He shackled her wrist to prevent her from falling off the other side of the bed and swore when his action only seemed to alarm her more.
“Honey, listen to me. I’m never going to hurt you, and if you keep moving away you’re going to wind up on the floor on the other side of the bed. We need to talk. Nothing more. Can you trust me enough to do that?”
She nibbled nervously on her bottom lip, and he’d never been more tempted to suck that lip between his and soothe the damage she was currently doing to it. And he still didn’t even know her name, much less her story.
Patience was not one of his stronger virtues. Hell, it wasn’t even in his vocabulary, but he knew he’d have to go slow and pull on every reserve he possessed not to overwhelm her and start demanding the answers he needed.
To his satisfaction, she scooted over a few inches so she wasn’t about to take a fall, and she sat up against the pillows behind her. She looked nervously at him and he released her wrist. Not because he wanted to, but because he needed her to know she could trust him and that he wouldn’t do a damn thing she was uncomfortable with.
“How did I get here?” she asked in a small voice. “Where am I?”
“You’re safe,” he said firmly. “As to how you got here, we found my SUV in a wooded area with you passed out in the backseat. You’ve been out for hours and you were an easy target there, parked in the open, unconscious. Anyone could have found you and taken you. I’m just thankful as hell that I found you first.”
“Why?” she whispered.
Her response enraged him. It took everything he had not to explode on the spot. Jesus, but this woman evidently was so used to no one giving one fuck about her that she was genuinely perplexed as to why someone would actually want to help her. That someone would care.
“You saved me,” he growled. “You put yourself at great risk to save someone you didn’t even know, and there was no way in hell I was going to leave you to whatever those fuckers who are after you have planned for you.”
Tears filled her eyes and she hastily looked away so he wouldn’t see her distress. Taking a chance, he gently cupped her chin and turned her back to face him.
“What’s wrong, honey? Why are you crying?”
“Because they’ll never let me go,” she said in a resigned voice. “They’ll never stop looking for me, never give up, and anyone in their way they’ll dispose of, just like they tried to do to you.”
“Lucky for me, then, that I had my own little guardian angel to save me.”
“You should get as far away from me as you can,” she said with utter gravity. “No one who helps me is safe.”
He growled and she jumped, eyeing him nervously. He moved closer to her and then cradled her cheeks with both his hands, his palms engulfing her small face.
“You aren’t getting rid of me, baby. Now, there are other things we need to talk about and we don’t have much time. I need some answers from you so I can keep you safe.”
“The less you know about me, the safer you’ll be,” she said in a low voice.
“Fuck that. Let’s get something straight right now. You aren’t protecting me. I’m protectingyou.”
He could swear he saw relief flicker in her eyes just before it was replaced by fear. He’d remove it permanently if it was the last thing he did.
“What’s your name, honey?” he asked gently.
She blinked in surprise.
“I can’t keep calling you ‘baby’ or ‘honey’ forever.”
She blushed, and he found it adorable.
“No one has ever called me anything sweet before,” she said wistfully.
“I didn’t say I’d stop calling you honey or baby or a number of other endearments, but I do need to know your name because no one else is going to call you those other things but me,” he growled.
Surprise flashed in her eyes and then she blushed again, and it took all his restraint not to kiss her.
“J-Jenna,” she stammered.
“Last name?”
To his surprise, shame crawled across her face and she turned away, tears sparkling on her lashes. What the fuck?
