Page 39 of My Favorite Kidnapper

“I don’t want to, no.”

“Why me?”

He looked down at me, then crowded me against the car. He leaned in, his arms forming a cage I couldn’t escape from. His mouth descended on mine, hard and blistering. I tried to resist, but I couldn’t. My body acted of its own free will, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, whimpering as he ravished me. He yanked me tight to his chest, lifting me off the ground as if I weighed nothing. He fisted my hair, holding me close. I gripped the back of his neck, wanting more. Wanting him. Terrified of that fact.

Then he stopped, set me on my feet, and stared down at me. We were breathing hard, each of us still holding on to the other.

He slid his hand to my face and kissed me again. “That’s why.”

Then he walked away.

Chapter Nine

DANTE

I drifted in the pool, the water cool against my overheated skin. I had worked awhile in my office, watched Brianna ramble around the grounds from the chair at my desk. Wondered a hundred times what she was thinking. Then I hit my gym and worked out until I was a sweating mess. I did my laps in the pool and pulled myself onto a floating lounger, enjoying the late-afternoon sun and the gentle breeze as it wafted over me.

I silently willed her to me. I wanted her to talk to me. I wanted to convince her to stay of her own accord. I wasn’t letting her go, but things would go better if she decided she had made the choice on her own terms.

Finally, she approached the pool, her hair piled high on her head, messy and chaotic, her overalls grass-stained and her feet bare. The tip of her pretty nose was pink from the sun, and I wondered if freckles would appear on her pale skin. She was so incredibly appealing to me, and she had no idea. I had never reacted to another woman the way I reacted to her.

“Wanna come in? Water’s great.”

“I don’t have a suit.”

“I can get rid of mine, and we can skinny-dip.”

She looked startled, then shook her head. “No, thank you,” she replied primly.

I bit back my laughter. I loved teasing her.

“Enjoy your tour?”

“It’s lovely here,” she admitted.

“Great spot to unwind.”

“Be a prisoner, you mean.”

I slipped off the lounger, moving closer to the edge. “You aren’t a prisoner. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go. Get you anything you want or need. You only have to ask.”

Roomba wandered out of the house and onto the stone patio, lying in the sun. She stretched out, rolling over, looking content.

“Your cat likes it here. Admit it, you do too.”

“I said it was pretty.”

I reached the side of the pool. “You’re being petulant now. You’re hot. You need to cool down.”

“And how—”

She was cut off as I grabbed her ankle and tugged. She fell into the pool with a muffled scream, coming up, her hair streaming around her. She wiped her face, planting her feet on the bottom of the pool, and glared.

“Ah, there’s the fire I like,” I said.

“Fudgsicle! You’re such a jerk. I could have drowned.”

“I would have rescued you. Given you mouth-to-mouth. In fact, if you’re feeling faint…” I arched an eyebrow at her.