Page 32 of Darkness Bound (Night Prowler 5)
She felt fingers on her chin, warm and firm, a soft coercion. He kept that slight pressure in his fingers when he said, “Since you want a deal, I’ll give you one.”
Jack opened her eyes and looked at him, knowing whatever would come next wouldn’t be anything she’d like.
/> He said, “I’ll tell you where we’re going if you tell me the last time you were with a man before me.”
Oh. Oh God. Her cheeks flamed as if painted with fire. “None of your business!”
“It is if you want me to tell you where we’re going.”
Exasperation, embarrassment, and anger writhed like a basket full of snakes in her stomach. “Why does it matter?”
“Because you’re a puzzle, Red,” he answered gruffly, eyes burning, head tilted to one side as he examined her face. “And I can’t get any of the pieces to fit.” His fingers on her chin tightened. “How long?”
Just do it. Just tell him. What have you got to lose?
Nothing. Everything. She debated with herself a moment, then, feeling as if the ground had turned liquid beneath her feet, feeling as if she could die from shame, she told him the truth. “Five years.”
Hawk’s gaze dropped to her mouth, then he looked back into her eyes. He nodded, as if what she said had made sense. As if he was pleased by her honesty.
There was that wash of warmth through her limbs again, sweet as sunlit honey, that unexplainable ache of satisfaction that she’d gratified him in some small way.
Insanity.
He’d used her. He’d tricked her. He’d kidnapped her. And she should feel in any way glad that this animal/creature/thing was happy? There was only one explanation for this foolishness.
She was losing her goddamn mind.
With forced coldness, Jack said, “Your turn.”
She might have imagined reluctance as he dropped his fingers from her face. He raked a hand through his disheveled dark hair and looked off into the forest, his face closing off as if a door had swung shut. “I’m taking you to my colony.”
Adrenaline blasted through her nerves, setting every one ablaze. “Colony” could mean anything from dozens to hundreds to thousands—of them.
Her mouth went dry. Her voice rose an octave. “Why? What—what are they planning on doing with me?”
Hawk looked back at her, all the softness from before gone. He smiled, and the threat in it sent a tingle of fear down Jack’s spine.
“That’s two more questions. You want answers, I get another two questions of my own.”
So. A game of cat and mouse. Hell if I’m going to be the mouse.
“I’m not answering any more personal questions.”
Hawk’s smile grew wider. “Well, then I guess you’ll just have to wait and see what they’re planning on doing with you when you get there.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away.
The first day passed without incident.
Jacqueline kept up with him better than he’d expected, and she stayed mostly silent as well, a fact he was both grateful for and oddly disappointed by. It occurred to him more than once during their silent trek through the rainforest that his curiosity about her was a dangerous thing, a distraction he should be ruthlessly smothering; but for some strange reason, the longer they walked and the more silent she remained, the stronger his urge to uncover the dark secrets beneath that deceptively porcelain façade.
He’d told her the truth when he’d called her a puzzle. With her pale skin and delicate features, she looked as fragile as a doll, but was as fierce as a tigress when threatened. Her eyes held an ocean of sorrows, which was intriguing, but her posture and bearing and even her words said she’d rather slit your throat than admit she was anything but as tough as a rhinoceros hide.
Then there were the odd moments of vulnerability that leaked from her steel-plated armor. Those were the most devastating of all.
“Five years,” she’d whispered, an admission he knew cost her greatly, evidenced by the flare of anguish in her eyes. He guessed there was a bottomless well of pain hidden behind all the attitude, guessed it was accompanied by an equal measure of shame. But he didn’t know the what, why, or when of it.
He didn’t know the reason a woman like her—sexy, smart, incredibly passionate when she let her guard down—would be without a man for five years.
