Knox tugged her through the ship, muttering to himself between gritted teeth; mostly curses. Tension rolled off the man like sonic pulses. She almost thought he was angry with her for going off alone, though how could she have predicted a bounty hunter would find her all the way up here? They were on an airship in the middle of the freaking Pacific! How could anyone have even anticipated she’d be on this ship?
She has a tracking device on her, her attacker had said. But that was insane. Where could such a thing possibly be hidden? Her clothes were all brand new. She hadn’t taken anything but Bray with her when she escaped the mine besides her scrubs and a pair of shoes, and those had all been burned at her request. She couldn’t imagine a tracker had somehow been slipped into the small satchel she’d packed. When could that have happened?
At the cottage?
Absurd.
Unless Trent…or Raven? It was possible they both had it out for her. Either one might have somehow planted something on her.
Knox pulled her through the door to their room and guided her up the stairs to the bedroom. Inside, he turned her to him, gripping her shoulders.
He was gazing down at her with an expression she’s never seen him wear before. His eyes were wild. A light sheen of sweat coated his forehead. His hands were shaking. He almost appeared…terrified?
“Knox? You okay?” she asked, still working to shrug off her own shock.
“You ask me that?” he roared, making her flinch. “As if I hadn’t almost just fucking lost you.” He backed off, stabbed his hands through his hair, and began to pace. “He tried to take you. From me! I almost fucked everything up! Again!”
Facing her, half-mad, he gripped the hem of her dress, tore it over her head, and tossing it carelessly behind him, leaving her in her matching red bra and panties and her black heels.
She gasped, covering herself from his view as best she could. “What are you doing!?”
He hissed in a breath as his ferocious gaze took her in. “Oh, cher. If I knew you were concealing this, I would have never let you leave me.” Then he began running his hands over her shoulders and arms.
She abandoned the attempt to hide her body and swatted at him. “What the hell!?”
“You heard the man,” he said gruffly. “You have a tracker on you. I need to find it.”
“Well it’s not in my underwear!” she snapped.
“No, it’s probably been inserted under your skin.”
She paused at that. “Nonsense.” But wasn’t that exactly the kind of thing the doctor would have done? Tagged his experiment like a cow in a pen.
She cursed harshly as she continued to slap him away. “I can search for myself.”
“If you haven’t found it by now—”
“I didn’t know to look!” Oh goddess! Was that how those two ruffians had found her and Bray on that mountainside?
“Let me do it. It will be faster,” he insisted.
They grappled for a minute as she continued pushing his hands away. He grunted his frustration and, in a swift movement, swept her off her feet and tossed her to the bed. “Relax, cher. Let me do this.”
When she moved to crawl off the bed, he growled and yanked out a nearby drawer and retrieved what looked like white nylon rope.
“Don’t you dare!”
“You give me no choice.”
“I can do this myself!”
Not listening, he circled her wrists with the rope and in a matter of seconds had her arms above her head wrapped in a knot and fastened to a notch in the headboard.
“I’m going to make you pay for this!” she threatened.
“Better start a tab. Now, be a good girl—” His hands went to her hips. She squirmed, but he flipped her over onto her stomach with relative ease.
His breath caught.
“What?” she asked nervously, craning her head. “Do you see something?” Was there a big neon sign on her ass that read tracking device here?
“Yeah, a bloody work of art,” he breathed. She glanced back at him and saw his gaze riveted to her backside. He scrubbed a hand hard down his face, reaching for her with the other, yet not touching. The reverence in his expression affected her, making her mouth run dry. For a wild second, she almost wanted to tease him by wiggling the curves he was coveting.
Dangerous!
She groaned in defeat and threw her face into the pillow. “Just get this over with.”
She expected him to start pawing her directly, but she felt the barest whisper of a touch outline her hips. Then he cleared his throat and moved off the bed. She thought she heard him mutter something like take this seriously, but couldn’t be sure.
To her surprise, his warm hand came around her right ankle. She jerked at the unexpected placement of his touch. He carefully slipped off her shoe, then applied a light pressure down the arch to her heel and back up, repeating the motion several times.
It felt...good. She couldn’t stifle an embarrassing moan.
“Are you looking for a tracker or giving me a foot massage?”
“Maybe a little of both. Now quiet down, I’m concentrating.” His tone was resolute. He was in control and he liked it that way, using this as an excuse to touch her. If she protested any further, he’d probably just remind her of their deal, and there’d be no argument she could make that would convince him to let her take over.
He pressed his thumbs into her arch. She pursed her lips against another moan.
“How did you find me so fast?” she asked as a distraction.
His deft fingers traveled to her ankle, slowly massaging the skin there. It almost felt tender to have him touching her like this, affectionate.
She shut that thought down.
“You called out to me,” he said, his voice a little rougher than it had been before. His hands slid up to her right calf. With strong, callused fingers, he worked the muscle with a masterful pressure.
She felt herself relaxing.
“Through the bond.” He moved to her other calf, treating it as gently as the first, and forcing the tight muscles to release, his hands working her muscles like a symphony. After taking his time with her calf, he paid special attention to the tender spot behind her knees.
She closed her eyes, trying not to sigh. “If the wealthy vampire thing doesn’t work out, you could always get a job as a masseuse.”
“Good to know.” His husky tone rolled over her in a shiver. His nimble hands trailed to her lower thighs. “How’s your neck?”
“Still sore.”
“Shall I kiss it and make it better?” The bastard was enjoying this. He moved on to her upper thighs, dangerously close to....
She swallowed and unconsciously pulled at the ropes. “Um—”
He pushed his hands higher, over her curves.
Her gasp coincided with his muttered oath.
Heat assailed her. Adrenaline pounded through her blood, making her breaths quicken.
As if he couldn’t help himself, he began kneading her flesh. “Fucking perfect.”
His thumb brushed the apex of her legs. She sucked in a harsh breath.
Another muttered oath from behind. More kneading. More heat.
Sharp desire sparked within her, the succubus in her coming to life. Her spine arched as her hips shamefully rolled to his touch, and a small whimper slipped past the barrier of her lungs.
But then he cleared her hips and moved on to her lower back. She refused to examine the strange wave of disappointment that followed. She had to remind herself there was a point to this. He was looking for a tracker…while skillfully rousing her lust.
His exceptional hands ran over her back in long, artful strokes.
“So bloody soft,” he muttered.
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from revealing how much he was affecting her. At least she wasn’t fully naked—
“It’s in the way,” he said.
“Huh?”
When he unclasped her bra strap, her head jerked up. “Knox,” she warned.
“Almost done, love.” As he gradually made his way higher, the tips of his fingers grazed the sides of her breasts. She shivered. Goosebumps made her that much more sensitive. Under his breath, he muttered things she couldn’t quite make out as his hands brushed over her shoulders and then down to the base of her spine. A few words she caught: “Unreal.” “Maddening.” “Like silk.”
She wasn’t sure if he knew he was speaking aloud, but something in his tone soothed her, while simultaneously wrenching up her desire.
Maddening was right. And stupid.
Because she wanted him.
She didn’t think it would have been possible, not with her arms tied as they were, not knowing who it was that touched her with such delicacy, such tenderness.
She should be alarmed. Should be trying to put an end to this. He could do anything to her in this position. She was completely at his mercy. And yet she…trusted him.
As strong hands ran up the sides of her torso, his fingers wrapped around her sides, moving higher.
Higher.
Her body shuddered and arched, anticipating his direction. But he stopped just below the swells of her breasts, and she nearly cursed him. She was about to lose her ever-loving mind!
She must have telegraphed something of her thoughts because in a sexy rough tone he muttered, “Fuck. Cher, you have to hold still. You’re going to make me lose control.”
She realized she was lightly panting and began taking measured breaths, trying to clear the haze of lust that seemed to have taken her. But she couldn’t help but wonder what an out-of-control Knox might look like.
He moved to brace himself on his knees over her and ran his palms up her arms next, past her elbows, pausing at the rope. At first she thought he might release her—and she had weird mixed feelings about that, mind-bogglingly weird. Insane, really—but he only checked his knots, then skimmed back down her body.
Then without warning, he took her hips in a sure grip and flipped her onto her back. “Now for the front.”
A battering ram of self-consciousness slammed through her. Her bra was askew. His rapt gaze went straight to the hardened nipples. Yet he had to have caught the blatant desire in her expression before she’d managed to conceal it. Only in her panties, her body was completely open to him!
Clutching her knees together, she tugged on her restraints as embarrassment and the need to cover herself battered around in her brain. “Knox, wait! I can check the front.”
“Not on your life,” he growled, gripping her waist to hold her still and taking in the rest of her exposed flesh like this was his purpose in life. The intensity in his gaze had her entire body flushing and her libido revving.
His calloused hands trailed down her thighs, leaving behind an inferno path of need that seeped to her bones.
He was staring at her panties like he wanted to rip them off her with his teeth. Her body quivered.
With a light pressure, he made to push her knees open. When she resisted, he locked eyes with her and something flittered over her subconscious. Something torn and broken that gouged at her heart. Had he allowed her to feel it, or was it a slip of his control. It was gone so quickly she wasn’t sure if it had been a product of her own invention.
“Part your pretty thighs for me, love. I need to see you.” He swallowed hard, looking as though he were just barely keeping himself in check. Yet it wasn’t the look of a man who would hurt her. It was the look of a man who knew he was close to something precious, who knew he was asking a lot, but needed it so badly, for his soul, for his sanity.
Or was that her?
As she debated, his fingers left her knees and whispered up her thighs, over her hips, stopping at the hem of the red silk that covered her.
A shaky breath escaped her.
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he breathed.
That single statement managed to drug her into submission.
She closed her eyes and dropped her head as the rest of her body melted. For a moment, his fingers followed the outline of her panties, heading for the spot she needed him most. When his thumb found her bud through the fabric, she was already so close to orgasm, all it took was a few perfectly executed rotations over her clitoris.
Electric bolts of delirious pleasure racked up her spine to the base of her brain, lighting up and stealing her vision. Her body shuddered as a moan soared out of her lungs, spurred by a sonic wave of ecstasy.
He cursed again. “You just came for me?”
Cheeks flaming, she glanced down at him. He almost appeared stunned.
“Sweet thing. Need to taste you,” he growled.
She barely had time to catch her breath.
Her eyes flew wide as his thumbs hooked the sides of her panties. He froze, meeting her gaze once more. He was allowing her a moment to protest. Any second now she would. Any second the words would come to her.
When all she did was gape at him, he gave her that sexy lopsided grin and tugged the delicate fabric down her thighs.