All Tied Up

Yes, she missed wild, wonderful sex. But if she opened the door to a dangerous form of sensual pleasure, would she open the door to that person she’d once been? The one who’d put power and money, even pleasure, above all else? In her tormented moments, when the past had twisted her in knots, she had blamed her ex for influencing her behavior, which was a joke. Her choices were her own. No matter how much she had tried, she couldn’t deny she possessed a dark, wild persona that she had tried to smash into retreat. So surrounding herself with people like Constantine, who could free her of her inhibitions—that was a dangerous proposition. Dangerous. Yes. That was Constantine. Dangerously tempting. Dangerously hot.

Vague noises indicating Constantine was moving around at the entrance drew Nicole’s attention. Her lashes lifted the instant he jumped down to the cavern floor again. He tossed the rope in a corner, leaving no evidence above of their presence. He stood at full height. This space really wasn’t so tiny, she thought, comforting herself with the fact.

Constantine brushed his hands together. “All secure.”

She wondered about that. “If you grew up on this land, don’t you think that made it easy for them to find you?”

He walked to the fridge and knelt down, pulling open the door. “The title is buried too well for that.” He removed a bottle of water and offered it to her. “My grandmother registered the land in her maiden name, and since then it looks as if it’s passed through several owners’ hands. Now it’s registered under an alias. So, no. The land isn’t how they found us.”

She accepted the water, surprised it was cold. “How did you manage electricity?”

He patted the top of the fridge. “Special order. Industrial battery-powered. Cost a nice penny, but it’s worth it.”

Nicole had to agree. She unscrewed the bottle and gulped half the contents while Constantine, squatting down near her, did the same with his own water.

Discarding the bottle on the ground, she said, “I better stop. I’ll need to go to the bathroom.”

He inclined his chin toward a blanket dangling in front of an opening in the left wall. “Camper toilet.”

“You really thought of everything,” she said, grimacing at the humble facility. “Still. I think I’ll try to avoid using it.”

Switching back to safety issues, Nicole considered what he’d said about the property, and vocalized what was running through her mind. “If the title wasn’t traceable, then someone on the inside gave away your location.”

Constantine finished off his water and discarded the container. Still in a squatting position, he faced her. “Has to be.”

“What about Agent Flores?”

Something serious flashed across his face, subtle but distinct, wiped away with the speed and discipline of a man who knew how to live behind an emotional mask. But not fast enough to escape Nicole’s notice. She made her living reading people.

“It’s not Flores,” he said dismissively. “It could have been any of the marshals involved in my protection.”

His tone was short, clipped, insistent—even a bit defensive. Her brows dipped, her eyes narrowing on his face. Deep down, did he suspect Flores? Perhaps, he didn’t want to admit it, or just didn’t want it to be true.

“Does he know where we are now?” she asked, treading on the thin waters of a bad subject, but also concerned for their safety.

“No one knows where we are but us,” he assured her, his voice holding a confidence that soothed her concerns a bit—but not much.

She frowned. “I thought he was meeting us?”

“At a nearby location.”

She nodded, relieved.

Their eyes locked and sexual tension spiked as if it had been shot into the room with a cannon. Silence fell between them, heavy with the sudden charge. Constantine was studying her with such intensity she felt as if he could see her soul, unveil what secrets her file hadn’t already revealed. Wordlessly, he inched closer.

Instantly, Nicole’s heart began to race, anticipating his touch, his nearness. He reached for one of her boots as if he meant to take it off. But that set off one of her phobia alarms, dousing the sexual heat of seconds before. How did he expect her to get out of this place without her boots? Nicole jerked her feet toward her, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging them. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you some comfort. You know your feet are killing you.”

“I can’t run in bare feet.” Running in boots with the heels cut off was bad enough.

“You won’t be running anytime soon,” he informed her. “We have six hours until we leave. You might as well get some rest and dry off.”

Her throat went dry. “Six hours? Several hours is now six? In this cave? Is there oxygen?”

“Yes. Plenty of ventilation points throughout the caverns.”

She shook her head. All her efforts at relaxing flew to the wayside. “Still. No. I can’t. I…I can’t be in this hole that long.” Constantine’s expression softened. “Don’t look at me like that. I am fine. I just can’t stay here that long.”