Shock held her utterly still.
Wolf Tate was kissing her. Wolf Tate was kissing her.
If she hadn’t been able to breathe before, now it was as if all the air in the entire world had been sucked away and there was no relief to be found anywhere.
His lips were … soft. She hadn’t expected that. He was so hard everywhere else, and yet there was nothing unyielding about the mouth brushing gently over hers. Nothing forceful. His breath was warm, and somehow she couldn’t stop shivering as he brushed his lips over hers again, a butterfly kiss.
He made a sound, rough and approving, inhaling as if her scent was something he liked. Then his tongue touched her bottom lip, gently coaxing.
Wildfire was kindling in her veins, a rush of intense heat sweeping over her, scorching her.
She felt dizzy. This was her first kiss. With the only man she’d ever wanted it to be with. The only man she’d ever wanted to touch, ever wanted to have touch her.
It’s not real and you know it.
Doubt was a small, hard kernel of ice sitting in her gut, impervious to the flames. There was too much that was strange about this whole situation, too much she didn’t know, and she couldn’t kick the feeling that Wolf wasn’t telling her the whole story.
Which meant she couldn’t give herself over to this kiss. She couldn’t let him do anything more. Another woman might have thrown caution to the winds and take what she wanted, even if this was all she’d ever have, but Olivia wasn’t that woman.
Her whole life was about caution. About watching and waiting, about thinking things through carefully. And as much as she wanted Wolf Tate, she’d already told herself she would never have him, not the way she wanted him. It was something she’d come to terms with long ago. Because he didn’t want her. He wasn’t in love with her the way she was in love with him, and if she let herself have this, only to find out that it wasn’t real …
Well. She’d never recover.
He was holding her firmly, making it clear that she wasn’t going to be able to pull away unless he let her. So she put a hand back on his chest again, steeling herself against the rush of heat, and let it rest there a second.
He made another of those rough sounds, his mouth opening on hers.
Olivia shoved. Hard.
It was like moving a mountain. Afterward, she knew he must have let her push him, because it was clear she didn’t have the strength to move him if he didn’t want to be moved. But right in that moment all she was conscious of was his hand slipping from the back of her head as he went back a step.
She didn’t wait for his reaction, dodging past him and heading straight for the door of the hotel room. Time to leave. Very definitely time to leave.
Her heartbeat was racketing around in her chest, her skin sensitized, her mouth tender and feeling almost bruised, Olivia put her hand on the door handle and wrenched at it, desperate to get out.
But the door didn’t open.
She pulled at it again, harder.
It remained shut.
“It’s locked.” A dark, rough voice behind her.
She ignored him, pulling futilely again at the handle, not caring if she broke the stupid thing, fear beginning to gather in the pit of her stomach.
“I’m sorry, Liv,” Wolf said.
She whirled around, breathing fast.
He was standing in that short corridor, his massive form blocking out the light. Blocking out everything. All she could see was his eyes and the hard, implacable look in them. As if that soft, impossibly hot kiss hadn’t happened.
“I can’t let you leave,” he said quietly. “Not until you give me what I want.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Olivia was pressed against the door, the lovely flush dying out of her skin, leaving her face pale, her eyes huge and dark, staring at him as if he’d suddenly sprouted wings, horns, and cloven hooves.
Yeah, he could hardly blame her for that. He’d fucked up and he’d fucked up royally. He should never have mentioned wanting to talk about his father, that was for sure. It had felt wrong at the time, to use her sympathy and caring against her, but he’d been conscious that the longer he held her here, the more dangerous it was. De Santis would no doubt be moving heaven and earth to find her and eventually he would. And if he wasn’t careful, de Santis would find out that it was Wolf who’d taken her.
He couldn’t let that happen and potentially give the guy a heads-up about his intentions. He had to get that information and stat.
Being blunt and mentioning “fucking” hadn’t helped either, he’d known that the second she’d blushed like a rose. Some girls got off on dirty talk, but he should have realized that Olivia wasn’t that type. She didn’t swear, for one, and for another, she’d gotten very uncomfortable when he’d asked whether she was seeing anyone.
Making her touch him had been a start, because he’d seen something hot leap in her gaze the moment he’d brought her palm to his chest, but that kiss …
Yeah, that had been a very big mistake.
His last deployment in Eastern Europe had been nothing but hard and cold and shitty, and kissing Olivia … well, that had been the exact opposite.
Her mouth had been so soft and she’d smelled like strawberries, her hair a silky glory against his fingers. And all he’d been able to think was that it had been so fucking long since he’d touched anything this soft. Tasted anything this sweet. He wanted more, wanted to slide his tongue into her mouth and get a proper taste of her, grab her hips and pull her against him, feel the warmth of her body against his. So much so that he’d forgotten momentarily what he was supposed to do.
Until she’d shoved hard against his chest and he’d had to let her go.
He could have gone after her, and maybe he should have. Maybe he should have held her tighter and kissed her harder, slipped his hand under her nightgown and made her forget she’d ever resisted. But that fucking weakness in his chest, that feeling of reluctance, had stopped him.
Sex wasn’t what he wanted from her. De Santis’s schedule and that intel about Daniel May were the key objectives of this mission, and since he was obviously too weak to use sex against her, then maybe he’d have to use something else.
Tell your dick that.
Wolf ignored the thought. Of course he was fucking hard. First time he’d been close to a woman in six months, and his goddamn dick didn’t know what to do with itself. Apart from the obvious.
But he’d mishandled things, blown his opportunity. He wouldn’t force himself on her, and if seduction wasn’t going to work, then he’d have to try something else.
Christ, if only he’d been a better planner, been smarter about this, then maybe he wouldn’t have fucked up so badly. Too late now.
Either way, though, she wasn’t leaving until he’d gotten what he wanted.
She had her hands pressed against the door as if she wanted to push herself right through it and out the other side, and he could see her obvious fear.
He was scaring her, which made that weak feeling inside him worse and pissed him off. Because fear was a useful tool if it was handled right.
Or you could just tell her the truth.
Sure he could. “Hey Liv, your dad killed mine and my last orders were to kill yours so I can finally get my mom out of hiding. So if you could give me the intel on his schedule so I can plan a hit, plus get me anything you have on May so I can hurt that prick too, that would be great. Kthanxbai.”
Yeah. No.
“I don’t know what you want,” Olivia said, her voice breathy with what he didn’t think was desire, not this time.
He didn’t come any closer to her. He had to handle this with better care from here on out, and overwhelming her with either fear or desire would probably not go well. For either of them.
You know you can kiss her friendship goodbye from now on, right?
Another thought Wolf shoved violently from his head. He’d never had her friendship to start with, so why that should matte
r now, he had no fucking idea.
“Yeah, you do.” He kept his voice neutral. “I asked you about your father’s government contracts. And about Daniel May.”
She straightened, her chin lifting, and he found himself reluctantly admiring the way she was collecting herself, even though she was scared.
“I don’t know anything about either of those things,” she said with quiet dignity. “Like I told you. Any government contracts are with DS Corp, and Dad’s got nothing to do with the company these days. And as for Daniel May, he’s—”
“Your father is going to give you to him,” Wolf interrupted flatly. It was time for her to learn at least some of the truth. She wouldn’t believe him, not when she’d always been such a staunch supporter of her father, but if he could plant the seed of doubt in her head, then that was a start.
He was going to have to do something to stop her from going to the authorities and reporting him once her father was dead, he’d always known that. She was a loose end he couldn’t afford to leave lying around. Another man would have dealt with that in a much more violent and permanent way, but that would never be an option for him. Not when there were plenty of ways to get her on his side.
She frowned. “What? What do you mean he’s going to give me to him?”
Wolf thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans, wishing his fucking hard-on would die because it was difficult to concentrate, especially when he kept getting glimpses of her pink nipples through the plain white cotton of her nightgown. And most especially when the cotton pulled tight over them and he could see that they were hard.
“I mean,” he said through gritted teeth, “that your father has done some deal that involves you marrying that asshole.”
Olivia blinked. “That’s ridiculous. I went out on one date with Daniel, but only because Dad suggested it. He told me Daniel had lost his wife last year and was finding it difficult getting back into dating again, so would I help him break the ice, so to speak. It was a disaster and he never asked me again.”
Wolf narrowed his gaze, studying her. It was clear she believed what she said and hell, maybe it was true. Maybe Daniel had lost his wife and was finding it difficult to get into dating again. But it was also true that Cesare had promised her to him, and had taken great delight in telling Wolf so.
“You’re looking at more than a date next time,” he said, letting her see the truth in his eyes. “Whatever he told you, you’re going to be marrying Daniel May and he’s not going to take no for an answer.”
Olivia’s frown deepened. Then her forehead cleared and she gave a soft laugh. “That’s ridiculous. Dad would never do anything like that. I don’t know where you heard about it, but that’s not Dad’s style. He’s a traditionalist, yes, but he’s not medieval.”
Fuck. He was going to have to tell her more, wasn’t he?
“I didn’t just hear about it,” Wolf said, looking straight into her blue eyes. “Your dad told me himself.”
“But I don’t—”
“Two days ago. I told him I wanted him to give you to me and he told me that he’d already promised you to Daniel May, and that May would be very unhappy with him if you were seen with anyone else.”
Her rosebud mouth opened. Then shut. Then she walked forward, brushing past him to go into the living room without a word. Heading straight for the … oh hell no.
Wolf came after her, only just managing to grab the room’s phone from the coffee-making station before she picked up the receiver.
She said nothing, merely watching as he ripped the phone from the wall then wrenched off the connecting jack so it couldn’t be plugged in again without rewiring.
Dumping the now-useless phone down beside the coffeemaker, he turned and headed into the bedroom, because there was a phone there too and he wasn’t taking any chances.
When he came back into the living room, she was standing near the windows looking out, her arms folded. She didn’t look at him as he approached. “So I’m your prisoner now, is that what this is?”
“Yeah.” Because there was no longer any point in prettying it up. “I told you I’m not letting you leave until I have the information I need.”
“You didn’t call Dad, did you?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“So he doesn’t know I’m here.”
“No.”
She turned her head, a flame of pure anger leaping her deep blue eyes. “He’ll turn this city upside down to find me. You know that, don’t you?”
Wolf held her gaze. “Of course I know that. Why do you think I took you here? As far as the rest of the world is concerned, this room is booked for a newly married couple from Florida on their honeymoon.”
“Why?” If the word had had edges, it would have cut him to shreds. “Why are you doing this?”
His body didn’t flinch, though there was a part of him deep inside that did. That regretted what he was doing. That could see the cracks already running through their friendship get deeper with every word he spoke, the delicate structure of it beginning to shudder apart.
“Nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice, Wolf…”
Their friendship had been nothing anyway. Not when it had always been built on lies. His lies. So did it really matter if it broke? Perhaps it would even be better, because then at least he wouldn’t have to keep lying to her. It would hurt her, sure, but that couldn’t be helped.
If you wanted an omelet, you had to break a few eggs, as the saying goes.
“Yeah, that doesn’t concern you.” He kept his voice cold and hard. If he was going to end this fragile friendship of theirs, he had to do it quickly, before he changed his mind.
“It doesn’t concern me?” She looked at him incredulously. “You kidnapped me, Wolf. You want information from me and you’re not going to let me go until I give it to you. Information about my father. So yes, I think it actually does concern me.”
“You don’t need to know why. All you need to know is that I want access to his schedule and the details about his relationship with Daniel May.”
One dark brow rose imperiously. “I know nothing about May. And as for his schedule, what makes you think I’d give you access to that?”
He ignored her. “You’re the one who manages your father’s appointments, his diary. His business projects. You have access to his files and all his private documents. Even if you don’t know about May, you should be able to find some record of his relationship with your father. Emails, shit like that.”
Her lovely mouth hardened. “I told you. I don’t know anything about it.”
Was she lying? He couldn’t tell.
Come on, asshole. You know she’s not lying. She’s the most honest person you’ve ever met.
“I want access to Cesare’s schedule, Liv. Now.”
“Why? What could you possibly want that for?” Her face was very pale, her eyes gone very blue. And beneath the anger in them, he could see something else. Something that made his chest hurt.
Pain.
He turned away from her, heading for the minibar fridge, suddenly needing something stronger than coffee. Leaning down, he pulled it open and got out a mini bottle of scotch. Unscrewing the cap, he took a swallow straight from the bottle. The liquid burned going down, making him grimace.
Christ, she wasn’t going to give him anything willingly, was she? She was way too smart. Smarter than he was. And now that he’d basically killed any chance of using the levers he had—their friendship and her desire for him—he had no idea what the fuck to do.
He should have planned this better. He was a fucking SEAL for God’s sake. His father would have been embarrassed at what a fucking mess he’d made of the situation. But then that’s why he’d given the company to Van, right? Because Wolf was the gun, the weapon in someone else’s hand. That’s what he’d been trained for. That’s all he’d been trained for.
He wasn’t a strategist or a leader. He never had been.
Wolf turned around and leaned
back against the counter over the top of the minibar, taking another swallow of scotch, the alcohol glowing comfortingly in his gut.
Olivia stood by the window, bathed in the pale winter sunlight. She looked … fierce standing there, with her arms folded and those winged brows raised. Haughty even. Except the whole effect was undermined by the fact that the sunlight made her nightgown see-through and he could definitely see her nipples now.
His dick liked that very much indeed, and suddenly all he could think about was that damn kiss. Her mouth and what it tasted like. Her small hand on his chest and how it had felt. The instant flare of response he’d tried desperately to tamp down.
He’d never had a kiss like it and certainly hadn’t expected his own intense reaction to it.
Jesus Christ. What the hell was going on with him? He was supposed to be impervious to all this kind of bullshit.
She’s always been your weakness though, and you knew it even back then.
“If I let you go,” he said into the heavy silence, trying another angle, “your father will give you to May. Is that really what you want?”
“No, of course not. But since that’s clearly something you’ve made up or have misunderstood, I don’t need to worry about it, do I?”
“Why would I lie to you about that?”
“Why would you lie to me about the fact that you called Dad? Why would you lie to me about wanting me?” Sarcasm edged her tone. “Forgive me if I don’t believe everything you tell me, Wolf.”
Frustration threaded through him, though there was nothing to be done about it. He had lied to her. In fact, he’d lied to her for years, so why should she believe what he said? There was no reason.
And now he’d changed things between them, altered the delicate balance of their friendship by first using her sympathy for him to get her to come close, and then her attraction to him for a seduction. Like trying to cut a wire on an unexploded bomb by chopping at it with an ax.
That’s pretty much you all up, though, isn’t it? You don’t even know what subtlety means.
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