Tall, Dark & Heartless Read online

Page 12

 

  No matter how hard she tried, she could never get comfortable with him. While his kisses were pleasant enough, they were nothing to write home about. The thought of getting na**d for him always left her feeling cold and uncomfortable. Even though he never pushed for anything physical, and now she knew why, she thought dryly, she'd known without a doubt that she would have ended things sooner if he had.

  When she'd walked out the back entrance of the all night diner their group had hit after their patrol so she could have privacy making a phone call, she hadn't expected to find Greg screwing their waitress against the wall. It had been both a relief and an insult to her. She was relieved because she had a decent enough reason to dump him rather than feeling foolish because of her hang-ups, but she'd also been insulted that he'd never even tried anything with her. She knew it was ridiculous to feel that way over a man she never wanted to sleep with, but it had still hurt.

  Something occurred to her, actually it had occurred to her about thirty seconds after she found Greg balls deep in the waitress, but she'd been a little too pissed at the moment to ask and she knew Caine would just pretend that he hadn't heard her or knew she existed if she'd approached him that night, but maybe under the current circumstances he might answer her.

  "That night when I walked into the alley and caught Greg with the waitress," she began as she ran her eyes over the collection of toiletries placed in a cheap plastic basket, "you knew what I was going to walk in on, didn't you?" she said, remembering the unnerving way that Caine had watched her from his spot at the back of the diner as she made her way towards the back hallway.

  "Yes," he said with absolutely no hesitation, surprising the hell out of her. She really hadn't expected him to answer her.

  She looked up to find him still sitting in the same spot, but he had his head tilted back and his eyes closed, appearing as though he were trying to rest, but she prayed he was figuring out a way to get them the hell out of here.

  "Did you know he was screwing around on me?" she asked, part of her hoping the answer was no. She didn't like to think that Caine stopped caring about her completely. Some part of her hoped that he still cared enough to try and protect her when he could.

  "Yes, I knew he'd been f**king anything that moved from the beginning," he said in a bored tone.

  "Then why didn't you-"

  He cut her off. "Because I didn't care, Danni. It had nothing to do with me. Besides I warned you years ago to stay the hell away from him and you decided to ignore my advice. "

  "So I got what I deserved?" she snapped, immediately regretting letting him know that his indifference to her actually hurt.

  "Pretty much. " He shrugged not even bothering to look at her.

  "Wow, you're an ass**le," she said, laughing softly without humor.

  "Never said I wasn't. "

  She turned her back on him, afraid she'd do something stupid like cry or scream and demand that he tell her what she did to make him hate her so much. Instead she turned her attention to the shower. With jerky movements she turned the shower on, making it as hot as it would go. She stripped off her shirt, hoping to ease the ache in her muscles and calm herself down before she did or said something stupid that she couldn't take back.

  Her eyes shot down to the bracelet around her ankle. Was it waterproof? she idly wondered. Not that it really mattered, she decided with a shrug.

  "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Caine suddenly demanded.

  "What does it look like?" she said, not caring that he could see her. Right now she had bigger problems than worry about her modesty, at least not while the cameras were still working.

  She'd have to see if she could do something about that. It would cost her, but even five minutes with the cameras down might just be enough for them to figure a way the hell out of here before it was too late.

  Chapter 6

  "Stop being such a big baby. It's not like you haven't seen me na**d before," Danni pointed out.

  "When you were a small child, Danni," Caine bit out, keeping his eyes averted. He focused on the small mattress, the thick corded wire that trailed across the room after her, his chain, his feet, the ceiling, anything so he didn't have to look at Danni.

  Any other woman and he would have openly stared at her until he grew bored, but this was Danni, the little girl who used to manipulate him into braiding her hair. He knew she'd grown into a beautiful desirable woman, but he couldn't seem to separate the little girl that she'd once been from the woman she became. Of course that's what landed his ass in this little problem, he thought with an inward groan.

  "Any ideas?" she suddenly asked, almost drawing his attention back to her.

  The warm steam helped to fill the small room with her enticing scent, thickening it to the point where he could think of nothing else. His hands clenched into tight fists as his c**k stirred against the soft material of his underwear. He inwardly screamed at his body to get the f**k back under control, but it wouldn't listen. His eyes burned as his fangs slid out, and it took everything he had not to go to that shower and take what he wanted.

  "Shut the shower off," he ground out as he fought for control.

  "What?" Danni asked, sounding distracted.

  "Shut. The. Shower. Off," he bit out tightly.

  "Not done. "

  In less than a second he was in front of her, not caring that he was getting wet or that Danni was na**d and glaring up at him. He moved forward, giving her no other choice but to back up the short distance against the wall. He placed his hands against the tile on either side of her head and leaned in.

  "When I tell you to do something," he said, doing his best to ignore her mouth watering scent, "you do it. Do you understand me?"

  Instead of agreeing, sobbing or begging for his mercy like any other sane female would do, Danni got into his face. She moved into him until her hard ni**les brushed against his chest and he had to stop himself from hissing in pleasure.

  It was her damn scent that was responsible for the way he was reacting to her. Without it, he'd be able to keep his head around her. She was just another human, someone who shouldn't matter, but did and that was only because he still had a soft spot for the little girl that she once was. That would have to change and soon.

  If he'd been able to push her away years ago and not care whether she'd lived or died then this never would have happened. It was his fault that she was here, why they were here. His sentimental feelings for this woman were used against him. They were a weakness, one he would correct starting now.

  "No," she said firmly, her little glare never wavering as she looked up at him.

  "No you don't understand or-"

  "No, as in you don't control me, Caine. So back the hell off. If you want me to listen to you then you'd better come up with a plan real damn fast to get us out of here otherwise stay the hell out of my way," she said, not backing down one damn bit when he growled.

  "Now if you don't mind I'd like to finish my shower. "

  "Then finish it," he said through clenched teeth as he reached out and shut off the hot water. Then, with a simple flick of his hand he broke the hot water knob off so that he wouldn't have to endure having her scent shoved down his throat again.