Chapter 2
Chapter Two
My eyes snap open, and I automatically reach for my cell phone on the nightstand.
The time glows white in the pitch-black room.
I should still be asleep, so why aren’t I?
After Mart showed me around Fisher’s house, he let me take the rest of the day off to settle into my new home.
No amount of complaining could make him budge.
For an easygoing, friendly guy, he sure knows how to get what he wants, so I headed to the B trouble is on its way.
The seconds tick by as we stand pressed together.
Eventually, the soft trudge of footsteps moves closer right when I was getting ready to move his hand from my mouth.
I don’t know how he heard their footsteps from so far away, but I sure as hell didn’t.
The men after me must have worked out I lost them, but they don’t know where I’ve gone, so they retraced their steps.
These men are smart, and I was stupid to think they wouldn’t eventually circle back.
I silently hold Vaden’s gaze until the footsteps move away again, this time toward the house.
Vaden lifts his hand from my mouth and bends his head.
I stop breathing, wondering if he’s going to kiss me.
Despite being certain I would kick him where it hurt and run for my life, I just stand there, my heart racing and my eyes on his hard mouth, waiting for him to do it.
His warm breath caresses my ear, sending a shiver through me as he whispers, “They’re heading to the house. It’s not safe for you to go back there.” He pulls back to look at me, his face set with determination, as if he expects me to argue and is ready to fight me on it.
“I know.”
His eyes widen in surprise. “You’re agreeing.”
I let out a weary sigh. “I’m not combative for no reason, Vaden. My car is—” I squeal as he scoops me into his arms, and I grab his shoulders, holding on tight so I don’t fall.
“You’re coming with me,” he declares, holding me against his chest.
As he strides away from Fisher’s house, I glare at him. “And that’s all there is to it, Tarzan?”
“Tarzan?” His steps slow, and he looks surprised.
“Yes, a wild man who lives in the forest. Speaks in grunts before Jane humanizes him.”
I wait for his outrage for having compared him to a barely civilized wild man. Instead, he looks… pleased.
“A nickname,” he says, a hint of a smile curling his lips.
“It is not a nickname. It’s an insult,” I correct him, slashing my hand through the air for emphasis.
But he’s smiling as he continues striding away from Fisher’s house. “It’s definitely a nickname. You like me.”
I consider elbowing him in the ribs, but I hesitate.
He’s carrying me. If he goes down, he’s likely to drop me and maybe land on top of me.
And he’s tall, over six-three, and carrying me as if I weigh nothing at all, so that’s going to be painful.
I’ve already had two hard falls today, and my left knee is smarting while my hip still aches.
I’m not interested in another, especially one that could crush me.
“You’re quiet,” he says a short while later, after a brief glance at my face. “We’re alone out here. No one is sneaking up on us if you’re afraid. You’re safe with me, Jane.”
Strangely accepting of being in his arms, I tilt my head as I scrutinize him. He heard my pursuers before I did, and now he’s claiming with confidence that no one is around?
“How can you be so sure about that? Wait a second. Jane?”
He nods. “You gave me a nickname. I decided you need one too.”
“Jane was the antagonist,” I lie. “She tried to kill him. It’s not a good nickname.”
He smiles as he steps around a tree. “Tarzan fell in love with Jane, and she loved him as well. They lived happily ever after.”
I glare at him. “You’ve watched the movie.”
He snorts. “Of course I have.”
“So you were pretending.”
“I was not pretending anything. I was surprised by the nickname, but I didn’t tell you that I hadn’t heard of it.”
He’s right. I just jumped to conclusions.
“Who wants you dead, Jane?” he asks.
Surprised by his question and not ready with an answer, I shrug. “Just a wrong place, wrong time kind of thing.”
“Why do I think there’s more to it than that?”
I force a smile onto my lips. “You’re paranoid?”
He gives me a long look that communicates he isn’t buying what I’m selling. Surprisingly, he doesn’t push to know more.
I don’t know where we’re headed, but his strides are so purposeful that he has a destination in mind. “You can put me down any time, you know? I can walk.”
“No. I think I’ll keep you, Jane.” There’s just enough heat in his voice to remind me he’s naked, I’m tucked up against his chest—his heart—and it feels far too good for a girl who doesn’t date and isn’t interested in a relationship.
I squirm to get down since he’s not listening to reason, but his hold on me is absolute, and the reality is, I have nowhere to go.
Maybe I could go back to my car, but then what?
My bags are in the house, exactly where it’s most dangerous to go back to.
They could be waiting with guns pointed out of the window for me to go retrieve my things.
What exactly am I supposed to do?
Vaden brushes a kiss across my forehead. “It’ll be okay, Shelby.”
My eyes fly up to Vaden’s face, and our gazes clash. He’s lost his amusement, and there’s no trace of the huskiness from before. Just concern and determination.
“I don’t understand,” I say, pretending to misunderstand. The truth is, he’s damn perceptive. Even as he was getting me away from something dangerous, he figured out I was quietly falling apart and tried to reassure me.
“You’ll be okay because I won’t let anything happen to you,” he says, still looking at me, though he slows his strides to avoid walking into any trees.
I lift my chin. “And who will protect me from you?”
I still don’t know what he was doing wandering around the forest naked in the middle of the night. He saved my life, which is why I’m not attacking him and sprinting off to take my chances on my own.
Must be shock, even if it doesn’t feel like it is.
He stops. “Sweetheart, you’re the only one in the world who doesn’t need protection from me.” He resumes walking before I can find a response to a statement radiating so much raw truth that I can’t help but believe him, and be reassured by it.
I clear my throat. “Where are you taking me?”
A flash of silvery-green as he glances down at me. “Somewhere safe.”
“And will there be other people in this safe place?”
With his possessive grip on me and the heated glance he shoots me, I have a feeling we need a buffer.
“Just me.”
Oh boy.