Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Ryan lifted her off the horse. All gallant and careful and as if he did not still have blood drops on the fancy white shirt he wore. His hands lingered against her waist, and Simone tried to figure out just what her next move should be.
Then the stallion ran away.
She gaped after the horse, expecting Ryan to give chase or something. He did not. He just kept right on holding her. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Making sure you don’t fall. I got the impression you’d never ridden a horse before.”
Her chin notched up. “Whatever gave you that impression?”
“The way you clung to me with a death grip.”
Sure, why not just drop death between them? “I’m fine.” A sniff. She was not. That stallion had gone helluva fast. She’d been bouncing like crazy during the frantic ride. There had been no saddle. And her thighs hurt. “You can release me.”
He did. She nearly crumbled so her hands flew out and grabbed onto him so she could stay upright.
“Another death grip,” he rasped.
She glared at him. “The horse is getting away.”
“I am aware.”
“He’s our ride.”
“Correction, he was our ride. Now he’s heading back to the stables so he can rest.”
She kept holding him because her legs were still feeling jiggly. The only way to describe them. “How on earth do you know that he’s heading to the stables?”
“Because he’s brilliant, and I trust him.”
Sure. Why not? “You get that the bad guys can just follow his hoof prints and come find us, right?” Due to the powerful storms that had swept through the night before, the ground was a muddy mess.
Her bare feet were currently sinking into the mud.
It felt squishy and cold between her toes, and she’d only realized that she’d lost her fancy heels when they’d been galloping across the English countryside.
“They can follow his hoof prints, but they will not find us. We’ll be long gone before they get here.” His head tilted to the right. “Want me to just carry you?”
“No, I do not.” Truthfully, though, yes, that might be a great idea. “Carry me where?”
“To our next ride.”
Her heart raced a little faster. “You have a next ride waiting, already? Do not tease me on this.”
He smiled at her.
And her heartbeat pounded faster.
Ryan winked. “They didn’t search me, remember?”
No, she did not remember that. “I was drugged, remember? Let’s act like things are blurry for me.”
His smile dimmed. “Are things blurry for you?”
Um… “Yes.” Husky. Weak. A little trembly. “Blurry. And my heart is racing.” True story. “I…I feel a little faint.” When she thought of the dead body they’d left behind, she did feel faint. Look at her being all truthful.
He swung her into his arms. Her muddy feet kicked in the air, and her soggy dress trailed down his arm.
“We are heading to a little cottage around the bend,” Ryan informed her as his worried gaze swept over her face.
How on earth did he know a little cottage waited around the bend?
“An extraction team will be arriving within the half hour,” he added as his hold tightened on her.
An extraction team sounded incredibly official. “How, exactly, does this team know where to go?”
“Because I texted them.”
“When?”
“When we were riding on the horse.”
A dull throbbing began at her right temple. “Bullshit.”
He kept walking while carrying her, as if it was the easiest thing to do in the world. Spoiler, it was not. No way it could be easy. Not with her and her soggy dress.
“Not bullshit,” he promised. “They’re coming.”
“Why would an extraction team be coming?”
He looked down at her. “Because I’m CIA.”
She wanted to laugh. Instead, she came pretty close to sobbing. “I am not in the mood for this.” Fear pumped through her. He had mentioned before…she distinctly remembered him saying…
She was under arrest.
“I am definitely feeling dizzy.” Simone closed her eyes. “So weak. Nauseous. It was all I could do to hold on to you when we were riding that horse.” Her body went limp.
“Oh, yeah, that grip of yours was helluva weak. It’s amazing you didn’t fall off the horse’s back during the ride. Don’t know how you managed to keep that death grip going.”
Not funny. She kept her eyes closed. CIA. CIA. Ryan was CIA, and this was going to be so bad for her. “Why couldn’t you just be a billionaire?” Would that have been too much to ask?
“Because a billionaire wouldn’t have been able to save your ass.”
Her eyes cracked open.
“But a CIA operative knew how to kill to protect you.”
Well, there was that.
Now, she just needed to figure out a way to escape from her CIA guy before his extraction team arrived, and they all proceeded to arrest her ass. Because maybe, okay, definitely…she was a wanted international criminal.
Ryan kicked the door shut and strode inside the old, abandoned cottage.
“Tell me how you even knew this place was here,” Simone said, suspicion heavy in her voice.
“I didn’t know it.” Not like he’d had some clue the place was out there when they’d been abducted and dragged off into the stormy night. “But one of my contacts told me it was a safe place to hide.”
“Your contacts.” A nod. “Someone you texted while riding the horse? How was there even service out here?”
“At first, there wasn’t any service. But when we rose up that first hill, I was able to get a signal.
” Like texting and controlling the stallion—without a saddle—had been an easy feat to accomplish.
Why did Simone not seem impressed? Just what did it take to impress the woman? “He pinged me the location.”
“So you weren’t just riding blindly on that horse? You were coming here?”
Yeah, he had been. He’d also learned an important lesson. Don’t ride a stallion and text. Ryan had feared they’d be flying off the horse at any moment. Especially since he’d quickly realized Simone had never ridden a horse before. Or, if she had ridden one, it had been a very, very long time ago.
“You can just put me down,” Simone instructed in her husky, sexy voice. “Anytime at all is good.”
He didn’t put her down. He kept holding her.
No furniture was inside the cottage. The place sported some busted windows.
Glass littered the floor. There were also definite signs that some very large critters had taken up residence inside the place.
“I can keep carrying you.” Not a problem.
What was a problem? The fear and the absolute rage that still pumped in his veins when he thought about what could have happened to her.
When her body had collapsed in the van, when he hadn’t been sure if she was alive or dead…
“Put me down.” A definite order from Simone.
His grip tightened.
When that sonofabitch Alexei threatened to torture her, to cut off her beautiful fingers, when he put his knife to her neck…my whole world ignited in red.
Blood red. Alexei had been a dead man from that point forward.
“Yo, down!” She struggled in his grip. “Because I think I deserve answers.”
His jaw locked, even harder than it had been locked already. Super slowly, he lowered her. Not all the way down. Her toes hovered over the ground about three inches because… “Your feet are bare.” He didn’t want her getting cut on the glass.
“They are currently covered in layers of mud so it’s like I’m wearing my own magical, muddy shoes. Just drop me, would you?”
He didn’t drop her. He gently let her feet touch down. Away from the glass shards. And still his hands lingered around her waist. “Are you okay?”
Simone’s expression showed that she doubted his sanity for even asking the question.
“No.” A hard, negative shake of her head that sent her heavy, dark locks flying over her shoulders.
“I am far from okay. I was kidnapped. I was threatened with torture. I was physically attacked. I am not okay.” She stepped back, and the heavy red folds of her dress slid over the dirty floor of the cottage. “I need rest. I need safety.”
He could give her safety.
“I need a man…” Her eyes narrowed to chips of blue fury. “I need a man who is not threatening to arrest me after the horrifying ordeal that I have just endured.”
Yeah, as to that… “Sorry, but you’re not getting away from me.”
“Why on earth would you want to arrest me? Did you miss the whole dramatic part where I am the kidnap victim? Me?” Simone touched her chest. Right between her truly glorious breasts.
He swallowed. Time to get down to business and not focus on her truly glorious breasts. “Why were you kidnapped?”
She took two more steps back as her hand fell to her side. “Are you victim blaming right now?”
“Simone…” He paused. “Don’t go back another step. There is glass behind you.”
She looked behind her, then scooted to the right.
He nodded. “Good.” He rolled back his shoulders. “Now answer my question.”
“What question?”
Oh, she knew what question, but he’d repeat it for her. “Why were you kidnapped?”
Her eyes went very wide. “How can I explain the actions of a madman? How can anyone?”
Alexei had been fucking crazy, no doubt.
And way too excited about giving pain. You should never have tried to hurt Simone.
Ryan realized that his hands had clenched into fists.
Normally, he had no problem maintaining control on his cases.
No matter what sort of hellhole situations he found himself facing, he dealt with the matter.
He eliminated threats. He kicked ass. He moved on.
He…
Edged closer to Simone. Worry whispered in his voice as he asked her, “Do you need medical treatment?” He’d needed to get her away from those stables, so he hadn’t been able to check and assess her injuries.
Her plump lips parted. No longer a slick red but instead a soft pink. Beautiful. Full.
All of her makeup was gone. Her hair was a tangled darkness around her face. Her eyes glinting. Her cheeks too pale.
Yet to him, she appeared even more gorgeous than when she’d been so carefully styled at the party.
He might have some problems.