by Tawny Weber
He pulled something else out of his pocket.
A cool military device? Some kind of homing signal that’d open a secret cave in the trees?
When he aimed it at the cabin, she saw a small red light above the door go out.
Security system?
Okay, it was still cool.
She glanced at Castillo to comment, then caught her breath.
He was unzipping his jacket, the black leather parting. Oh, yeah, she sighed, noting that his shirt was a lot tighter today. The soft cotton of his tee molded a chest that was as delicious as it was hard. Lara licked her lips, her eyes skimming over his flat belly. She wished the shirt was tight there, too, because he had abs worth worshipping.
She really hadn’t spent enough time appreciating them while he was naked. She should have kissed her way over that chest, spent a good bit of time with the abs on her way down. But she’d been in too much of a hurry to get to the good stuff.
Story of her life.
Lara forced herself to look away before she started drooling. She glanced at her watch, noting that it’d been four hours since he’d even looked at her. That jerk of his shoulders was the only indication since they’d left her apartment building that he knew she was there.
It was enough to make a girl forget she was sorry and make a play—a very naughty play—for his attention.
He’d saved her, she reminded herself.
Jumping his body and using him for wild sex was a poor thank-you.
Maybe.
“Where are we?” she finally asked.
“We’re not driving to Coronado on a bike,” was all he said.
Lara looked around for an alternate form of transportation.
But unless that darling cabin flew or he had a transporter in the trees somewhere, there was nothing.
He didn’t elaborate, just strode toward the cabin and climbed the steps.
Afraid it’d fall over without his presence, Lara climbed off the bike. She was glad he’d gone inside, since her dismount wasn’t nearly as graceful as his.
Lara stood next to the bike, looking around while she tried to decide what to do. He hadn’t invited her into the cabin, but he hadn’t warned her to stay out, either.
A loud rustling broke the peaceful silence, the bushes shaking off to the right.
Rude or not, Lara wasn’t staying out here. Her fingers fumbled with the buckle on the saddlebag, her heart racing as she tried to get it open. Finally, she threw the leather flap over, grabbed her laptop and, almost tripping over her own feet, ran toward the cabin.
She made it up the three wide plank steps without a problem, but her toe hit the seam on the porch, sending her flying through the open door.
She caught her balance just before her knees hit the floor.
Righting, her laptop cradled against her chest, she blew her hair out of her eyes and grimaced at Castillo.
“Sorry. I’m usually more graceful,” she muttered.
Blushing—something she hadn’t done since her teens—Lara avoided his gaze, glancing around instead.
Wow.
This wasn’t anything like what she imagined Red’s grandma’s cabin looked like.
One huge room with a couple of doors jutting off at the back, it was Field & Stream meets Modern Life. Slick, clean lines, leather furniture and a TV that took up an entire wall. She’d call it man land, but there were no pinups on the walls or dirty socks on the floor.
“Where are we?” she asked for the second time.
And, of course, for the second time Castillo ignored her.
She forced herself to look at him and realized she shouldn’t have been embarrassed. He probably hadn’t even seen her almost face-plant at his feet. Obviously, in his mind she still didn’t exist.
Seriously?
How long was he going to keep this up?
All because—what? She’d left before round two of the hot sweaty delight match? Or because she hadn’t cowered under the hotel bed, whimpering for him to keep her safe?
It was stupid. What was done was done, no harm, no foul—well, except to the questionable body back in her apartment.
But, still...
“You are such a girl,” she snapped.
Feeling as though the roller coaster of a day had finally derailed, Lara stomped into what was clearly the living area, threw herself on the couch and, laptop still cradled close, glared at Castillo.
“I’m a what?” At least he was looking at her again, even if his expression did hint toward worries about her sanity.
“A girl.” Lara carefully tucked her laptop onto the cushion next to her so she could throw her hands in the air. “Your feelings get hurt. Instead of talking about it, or even bitching about it, you go into deep chill. The cold shoulder. The silent treatment.”
His eyes iced over. Whether her words pissed him off more or he was just affirming her claim, she couldn’t tell. Because he still didn’t say a damned thing.
Lara’s hands fisted, her teeth tight to hold back a frustrated scream.
“See,” she ground out. “A girl.”
He gave a dismissive shake of his head. Then went right back to pretending she didn’t exist while he thumbed through the stack of mail on the counter.
It was enough to make a woman want to strip bare again just to prove she could get a rise out of the guy.
Lara was too exhausted, though.
As if that thought was permission to let go, her entire body seemed to sag into itself. Her shoulders fell and her chin drooped. Her fingers were so heavy, all she could do was drop her hands to her lap.
But when Castillo stepped into the room, she snapped to attention.
“You can take a shower, get some rest. Bathroom and bed are through there.” He gestured to the door on the left. “We leave in the morning.”
“Where are we going?”
She might as well have asked where they were again, since the response was exactly the same.
Nothing.
Instead, he grabbed a paper bag from the kitchen, walked out the door. Lara shifted her aching body off the couch to follow, but before she got to the door he was back.
“Your stuff.” He shoved the bag into her arms.
Her stuff.
Nice.
Her entire world was now contained in a brown paper bag.
Life was good at whipping out those little ironies.
Ready to cry, Lara carried the bag to the couch to set it next to her laptop.
“Get some rest. I’ll be back later with food.”
“What? Wait.” Lara hurried back across the room. She grabbed his arm. The rock-hard muscles were a tempting distraction, but she managed to resist the urge to pet him. “You can’t leave me here alone.”
“Sure, I can. I leave. You stay. Easy.”
Easy? Then why was she seeing black spots dancing in front of her eyes?
“But what if those guys come? More of them?”
“They won’t.” At her panicked look, he waved his free hand in a circle to indicate the cabin. “The space is secure. You’ll be fine.”
No, she wouldn’t. Not without him. Lara wet her lips, her racing heart barely keeping up with her spinning thoughts.
“But I’m hungry. I didn’t get breakfast, remember?”
His eyes chilled.
Oops. She winced.
That probably wasn’t the best thing to remind him of.
He pulled his arm away.
“There are crackers, dry cereal, that kind of thing in the kitchen.”
Lara swallowed hard, trying to keep from begging. She knew it wouldn’t do any good and she figured she’d humiliated herself enough for one day. For one lifetime, even.
She grabbed her last option: bravado.
“You really think I’ll stick around if you leave? C’mon, we’ve already seen how that works, haven’t we?” She made sure her smile was both cocky and seductive, then tiptoed teasing fingers up his arm. “It won’t be nearly as easy to
find me out there with all those trees, you know.”
He smirked.
“You do know the California mascot is the bear, right?”
With that, he grabbed the stack of mail, turned heel and walked out the front door.
Lara didn’t even have time to yank her chin off her chest and ask where he was going before he slammed it shut. The slick sound of a lock sliding home rang out, followed by the roar of his bike.
She ran to the window in time to see him ride away.
Lara beat her fist against the glass, both comforted and infuriated that it was as solid as steel.
She sniffed as her gaze drifted to the dense woods visible outside the cabin.
Locks could keep bears out, right?
* * *
“YOU GET THE timing on the truck looked at?” Dominic asked, striding across his mother’s kitchen to grab a beer to go with his lunch. “I told you it was off last time I was home.”
“Yeah, yeah. You told me, I got it fixed.” Lucas rolled his eyes. “You ever get tired of telling people what to do? As bossy as you are, I’m surprised you’re not a captain yet.”
“Give me time.” Dominic grinned. Captain Castillo. Yeah, that had a nice ring to it. “I’m not bossy. I’m wise, big brother. Wisdom is meant to be shared. Especially when your ass is gonna be stranded on the side of the road without it.”
“Yeah, yeah. So why’s your wise ass back here? I thought you’d been called to duty.”
“Not officially.” Dominic wasn’t saying more than that. He’d been cleared to bring his brother in as far as using Castillo Security to track Banks’s sister. But that was the extent of it.
“You had me run someone. The sister of one of your team, right? You get her taken care of?”
Oh, yeah, he’d taken real good care of her.
He’d scared the hell out of her, stalked her to her apartment, done her on a hotel room floor, intimidated her, then locked her in his cabin.
Of course, she’d doubted his word, blown his mind, sexed him stupid, then walked out on him.
All in the space of twenty-four hours.
They were one hell of a couple.
“Dom?” Lucas prodded.
He gave a jerk of his chin, hoping Lucas would take it for a nod.
“So you’re off duty again?”
“Not yet.”
Lucas dropped into the opposite chair and gave him a narrow look.
“Where’s the girl?”
Dominic debated. Technically, his association with Lara wasn’t classified. It wasn’t even sanctioned. So Lucas knowing wasn’t a big deal.
But it felt like one.
Finally, Dominic sighed and admitted, “My place.”
“What?” Lucas yelped. “You brought her here?”
If he’d accused his brother of dressing in drag and joining a nunnery, Lucas couldn’t have sounded more surprised.
“It’s a long drive to Coronado,” was all Dominic said, focusing on his lunch.
“But...you brought her back here?”
Dominic grimaced.
He didn’t know why his brother kept asking that question with such a shocked expression. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t brought women back to his place before. That was one of the key reasons he had the cabin on the far side of the Castillo property instead of a room here at the main house.
To bring women.
He looked up from his plate, heaped high with tamales, beans and rice, and shrugged.
“Yeah. She’s locked up in my cabin.”
“Seriously?” Lucas scratched his head. “Is she a hostage or something?”
“She’s an assignment with a history of stupidity.” Like showing him new levels of sexual pleasure, then running out on him before he could see how much better it could get. “She’s not safe on her own.”
“So why didn’t you bring her to the house for lunch?”
A late lunch, since the rest of the family and the ranch hands had eaten and, even though it was Saturday, were already back to work. But all it’d taken was putting on his sad face to get his grandmother to heat up a plate before she’d left for her place. He’d fill another for Lara before he went back to the cabin. See? Nice guy.
“I told you, she’s an assignment.” Dominic hunched over his plate, trying not to feel guilty over leaving Lara there. Alone. He remembered her face, pale with exhaustion and pinched with fear.
Damn.
Apparently rejection made him a class-A jerk.
So much for being a nice guy with a talent for charming the ladies.
“If she’s just a job, why’re you hiding her away?” Lucas asked, obviously trying to push his little brother’s buttons. “Your usual MO is to keep women away from the house because you say they’re temporary and you don’t want them getting any crazy long-term ideas. So what’s the deal? Is this assignment of yours gonna take one look at your graduation picture in the hallway and start hinting at ring sizes?”
Dominic poured more mole over his tamale, cut a bite, then stared at his fork. Dammit.
Why was he keeping Lara locked up?
For her safety? Clearly not, since she’d be safer with him. They’d already proved that point.
Because having her tucked away would keep temptation at bay? As if he wasn’t imagining what she’d taste like naked, covered in mole sauce, with every bite he took?
Because he didn’t want her to know anything about his family? How fair was that, given that he knew damn near everything about hers?
Dominic frowned.
“I’ll bring her back for dinner,” he finally conceded.
“Whoa,” Lucas said, holding up a hand. “Dinner? You sure?”
Dominic rolled his eyes.
“You were just giving me shit for not bringing her to the house, now you’re putting up caution over her coming to dinner. What’s your problem?”
“Coming to the house, lunch in the kitchen, that’s casual. Dinner is the whole family, sitting down telling stories. You know Matteo is gonna do everything he can to make you look bad.”
Lara could probably match their little brother story for story on that topic.
“So?” Dominic shrugged. “Celia will defend me with stories about how awesome I am.”
He knew which of his siblings Lara was likely to believe, though. Dominic shoved his plate away, food barely touched. It wasn’t his looks or amazing sexual prowess that made women love him. Sure, those probably factored in, but he knew it had more to do with the simple fact that he wasn’t a jerk. He respected women. Respected their choices.
Except he hadn’t respected Lara’s.
Instead, he’d let his bruised ego have a poutfest, leaving a scared, terrorized woman starving back at his cabin.
“I gotta go,” he said, heading for the door.
“You’re really bringing her back for dinner?” Lucas asked, pulling the plate toward him to finish what Dominic hadn’t.
Crap. Food. He needed to feed her something before dinner.
Dominic opened the fridge, pulling out containers of leftovers and stacking them on the wide granite countertop. He grabbed a bag from under the sink and, not bothering to plate the food, slid all the containers inside.
There. She’d have plenty to choose from before they took off in the morning.
“I need your truck tomorrow,” he told his brother as he gathered the food and headed for the door again.
“Sure. I need it in the evening, though,” Lucas said around a mouthful of tamale.
“Gonna be tough. I’m taking it down to Coronado.”
Dominic didn’t wait to hear his brother’s protests.
He jammed the food in his saddlebag and headed back to the cabin. This route was a lot more direct than the one he’d taken a couple hours ago. But he’d been trying to hide his location.
Not from Valdero’s goons.
From Lara.
Could he be a bigger jerk?
Repentant and ready to make amends, he
unlocked the cabin a few minutes later, calling Lara’s name.
Nothing.
He set the bag on the kitchen counter before striding to the closed guest room door. He tapped lightly in case she was asleep, then eased the door open.
“Lara?”
She wasn’t in bed.
She wasn’t in the bathroom.
Dominic returned to the living room, noting that her stuff was missing.
Damn.
He growled, frustrating surging through him.
Had she braved the bears?
Knowing it was entirely his fault, furious that his ego had gotten in the way of his duty—and of keeping Lara safe—Dominic cussed.
Trained to check and double-check, even though he was sure there was nothing to be found, he pushed open his own bedroom door.
Nada.
Before he could cuss again, Lara walked out of his bathroom.
Nude.
Blessedly nude and wet, surrounded by a cloud of steam.
“Damn,” Dominic breathed.
Rock hard and ready to roll, his dick echoed the sentiment.
She was like something out of a dream.
Or his hottest fantasy.
Gorgeous from the white terry cloth wrapped around her hair like a crown to the tips of her polished red toenails, she screamed sex appeal.
Sex appeal waiting in his bedroom.
Covered in water.
Dominic shoved his hands in his pockets, hoping the extra pressure would keep his erection at bay.
“Oops.” Looking as surprised as he, although a lot more horrified, Lara dragged the towel from her hair to wrap around her body. “I, um, I didn’t hear you come in.”
Voiceless, the image of her naked perfection still imprinted on his brain, Dominic could only nod.
He was a man who relished serving, who took pride in his career and worked damned hard to be the best he could. But sometimes it got ugly. It got dirty, depressing and disheartening.
When it got rough, lying on a cot in a tent in the desert or in an aircraft carrier berth on his way to a dangerous mission, Dominic slid into fantasyland. The fantasies were as varied as there were women. But one in particular always made its way through his mind: he fantasized about coming home to clear his head of the ugliness, to find peace. In his fantasy, he walked into his bedroom to find his fantasy woman. Naked, nubile and willing. Ready to make him forget, to heal his soul.
