In his thoughts he was saying no to her, but the rest of him was doing her bidding. Reaching for the keys at his waist, he removed the one for the shackles.
“Maybe you aren’t as stupid as I thought you were, Outlaw. There’s hope for you yet,” she said. To his surprise, she smiled at him, the curves of her luscious lips tilting sweetly upward into what he could only call a sunbeam that wrapped him in warmth.
Oh man, he could drown in that sweet smile.
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” she said in that soft, intriguing voice he loved. He tried not to notice how feminine and clean she appeared as she stuffed her feet beneath the bear skin. Tried to ignore the flare of heat shifting low in his belly and into his balls and cock as she peered up at him with her fuck-me eyes.
Okay man, chill.She had the virus and that’s all he was reading in her eyes. Just the virus.
“I’ll be back soon. I have to get Blade ready for the night.”
She said nothing and snuggled under the fur. He waited until she closed her eyes before he grabbed the ankle restraints and left.
“Are you sure she isn’t going to run?” Blade asked a couple of moments later when Cade joined him by the fire. Obviously he’d seen Cade remove her shackles.
“She’s smart. She won’t run without her boots.” He held them up, and then placed them near the fire sideways with the openings facing the heat.
“She’s domesticated you already.” Blade chuckled as he nodded at the way Cade had set up her boots.
Irritation slammed through Cade. He knew he shouldn’t offer Blade any explanations, but he did anyway. Then maybe Blade would keep his mouth shut.
“They’re damp. She’ll need them dry in the morning.”
“And what about her? You gonna have her nice and dry by morning?”
Cade ignored the sexual innuendo and tossed a couple more pieces of wood on the fire. The son of a bitch was only trying to irritate the shit out of him. It was working.
“You won’t be dry because you’ll be sleeping out here tonight. Make sure you keep that fire going nice and strong or you’ll be doing me a favor when I find you frozen to death.”
Blade chuckled lightly and held up his cuffed wrist.
“Can’t very well keep the fire going with my not being able to move more than a few feet.”
“That’s your problem, isn’t it?” Cade snapped.
“It’ll be your problem when those hunters catch up to us. And if they’ve sniffed out the woman, you can bet they’re going to be up before the crack of dawn and will continue through the snowstorm, and then they’ll see the fire.”
“Then do us all a favor and stay awake and keep the fire small,” Cade growled. He would be staying awake to make damn sure Red didn’t make a run for it. He headed into the darkness to rip some more bark and branches from a nearby dead tree, as well as collect several armloads of wood.
He placed them within Blade’s reach, but Blade’s gaze was fixated on the opening of the lean-to. Another bolt of irritation slammed into him and he returned to the mouth of the shelter. Ensuring Blade couldn’t see the woman, he propped himself on the cold ground right in the doorway, turned his back toward Red and faced the heat of the crackling fire.
If he were smart, he’d shackle her legs again. But when it came to women, he’d never been smart. Why start now?
* * * * *
Reena snuggled deeper under the bear skins, pulling her hat down around her ears, and told herself her trembling had everything to do with the freezing air breathing against her face and nothing to do with the two men sitting just outside the makeshift shelter.
She wasn’t pissed off at being captured, at least not anymore. Not since she’d been able to wiggle her wrists out of the handcuffs beneath the camouflage of the bear skin. Hell, she was an expert at escape, especially getting out of handcuffs. Her wrists were unusually tiny and most handcuffs were designed for men’s wrists. She’d expected better from an Outlaw. It appeared Cade wasn’t as swift as his youngest brother Tyler.
On the other hand, she hadn’t missed that he’d taken her boots. Even if he had left them, she wouldn’t be going anywhere. Not in this storm. She wasn’t stupid. Unlike Will “Blade” Smith who’d been caught.
She’d known Will was an assassin. All the people who worked for SKULL were assassins. She just hadn’t expected Will to actually come here to try to kill her. Especially not after the hot sexcapade they’d shared that one evening.
She’d tried to show Cade she didn’t care if Will wanted her dead, but she did care…and it hurt. Bad. Will came here to assassinate her and that meant she owed Cade for saving her life.
She hated being in debt to anyone. When she got the chance, she wouldn’t be able to kill Cade. Plus, he was Tyler’s brother and she couldn’t do that to Tyler.
Will, on the other hand, was another story. She just might have to take him out. He was her biggest threat. Both men were threats. She’d seen the erotic gazes on their faces when Will revealed she had the virus.
