Maybe a quick fling with Edge would end her infatuation and she could get her mind back on work. If it weren’t for her hideous leg, she might actually do it.
Her insides tightened as she remembered the terrible night two weeks after she had gotten out of the hospital and returned to Denver. Her fiancé had invited her to supper in his apartment.
Skye had been nervous, afraid of how Brian would react when they made love and he had to deal with her burn-scarred leg. She would never forget the repulsion on her fiancé’s handsome face. When he was unable to get an erection, he had simply left the bed, left the room, gone into his study, and closed the door. Skye had dressed and fled the apartment. She had returned his engagement ring the next day.
Brian hadn’t objected.
The thought of seeing that same look of repulsion—or, worse yet, pity—on Edge Logan’s face was enough to put an end to any thought of having sex with him.
Forcing her attention back to the moment, Skye spoke to Molly through the rolled-down window of the Nissan. “I’ll call you, keep you up to date on what’s happening. Think about talking to the police. I know you’re scared, but there are women in there who need your help.”
Molly made no reply.
Trace walked up to Skye. “I’ll get Molly settled and come back as soon as you’ve got the intel and you’re ready to go in.”
Skye nodded. It would be a snatch-and-grab operation. Both Edge and Trace had done a number of those missions during their time in the army. But they needed more information first.
Trace turned the sports car around, pulled out of the parking lot, and drove back up the road the way he had come. Skye adjusted the seat on the Yukon and started the engine.
She was anxious to talk to Edge, figure a way to get Callie out of the compound. She thought of the woman who had been murdered, thought of Callie, and a shadow of foreboding slipped down her spine.
CHAPTER NINE
DANIELHENSON PACED THE FLOOR OF HIS STUDY, HIS LONG WHITErobes flaring out at every turn. He wanted to get into a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved Henley, but he had a problem to handle first.
He looked up at the sound of a light rap on the door. “Enter.”
The door opened, and Callie Delaney walked into the room. With her smooth complexion, long blond hair, and big blue eyes, she was the perfect complement to his fair good looks. Her slender, feminine curves made his body stir to life beneath his robe.
After their first month together, he had considered installing her as his permanent mate, granting her his name, but she was simply too headstrong, too set in her ways. Today was no exception.
Irritation tightened his features. “Close the door behind you and come over here, Callie.”
Callie closed the door. Crossing the room, she stopped in front of him. She was nervous. He could tell by the way she shifted from one foot to the other.Good.
“You know why I called you here?”
“I-I’m not sure.”
“I think you are. I think you know exactly why you’re here. It’s my understanding you managed to get hold of Nathan Porter’s cell phone. Is that correct?”
Callie wet her pretty pink lips, and beneath his robe, his arousal strengthened. He had wanted her since the first time he had seen her in that greasy café in Denver. Apparently that hadn’t changed.
“I . . . borrowed it. I was going to call my mother. I didn’t want her to worry. Nathan stopped me before I had time to make the call.”
“We have rules, Callie. They’re in place for a reason.”
Callie clenched her jaw. She said nothing, but he could read the willfulness in her face. And the hint of fear. She knew the consequences. There was no getting around them.
“Go over to the closet and bring me my cane.”
Callie didn’t move.
“You heard me. You can’t think I’m going to allow you to blatantly disobey the rules and not be punished. You should know better than that by now.”
He thought of the last time he had called her into his study. She had skipped daily instruction two days in a row. He remembered the feel of the cane in his hand as he applied stroke after stroke. Then he had taken her—two times. His mouth dried, and his body hardened.
“The sooner you obey me, the sooner this will be over. Now fetch me the cane.”
