“Nah, I’ll keep it with me. What’s your plan?” Kailani looked back at the SUV that seemed to be waiting for a sign from her rescuer.
Traeger gave a wave, then did like he’d done in the SUV, he leaned over her, buckling her in.
SHE SUCKED IN A BREATH, her nipples hardening at the feel of his forearm brushing across them. It was startling, her reaction to him, any man really, since the only thing she’d felt had been repulsion. They’d given her all kinds of things to get her to enjoy what they’d done to her, but in the end, her body and mind warred with one another, leaving her shaking, sweating and often times throwing up. The men her brother did business with were sick bastards who didn’t seem to care one way or the other, just as long as they got what they wanted. Another shiver shook her. This time she pushed it back faster, keeping Traeger from seeing it. She’d become a master at hiding her fears and memories.
His huge frame was highlighted in the headlights when he strolled in front of the Jeep. He lifted his head, looking all around the area, speaking to someone she couldn’t see. She knew without being told they had some high-tech equipment in their ears. Her brother and his mercenaries had them as well. Of course, they had them to communicate on the off chance the police or FBI happened to show up. She leaned back against the warm leather. How many times had she wished for one of the government types to bust through the doors, their guns blazing? Heck she wouldn’t have even cared if she’d been a casualty. A mirthless laugh escaped as Traeger opened the driver’s door. She’d thought once she escaped from her family she’d find peace, instead it looked as though she’d found another keeper.
“What’s that laugh for?” he asked.
She shook her head, knowing he wouldn’t understand. “Nothing,” she answered.
“I can wait all night you know. I’ve got the patience of a saint.” He tapped the wheel with one long finger.
Kailani looked at his fingers, noticing he had tattoos on them. “I bet you do,” she murmured, wondering just how much talent lay in those fingers. If she were going to die, she truly wanted to experience all the things she’d missed out on.
“Girl, I suggest you stop that train of thought before it gets you in trouble.”
Her eyes jerked toward his face at his deep growl. “What?”
His dark eyes held so much heat and knowledge. “You know what. Now, tell me what you meant.”
Frustration bit at her. “Fine,” she bit out. “I was thinking about all the times I’d wished the cops or feds had shown up and how it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d have died in the firefight. There, you happy now?”
Traeger’s eyes widened, a sound unlike any she’d heard escaped him seconds before he unbuckled her belt, and then he shocked her even more by pulling her across the small space, which wasn’t an easy thing to do, settling her on his lap sideways. “Don’t ever let me hear you say that ever again. Do you hear me? Your life is worth more than twenty of those lowlife motherfucking bastards of a brother and father of yours. No matter what happens, you fight. Understand me?” He gripped her chin, making her look him in the eye. “Answer me,” he said, not letting her go.
Kailani’s breath came out in a whoosh. Her heart banged against her chest...the feel of her throat tightening made perspiration bead on her forehead. The thought of what was to come, a life on the run from her family finally hitting her. Her family was bad, really bad. No, scratch that. They were below the scum of the Earth, and she had the scars, inside and out, to prove it. Fear threatened to choke her as her throat went dry. She licked her lips, trying to alleviate the dryness, coughing as she realized she couldn’t.
“Are you going to be sick?” Traeger asked. His gaze flicking to the road then back at her.
In all honesty, she couldn’t say yes or no.
His arms came around her, pulling her close, and then his lips covered hers, licking over her dry mouth, taking away all thoughts of fear, and god help her, she loved it. She wrapped her arms around his neck, forgetting everything but the intoxicating man beneath her.
Seconds or maybe minutes passed, then he was pulling back. “Shit, we can’t do this here.” He gently lifted her off him, but not before she felt the hardness beneath her hips.
The vehicle behind them had its lights on bright. Embarrassment nearly had her fumbling onto the floorboard, but then she reminded herself it was Traeger who’d kissed her. She didn’t want to think of how she’d responded. “Why’d you kiss me?” she asked.
“Buckle up, babe,” he said instead of answering her question.
Kailani wanted to press him for answers, but the revving of the SUV followed by a flashing of headlights stalled any further conversation. She hastily pulled her belt on, fumbling to get it into place. “You realize you’re bossy right?”
Traeger flashed her a grin, his white teeth gleaming in the dark interior. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Why his words had her excited when other men repulsed her, she wasn’t sure, but since she knew her time was probably numbered in days instead of years, she was going to grab what she could with both hands. “Bring it on, big guy.”
Neither said anything else while he pulled her Jeep onto the road. She’d noticed they’d ran a device all around it and her backpack, clearly searching for a tracker. Not once had she thought about her family knowing about her little out she’d been planning it for over a year.
Nerves tightened the muscles in her stomach. She kept looking in the side mirror while he drove, something she noticed he did too. “Are we being followed?”
“Nope, we’re good. Did you have a destination in mind?” Traeger signaled toward the next exit.
Kailani tensed, wondering where they were going. She’d thought for sure they’d at least go as far as Los Angeles, which would’ve been a three and a half hour drive from her home in San Diego. Fear settled in her stomach. Had she jumped from the frying pan into the fire? Were these men actually working with her brother? Had Rico set this up, and was he now waiting for her at some undisclosed location? Madre de dios, she knew what he did to his enemies, what he did to women he considered traitors. “Are you part of my brother’s network?” The question felt like sawdust in her mouth. It took her two tries to get the words to come out of her parched throat. She fumbled as she struggled to get the backpack open, wondering if she could actually use the mace she’d kept inside on the man sitting next to her.
“What?” he asked, glancing at her sideways. “You think I’d work for a sick fuck like him? The answer is hell no. And before you think to use anything in that big ass bag of yours, know that I’ve been through more training on how to withstand pain than anything you can throw at me, so don’t even think of it,” he warned.
She sat back, pulling her bag onto her lap. “How did you know?”
He tipped his chin toward her then looked back at the dark road. “You’ve very expressive eyes.”
She turned to see that the vehicle that had been following them, the SUV carrying the young girl she’d rescued, hadn’t taken the same exit. “Where are you taking me?”
Traeger’s fingers tapped the wheel. “A friend of mine owns a place along the beach in Santa Maria. I figure we can lay low there a couple days, then we’ll rendezvous with my brothers. By then, King will have more information for us.”