Chapter Seventeen
After speaking with Sam, Donovan walked across to Phoebe, took her hand and led her into the bedroom.
“What did he say?” she asked, leaning against him.
“He’s sending someone to pick us up and take us to a new car. I don’t trust that BMW now. I’m sure Alexi tampered with it.”
“I’d be surprised if he didn’t.”
“But we’ve got about thirty-minutes,” he continued, pulling her on the bed with him and into his arms. “Time enough to take your mind off things.”
As he slowly peeled off her clothes he languidly kissed her and kneaded her breasts, eliciting long, soft moans. But when he moved his lips to her nipples and hungrily drew them into his mouth, she let out an urgent cry. Quickly placing his hand between her legs, he rubbed her clit while continuing to devour her puckered cherry tips. With her groans and cries dictating his erotic massage, he brought her to the brink of her release, then eased off.
“Please, Sir…?” she whimpered as he pulled back.
He didn’t speak, but responded with an all-consuming kiss and thrust his finger into her channel, plunging it in and out as she wriggled and writhed. Sensing her orgasm was at hand, he turned his attention back to her sensitive nub, urgently massaging as he moved his lips to her ear.
“Come for me…” he whispered, then hastily lowered his mouth to her nipples.
As he drew them in, one after the other, her body stiffened.
The climax seized her.
A series of wild cries filled the room…then slowly became whimpers…ending with a heavy sigh.
* * *
Long, quiet minutes ticked by. Phoebe never wanted to leave Donovan’s strong arms or the divine cloud upon which she was floating. When she finally opened her eyes it hit her.
She loved him.
Was inlove with him.
The epiphany was so profound she felt the threat of tears. She wanted to tell him, then she wasn’t sure if she should, or even how. But his phone rang, breaking the moment.
“Sorry,” he muttered, reaching across to the nightstand. “Hi, Sam. Uh-huh. That’s what I thought. Okay, we’ll be ready.”
“I suppose he was telling you the car will be here soon,” she murmured.
“Yes, but more importantly, a kill switch was placed in the BMW.”
“I’m not exactly sure what that is? You don’t mean some kind of bomb!”
“No, no, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. A kill switch is a device that stops the car. We would have been on our merry way and it would have just died. Remember, Ari was supposed to follow us back to Hawthorne Hall. At the right moment he would have activated it and forced us to ride with him.”
“Why not just insist we do that in the first place?”
“Alexi loves the game, manipulating the players and surprising them. He wants us confused and constantly wondering what will happen next.”
“But now you’re doing that to him.”
“Exactly. He’ll be furious when he realizes we’ve outfoxed him, but he’ll also be excited. He said I’d won his respect and I was a worthy opponent. I haven’t disappointed him.”
“Good grief. What do you think he’ll do?”
“He’ll find a way to contact me and remind me of the consequences if I don’t get the portrait to him. But by now the security team will be at Hawthorne Hall. He’ll soon realize getting to you will be impossible, at least in the short term, and I’ll be in a stronger position to dictate how things move forward.”
“He was right, you are a worthy opponent,” she remarked with a grin. “It’s a shame we won’t be able to see his face when he finds out we’re gone.”
“We just might. That camera is still in that frame. Sam’s team will be monitoring it.”
“That’s right!”
“But we have to get ourselves together. The car will be here in about ten minutes.”
* * *
Sitting in his Porsche near the hotel, Ari was watching his phone and waiting for Donovan Blake’s SUV to start up. The kill switch also doubled as a tracker. Halfway to Hawthorne Hall the BMW would die and be forced to move to the side of the road. His lips curled into the hint of a smile. He was looking forward to demonstrating his skills. Donovan would end up on his knees promising to obey while the girl sobbed.
His smile widened, but his body tensed.
The switch had been activated and the BMW was moving.
He waited, relishing the quickening of his pulse.
Working for the great Alexi Koslov was an honor, and Ari constantly strived to prove his worth.
Starting up his car, he rolled away from the curb and began to follow the SUV through the streets of London. When it passed the entrance to the motorway he became concerned. The slow pursuit continued, but the vehicle never stopped and seemed to be on an endless journey to nowhere. After thirty-minutes of meandering through the London streets Ari decided to catch up and demand an explanation. But the BMW suddenly did an illegal U-turn. Though he hastily followed suit he was unable to pull alongside because of traffic. Finally, to his surprise and relief, the BMW turned up a ramp onto the motorway.
“Idiot,” Ari grunted under his breath. “I can’t wait to get my hands on you.”
* * *
Only a few minutes after Ari had begun following the BMW, Donovan and Phoebe had been taken to a sleek silver Mercedes coupe. As they settled in, Sam called and assured them Ari had been spotted and was following the BMW though the city.
“You don’t have to worry. He’ll be led around by his nose for at least twenty-minutes. You’ll be well on your way. We’ll intercept him on the country road and he’ll be taken out of commission.”
“Thanks, Sam. I’ll be in touch when we arrive at the Hall.”
“Alexi will be apoplectic when Ari disappears,” Phoebe remarked. “Is it wise to mess with him like this?”
Donovan grinned.
“I’ll make sure it won’t be long before he feels back in control, and that’s when he’ll be at his weakest.”