Wild Fury_Fury Security

by Lindsay Cross

  “Depends. Far as I can tell, you decided to get in the car with me and decided not to jump out. Kind of makes it your choice then, doesn’t it?” Cole drew out his words with a slow drawl, the same way he used to when he was trying to convince her of something.

  “Don’t use that playboy tone with me, Cole Fury. We both know I’m not here because I ‘decided to.’” She made air quotes with her fingers and then crossed her arms, staring straight ahead. The man was just as stubborn as he used to be.

  “I can’t remember a time when you did anything unless you wanted to.”

  Like break up with him and disappear from their hometown.

  But she was so not going there right now. “Where are you taking me?”

  “You’ll see when we get there.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Tomi glared at him.

  Cole hooked a finger over the rim of his Ray Bans and tugged them down his nose, looking at her over the top of the rims. “I’d catch a nap if I were you. We’ve got a long ride. Don’t want you all worn out.”

  “I wouldn’t let myself fall asleep around you if my life depended on it.”

  “Your choice.” He shrugged, and she almost screamed in frustration. She’d already spent the last two hours interrogating him—why was he at the auction? What had become of his friend? Where the hell had they gotten all that money? Cole had revealed absolutely nothing, leaving her mind with lots of free time to imagine all kinds of worst-case scenarios.

  Number one being that Cole had turned into a sadistic psycho who purchased innocent girls to pleasure him. It was an impossible pill to swallow—how could the Cole she’d known and loved, the Cole she’d never gotten over, have become that man?—but she couldn’t come up with any other plausible excuse.

  If that were true, then she truly should be terrified, because she’d never known a man who possessed as much single-minded focus as Cole Fury. Her ability to escape shrunk with every mile they passed. He’d already crossed over into Louisiana—which meant he might be headed toward home. But surely, he wouldn’t be that dumb. Tomi knew their hometown like the back of her hand.

  Then again, he could be taking her somewhere out in the woods. The Fury brothers had been known to have some pretty wild cabin parties back in the day. Since they’d all been gone for years, she doubted anyone visited the cabin much anymore. If he took her there, she could still escape. Sure, it had been a few years since she’d hiked through the soggy bottom land of Louisiana, but her roots ran deep, and her dad had taught her how to survive in the woods.

  Her dad…another dark memory she couldn’t face right now.

  Cole slid his arm over the steering wheel, his right hand draped casually on his thigh. A small console, which could be folded up, separated them. If he wanted, he could stop the truck, shove that separator up, and take her right now. What would it be like if he did? Her tight nipples sure seemed to like the idea. But the thought of Cole forcing her to do anything hit the kill switch on her desire in an instant.

  She wanted the old Cole, not this stranger.

  “Tomi, I told you. You can relax. I’m not going to do anything that you don’t want me to do.” Cole’s hand slid forward, and she swallowed, refusing to jump and run each time he moved. “How about some tunes?”

  “Whatever.” She managed to make herself sound uncaring, or so she hoped, as she turned away from him and stared at the passing countryside.

  A ‘90s’ alternative ballad pulsed from the speakers. She had always liked a little rock to her roll. And Cole had invariably given in to her wishes, even though he preferred his music a little more fueled up. Tomi thought for a brief minute about flipping the dial over to a pop hits station, knowing it would drive Cole nuts, but she didn’t have the energy.

  She’d used up pretty much all of her internal stores surviving Luis’s compound…and she was still struggling to wrap her head around how she’d ended up here. How she was back in Cole’s truck after a decade, riding to nowhere Louisiana just like they had in the past.

  If only the whole world hadn’t opened up and swallowed her whole and spat her back out, she might have been able to enjoy this. But without knowing how and why Cole had ended up at that auction, she couldn’t relax with him. She couldn’t let herself want him.

  Tomi kept her eyes glued wide open. She had to keep track of everything they passed to help her backtrack, but all the thick cypress trees started to blend together after a while. The gravel road was the same clay color as the dirt beneath it, and so far, they’d yet to pass any sign of life. “We’re not going to the cabin, are we?”

  “Nope.” Cole drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel in tune to the song on the radio.

  Tomi wanted to drum her fists on his head. “Tell me where you’re taking me.”

  “You’ll see. Just be patient.”

  “I’ll scream.” Her threat was hollow. They both knew it. There wasn’t a single person around to hear her.

  “Go right on ahead, sugar. Your screams never bothered me before.”

  Cole pulled up to his old family ranch about five hours later. Tomi was out cold, head back against the seat and mouth open. She’d tried, he had to give her that—she’d fought to stay awake and watch him the whole time, but the girl was worn . Her body needed sleep to recuperate, and he intended to see that she got that chance whether she liked it or not.

  The front porch light was on, indicating his brothers had already been out to the place to make sure Cole and Tomi had what they needed to survive the next few days, plus a few other special items Cole had requested.

  Since his brothers all dabbled in the BDSM scene, his request hadn’t been met with so much as a raised brow. Cole just hoped Tomi wouldn’t freak out when she saw it. But she shouldn’t. Intel had it that all the slaves had been kidnapped from local BDSM or fetish clubs—which meant that each female had been interested in the lifestyle to some degree or other.

  Or she worked for Luis and had seen it all at his hand…

  Cole killed the engine and walked around to Tomi’s side of the car, catching her in his arms and holding her to his chest. He allowed himself one deep inhale, permanently marking her scent in his brain, before he carried her up onto the front porch and through the unlocked front door. Cole headed straight to the old master bedroom, happy to see they’d cleaned it up nicely. A new dark blue comforter lay on the king-sized bed, along with a couple of department store bags containing the clothing Cole had instructed them to purchase.

  Tomi made a groggy half-waking sound when he laid her on the mattress, and Cole quickly covered her in blankets and soothed her back to sleep. He thumbed the dark smudges of exhaustion under her eyes and then stood and left the room, leaving the door open so he’d hear if she woke. He needed to clear his head. He couldn’t say for sure Tomi had no ties to Luis, no matter how much he wanted to, not yet.

  Clint and Carter sat in the kitchen, palming a beer each.

  “You get everything?” Cole went to the fridge and pulled out his beer, needing a bit of a buzz right about now.

  “Yep,” Carter answered, “including your toy bag. Set you up in the room next to the master.”

  “You think she’s really working for Luis?” Clint asked.

  Cole shook his head, allowing himself to relax his careful façade in front of his family. “No.”

  “Then why are we here?” Clint sounded as frustrated as Cole felt.

  “Because if I didn’t agree to question her, Stahl would have insisted on doing it himself…and he wouldn’t care if he destroyed her in the process.” And because the bastard was going to dismantle everything they’d worked so hard to build. “And because I can’t prove she doesn’t.”

  Clint and Carter loved the business as much as Cole, but Case, their older brother, needed it to function. He’d served the longest of them all, and as a SEAL sniper, gone on the deadliest missions. He required the action to function in the civilian world.

  Too damn bad Case hadn’t
been there last night – they’d needed him. But Case had disappeared, as he tended to do a couple of times a year. The brothers didn’t know where he went or why, only that he had to get away sometimes to deal with his demons.

  “So? She dumped you, bro. Broke your heart. Why do you care if he messes with her?” Clint ripped a new beer from the fridge, uncapped it, and took a long drag.

  “Had to ask myself that same question. It comes down to this…would you have been able to step back if you were in my place, Clint? If Stahl had it out for someone you once cared for?”

  A long, bloated pause filled the room.

  “I didn’t think so.”

  “We just don’t want to see you hurt again, bro.” Carter lifted his mug to his lips and took a sip, openly watching Cole. Hell, both of them were watching him with that annoying, knowing look.

  “What he’s saying is that you were a pain in the ass for a whole year after she dumped you. We finally got you trained the way we like you—don’t want her messing that up again.” Clint said in his typical sarcastic tone.

  Cole gave them a half-cocked grin. Without his brothers, Cole wasn’t sure how he would have made it through his funk after Tomi. Being in the SEALs had also helped him, of course. They’d kept him too busy for him to stew over his broken heart. He’d thrown himself into the work wholeheartedly, and his devotion to his team was part of the reason that half of the guys had retired with him and were now working for Fury Security. Rico, Troy, and McKay had all joined them.

  “Don’t worry, we’re past that. I know this isn’t going anywhere.”

  “Knowing it and feeling it are two different things,” Carter said quietly.

  “Good thing I don’t have to worry about feelings anymore. Aren’t you the one that gave me the nickname Ice?” Cole said.

  Instead of smiling, like Cole had hoped, Carter frowned. Cole usually cherished his brother’s unique ability to still care about—and read—others’ feelings after going through so many hardening battles. There weren’t many men who came out of the Navy SEALs with their feelings and emotions healthy and intact, but Carter’s thoughtfulness was starting to grate on his nerves.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Carter said.

  “The rest of the team here yet?” Cole asked.

  “Yeah, got here about an hour ago,” Clint said. “They’re out setting up a perimeter around the property. They’re going to stay out in the bunkhouse with us tonight and then head out to work on the case and keep an eye on Stahl.” He gave him a significant look that he didn’t need any help interpreting. They were giving him a private place to seduce her.

  “Good, Stahl’s giving me three days before he moves in.”

  “How’re you going to manage this in only three days without telling her the truth?” Carter got up and went to the small farm sink behind him, rinsed and dried his glass and replaced it in the cabinet. He held his hand out for Clint’s drink and repeated the process.

  Cole blew out a long, weary breath. He’d been asking himself the same question all the way here, and he still hadn’t come up with an answer. “I’ll let you know when I know.”

  “Tomi’s always been scared of her own feelings. Don’t push her too hard, or she’ll just run again.” Carter finished drying off his twin’s glass and then turned to face Cole. “Give her time to warm up to you.”

  Clint snorted and got to his feet, shoving his chair back under the table. Cole was once again struck by how similar and how different his younger twin brothers were. Cole had inherited his mother's jet-black hair and dark eyes. The twins shared their father’s curly blond locks and light hazel eyes, which turned gold with high excitement, but their personalities were like day and night. Emotional, empathetic Carter. Practical Clint. Opposite sides of a coin.

  “Let us know if you need any help.” Clint clapped Cole on the shoulder and headed for the front door.

  Cole had an idea of what kind of help they were offering, but he kept his mouth shut. His brother’s propensity for sharing their women had been a well-known fact for their entire lives—at least since they had started noticing women.

  “Clint?” Tomi’s soft, feminine voice drifted into the room, and Cole turned to see her rubbing her eyes with the heels of her palms, as if she were just waking up, looking sexy as hell in the baggy sweatpants and T-shirt he’d given her to wear.

  “Tomi Tomlin, just as beautiful as ever.” Clint hooked his thumbs into his pants pockets and leaned back against the white doorframe in the kitchen.

  “Clint Fury, just as flirty as ever. Why are you here?” Tomi surveyed the room, her eyes widening when she took in Carter’s presence against the sink. He gave her a small wave but kept silent.

  She frowned. “If this is some kind of sick, twisted Fury brother game, count me out. I don’t want any part of it.”

  “I think that’s our cue to leave.” Carter straightened from the sink, nodding to Tomi as he passed by her. “Good to see you, Tomi. Clint, go. Now.”

  Clint winked at Cole, “As I said, we’re here to help.” And then he followed Carter out of the room and then out the front door, leaving Cole and Tomi alone in the small kitchen.

  Her irritation vanished, replaced by uncertainty. She started fumbling with her fingers, twisting the hemline of the long T-shirt, as she looked more at the floor than at him. “What’s going on, Cole?”

  “Sit down, Tomi.” Cole pulled out the chair right next to him, scooting closer. If he was going to get her to trust him, he needed to push her boundaries a little bit.

  Tomi frowned and pulled out the seat on the opposite side of the table, flopping into it. “Now, are you going to tell me?”

  Cole held up his hand when Tomi’s lips parted. “How did you end up at that auction? The truth.”

  Tomi sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth, staring back at him with worry, just like she used to when they were younger. His gut tightened; he wanted to suck that lower lip between his teeth. But Carter had been right—he couldn’t just rush her. She needed a gentle hand, like a wild mustang. He didn’t want to break her. He’d never wanted to break her. But he did want to hold her fire in his palms and mold it, feed it so that it grew but didn’t burn them both alive in the process.

  “You won’t believe me. You don’t want to believe me.”

  Cole crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back, straightening his legs out to get comfortable. He wanted to show her that he was in absolutely no hurry. “I do want to believe you.”

  Tomi’s temper flared, and she slammed her hand's palm flat on the table. “I demand you let me go.”

  Cole shook his head slowly. “Can’t do that, baby girl.” The old endearment slipped past his lips.

  And from the way Tomi’s eyes narrowed, it had pissed her off. “Don’t call me that.”

  “Why not? Never used to bother you before.”

  He’d started calling her that toward the beginning, when they’d first started messing around with a little bit of BDSM. She used to get so wet when he’d call her that, squirming on his lap. Fuck, the thought made him hard as a damn rock.

  “You know why,” she said.

  “Fine, I won’t call you that until you ask me to—if you tell me what happened. You’ve got one shot. Don’t blow it.”

  “If I do, will you let me go?”

  “No.”

  Her baby blues rounded. “Then why should I tell you anything?”

  Cole kept his mouth shut. Her imagination would do a much better job of intimidating her into telling the truth than anything he could say.

  Seconds stretched into minutes and still she didn’t talk. “I’m hungry,” she said finally.

  Cole bit back a smile at her sullen expression. “You can have something to eat as soon as you give me answers.”

  “So, I can add starvation to my list of grievances, along with kidnapping and slavery?”

  “If it makes you feel better,” Cole shrugged.

  “Why are you doing this?�
�� she cried out.

  “I have my reasons, and you’ll find them out soon enough, but not until you tell me what I need to know.”

  He could sit there all day if he needed to; she was his sole focus and mission.

  Her heated gaze slid from his, and her entire demeanor shifted into that of a pouting child. At any other time this type of reaction would have just pissed him off, but not after what she’d been through. He kept quiet—he knew Tomi’s signals and she was about to talk.

  “I was supposed to be in Mexico right now, sitting on the beach sipping margaritas with my friend.”

  Cole’s ears perked up at the word friend. “Go on.”

  “I left my passport at home. I stumbled across something I shouldn’t have.”

  “Would you care to explain further?” He felt like he was pulling teeth.

  She started twirling her thumbs together in her lap and shifting in her seat. “I thought it was just a party, wild, but you know—a party. Anyway, it wasn’t. There were women there, but they didn’t want to be there and the men…the men were making them do things. I had no idea. I mean, I thought it was a play party at first.”

  Her halting words tumbled to a jerky stop, and she tucked her chin.

  “And you’d been to a play party before?” Cole asked in a quiet tone.

  Her gaze shot to his. “Not like that.”

  The instant rush of jealous rage took him off guard. Images of strange men with their hands on Tomi’s bare skin floated around his mind. Cole curled his fingers into a fist. He had no right to be jealous. Tomi had been free of him for years, and he of her. His reaction wasn’t logical, but there was no denying it. Still, acting like a jealous lover wouldn’t help either of them right now. “How did you know the women didn’t want to be there?”

  “Because some of them were screaming. Others were fighting to get away. They were being forced into sex acts in front of everyone.” Her voice sounded haunted and far away, and he knew talking about that night had brought her back to it.