“Excuse me?” she asked incredulously. “I don’t think so. I had nothing to do with you getting involved and want even less to do with having you act like some overzealous bodyguard. I am quite capable of taking care of myself.”
Noah was glad the traffic around them was beginning to thin out. He’d be able to relax a little once they were on the open highway, and he could keep a clear field all around them. Noah remained silent as he put distance between them and the city and hopefully, those who had come gunning for her. He waited for her to respond and didn’t have long to wait.
“Well?” she snarled. “Don’t you have anything to say?”
“Arguing with you is a waste of time. You’re hell-bent on doing what you want, and I’m not going to let you. No bitching and moaning on your part is going to influence me in any way, and you’re too pigheaded to listen to reason.”
“Pigheaded? I’m pigheaded? God, I despise arrogant men. Let me out of the damn vehicle.”
He shook his head and grinned. “No.”
“You can’t tell me no!”
“I just did. You’d better get used to it. I suspect you’ll be hearing it a lot from me.”
“The instant, and I mean the very instant, you stop this vehicle, I’m going to get out and scream bloody murder.”
“Good thing I have a full tank of petrol and a full auxiliary tank as well. When we get where we’re going, you can yell, shout, and curse at the top of your lungs if you want. It won’t do any good and won’t change anything.”
“You are a bastard of the first order.”
“Yes, ma’am… I most certainly am,” he said agreeably.
Zara shrieked in frustration. The man was infuriating—sexy as all get-out, but absolutely infuriating.
They drove for hours. Zara found the weight of what had happened combined with the steady monotone of the engine oddly soothing and found she was fighting sleep.
“I meant what I said, Zara. I’m not stopping until we get where we’re going. You may as well get some rest.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Too bad. I’ll fix you something to eat when we get there.”
“Can’t you just stop to get us something to eat?”
“And have you scream your fool head off? Thanks, but no thanks.”
“What if I promise not to?” Zara said, trying to sound reasonable.
He laughed. “No.”
Zara swore under her breath, turned away from him, gazing out the window, and finally dozed off. When she woke, it was late afternoon, and they were on a deserted road in a desolate area. Taylor was pulling onto the shoulder of the road.
“We have a couple more hours to go. If you need to relieve yourself or want to stretch your legs, go ahead.” Noah tossed her some wipes.
“Not worried I’ll run off?” she challenged.
What was it about the man that set her on edge? She should be trying to be nice and win him over, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself from taking verbal jabs at him… not that they seemed to make much difference.
“Not particularly. If you want to give it a try, knock yourself out. I’m going to give you a little privacy while I do the same.”
“What? Run off? My luck hasn’t been that good.”
Not knowing how much longer they would be, Zara left him on one side of the Range Rover while she found a small group of shrubs and crouched down. When she was finished, she folded up the wipe, put it back into the individual packet, and placed it in her pocket. As Noah hadn’t come around to her side of the vehicle, she nonchalantly headed off in the opposite direction, careful not to attract his attention.
She never heard a sound behind her, but when she glanced over her shoulder to recheck where he was, she could see him loading a handgun. The bastard meant to kill her! He was a part of whatever Reid and Finn had stumbled on. Zara’s instincts took over, and she began to run in a zigzag pattern to make it more difficult for him to get off an accurate shot. She had to get away and get to Finn. If Taylor was trying to kill her, it most likely meant Croft and the rest of the Wild Mustang team were in Fariq’s employ, which meant Finn was in danger too.
Zara didn’t hear the shot but felt something hit her in the butt. It wasn’t nearly as painful as she thought a bullet might be. She reached around and found the reason for that. He hadn’t shot her at all—he’d darted her. The sonofabitch had hit her with a tranquilizer. She could hear him running toward her but couldn’t get her body to respond. It seemed as though there was a dense fog gathering around her, making it impossible to move in anything but slow motion. Gradually, it robbed her of consciousness.
As Zara crumpled, Noah’s strong arms went around her.
“No.” She feebly pushed at him.
“Easy, Zara, I’ve got you,” he said as blackness descended over her like a shroud.
Noah smiled. Even though she was unconscious, he liked the feel of her in his arms. She just seemed to fit. He carried Zara back to the vehicle. Hoisting her over his shoulder, he arranged the back area of the Range Rover, so it was padded, and she wouldn’t wake up too stiff or sore. As he glanced at her upturned derriere over his shoulder, he had a passing thought that there were a lot of ways he wouldn’t mind making Zara ache but folded into the back of the vehicle wasn’t one of them. He sat her inside the back and leaned her against the side of the opening, then took a small length of silk cord and bound her hands and feet, stuffed a handkerchief into her mouth, securing it with duct tape. He laid her down gently, placing her head on a pillow, and looked down at her, smiling. He wouldn’t mind having Zara bound and gagged, but it would be a lot more to his liking if she was naked and because she had given her consent to play. He laid a lightweight blanket over her, completely covering her. Closing and locking the back, he checked to make sure no one passing the parked vehicle would see her. He got back behind the wheel and pulled off the shoulder.
Before heading out for the final stretch to the safehouse, Noah stopped at the last market and picked up pantry items, fresh food, and equipment that might make the time they had to spend together at the safehouse more enjoyable. Unfortunately, the small store didn’t carry a spreader bar or nipple clamps… now that would have made their time together a lot of more entertaining, not to mention pleasurable. He put the bags on the passenger seat and floorboard, then headed toward the isolated small house the firm maintained as one of their bolt-holes.
Noah arrived at the shepherd’s cottage located on a large parcel of land on the coast of Wales, with acres of lush rolling hills to the front and sides and the Irish Sea behind it. The firm allowed two local shepherds to graze their herds on the pasture, so anyone passing by would see they were in use. Both shepherds were ex-British Special Forces, several of the men at the firm, including Noah, had known for years. The property was strategically placed and landscaped to allow Avery to land the company jet or one of its helicopters close to the dwelling.
The cottage faced a small, fenced front yard that wrapped around to a beach at the back, bordering on the ocean with a private and well-concealed cove. All in all, not the worst place to hole up with a beautiful woman. He shook his head, then put their things away. Not something he needed to be thinking—this was business, not pleasure. Stunning as she was and as tempted as he might be to play with the fiery beauty, she was Croft’s girl’s best friend, which meant she was off-limits for anyone at Wild Mustang who wasn’t looking to make some kind of commitment. Besides, he had no need of a woman like Zara in his life.