Mine To Have (Mine - Romantic Suspense Book 5) (7 page)

“He seems a little…dangerous to me.”  Gary was sweating. “Maybe Tracy or I should take over her guard duty.”

Victor shook his head. “He is dangerous, and that’s why he’s the one who’ll keep guarding her. No one is going to hurt her, not while Saxon is there.”

Gary nodded. “You…you’re so sure of him.”

One of the cops called to him and Victor turned away. “I’m more sure of him than I am of anyone.  I’d trust Saxon with my life.”

“But it’s not your life that’s on the line,” Gary mumbled. “It’s Elizabeth Ward’s…”

***    

Dawn had come. The world was supposed to look bright and fresh in the morning, wasn’t it?  But it didn’t.

Fear still clung to Elizabeth.  They’d stopped earlier—mostly just so they could wash Wesley’s blood off them.  Then Saxon had kept driving and driving.  The street had disappeared, and now they were heading into the Everglades. She didn’t speak much, she felt too tired. She wanted to crash hard and escape into her dreams, for just a little while.

But Saxon kept driving.

“Don’t worry.” His low, growling voice made her jump after that long silence. “We’re almost there.  Soon, you’ll be safe. My cabin’s just a few minutes away.”

Her hands curled in her lap as he took them down what was not a road, not really, more like some partially worn path. She glanced back and realized that the path was pretty much invisible from the main road. If you didn’t know it was there, you’d drive right past it.

And that probably makes this place a perfect hiding spot.

A few moments later, they were in front of the promised cabin. The place was small, wooden, and totally surrounded by the swamp.

“You know…” Her throat had gone dry. “I’ve read stories about the giant snakes that live near this area. People have been letting their pet pythons and anacondas out here in the Everglades, just dumping them, and the snakes are getting huge and even attacking the gators.”

He didn’t say anything. She tore her gaze away from the cabin to see that he’d turned toward her, his brows raised in surprise.

“What?” Elizabeth demanded. “I’m serious.” Dead serious. “You should read the news stories.”  She shuddered. “I can’t handle snakes.” Especially snakes big enough to attack an alligator.

He leaned forward, and his knuckles slid under her chin. “Sweetheart, you have men trying to kill you. Don’t you think you should be more worried about them? And not the snakes that might be out here?”

Something…happened to her when Saxon touched her. Her heart beat too fast. Her skin seemed to overheat, and her whole body just became far too sensitive. “I’m worried about the men…and the snakes.”  She had enough fear for both of them.

He smiled. It was a rather stunning sight because he had a truly gorgeous smile. One that transformed his face from rough and dangerous to drop-dead gorgeous.  “How about I promise to protect you from the snakes?”

The way he was already protecting her from the men who were after her?
Twice
now he’d saved her life.  How was she supposed to repay him? “You’re not like anyone else I’ve ever met.”

His gaze had fallen to her mouth.  Was he thinking about kissing her? Because she was thinking about kissing him, and that was just insane. She’d watched a man die! But…

But right then, she wanted to kiss Saxon. She wanted to grab tight to him and
feel
alive.  Because she was very much afraid that she might be living on borrowed time.
And I don’t want my last days—moments?—to be filled with just fear. I want more.

When they’d kissed before, escape had been her priority. Her mind had been racing the whole time as she waited for a moment of weakness from him. What would it be like to kiss him again? To just feel him against her? His mouth? His tongue?

“Since you’re sitting down, you can’t knee me in the groin.”

Her eyes widened. “I wasn’t—”

“So I’m going to kiss you now, unless you tell me to back the hell off.”

She didn’t speak.

His smile was gone, and desire lit his eyes.  “You’re not like anyone I’ve met before, either,” he said, and then his mouth was on hers.  Warm, sensual, lips open, tongue-teasing.  She felt that kiss in every cell of her body. Need and desire twisted within her, and she kissed him back a little harder, a little deeper. Elizabeth found herself wanting more, wanting to feel so much more than just a kiss.

Because his lips had just touched hers and—
Bam.
Desire burned through her body. 
He did it.  He makes me feel this way. I am in so much trouble. 

“You taste good.” Those words were a deep, dark growl against her lips. “I could just eat you right up.”

Her panties got wet. That
wasn’t
supposed to happen.  He wasn’t supposed to be the guy who made her think—
Bam.

He kissed her again.

Her hands came up and wrapped around his neck. She pulled him closer and because she wanted it so much, Elizabeth opened her mouth wider for him.  The man sure knew how to kiss.

How to kill and how to kiss. She’d discovered two very important skill sets that the guy possessed.

He licked her lower lip.  Elizabeth couldn’t help it—she moaned, and his whole body went tense at that sound.

Saxon pulled away from her, settling back on his side of the truck, and Elizabeth realized that the panting sound of her breath filled the truck’s interior.

“Just so we’re clear…” Saxon told her, “I want to fuck you more than I want my next breath right now.”

Her panties got a bit wetter.  No, she’d definitely
not
met anyone like him before.  The guys in her circle—even Wesley—were always so controlled. Perfect gentlemen. They would never dream of saying something like that to her.

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. His door was still open, and the interior light kept shining down on them. Her gaze trailed over his hands. Such big, strong hands.  Her eyes focused on his knuckles and on the faint, white scars there. Her fingers reached out and traced lightly over the marks on his right hand. “What happened?”

“I busted too many faces.”

She looked up at him.

“In another life…”

Wait, those were scars from fighting?

“You need to remember,” he told her, staring straight into her eyes, “I’m not some safe guy you can play around with while you’re biding your time until you get to return to your real life.  When I said I wanted you more than breath, I meant it.” His gaze glittered. “Next time, I’ll take you instead of that breath.”

She was not ready for this. For him. Not in any way.  Elizabeth hurriedly pushed open her door.  It wasn’t until that moment that she fully became aware of the sounds—it was like a million different insects were out there chirping at her.
Probably because they are.
She high-tailed it toward the cabin because she did
not
want to deal with any snakes, and when Saxon opened the front door, she rushed inside.

“I have a generator out back,” he told her, his voice the deep rumble that made her think far too much about what he’d sound like in bed. “I’ll get it going for you. Just stay here, okay?”

Wait, he was leaving? “Uh—”

And he was already gone.

So she stood there, keeping close to the door because it let the sunshine in, and those chirps and cries got louder and louder. She started to inch deeper into the cabin’s interior. The lights flashed on. She was so startled that she gave a little scream.

Saxon came running. “Elizabeth!”

She pressed her lips together.  Embarrassed now, her gaze slid away from his.

Saxon laughed. It was a kind of rusty sound. “Thought you might have seen a snake. You know…the anaconda kind.”

Elizabeth’s stare jumped right back to his face. Oh, jeez, that smile of his was back in place. The smile that said,
Hi, I’m uber sexy. Don’t you think so?

He shrugged. “I know the cabin isn’t much, but it’s a safe place.  I’ll make contact with Victor soon, and we’ll see what the next step is for you.”

She turned around and looked at the cabin. The place was small, but absolutely immaculate. There was a big, dark rug on the floor.  Gleaming, wooden chairs. A table. A bed—one obviously designed to hold a single person, but it had nice, comfy looking pillows on top of it. And there was a bathroom. How much more did she really need?  “It’s perfect.” Snakes and all.

“Good. You rest here. Try to get some sleep.”

The floor creaked. She looked back and saw that he’d moved toward the doorway. Uh, oh. “Saxon?”

“I’ll check in with Victor and be back before you can even miss me.”

Doubtful. “Saxon—”

“And I’m sorry about Wesley Locke. Never in a million years would I have wanted you to watch him die.”

Her breath caught.

And he—was gone. He’d just shut the door. Locked it, and by the time she got the door unlocked and open, he was already back in the truck. ”
Saxon!”
He was really just dumping her there? After that kiss? After that whole wanting-her-more-than-breath thing?

Leaving?

Her jaw dropped.

His tail-lights vanished.

Yes, he’d dumped her.

The chirps grew even louder. Elizabeth hurriedly shut the door.

So much for needing her more than breath.  That guy really needed to work on his seduction technique. ‘Cause abandoning a girl in the middle of snake central? So not sexy. So not.

I’m sorry about Wesley Locke.

“I’m sorry, too,” she whispered.  She wrapped her arms around her stomach and wondered just what the hell she was supposed to do now. 

***

Since he knew this particular area so well, Saxon knew the exact spot where he’d start getting cell service again. He’d been working the undercover assignment in Miami for the last few months, and he’d been escaping to his cabin whenever he could.

On the days when I have to escape so I can try to remember who the hell I really am.

He yanked out his burner phone, and he called Victor. The phone rang, and he tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. The damn truck actually smelled like Elizabeth now. She didn’t just smell like honey, she tasted like that sweetness. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said that he could just eat her up and—

“Agent Monroe,” Victor snapped.

Victor was always snapping. The guy needed to learn how to relax the hell up.  Maybe once Saxon was out of the business, he’d help his friend. “She’s in a safe spot.”   

Silence. “You’re on a burner.”

Obviously. What might not be so obvious to Vic… “I’m not liking this whole setup, Vic. I mean, we were found at the motel.  And now both Taggert and Locke are dead?  By the same killer’s hand?”

“We don’t know yet if it was the same—”

“Aw, man, it’s me. Don’t feed me that line of crap. You and I both know we have to be looking at the same killer. What I don’t understand is…why? Why is someone so determined to get Elizabeth?” 

When he thought of Taggert, fury pumped through him.  He’d lost months of his life so that bastard could be brought in and turned against his clients.  Taggert was supposed to be pressured into rolling on all the people who’d hired him over the years. This case should have resulted in a massive takedown.

And now—now he had no clue what was happening.

When Victor didn’t respond, Saxon said, “You need to get an APB out on Tommy Haines, Flint Mayo, and Romeo Gustav.  I want those bastards out of the game and locked in a cell, understand?” Maybe those goons could tell them who’d originally hired—then killed—their boss.  Victor thought of just how close those men had come to getting Elizabeth. “I can’t promise you I’ll let those bastards live if they come after her again.” 

Silence.  Victor would know that Saxon wasn’t bullshitting.  His days of playing by the FBI’s rules were over.

“I’ll find them,” Victor promised. “Hell, once they get word that their boss is dead, you know they’ll panic, anyway. No doubt they’ll cut and try to run from the city, but my team will stop them.”

“You’d better.” Or
he’d
be stopping them.

“Where are you now?” Victor demanded.

Saxon hesitated. Normally, he told Victor everything. The guy was closer to him than any brother could ever be. After the shit they’d survived together, they’d formed a bond that Saxon had never expected. Only…

Elizabeth’s life is on the line.
“I’ve got her someplace safe.” Like he’d said before.

“Saxon?” There was surprise in Victor’s voice. But Victor shouldn’t be surprised. Saxon was using a burner phone for a reason.

I’m not sure who I can trust. 
Because maybe someone had tipped Taggert off about Jenny’s true identity. And maybe that same someone had led Taggert’s men to the motel. “Did your team know that I had Elizabeth at the motel?”

“Well, yes, but—”

That was all he needed to hear.

Victor’s long sigh carried over the phone. “I get it.  You
still
think someone from my team could be selling us out?”

Because, yeah, after Jenny’s death, Saxon had brought up this suspicion to Victor. By nature, he was just a suspicious bastard.

Victor’s voice dropped to a low, lethal whisper. “I told you, I checked everyone—”

“And I told
you…
I don’t trust one hundred percent—not anyone but you.”  Because he knew that money could buy nearly anyone’s loyalty.

“You won’t tell me where Elizabeth is,” Victor fired back. “So how the fuck
do
you trust me? You know I would never turn on you. I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

Right. Shit. This was
Vic.
His family.“I’ll tell you, but you don’t tell
anyone
else. Not even Gary and Tracy.”

“Not anyone else,” Victor agreed grimly.

Saxon stared out at the swamp around him. “I’ve got her in my cabin.”  Vic was the only other person who knew the location of the place. 
If I can’t trust him, then I truly can’t trust anyone.
  

“I’ll round up Taggert’s crew.  We’ll put pressure on them, and they’ll roll on the person who took out the hit on your girl.”