Though I was sure of the plan, I still ran, hazarding a brief glance back where the mountain glared. His mouth moved in rapid shapes that were likely a string of curse words as he tried, and failed to get through the throng of chaos in front of him.
The one with the dog had his hands full as well. My illusions didn't just look like other things; they smelled like them as well. If I made a turd look like a pie and put it in a person's hand, they'd believe it was a pie until they put it in their mouth. Cujo was as distracted as the others.
But these guys never attacked alone. That was part of what made them so difficult. They came at me as a team, every time. Which meant…
I skidded to a stop, the Wonder Twins taking up the square of sidewalk several yards ahead. With hair as black as oil and bright blue eyes, they were difficult to miss. Sometimes, they carried swords with them. I'd spotted the handles once or twice in our time together and assumed they'd realized a crowded market place wasn't the best place to show up visibly armed.
Visibly being the operative word there.
I searched the area, spotting a police officer on top of a large brown horse. It could have been something fancy like an Arabian chestnut stallion, but to me, it looked like a brown horse.
Snagging the paper in my pocket, I held it, making my hand tremble as if in fear. "Officer, p-please help me."
The man on horseback narrowed his eyes at me, possibly his bullshit meter going off, but I pushed the paper closer to his nose.
"I have a restraining order. Those two men are not supposed to be within a hundred yards of me. Please, help." Sometimes, looking younger than my twenty-three years was useful.
With the proof of my story right in front of him, bullshit meter or not, the police officer looked from me to the Wonder Twins. "Wait here," he told me as he made a clicking sound with his mouth and his horse walked forward.
"Yes, of course, I'll wait…" I waited for him to get farther away, and closer to the twins, before heading off down an alley I'd spotted.
If I wasn't positive the wonder twins were going to do nothing to the police officer but be annoyed by him, I wouldn't have sent him over. I didn't want people getting hurt, or worse, killed, because of me. That had partly been the reason I'd told Hollister it was okay to send my information along. I didn't know the men at that time, but if they were asking my friend about me, they were in harming distance of him. Better they got the information they wanted and focus their attentions on the real target.
Looking left, right, and behind, I checked to make sure none of them had spotted me. It had sucked covering my red hair; it was one of the things I liked about myself. But it also made me too easy to spot. At least this way, no one had their eyes on me as I pranced down the sidewalk on the other side of the street, skipping toward the alley I knew went all the way through and opened on to the other side of the block. I pulled out the lip balm, twisting off the cap to slather a layer of fruity coconut beeswax onto my lips.
"Mmm." I smacked my lips together, sliding the tube in my pocket.
Before I could make the turn that would bring me freedom, a strong hand emerged from the darkness between two buildings and grabbed mine, pulling me into an off-balance spin. Disoriented, I slammed against a rock-hard chest as the growling man pulled my hands behind my back. His large, firm body pressed against mine while my shoulder blades smashed against the unforgiving concrete of the building behind me. Not only did he have my hands restrained, his thick fingers tightened over each wrist, and he kept my hands apart.
I needed two hands to do what I did. I knew that. I'd never told anyone else that. And somehow, this man who had been following me for months knew that now too. I must've slipped and been too obvious.
Or his relentless observation was starting to pay off.
"Getting sloppy, Jazz," Knox murmured. "Target secure. Convene to the rendezvous point." He spoke into the small headset pinned behind his ear.
While I'd thought I'd been zigzagging through them, the bastards had been herding me to where they'd wanted me.
"I'm disappointed. Diesel said this plan would work, and I told him you were too smart to fall for it." He tsked me, his grip never loosening. His voice was like a summer storm. Swelteringly hot, sharp as a crack of lightning, but also deep and soothing like thunder rumbling in the distance.
Maybe everyone wasn't soothed by thunder and lightning, but I wasn't everyone.
Though having this man this close made my body go haywire, I attempted not to let it show. "Maybe I just like getting close to you," I shot back, my voice too breathy for the tease to count.
Knox smirked. Lips that full should've been illegal on a man like him. What would they look like curled in a real smile? I'd never know. Knox only ever smirked or scowled when he looked at me. His silver eyes traced my face, lingering at the bags beginning to form under my eyes.
I could make most any object look like anything else, but I couldn't do a thing to magic my appearance. Not in a way that was travelable anyway. My appearance, I had to maintain the old-fashioned way with sleep, dyes, makeup, and creams. And lately, I hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep.
"You changed your hair," he grumped. "I don't like it."
Though I wasn't a fan of it either, I bristled beneath the implication that he had a say in how I looked. I'd shave my hair off if I wanted to and was ready to say as much. But when my mouth opened to unleash a heated retort, the words that came out weren't at all what I'd planned. "How do you like me? Helpless?" I made a show of trying to tug my hands free.
His grip was too strong for me to expect to pull away, but my repeated tugging made our bodies collide softly together. My dick sprung to life, and I would've been embarrassed, except Knox's cock did the same.
Worth it.
"Is that lip balm in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?" I purred. His length didn't feel a thing like the small tube. The heat and hardness made it impossible to mistake his erection for anything but what it was.
His lips twitched in what looked like the barest hint of a smile. That couldn't be right. Knox didn't smile. I was convinced he didn't have the facial muscles for it. He eased his body back, allowing a breeze's width of space between us.
Clueless to what he was planning, I watched, breathless, as he pulled my right hand to the front of my body. He pinned my arm there with his other shoulder before slowly sliding his hands into my front pocket.
His fingers didn't linger in my pocket. He grabbed what he'd been aiming for and pulled the tube clear of my jeans. Tucking the plastic into his front pocket, he returned my right hand to my back, the grip on my wrist no gentler than it had been.
Every solid inch of him stamped against my front. I managed to keep my eyelids from fluttering and the moan from escaping, but I could do nothing about the way my dick twitched like a dog lifting its nose to a pleasant smell in the air.
"Now I know that's not lip balm." Knox let his gaze drop low between our bodies so there was no mistaking what he was talking about.
Insufferable dick. It wasn't my fault there wasn't a lot of time for loving when you were being chased by mercenaries. At this point, a well-built filing cabinet would turn me on. I couldn't admit to any of that. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he had any effect on me. This was a job to him.