leg.”
Elizabeth blinked. Out of her jeans? “No,” she snapped hoarsely.
The wound was high on her thigh, several inches above her knee and to the side. There wasn’t a chance in hell…
“Don’t make me cut them off you, Elizabeth.” He sighed, staring down at her. “We’re both tired and both riding our tempers. If I don’t take care of this it could become infected and then you won’t have a chance of helping Cassie. Is that what you want?”
Her eyes narrowed. “That’s dirty,” she hissed.
His expression grew harder. “That’s the truth. Now take the jeans off, before I take them off for you.”
His hands went for the snap. She slapped them back, almost laughing at the look of startled surprise that flashed across his face. His eyes narrowed, the dark golden-brown depths glittering in determination.
“Fine,” she muttered, sliding off the counter, thankful her T-shirt was at least long enough to cover what was most important. “I’m starting to think you’re too bossy, though.”
He grunted. He didn’t say a word, but the sound held a wealth of male superiority. She flashed him a resentful look as she eased the jeans down, biting her lip as the material scraped over the wound.
“Up.” He gripped her hips and lifted her back to the counter; the jeans still hung at her knees. “You forgot your shoes.”
Elizabeth forgot her sanity. He lifted her foot, propping it on his thigh and unlacing the cheap sneaker carefully. His long hair feathered forward, the roughened, damp strands caressing her upper knee as he removed the shoe. He shifted to the next, his hair stroking the skin over her other knee as he removed it as well. Her whole body flushed.
Had a man ever affected her this deeply? Had one ever made her long to just touch him, to just stroke his flesh and revel in the feel of it?
As the last shoe fell to the floor, his hands—amazingly gentle hands—pulled the material from her legs, his head rising, his eyes meeting hers as he undressed her. The heat she saw there took her breath. It made his eyes lighter, appear almost amber rather than dark honey. His high cheekbones flushed, his lips becoming heavy with sensuality.
“Shouldn’t need stitches,” he whispered hoarsely as he checked the line of raw flesh. “You were lucky, baby.” The endearment sent a shaft of heat vibrating through her vagina and into her womb.
He opened the first aid kit and took several items out, though she had no idea what they were.
“This will hurt,” he whispered and she saw his eyes blaze in fury at the thought. “I need to disinfect it, then cover it so you can shower.”
She was entranced by his face, his expression. It was savage, so filled with hunger it took her breath and almost made her forget the pain in her leg.
“I cleaned it. At the diner,” she said nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear before gripping the edge of the counter desperately. “It’s not too bad. It stopped bleeding.”
He shifted in his chair, his broad, calloused hands probing at the wound as she grit her teeth at the feel of his fingers against her skin. They were so warm, gentle.
“I killed that bastard for this alone,” he whispered shockingly, causing her heart to race in her chest. “And I would do it again, Elizabeth.” He raised his gaze, watching her closely. “It wouldn’t matter who it was. I’ll kill them before I allow them to ever hurt you or Cassie again.”
He glanced back down at her leg before moving to his feet. She tried to ignore the tenting of the soft fleece of his pants. She really did. But he was huge. He ignored his own arousal, though. Removing a bottle of antiseptic from the kit, he dampened a large square of gauze before turning back to her.
His eyes were filled with pain. “I hate seeing you hurt, Elizabeth,” he whispered. “I can’t bear it.”
She would have
reassured him. Would have told him how she had doused it herself with alcohol in the diner if he hadn’t shocked her past speech.
His lips covered hers as he laid the gauze on her leg. Fiery pain shot through her flesh as his lips swallowed her cry, then replaced it with such amazing sensation she wanted to whimper in return. He licked her lips. He didn’t steal her kiss. He didn’t take it. He cajoled it from her. His tongue swiped over the curves, pressed gently at the seam, licked at her heatedly until she opened her lips and allowed him entrance.
Did he growl? A short, rough sound echoed in his chest as his hand fell away from the gauze, both arms coming around her, pulling her against him, his lips slanting over hers as he began to feed from her mouth. There was no other way to describe it.
His cock was a length of hot steel pressing against her suddenly fiery pussy as he kissed her. It ground against her clit, made her body moisten, made her feminine cream slide free of her vagina and saturate her panties. He had to feel it, even through the fleece of his pants, had to know she was wet, her body wild from his touch.
He nibbled at her lips, his tongue raking forcibly past them to conquer her mouth with hot, ecstatic licks and smooth thrusts. He dared her to return each caress. Challenged her to give as good as he gave. And Elizabeth was helpless against the ravaging onslaught.
His kiss tasted like midnight, dark and deep, frighteningly savage and yet with a power so seductive, she became lost within it. Her breasts swelled, ached. Her nipples poking demandingly against the cloth of her shirt as he moved his bare chest against them.
He didn’t take advantage of her arousal, though. Didn’t try to force more, though Elizabeth wondered if she would have had the strength to pull away from him. He held her against him, his arms contracting around her, hands stroking over her back as his tongue learned every secret of her mouth and urged her to return the favor.
It was seductive. Tempestuous. Given and taken in silence, with only the hard rasp of their breathing disturbing the air around them as he kissed her with a hunger only surpassed, maybe, by her own.
His taste alone drove her to seek more made her greedy for each stroke of his tongue along hers. Her hands stroked over his shoulders, his hair, on fire to feel as much of his body as this stolen moment in time allowed her.
How long had it been since a man had touched her? How many nights had she lain awake dreaming of this man? Envisioning him coming to her, whispering his need for her, his hunger, offering her his strength and his heat. She gloried in it now. She stretched in his arms, rubbing against him, feeling his warmth seeping into her skin, heating the chill that had filled her for so long.
They were both fighting for breath within minutes. Bodies strained to get closer, the air heating with a primitive lust that Elizabeth had no idea how to fight. She only knew how to arch closer to him, to feel the ache in her breasts for the touch of his broad hands, the pulse in her pussy for the thickness of his cock. To know she was alive. Finally, irrevocably alive and for one moment in time, a man had no other thought in his head than to touch her. To hold her. To…
“Momma. Momma, where are you?”
Cassie’s frightened voice was like ice flowing over her as Dash jerked away from her, struggling for breath as he turned way, obviously fighting to hide his erection in case Cassie came running into the hidden alcove.
“Momma’s here, Cassie.” Elizabeth slid off the counter, limping quickly around the corner to allow Cassie to see her.
The little girl was sitting up in the bed, her eyes dark with fear as she clutched the teddy bear Dash had laid beside her.
“Was I dreaming?” she whispered, looking around the room, her eyes filling with tears. “Didn’t Dash come, Momma? Isn’t he here? Did I just dream it again?”
“Cassie…”
“I’m here, Cassie.” Soft as velvet, pitched low, Dash answered for himself.
Elizabeth turned back in time to see him coming from the sink area, his body obviously under control as he paced over to his own bed. He sent Cassie a reassuring look before he pulled a T-shirt from his bag and dragged it on. The soft gray cotton hugged his chest and hard abdomen, the sleeves stretching over his powerful arms. When he finished, he snagged the gown and robe from the top of the opened tote and passed them over to Elizabeth.
Flushing, Elizabeth held the long garments in front of her as she watched her daughter.
Cassie was staring back at Dash, her eyes wide, amazement reflecting in her expression.
“Wow, Dash, you’re really big,” she giggled, her lips curving into a bright, pleased grin as he sat down on the side of his bed and looked at her curiously.
Elizabeth watched this first true meeting cautiously. Cassie had had such dreams of Dash coming to rescue them. And though she admitted that if anyone could save them, then it was Dash, it was still hard to let go of the control she had maintained over the situation to this point.
“Do you think I’m too big?” He frowned as though worried at the prospect. “It would be hard to shrink at this late date, Cassie.”
A vivid smile broke across Cassie’s face and before either Elizabeth or Dash could guess what she was about to do, she flew from her bed and jumped into Dash’s arms.
Elizabeth gasped at Cassie’s speed and daring. She had never been one to trust men, she hadn’t even enjoyed her father’s embraces, but here she was throwing herself at Dash.
He caught her to his chest in reflex, his gaze going to Elizabeth in shock, his eyes filling with an emotion she couldn’t define as Cassie wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a loud kiss on his hard cheek.
“I’m so glad you came, Dash,” Cassie cried against his neck. “I was so scared. So scared you wouldn’t be able to find us. That I was wrong and that you wouldn’t really come and help me and my momma. But you did. You came, Dash.”
Elizabeth’s heart clenched as Dash’s eyes closed, his expression tightening with emotion as he swallowed hard.
“Yes I did, Cassie,” he whispered against her hair, holding her gently, holding her as her father never had. Comfortably. With warmth. With caring. “I’m here, Cassie. Where I intend to stay.”
Elizabeth gasped at the statement at the same time his eyes opened, the golden depths hardening with determination. She had a feeling she might have a chance of surviving the dangers surrounding her with Dash at her side, but knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he had no intention of allowing them to escape him. He had just made his claim.
“Come on, Cassie, we need to get a shower.” She fought to keep her voice even, to still the tremor of nerves she could feel racing through her body.
He might think he had made his claim, she thought, and she might need him now more than she had ever needed anyone in her life, but he would learn she wasn’t as easy to conquer as he thought she was.
“Oh Momma, let me sit with Dash.” Cassie turned back to her, her expression pleading, her eyes wide and distressed. “I’ll be good. I promise.”
“You’re always good, sweetie,” Elizabeth assured her, keeping her voice firm. “But you need a bath, and I need a shower. Now come on, so you can eat and maybe watch cartoons for a while.” She dangled the treat before her daughter, hating to take something away from her that she wanted. But she couldn’t—wouldn’t—trust Dash that far.
“But, Momma…” Cassie whined.
“Now, Cassidy Paige.” She used her full name, keeping her voice firm, aloof. She prayed Cassie didn’t choose now to defy her. She didn’t think she could handle the fight.
Cassie sighed deeply as she slid off Dash’s lap. “You won’t leave. Will you?” she asked in a small voice.
“I promise.” He laid his hand against his chest, his expression somber. “I’ll be right here, waiting on my cartoon partner.”
Cassie giggled as Elizabeth moved to the tote and picked out the clothes Cassie would need. Toothbrushes, hair brushes, little girl’s hair bows, a multitude of small, insignificant but prized items we
re all held within a large clear plastic carrier lying on top of the clothes. She drew it out, gripping her robe and gown before her as she backed to the bathroom. She kept her eyes on Dash, fought to keep her worries under control.
He watched her, his golden-brown eyes quiet and intense. Steady.
“Don’t forget to put a decent bandage on your leg,” he reminded her as she reached the alcove. “That soap will burn like he…” He cleared his throat. “Like heck.” He glanced at Cassie.
Elizabeth flushed but nodded quickly before easing Cassie toward the bathroom door. Like Cassie, she wanted to ask him if he would be there when they were done. If he would promise not to leave.
Somehow, he must have read her fears. Keeping his gaze locked with hers, he returned his hand to his chest. “I promise.” He mouthed for her alone.
Chapter Six
Dash watched Elizabeth sleep for hours. She was curled around Cassie’s small body, protecting her, even while nearly unconscious from exhaustion. They had both fallen asleep during the first hour of cartoons, and he had let them be. Hell, he’d figure something out about the schedule. Elizabeth was right, Cassie needed to sleep, but so did her mother.
Dark circles ringed Elizabeth’s eyes. They weren’t as noticeable while she was awake; the vivid blue, so unlike the lighter tone of her daughter’s, drew attention from her pale, tired features. But asleep, she looked wounded.
He sat on his bed staring at her. He couldn’t help it. He had imagined her for over a year. Touched her in his dreams; loved her in his fantasies. What was it about her that it had only taken her daughter’s smallest descriptions to fill his mind with her?
He wasn’t a man that believed in soul mates. There were times he wondered if a creation of science could even have a soul. But Elizabeth made him want to believe. And as he watched her sleeping, he realized he did believe. He believed in it more than he had ever believed in anything. But it also made him realize the bleak, agonizing future awaiting him if he didn’t do something about Terrance Grange. That, and convincing Elizabeth that she was his. That he was the daddy Cassie needed, the mate she longed for. Which meant he had work to do. He picked up the phone and called Mike.
Dash had fought for more than two years with Mike Toler in the mountains of Afghanistan, searching for the pockets of terrorists hidden within mountain caves and underground tunnels. He had saved Mike’s ass more than once, and he knew the caliber of man he was.
Mike was ex-C.I.A., a rancher now, though Dash knew he still had enough contacts to get a line on any information he needed. There was something wrong with the situation as he knew it, Dash finally admitted to himself. Terrance Grange was a mean bastard, and a pervert, but he wouldn’t risk his whole organization for one little girl. Even one who had witnessed a murder. Not to this extent.
He would wait. Wait until Elizabeth went to the authorities, wait until Cassie was in protective custody and in a place certain to allow him the opportunity to get to her. He wouldn’t be running her and her mother down like animals. The situation was growing more complicated by the day and it was making Dash more suspicious by the moment.
He had suspected, after no more than a month into the chase for Elizabeth and her child, that the complications were likely to build. He hadn’t expected what he was facing at the time.
He had tried to accept that Grange was just an obsession freak, an animal that needed killing. Which was true to a large extent. But still, there was more. He could feel it in the deepest reaches of his gut.
He called Mike as daylight turned to night and the worst of the blizzard had passed, at least enough to allow visibility in the Hummer. As he expected, Mike was waiting on him.
“Get on out here,” Mike ordered him briskly. “You need to get some rest while I follow up on some other information coming in. Your instincts were right, Dash. As usual.”
“What have you found out?” He kept his voice low. He didn’t want to wake Elizabeth or Cassie.
“Grange is a dirty bastard. And a pervert. But little girls Cassidy’s age aren’t his preference. Nor is spending this amount of money on tracking down one little girl who was likely too shocked to even remember who killed her father. Right now, the details I have are sketchy at best. I did manage to contact Kane Tyler for you, though. He’s waiting on you to get to the ranch for a secure transmission. Get your ass out here as soon as possible.”
He glanced toward the window. He wouldn’t leave until dark. It was much easier to hide the fact that he carried a woman and child in the Hummer with him after nightfall.
“Tonight,” he told him. “Expect us sometime after eight. I imagine getting this little pup Elizabeth calls a child ready to go will take a while. She has more energy than any kid I think I’ve ever seen.” She had bounced around for nearly an hour before collapsing on the bed to watch the cartoons.
Mike laughed. “Yeah, they’re like wild monkeys at that age. Take care, old buddy. I’ll see you tonight.”
Dash hung up the phone, wiping his hand over his face as he tried to pull together the fragments of information he had. There wasn’t much.
Dane Colder had been a very prominent doctor in the small California town. He had married Elizabeth when she was fresh out of high school. Ten years older than she, he had wooed her within months before giving her an elaborate wedding. A year later Cassie had been conceived. Two years later, Elizabeth had divorced the bastard on grounds of incompatibility. Dash suspected other reasons.
She had fought visitation, but Colder had been determined. He was awarded one week a month with the child. From that time forward charge after charge of abuse had been leveled against him by Elizabeth, only to be thrown out of court for lack of evidence by the judge. Colder had carried a lot of influence, and had some powerful friends. A year before his death, he had hooked up with Grange for some unknown reason. Six months later Colder had sued for custody of Cassie. It was rumored he would have received it if his body hadn’t been found in a dirty alley pumped full of bullets.
There was something missing, though. Some piece of information that Dash knew would allow everything to finally fall into place. Until he had it, he was working blind, at least until he got his hands on Grange. Until then, he had to make certain no one could touch Elizabeth or her child ever again. Which meant they would have to head out soon and get to the ranch tonight.
Moving to his feet, Dash laid out clothing and shoes for the mother and child before quickly loading the Hummer. Then he woke them up, waiting patiently as Elizabeth helped Cassie wash up, brush her teeth and comb out the mass of curls falling over her face.
Elizabeth didn’t take nearly as long getting herself ready as she took taking care of her child. She gave the racy black thong and matching bra a long look before picking them up expressionlessly and adding them to the jeans, socks and thick long-sleeved blouse he had laid out for her.
Dash hid his grin. She was getting mad. He could see it in her face, feel it in the air around her. She didn’t confront him with Cassie watching them, though. She was careful to give the child every assurance that she was willing to work with Dash. Willing to do whatever it took to keep her safe.
His respect only grew for her. She was a damned strong woman. Not many people, male or female, could hold their tempers around him for long. He watched her disappear into the bathroom, wondering how long she would wait before she blew up and confronted him over the decisions he was making. Decisions that hadn’t been passed by her first.
Cassie watched her, too. Dash caught the little girl’s expression as her mother went into the other room. It was equal parts deliberation and playful manipulation. Oh, she was going to be a handful for sure.
“Momma’s clothes are pretty.” Cassie bounced up on the bed beside him as he stuffed the small plastic bag Elizabeth had put their dirty clothes in into the bag he used to carry them. “Mine are, too.”
She ran her fingers down the soft gray velour sleeve of her shirt, then looked down at her ne
w boots. It was obvious she was genuinely enjoying the feel of the outfit.
