Like break up with him and disappear from theirhometown.
But she was so not going there right now. “Where are you takingme?”
“You’ll see when we getthere.”
“You can’t be serious.” Tomi glared athim.
Cole hooked a finger over the rim of his Ray Bans and tugged them down his nose, looking at her over the top of the rims. “I’d catch a nap if I were you. We’ve got a long ride. Don’t want you all wornout.”
“I wouldn’t let myself fall asleep around you if my life depended onit.”
“Your choice.” He shrugged, and she almost screamed in frustration. She’d already spent the last two hours interrogating him—why was he at the auction? What had become of his friend? Where the hell had they gotten all that money? Cole had revealed absolutely nothing, leaving her mind with lots of free time to imagine all kinds of worst-casescenarios.
Number one being that Cole had turned into a sadistic psycho who purchased innocent girls to pleasure him. It was an impossible pill to swallow—how could the Cole she’d known and loved, the Cole she’d never gotten over, have become that man?—but she couldn’t come up with any other plausibleexcuse.
If that were true, then she truly should be terrified, because she’d never known a man who possessed as much single-minded focus as Cole Fury. Her ability to escape shrunk with every mile they passed. He’d already crossed over into Louisiana—which meant he might be headed toward home. But surely, he wouldn’t be that dumb. Tomi knew their hometown like the back of herhand.
Then again, he could be taking her somewhere out in the woods. The Fury brothers had been known to have some pretty wild cabin parties back in the day. Since they’d all been gone for years, she doubted anyone visited the cabin much anymore. If he took her there, she could still escape. Sure, it had been a few years since she’d hiked through the soggy bottom land of Louisiana, but her roots ran deep, and her dad had taught her how to survive in thewoods.
Her dad…another dark memory she couldn’t face rightnow.
Cole slid his arm over the steering wheel, his right hand draped casually on his thigh. A small console, which could be folded up, separated them. If he wanted, he could stop the truck, shove that separator up, and take her right now. What would it be like if he did? Her tight nipples sure seemed to like the idea. But the thought of Cole forcing her to do anything hit the kill switch on her desire in aninstant.
She wanted the old Cole, not thisstranger.
“Tomi, I told you. You can relax. I’m not going to do anything that you don’t want me to do.” Cole’s hand slid forward, and she swallowed, refusing to jump and run each time he moved. “How about sometunes?”
“Whatever.” She managed to make herself sound uncaring, or so she hoped, as she turned away from him and stared at the passingcountryside.
A ‘90s’ alternative ballad pulsed from the speakers. She had always liked a little rock to her roll. And Cole had invariably given in to her wishes, even though he preferred his music a little more fueled up. Tomi thought for a brief minute about flipping the dial over to a pop hits station, knowing it would drive Cole nuts, but she didn’t have theenergy.
She’d used up pretty much all of her internal stores surviving Luis’s compound…and she was still struggling to wrap her head around how she’d ended up here. How she was back in Cole’s truck after a decade, riding to nowhere Louisiana just like they had in thepast.
If only the whole world hadn’t opened up and swallowed her whole and spat her back out, she might have been able to enjoy this. But without knowing how and why Cole had ended up at that auction, she couldn’t relax with him. She couldn’t let herself wanthim.
Tomi kept her eyes glued wide open. She had to keep track of everything they passed to help her backtrack, but all the thick cypress trees started to blend together after a while. The gravel road was the same clay color as the dirt beneath it, and so far, they’d yet to pass any sign of life. “We’re not going to the cabin, arewe?”
“Nope.” Cole drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel in tune to the song on theradio.
Tomi wanted to drum her fists on his head. “Tell me where you’re takingme.”
“You’ll see. Just bepatient.”
“I’ll scream.” Her threat was hollow. They both knew it. There wasn’t a single person around to hearher.
“Go right on ahead, sugar. Your screams never bothered mebefore.”
* * *
Cole pulledup to his old family ranch about five hours later. Tomi was out cold, head back against the seat and mouth open. She’d tried, he had to give her that—she’d fought to stay awake and watch him the whole time, but the girl was worn . Her body needed sleep to recuperate, and he intended to see that she got that chance whether she liked it ornot.
The front porch light was on, indicating his brothers had already been out to the place to make sure Cole and Tomi had what they needed to survive the next few days, plus a few other special items Cole hadrequested.
Since his brothers all dabbled in the BDSM scene, his request hadn’t been met with so much as a raised brow. Cole just hoped Tomi wouldn’t freak out when she saw it. But she shouldn’t. Intel had it that all the slaves had been kidnapped from local BDSM or fetish clubs—which meant that each female had been interested in the lifestyle to some degree orother.
Or she worked for Luis and had seen it all at hishand…
Cole killed the engine and walked around to Tomi’s side of the car, catching her in his arms and holding her to his chest. He allowed himself one deep inhale, permanently marking her scent in his brain, before he carried her up onto the front porch and through the unlocked front door. Cole headed straight to the old master bedroom, happy to see they’d cleaned it up nicely. A new dark blue comforter lay on the king-sized bed, along with a couple of department store bags containing the clothing Cole had instructed them topurchase.
