The last thing he brought into the dwelling was Zara herself. He used his knife to cut her loose. The tranquilizer must be very effective, even removing the duct tape hadn’t disturbed her slumber. He turned back the bedcovers of the only bed in the only bedroom and laid her down. The couch in the sitting room had been chosen for its ability to let someone sleep comfortably, and there was an air mattress stowed away on the top shelf in the closet if needed. Noah placed Zara on the bed and thought about removing her outer clothes to make her more comfortable, but realized the sports bra she was wearing as a top was the only thing covering her naked breasts. His dick throbbed, reminding him again how long it had been since it had been enveloped in a beautiful woman’s wet sheath. Noah decided she could sleep in what she had on.
Leaving her sleeping, he got the communications system from its hiding place, set up, and called to check-in.
“Noah?” came Avery’s soothing voice.
“Hey, beautiful. How goes it?”
“We’re just dandy, but none of us had a party with a bunch of global thugs this morning.”
“What can I say? When you’re popular, everybody wants to play.”
Avery snorted. “Right. Whatever went down at Zara’s has not made any kind of ripple anywhere. We’ve alerted the police, and they’ll keep an eye on the place just in case. We assured them we had her protection well in hand and would be providing close cover. We agreed if and when we knew something specific, we’d share information with them.”
“I told her the same thing.”
“How did she react to the ‘being under our protection’ portion of that statement?”
“Not particularly well.”
Avery laughed. “I’ll bet that’s putting it mildly. Finn indicated Zara wasn’t likely to just go along.”
“And how is the future Mrs. Crofton?”
“Concerned for her friend and brother but seems to be very happy to be back with Croft. Of course, Mandy has already started talking about planning the wedding.”
“Mandy’s a good girl. John is lucky to have her.”
Avery laughed. “I’m not sure Mandy is exactly what the rest of you think she is, but I’ll let you have your little fantasies. Fact is, you, especially, are more inclined to go for a Finn or Willa than a me or Mandy.”
“You?” laughed Croft. “Avery, darlin’, you have a lot of wonderful qualities, but quiet and sweet ain’t among them.”
“Yes, they are,” she protested.
“You keep telling yourself that. When is Mac due back?”
“He should be rolling in tonight. John has assured him everything can wait until tomorrow, but we’re going to want an update from you and a conference to set up a game plan for going forward.”
“How’s Fariq?”
“I think he’s feeling pretty safe with us and doesn’t seem inclined to make trouble.”
“So, he’s just abdicating to Springer? That’s not good. I think we should include Zara in our call tomorrow. I think she may know some things that will help.”
“Take care, Noah. Let us know what we can do to assist.”
“Don’t worry about us. No one knows we’re here, and I’ve got Zara safe as a bug in a rug.”
“Keep in mind, there are those who say that particular bug has fangs and claws.”
Noah shook his head. There was no way he would share with Avery that he wouldn’t mind if she sank those fangs into him or raked his back with her claws, as long as he’d breached her slit and was plowing her when she did it. Again, his dick spoke to him about the length of time since he’d let it come out to play with something other than his fist. He told his dick to shut up.
“Take care, Avery. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Noah used the sophisticated security system to check their location and found nothing of interest. He got up from the desk and walked into the bedroom, expecting to see Zara still asleep in the bed. His first inkling something was wrong was the feel of the ocean breeze coming through the open window. A quick glance at the bed confirmed his worst fear…
Zara had flown the coop!
Chapter 4
Noah growled and went back into the main room, grabbing both the dart gun and a regular handgun. The latter was equipped with a silencer; the dart gun didn’t need one. He tried to remember which butt cheek he’d darted the first time, then realized he didn’t much care. If she wasn’t careful, Zara would find he had other ways to make sitting down very uncomfortable for her.
Tucking the tranquilizer gun into his belt, he ran out the door. Glancing at the Range Rover, he grinned—its driver’s side door was open. He’d give her points for having thought to try to start it without a key. She didn’t know there was a high-powered motorcycle equipped for rough terrain hidden in one of the outbuildings. Noah was glad he’d thought to remove the starter relay on the Rover to ensure she couldn’t steal it. It was easily replaced when they needed to go, but in an emergency, the motorcycle would be better and more maneuverable.
As he headed toward the Rover, he glanced at the outbuilding where the bike was hidden. It didn’t appear to be disturbed. Noah figured she’d still be too groggy to get far, so he set an easy running pace past the vehicle, heading to the top of the closest hill to see if he could spot her. When they’d found this place, one of the things they’d liked about it was there were enough hills to keep them inconspicuous but still give them an open field of fire, making it difficult for someone to sneak up on them. He wasn’t sure how she’d avoided the surveillance cameras, but he meant to find out. As soon as he had her back safely in the cottage, he’d review the data. He hoped it was because she’d been up and moving before he’d had a chance to get them fully operational.
Zara watched Noah from her hiding place behind the pump house. He moved like a large, predatory cat, his movements graceful with tremendous power behind them. There was no question the man had a sexual magnetism that spoke to her and made the places below her belly flutter at the possibilities, but she neither wanted nor needed a man like that in her life. Damian’s dominant streak had been difficult enough, and Noah’s was enormous in comparison.
She wanted him to get far enough away from the cottage she could make her way to the outbuilding he’d glanced at. Why had he looked at it? What was in there? Another means of escape? That would make sense. As he ran, Zara eased toward it. As Noah stood scanning the surrounding area and looking away from the cottage, she slipped inside the outbuilding.
At first glance, there was nothing to see, but as she poked around, she realized this building was a kind of last-stand holdout. There were numerous large-caliber guns and other weaponry hidden within it. As she examined what seemed to be a hay pile, she realized the hay had been artfully affixed to a tarp.
She pulled back the plastic sheeting to reveal what appeared to be an off-road motorcycle on steroids, hooked up to a generator, indicating the bike was fully charged and ready to go. She grinned when she saw the electric starter—no key needed. If this was an emergency getaway vehicle, she’d bet it hadn’t been sabotaged to keep from starting. Take that, Mr. Sexier Than Anyone Has a Right to Be!