by April Hunt
The merc’s weapon dropped while the man himself held his nose, blood gushing from his face as he cursed a blue streak. “You fucking whore! You broke my goddamned nose.”
“That’s no way to treat a lady, asshole.” Logan stepped out from the rear of a pick-up, putting him closer to Elle. He guided her straight into Trey’s arms. “Go. I got him. Get her the hell out of here.”
Elle shook her head frantically. His little nurse, who evidently packed one hell of a wallop, was starting to lose her shit. “All the kids…we can’t leave them out there to get hurt. And your mother! We have to go back down to—”
Trey cupped her cheek. “Everyone is safe, sweetness. I promise. Now we have to get you safe too.”
She looked hesitant, but she didn’t fight him as he stuffed her into the passenger seat of the SUV and flew around the hood to leave Logan to deal with the asshole. “Vince, how are things looking on your end?”
“Everyone’s safe, and it looks like the fuckwad was alone this time,” Vince said.
Why the fuck would he make an attempt alone? It didn’t make any sense, but then again neither did how he’d managed to find them. “You need to call Stone and Chase and get their fucking asses on this shit real quick, because there’s no goddamn way for that bastard to have linked her to Frederick. No fucking way.”
“Charlie’s already on the horn. Are you taking her back to the compound?”
“Fuck no.”
“Good idea,” Logan’s voice came on the mic, breathless and sounding extremely pissed. “Because a parent showed up at the lot, and our guy used it to his fucking advantage. He’s in the wind.”
“How many times do we have to fucking lose this guy?” Trey cursed.
Goddamn it. Elle’s eyes hadn’t left him from the time he gunned the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. She was too smart not to realize that he wasn’t talking to himself, but he couldn’t worry about the well of hurt shining in her eyes—not right now.
Trey informed his team, “I’m going off the grid, and I’m not getting back on it until I know for goddamned sure that it’s safe. I’ll get in touch when I can verify that our comm isn’t compromised. And Vince, you make damn sure you keep an eye on my mom until we figure this the hell out.”
“Got you covered, man. You good on supplies?”
“Always.” In fact, he never left home without them. Call him a paranoid bastard, but this was one time he was fucking glad he always thought to the worst-case scenarios.
* * *
Nature could be found everywhere—in the cracked cement of big-city sidewalks and hiding in the shadows of oversized skyscrapers. And Lord only knew what kind of growth could be found in the subway.
But Elle didn’t need to look too hard now. Trees surrounded her, their fresh, pine fragrance permeating the air with their heady scent. And with each step she and Trey took further up the mountain, the smell intensified.
Under normal circumstances and with an above-freezing temperature, the current scenic backdrop would’ve provided the perfect setting for a romantic picnic, but these weren’t normal circumstances.
Each inhale of frigid mountain air brought her lungs closer to turning into two blocks of ice, and in the hour since the sun had sunk behind the treetops, she’d tripped over no less than four overgrown roots and narrowly dodged face-planting into three tall oaks—definitely not a scenario that screamed romance.
“You doing okay back there?” From six feet ahead, Trey glanced over his shoulder, his boots kicking over the large drifts of snow without even breaking his stride. “If we keep up this pace, we’ll be at the cabin in less than a half hour. But we can take a break if you need one, or keep going if you’re good to go.”
“‘Go’ as in keep walking or ‘go’ as in go numb—because I lost the feeling in my toes about forty-five minutes ago.”
After they’d left the community center, Trey had done nothing but drive, getting on and off interstates and weaving through back roads in an attempt to confuse anyone who might be on their tail. It had been hours until they finally pulled into a nondescript garage where he exchanged a wad of cash for a beat-up pickup—a vehicle they’d left in the parking lot of a forest ranger station roughly an hour and a half ago.
It was all a complex, well-thought-out plan—that definitely hadn’t been a spur of the moment thing. Once she thawed out a little bit, she’d start thinking about how this exact scenario had evidently been planned—right down to the team being present at the park.
Trey stopped and waited for her to catch up. From less than a foot away, it was easy to register the frown marring his face.
“Why are we stopping?” she asked.
“If you need a break, we’ll stop,” he offered.
“Nope. Let’s keep going. I’m fine.”
At his disbelieving snort, she added, “Okay, so I may not be singing-from-the-rolling-hills fine, but I’ll survive as long as you promise me that where we’re going has a bed and maybe a little bit of food—what kind, I’m not too picky about, although I’d prefer if it wasn’t the dried-beef-stew particles I choked down earlier.”
“Can’t promise there won’t be more MREs, but there’ll be some canned goods, too.”
“Good, so let’s go.” Just thinking about the Meals, Ready to Eat made Elle cringe. They started walking again, and Trey stayed within an arm’s reach. She couldn’t help but think it was to keep a closer eye on her. “So, I do have a question for you. I mean, it’s not exactly a casual stroll up these mountains. The pessimist in me is wondering what happens if we need to make a quick exit.”
Trey stepped over a fallen tree and turned to lift her easily up and over. “If it’s a challenge for us to get there, then it’s not going to be easy for anyone else, either.”
“Well I guess that can be considered a check in the pro column,” Elle mumbled.
“You don’t need to worry. This place is so far off the radar that unless you’ve personally been here, you aren’t finding it. And in the impossible instance that someone does, it’s built like Fort-fucking-Knox.” Trey wrapped his hand around her nape and pulled her close enough for her to see small crystals forming on the tips of his lashes. “Still not convinced?”
“Oh, I’m convinced—that I’m in the middle of the Ozarks, where no one but you and I—I mean you—know where we are, and we’re about to lock ourselves inside an impenetrable box.”
Trey smirked. “We’re in the Pocono Mountains, not the Ozarks, babe. And there’s always another way out.”
“Too bad that didn’t include an easier way in,” Elle said drily. “You know those thirty minutes are going to get longer if we continue to stop and start.”
“I lied about the thirty minutes.”
“You did?”
“Yep. We’re here.” He spun her around, and Elle’s jaw nearly hit the snowy ground.
He hadn’t been lying when he called it a cabin, although comparing it to Fort Knox was a stretch—a long one that could probably wind around the state’s entire border.
Nestled into the trees, the modest one-level structure was built primarily of stacked aged logs. A massive stone chimney abutted one end, and the rickety front porch looked as if it would give way with the slightest bit of weight. A strong breeze could knock this building down to the foundation—if there even was one.
Elle gave the building a second look. “We have two completely opposite ideas of what Fort Knox looks like, and yours screams nineteenth-century-themed television show more than gold-reserve holding tank.”
Elle half expected Trey to laugh and lead her in the direction of the real safe house, but he took her hand and plowed the way to the log home. “It’s meant to look like an abandoned hunting cabin; that way if anyone happens to stumble onto it, it doesn’t look out the norm.”
“I can’t believe I left a cement bunker in a mountain for four walls made out of matchsticks,” Elle muttered beneath her breath.
Trey abruptly stopp
ed at the base of the stairs and tugged her chin up. “I wouldn’t have brought you here if you weren’t going to be one-hundred-percent safe. Hell, in a lot of ways, you’re safer here than you were back at headquarters.”
“I know.” At his look of doubt, she added, “I do trust you—and everyone else at Alpha. It’s just that before I got on the plane back to the States, I told myself that I wasn’t going to backslide into letting other people control my future, and here I am, letting some unknown person do just that. It’s frustrating. I don’t mean to sound unappreciative.”
“You’re not unappreciative. I can’t think of another living person who would’ve taken all of this shit in such a graceful stride.” A strand of hair fell from Elle’s knit cap, and Trey tucked it behind her ear. The touch, even muted by thick gloves, tilted her stomach sideways. “And once we’re thawed, I’m going to hear more of that backsliding thing.”
Not in this lifetime. Not ever. People who had fun and flirty affairs did not share secrets, or feelings, or concerns about the future. It was difficult enough to remember that their time together had a shelf life as it was, without confusing the matter with little heart-to-heart talks.
Oblivious to her internal struggle, Trey flipped aside what looked to be a broken wood panel next to the door. Except it wasn’t broken, or wooden. A high-tech access pad blinked at them as he typed in a code and pulled off his glove to scan his finger.
He chuckled at her surprise. “I told you. The outside’s a façade. Under these wood planks are cement and steel. No one gets in or out without authorization. Now take off your glove and give me your hand.”
Getting fingerprinted shouldn’t have felt erotic, but Elle’s cheeks started warming as she watched Trey gently maneuver each of her fingers onto the pad. When they were done, he feathered a kiss across her wrist and upped the heat to a slow sizzle.
The door gently released with a low buzz and let them in to a small antechamber with another scanner. He entered a different series of numbers and applied his fingers to the pad, and then the second door clicked open.
Elle cocked up a brow. “Paranoid much?”
“What can I say, the entire place is Charlie-ized. That woman’s downright scary with a gun, but it’s nothing compared to her with a computer.” Trey gestured for her to go first. “After you.”
Where the Alpha compound was industrial with slight hints of comfort, the inside of the cabin was entirely hunter chic. Aged wood walls and rich dark colors filled every space. Mismatched plush chairs and a worn leather couch made the modest living room nearly as inviting as the impressive stone fireplace against the far back wall. Everything looked used and homey, right up to the scarred end table and white filtered lamps.
“Is there actually electricity all the way out here?” Elle trailed her hand over the fireplace’s hand-carved mantel.
Trey dropped his pack on the ground. “Alpha’s known for getting the impossible done. That said, most of the generator’s juice goes toward sustaining our gadgets, so sometimes the other amenities can leave things a little…chilly. We’ll have enough hot water for showers and we’ll have the fireplace for most of our heat.”
There didn’t seem to be much of a need for a tour. The living space melded into the open kitchen, where Trey opened and closed cabinets to verify that it was indeed stocked with a lot of canned goods. On the opposite end of the fireplace, a short hall—little more than a nook—led to two doors.
“There’s an actual bathroom in the back”—Trey pointed to the first door—“and the other is the bedroom.”
The bedroom.
As in, the only one. Solo. Singular. Not more than one.
For a woman who’d decided to have no-strings sex with her hunky bodyguard, the idea of sharing a room brought more than a small amount of anxiety. Elle couldn’t help but look inside, and the sight of the simple iron-framed bed didn’t lessen her nervousness one bit.
Trey nestled against her back, his hands on her hips as his mouth caressed her jaw. “It’s not much, but it serves its purpose.”
Actually, it was beautiful. A bright country quilt covered the full mattress, coordinating with the rich red and cream area rug. And sitting catty-corner to a small wood chest was an antique armoire. The cabin could’ve been displayed on the cover of Log Home magazine.
It was secluded. It was gorgeous. It was intimate. There’d be no hiding in the kitchen with Penny or disappearing into the gym with Charlie. She and Trey would practically be on top of each other for God knew how long.
“If you’re not comfortable sharing,” Trey broke into her thoughts, “I’ll sleep on the couch. I’ve done it once before. It’s actually not too bad. Though I’m not lying—or trying to convince you to lean one way or another—when I say that the extra body heat might make the difference between a bearable chill and frozen toes.”
Elle didn’t doubt the truth in his statement, but she wasn’t so delusional to think that it meant a lot of sleeping, either. Close proximity led to touching. Touching led to kissing—a brush of lips here or a flick of a tongue there—and then before you knew it, you were sexing it up and forgetting all about your rules, a little more with each mind-blowing orgasm.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Elle stated. Even if keeping some kind of a distance was a pipe dream, she could at least start things off with the right intentions.
Chapter Fifteen
Falling asleep had been a feat of humility. Left. Right. Back. Stomach. Every attempt to find a comfortable position ended the same way—with Elle’s left calf muscle coiled into a knot, the throb so fierce that every attempt to stretch her leg resulted in a chain-reaction of spasms.
She couldn’t take it any longer. Elle slung back the covers and prayed the kitchen’s nonperishable supplies included hot chocolate or tea. At this point, she’d even consider straight boiling water.
A small wave of warmth greeted her the instant she carefully opened the bedroom door. No longer a full, crackling flame, the dying embers in the fireplace glowed a faint orange.
Elle squinted through the darkness, but from this vantage point, her only clear view was of the back of the couch, which Trey claimed at his bed. She tiptoed around the corner—and bounced off a bare-chested roadblock.
Instincts pulled a shriek from her throat, and thanks to Charlie’s lessons, a knee up for a crotch-strike.
Trey quickly deflected the shot and pulled her flush against his body, probably more for his own safety than to prevent her from falling on her ass as she stumbled. “Whoa there, Rocky. Wound tight much?”
“You freaking scared me,” she scolded him. She smacked his chest and tried to dislodge her heart from her throat. “I didn’t know it was you.”
“Who did you think it was?” He barked out a laugh.
“I don’t know.” Thank God for it being the middle of the night. Elle felt her cheeks flush red hot with embarrassment. “It’s late, and I’m about one degree from turning into a human popsicle. I’m not exactly functioning on full cylinders, here.”
Part of her body wasn’t. Everything involved in creating a physical reaction to Trey’s bare chest worked absolutely fine. Perfect even. Her flannel sleep shirt—which happened to belong to Trey—did little to protect her nipples from brushing against his rock-hard abs.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other—and zing, the brush of his bare skin zapped another mini flare of heat to her nether regions.
“Why are you not wearing a shirt?” she blabbed.
Trey’s lips twitched into a devilish grin. “Why? Am I distracting you?”
“No. Yes. Maybe.” Elle gave herself a mental smack across the cheek. “I’m a nurse. I can’t help but be concerned that something’s going to…fall off.”
Well, that comment did nothing to wipe away his smirk. It widened it instead. “Is that you offering to keep me warm?”
Flame-colored cheeks and diarrhea of the mouth, here comes Elle Monroe. “No, it’s a roundabout way of
asking why you have a state-of-the-art security system in this place and yet couldn’t figure out how to install a thermostat.”
For a moment, Trey didn’t look like he was going to let the topic-shift fly by without a healthy dose of teasing, but he surprised her by releasing her hips and gesturing toward the couch. “I wasn’t kidding when I said most of the generator’s power goes to the security system. And to our link to the outside world. We may like that this place is off the grid, but we do need to be able to check in to headquarters.”
Which he’d done after they’d arrived.
Elle sat on the floor instead to get closer to the fireplace, and watched him toss a few logs onto the giant hearth.
If shirtless Trey in daylight was a snack, a half-dressed Trey in the warm glow of a fire was a visual feast. He poked a stoker into the ash, the move rippling the muscles of his back and shoulders. The play of dark and lighter shadows mesmerized her, much like everything else about the man. He was strong, capable, loyal to his friends, and from what she’d witnessed during the Sled-tacular, a doting son and a fan of children.
When he’d been Trey-the-Lone-Traveler, he’d been a safe bet for Post-Thailand-Elle to have fun and release a little pent-up tension with. But Commando-Trey combined with a Penchant-for-Getting-Embarrassed-by-His-Mother-Trey and Toboggan-Making-Trey, made Regular Elle really damn nervous.
“Am I too late in stoking the fire?” Humor dripped off Trey’s words.
“What?” she asked, startled back to reality.
He grinned. “You went still. I thought you’d turned into that block of ice. This cold front’s wicked. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a few more inches of snow on the ground in the morning.”
“Snow after living in a sweatbox for months.” Elle rubbed her arms until her palms heated. “One extreme to another.”
“Your body adjusted to the heat and humidity. It’s probably going to take a while for it to remember what it’s like in cooler temps.”
