Page 16 of Captured in Love
I huff out a grim laugh. “Oh yeah, like I’m going to trust anything you say.”
He leans back against the door and crosses his arms over his chest. The posture indicates he won’t jump on me but also that he’s not going anywhere.
“I could have snapped your neck the moment you opened the door,” he says calmly.
That’s…terrifying. And probably also true—I hadn’t been expecting an attack at all. It’s a stupid mistake I won’t repeat in a hurry. I keep forgetting that the people I’m going up against aren’t the peaceful, loving kind. They’re ruthless witches who set death traps and send lethal curses flying in public.
So why am I relaxing in the presence of the guy who just forced his way into my room?
I shake my hands out, trying to hold on to my anger and adrenaline. “What are you doing here?” I demand. “And how did you find us?”
He lifts one blond eyebrow. “You’re not used to living in a small town, are you?” he asks. At my blank look, he adds, “The rumor is, a beautiful American woman rented a room here for herself and hertwomen. A French filmmaker and an American movie star.”
Oh. I guess I’m partly to blame for this, what with my insistence to only get one room for all of us.
“Okay,” I say, “but why are you here? Shouldn’t you be trying to get the second task done?” Then I narrow my eyes at him. “Or did you finish it already?”
It’s possible, though unlikely. Unless he knew ahead that there was no island at the location, he would have had to get his diving gear first, just like us.
He’s silent for a long moment, then shakes his head. “Not yet. But you should know it’ll be extremely dangerous for you to get there.”
I push back my shoulders and straighten my spine. “Here we go again. Are you going to warn me against going in there? We handled ourselves just fine in Egypt. You’re the one who lost a team member.”
The moment the words are out of my mouth, I regret them. Emotion clouds Isak’s eyes, though I’m not sure whether it’s anger, guilt, sorrow, or something else. I don’t think he and the human mercenary were friends—friends don’t point guns at each other, not in my world—but maybe the situation is more complicated than I imagined.
“I’m sorry,” I say, deflating a little. “That was callous of me.”
He pushes his fingers through his blond hair, the silky strands falling to one side. A strange urge to touch his hair comes over me, so I squeeze my hands into fists to keep myself from doing anything stupid.
Isak grimaces. “He made his own decisions. I didn’t want him on my team to begin with. I work better alone.”
I get the feeling, especially since bringing a team to a competition like this means putting them in danger, but still.
“You can’t dive down there alone,” I blurt. Then I blush, knowing I accidentally revealed that the location we’re seeking is underwater. If he didn’t know that before, I shouldn’t be giving him information.
His smirk tells me he knows exactly what I’m talking about. “Why? Are you worried about me?”
“No,” I return, too quickly.
He takes one step toward me. I inch back and lift my hands in warning. He stops and cocks his head to the side, studying me.
“I can’t let you win,” he says quietly, his face suddenly serious. “I wish I’d never even heard of this competition, but I need to be the first to return to that castle.”
I process his words, my thoughts whizzing. “Then why did you help Levi and Raphaël save me?” I ask. “In the tunnel. You could have left me there to die, but you stayed. You even gave us a lift back toward civilization.”
A muscle ticks in his jaw, and his pale-blue eyes seem troubled. “I wish I knew.”
He takes another step forward, and I retreat again. My back hits the closed bathroom door, but I don’t scramble away. Something tells me he’s a large predator, and he likes chasing prey. It’s an instinctual knowledge I sense deep inside me, but it’s not enough of a warning. Gods only know why I believed him when he said he wouldn’t hurt me, but I did.
“Why did you kiss me?” I whisper.
A flash of hunger and desire passes over his expression, and he closes in on me, stopping just shy of squashing me to the door.
“You’re a beautiful woman, and I thought I’d never see you again,” he says.
His deep voice rumbles through me, and I flush in embarrassment. That was it? He kissed me because I wasthere?
He puts two fingers under my chin and lifts my face. “Why?” he asks. “Did you want it to mean anything else?”
