Page 16 of Brutal Don

Whatever happened between them this evening, Cara didn’t mind it happening again. However, she couldn’t allow herself to enjoy it too much or let her guard down any further. Cara wasn’t a fool. She knew Dante would get bored with her eventually.

Right now, they needed each other. Dante kept her because she entertained him and she wouldn’t be alive today without his protection. They were just using each other, which was fine. They were both adults.

“What are you thinking about?” Dante asked.

He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. The gentleness of the gesture surprised her. Cara assumed after he got what he wanted—whattheywanted—he would leave her alone.

“You,” she simply answered. “Thank you for helping me forget about what happened earlier.”

“My pleasure. Now turn around,” Dante instructed.

“Why?” she asked.

Cara wouldn’t mind a second round, but she needed a few minutes to recover first.

“So I can tend to your hair.”

“Oh, okay.” Cara turned and wondered if he heard the disappointment in her voice.

She felt Dante’s fingers in her hair seconds later. He really was shampooing her hair. Odd, but strangely intimate, she thought.

They took turns soaping and shampooing each other. He even made her laugh several times throughout. For a little while, Cara pretended they were a normal couple. Then the strange moment ended.

As they toweled themselves, Cara remarked, “You have plenty of scars.”

“Do they repulse you?” Dante asked. He sounded more curious than embarrassed. Of course. Dante had probably never experienced an emotion like shame before.

“No, it’s the exact opposite. They fascinate me,” Cara answered truthfully. “Will you tell me how you got them someday?”

Dante looked thoughtful. She realized she had just implied she was up for more. Did he feel the same way or was one time enough for him?

Cara carefully avoided looking at his lower area. Just remembering how she was all over him earlier made her embarrassed and pleased at the same time. Pleased, because she now knew this bold side of her existed.

“You really are a strange woman, Cara. Of course, I’ll tell you about them,” Dante said, smiling. “It’s been a long day. Let’s have dinner, then head to bed.”

Cara only nodded, because she was feeling too relaxed and self-satisfied to argue with him.

****

“These are the purchases she made from the pharmacy?” Dante asked Jack.

He emptied the brown paper bag, uninterested in the feminine supplies Cara purchased. One item did catch his eye. Dante picked up the bottle of sleeping pills.

“I didn’t see her grab those,” Jack commented. He sounded a little alarmed, probably because Jack seldom missed anything.

“It’s all right, Jack. I’ll ask her about it. I did notice she’s been having trouble sleeping. I suspect she’s been having nightmares about her abduction,” Dante said.

He wondered why he automatically came to Cara’s defense. Cara could have procured those pills for nefarious reasons for all he knew. She did offer to cook him dinner tonight. Maybe she planned on slipping those pills in his drink while he wasn’t watching. Dante wouldn’t even be suspicious because every time he was with her, he let his guard down.

Of course, she could be innocent as well. He thought of her eerie transformation from fragile wraith to temptress in the bathroom earlier. Just remembering how pliant she had been made him grow hard.

“You may go,” Dante said, after noticing Jack was still staring at the bottle of pills.

Jack nodded, his expression troubled. Dante sensed Jack had been acting a tad more protective of his Cara than Dante would have liked. He recalled Jack had a daughter Cara’s age.Was that it? Somehow, during the span of a few hours, Cara had made one of his most experienced and hard-edged bodyguards soft.

Dante wasn’t angry at either Jack or Cara. Cara simply had some kind of strange magic which softened people toward her. That could be useful in the future. He took the bottle of pills with him and returned to the bedroom. Cara let out a low moan, then turned on her side.

She hunched into herself in a defensive position. Dante sat on the edge of the bed, touching her cheek. She didn’t draw away from him. A positive sign.

---