Except his fingers; they flexed once or twice – unconsciously registering the softness of her skin.
And his nose, which twitched once or twice as a small cloud of plaster dust mixed in with the scent of warm, freshly-showered woman.
“What the –“ Jake burst into the room, freezing in his tracks the moment he stepped over the threshold. From his prone position, Ian’s eyes slid away from the naked woman atop him and toward his older brother.
The look on Jake’s face was priceless, well-worth the six-inch knife at his throat and a knee hovering over his groin, poised and ready to inflict some damage. Thankfully, Taryn didn’t flinch and give him an impromptu shave.
“Taryn, before you kill him, can you tell me what he did?” Jake’s low, velvety voice was calm, patient, but Ian knew the amount of control Jake must be utilizing to make it sound that way. Jake’s eyes – always a tell – flashed his displeasure at the situation.
For his part, Ian was perfectly content to remain exactly where he was and watch the situation play out. Almost as big as Jake, and with the same SEAL training, he could easily extract himself, but why would he want to?
“He grabbed my ass.” Taryn’s voice was low, too, but her anger was clearly evident.
“Not true,” Ian argued, careful not to shake his head lest he slit his own throat. “I only moved the sheet a little to get a better look at your dragon.” He felt the flat part of the blade press against his skin in warning. “Well, okay, maybe I touched it a little, but Jesus, woman, you make it damn hard to resist.”
He grinned then, letting his amusement suffuse his features, confident that if Taryn hadn’t drawn blood yet, she wasn’t going to.
“Rogue,” she hissed. “Don’t ever sneak up on me like that again.” She pushed away from him, exerting unnecessary pressure on his groin as she did so – enough to send a message, but not enough to really hurt. He appreciated that.
“Duly noted,” Ian said, propping himself up on his elbows, completely unrepentant. “But I’d like to point out that if you had just accepted my offer last night this would not have happened.”
She snorted softly, a decidedly feminine sound. “That’s a beautiful tat, by the way,” he continued, seemingly unfazed. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”
Taryn didn’t respond. She hastily wrapped a sheet around herself before pulling a small sheath from beneath the pillow and sliding her knife into it. Only then did she turn to face Jake.
Ian turned, too, curious to see how his brother was faring. Jake still stood in the doorway, with only a pair of jeans slung low on his hips. His chest and feet were bare; half of his face was still covered in shaving gel. He did not look happy.
“Did you send him in here?” Taryn asked accusingly.
Jake shook his head in a negative response.
With another snort, Taryn grabbed her backpack and disappeared into the bathroom.
“That was fucking awesome,” Ian said, jumping to his feet. “She’s quick, and skilled, too. I’d say she’s had some training –“
“Don’t do that again.” Jake’s voice was little more than a growl. “Or next time, I’ll help her.”
* * *
Only once Taryn had disappeared behind the bathroom door did Jake feel his heart start to beat again. Because when Taryn had aimed her glare at him, it had been with the most luminous violet eyes he had ever seen.
He turned from the doorway and stalked back toward his room. His mind was still stuck on the image of Taryn naked atop his brother, torn somewhere between seething lust and insane jealousy. It was not a good place to be. He and Ian had shared many women, but he wasn’t sure he would survive a ménage if Taryn was involved.
He shook his head, putting those thoughts on lockdown before he needed another cold shower. Instead, he would focus his mind on trying to process what had just happened.
Ian was Ian. It wasn’t his actions that bothered Jake so much. Jake would have been surprised if he hadn’t slipped into Taryn’s room and done what he did. It was Taryn’s reaction that had him uneasy. The look in her eyes when he first walked in could be described as nothing less than feral – a potent mix of anger and fear, like a caged animal poised and ready to fight back at all costs. What the hell had happened to her to make her react that way? And why the hell did she sleep with a knife under her pillow?
“Jake. We cool?” Ian paused at his brother’s doorway an hour later, dressed and ready to open the Pub.
“Yeah, we’re cool.” Jake rolled up his sleeves to just below his elbow.
“I didn’t mean to scare her.”
“I know.”
“She could have killed me,” Ian said seriously, all former mirth gone. “In that first second. She caught me totally off-guard. She wanted to, I think. But then she seemed to realize who I was, and she stopped.”
“You think she thought you were someone else?”
Ian nodded. “Yeah.” His expression was somber; lines marred his brow, his eyes darkened to a midnight blue. “When she first grabbed me she whispered something.”
“What?”
“Never again.” He paused for a minute. “Oh, and Jake? There’s something else. You know that tat she’s got, how it kind of twists from back to front and back again?” Jake nodded. He’d gotten quite an eyeful when she’d been atop Ian. The image was already so ingrained in his mind he could have drawn it from memory. “That isn’t just artistic design. The tat’s covering scars, several of them. Stab wounds by the looks of it.”
Jake swore as he tried to control the irrational rage that simmered within him for anyone who had dared to hurt her. He was becoming acclimated to such feelings; they were not as shocking as they had been a mere twelve hours ago. He decided to just roll with it for now, primarily because he had no idea how to fight against it. Taryn was soaking into him, saturating him, bonding with him, and there was nothing he could do about it. The fact that she seemed completely unaware of the effects she was having on him made no difference whatsoever.
“What did you find out today?”
Ian looked behind him, then closed the door and stepped further into the room. “The car was clean, and I mean squeaky,” Ian said, his voice low. “No trash, no personal items except for a small piece of luggage with some extra clothes and a portable GPS. I pulled some prints, but based on the location and size of them, I’d say they’re the mechanic’s.”
Jake’s eyebrows rose. “She wiped down her own car?” Who the hell would wipe down their car while waiting for a tow? And why? “What about the plate?”
Ian smirked. “Doesn’t exist.”
“The GPS?”
“I’ve got it in my room. Looks like a series of coordinates, not just one set. I’m going to plug them in later and see what comes up.” Ian looked more serious than usual. “Your instincts were dead on, Jake. She’s running, big time.”
“What about the tavern in the photo?”
A slight frown marred Ian’s brow. “I didn’t make a lot of progress on that yet. The search engine brought up over a thousand hits. I ran one of my screening programs against the results, maybe about a hundred of which seem plausibly relevant. I’ll sync it up with whatever I find on the GPS later.”
Jake nodded appreciatively. No one was better at gathering digital intel than Ian. He had no doubts that by this time tomorrow, they would know everything there was to know about the mysterious Taryn. Which was good, because time was going by too quickly. Unless they found some way to prevent it, in less than forty-eight hours Taryn would be gone.
“Thanks, Ian.”
“Jake?” Ian shifted his weight slightly, a sure sign that he was going to say something Jake didn’t want to hear. “My gut’s humming.” Ian’s gut always “hummed” when something big was about to happen. It was like a sixth sense, an instinctual warning that something big was about to happen. It had gotten them out of more close calls than either cared to think about.
“I know,” Jake said
soberly. “Mine too.”
* * *
Taryn muttered a series of curses for allowing herself to be snuck up on like that. It was so unlike her. She had become so accustomed to expecting the unexpected that even the slightest sense of another presence usually had her instantly alert. It was a learned skill, one at which she had become quite adept, and one that had served her well on more than one occasion when she had been forced to seek rest in less than ideal conditions.
But Ian had entered her room and watched her for God knows how long before she realized it. Had he been so inclined, he could have done horrible things to her before she was able to lift a finger in defense. The thought was terrifying. Been there, done that. And she had sworn she would never, ever allow it to happen again.
The familiar sense of raw determination began to surge through her, pushing away the fear. Never. Again.
She closed her eyes and allowed the energy to fill her until there was no trace of the panic, no shadow of the frightened girl remaining. This was where she needed to be to think clearly and figure out just what the hell was going on.
Ian would not have hurt her. Her empowered self recognized that right away. He was curious. Aroused. But there was no malice there. None intended for her, anyway.
Even when she had the knife to his throat, she believed that he could have disabled her at any time. He knew it too. So why hadn’t he?
Why had he let her believe she had the upper hand? Why had he lain there, baring his neck even as she felt his entire body thrumming beneath her? A brave act indeed. Maybe she wouldn’t have killed him, but she could have undoubtedly done some damage. So why take the chance?
Did he get off on aggressive women? Hardly. Taryn knew his type. He might like a little wildness, but Ian was definitely not into playing the sub to a domme. Was he toying with her? Possibly. Even with her holding the knife on him he’d been hard as hell, like a rock beneath her. Yet he didn’t force himself on her, like he could have. Like he wanted to.
She remembered the way his eyes flicked to the doorway. How there had been a subtle but definite change. Jake. Ian held himself in check because Jake wanted him to. She had the distinct impression that Jake was among a very small number of people Ian listened to. But again, why?
Because he thinks he needs to protect me, her methodical self answered. For some reason, Jake Callaghan had appointed himself as her guardian angel. Most women probably would have taken comfort in that, but Taryn found it more annoying than anything.
There was no denying that Jake was a good-looking man. Strong. Decent. Kind. And quite possibly the sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on. Even being in the same room with him made her ache in places she didn’t want to think about. But he saw her as someone who needed looking after. As honorable as that seemed, Taryn simply did not do the helpless female. She could accept this room as payment for bartending, but that was just fair trade.
He wanted more, that was obvious. A woman would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to pick up on his interest. Adding to that, the fact that she wasn’t eating out of his hand was grating against his nerves and his inflated sense of propriety. That was obvious, too. The look in his eyes when she defied him was almost primal in its intensity. Immense power simmered just below the surface; she could feel it. It sent a flush of warmth through her entire body, and turned that vague ache into an outright throb.
Hell, even if she actually wanted his help (which she didn’t), defying him would totally be worth it just for the surge of heat that came with his reaction.
But even she had to admit that a tiny part of her loved the way he seemed to care about what happened to her. How long had it been since someone had done that? It was nice to be warm and safe, not to mention clean and dry, with food in her belly. Knowing that for one more day, at least, she didn’t have to face the world completely on her own.
The realization hit her then, a firm but gentle virtual tap on the shoulder. That was it! That’s why she had surrendered so completely to the exhausted sleep. Because deep down, she knew nothing would ever hurt her as long as Jake was around. And Ian, too. That was also the reason she had been able to stop herself from blindly lashing out at Ian. He was devilish, yes, but she knew instinctively he would never really harm her.
Feeling as though she’d had an epiphany of sorts, Taryn splashed some cold water onto her face. Time to move on. She had a few things she wanted to do before her shift started in a couple of hours. Grabbing her toothbrush, Taryn looked in the mirror and froze. Violent curses flew in whispers beneath her breath as crystalline violet eyes stared back at her.
They’d seen her without her contact lenses in.
Chapter Six
By the time Taryn joined them downstairs, her eyes were back to that smoky dark gray color again, her hair clipped up above the nape of her neck. Her forest green knit shirt hugged her curves flatteringly if a little loosely, as did the faded Levi’s it tucked into. She’d lost weight recently, which was an easy thing to do since she’d been living on apples and peanut butter for the last couple of weeks.
Jake and Ian were behind the bar. A decent crowd had already assembled for the pregame hoopla, now showing on all four of the massive flat screens placed strategically along the walls of the public area. She drew in a deep breath; the familiar scents of lemon oil and fine whiskey soothed her somewhat ragged nerves.
“You okay?” Jake asked discreetly. She caught the way his eyes flicked to hers, but he refrained from commenting on the change in color. Either he hadn’t noticed, or he was being thoughtful. She didn’t think for a moment he hadn’t noticed.
“Of course,” she said lightly, summoning what she hoped was a casual smile. Ian wasn’t quite as subtle with his inspection; she could feel his gaze as plainly as if he was touching her and avoided looking at him directly. Instead, she glanced around, taking in the crowd. It took only seconds for her practiced eye to analyze and dismiss each person in the bar as an immediate threat. “Thought you didn’t need me till six?”
“I thought you could use the extra sleep,” Jake told her. “And this is nothing compared to what it will be like tonight after the game when our boys win. Last night was just a warm-up.”
“Oh, okay then.” She found it hard to believe the place could be any more packed than it had been the night before, but Jake had no reason to lie about that. It was good news for her; bigger crowds meant more tips in her pocket.
“I guess I’ll just occupy myself for a while.” She slipped her leather jacket on and started walking toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
Was that genuine concern she saw in those amazing blue eyes? Or was he just worried she was going to leave him high and dry? She shrugged. “Don’t know. I’ll check on my car, I guess. I need to get a few things anyway. Maybe do some exploring. I’ll be back and ready to work at six,” she reassured him.
Proceeding through the door, she missed the meaningful glance Ian shared with Jake. “Hopefully, her exploring wouldn’t require use of the GPS,” Ian muttered under his breath, while Jake nodded in agreement.
* * *
Joey Braxton was hanging up the phone at the garage just as a whiff of warm caramel apples hit him. He looked toward the open bay door, knowing who he would see there. A twinge of guilt pinged through him. Joey was still green, but he was building a reputation for being an honest mechanic. The thought of lying to a customer, even a stranger, did not sit well with him. Especially one as pretty as this one.
“Hi,” Taryn said with a smile, and his discomfort increased. She seemed so nice. Still, Sean Callaghan was his boss, and when the boss’s brother asked you for a favor, you did it.
“Hi.” He watched as she walked over to her car - currently on the lift - and patted the side with her hand like a favorite pet. “What’s the bad news?”
Joey wiped at the sweat beading on his forehead with the bandanna he always kept tucked in his pocket. “It’s going to take a little longer than I or
iginally thought,” he said slowly, regretfully, as he watched her face fall. The truth was all he needed to do was flush the fuel line – and she’d be good to go. He’d planned to finish it up this afternoon, but that was before Ian Callaghan had shown up and asked him – very nicely - if he could work on some of the other cars first. Ian hadn’t said why, only that he and his brother Jake would consider it a personal favor.
“Oh,” she said, her disappointment obvious. “It’s serious, then?”
He swallowed hard, feeling like a rat. Those big, smoky eyes were killing him. “I can’t say for sure. Based on what you told me, the problem’s in the fuel injection system. I need to download the codes to be sure, though, and run a complete set of diagnostics.” He looked at her apologetically. “I don’t get a lot of Audi’s.” That part was true at least.
“I’m sure you’re doing everything you can,” she said, making him wince. Ouch. “So how long do you think you’ll need?”
“Couple of days, tops,” he hedged. “I was kinda hoping to catch the game today...”
“Of course,” she said. “Homecoming, right?” He nodded. “Well, far be it from me to come between a man and his football,” she said with a little laugh. She asked him if he could lower the car for her to get something out of the trunk, and, glad that he could do something for her, he did.
* * *
Taryn retrieved a backpack-sized piece of canvas luggage from the trunk, slung it over her shoulder, and left the kind but anxious Joey to his business.
Losing the Audi for another couple of days wasn’t exactly good news. Hopefully the problem turned out to be minimal. If not, well, it wasn’t the end of the world. She’d picked up the car a few states back for cheap. It had to be one of the ugliest cars she’d ever seen – squat and boxy and in need of a paint job - but it had served her well.
Dangerous Secrets: Callaghan Brothers, Book 1 Page 6
