Dare To Love

“Excuse me, but we’re trying to find Westheimer Avenue. We’re new to the Houston area.” He pulled the map toward Kai as his companion handed it to him. “Could you tell us where it’s at, miss?” He unfolded the bulky map as she walked across the strip of grass to the curb. Kai leaned over, studying it intently. Finally she found the street and traced the route with her wet, slender finger.

“Sure,” she gasped, “you’re on Maconda right now, and—” She felt a sharp, stinging sensation in her right thigh and became vaguely aware that a man stood nearby. Kai blinked and straightened, her hand automatically moving to her leg. She heard the driver snarl an order. The world tilted. She frowned. What was going on? Danger! her instincts screamed. Kai tried to take a step away from the man hovering close by, but her legs refused to obey her. She gave the driver a puzzled look. He was grinning tightly, watching her as a cat would its intended prey. A small cry escaped her as she felt her knees begin to buckle.

Before blackness swallowed her, Kai saw another man emerging from the van, his face set. It was the expression in his gray eyes that registered on her spinning senses. He looked grim, his mouth molded into a hard, flat line. But his eyes broadcast a silent concern and unspoken terror for her just as she lost consciousness….

* * *

THE COLDNESS and shock of water being thrown on her face revived her. She groaned, dimly aware that her hands were tied tightly behind her. Pain was the first feeling to register in her drugged brain. The warmth trickling down her wrists toward her fingers could only be blood.

“Come on, rich bitch. Wake up!”

More water was thrown on her, and Kai struggled to gain a foothold on consciousness. She forced her eyes half-open. The nakedness of the solitary light bulb suspended from the ceiling made the grimy plywood walls seem surrealistic. She winced from the strong glare. She was a nurse, and she knew that something was desperately wrong with her. Nothing would come into focus. Voices were distorted as if they were bouncing in an echo chamber. Nausea threatened to engulf her, but she forced herself to concentrate on her current condition.

Kai was lying on her side with a wiry wool blanket beneath her. It was a bunk of some sort or a makeshift bed that she was lying on. Kai saw the legs of the two men, who were standing very close to the bed. Panic began to seep through her dulled state.

“Hey!” a man with black hair and dark brown eyes snapped. He leaned over, gripping her shoulder in a viselike hold. He gave her a shake that made her feel as if her neck would snap off. “I said wake up! Now if you know what’s good for you.”

“Easy, Bennie,” the second man cautioned. “You heard Taylor. He don’t want no rough stuff with the broad. She’s gotta be left in good condition.”

“To hell with Taylor. He’s Garcia’s boy, not mine.”

“Yeah, well Garcia is runnin’ this operation, Boyce. He put Taylor in charge, not you.”

Boyce grinned, running his hand down her wet arm, allowing it to come to rest on the long curve of her thigh. He squeezed her leg with his splayed fingers. “This ain’t hurtin’ her, Wright. Is it, honey?”

Kai felt his strong, cruel fingers massaging her thigh. Sheer terror coursed through her. She couldn’t even lash out, since her ankles were securely bound. Stiffening, she screamed weakly, but only a muffled protest was audible. The gag they had placed in her mouth was so tight that she was beginning to drown in her own saliva. Her eyes enlarged, Kai shrank back against the wall, trying to find escape. The door was jerked open, and the shadow of a third man loomed over Kai.

“Get your hands off the merchandise, Boyce.”

Boyce slowly straightened and removed his hand. “Ah, come on Taylor, ease up. I was only having a little fun.”

Kai sobbed, tears streaking down her pale, drawn face. Her vision was blurry, but she recognized those same gray eyes. Eyes that now sought her out. Trembling violently, Kai gave him a pleading look for help.

Taylor glared at the two men. “Get out. Both of you.”

“But—”

“I told you to untie her, Boyce, and make sure she was kept warm.”

“Well,” he growled, “we were gettin’ around to that.”

Taylor jerked his head. “Get the hell out there and keep watch. We don’t need any nosy security guards dropping in on us unexpectedly.”

Kai closed her eyes, barely able to maintain a thread of coherent thought. She heard the door slam shut. Moments later she felt his hand on her. Automatically she shrank from his touch, her eyes wide with terror.

He scowled, his dark brown brows dipping as he leaned over her. “I won’t hurt you.”

In seconds he had released the gag, and threw it with disgust on the dusty wooden floor. His touch remained gentle as he ordered Kai to roll over onto her stomach so that he could untie her hands.

“Damn,” he muttered.

Kai clenched her teeth. No matter how careful he was in releasing the biting ropes that bound her wrists, that wasn’t careful enough. Tears of pain squeezed from beneath her tightly shut eyes. Her wildly beating heart began to calm. Just his presence assuaged some of her fear. Who was he? Why wasn’t he like the other two? Oh, my God, Kai thought disjointedly, who are they? What do they want? The last rope gave way; suddenly her numbed, cramped arms were free. They fell to her sides as if she were a rag doll. Pain soared upward through her extremities, and Kai felt blackness engulfing her once again. Just the thought that the stranger named Taylor was nearby gave her solace as she slipped over the welcome edge of oblivion and escaped the living nightmare….

Matt knelt down beside the bunk, his hand resting protectively on the damp shoulder of her sweat shirt. She had fainted. Compressing his lips, he pushed several strands of auburn hair away from her tear-stained cheek. Dammit, this shouldn’t have happened. He knew little about Boyce except that the ex-con had a history of sexual assault. He had fought unsuccessfully to keep him off the kidnapping, but Garcia had insisted. Matt’s gray eyes narrowed. Garcia, he reminded himself. This is the last step in getting to Garcia…. As his gaze settled on her wrists, Matt winced. Boyce needn’t have trussed her like an animal.

Getting to his feet, Matt looked around the small, squalid room. There was one dusty blanket on the bunk. The room smelled musty. What unused warehouse wouldn’t? Worriedly he shifted his concern back to the woman. Had she fainted from pain or from the drug? It shouldn’t be the drug. She ought to be recovering from the effects of it by now. He leaned down, placing his fingers along the exposed part of her slender neck to check the pulse at the carotid-artery point.

His frown deepened; her pulse was rapid and weak. Her skin was clammy, small beads of perspiration dotted her forehead and upper lip. Cursing silently, Matt straightened up. Was this a drug reaction? Either Boyce had shot her up with too much of it, or she was allergic. Either way, she could end up dead. He studied her tense, drawn features, and his heart wrenched unexpectedly in his chest. She was attractive in an unusual way. Shaking himself, Matt continued to stare down at her. They had just successfully kidnapped the daughter of one of the richest oil tycoons in Houston. And the woman was affecting him in a way he never would have expected.

Angry with Boyce and disgruntled by rampant feelings Matt thought had died within him long ago, he quietly left the room. But not before shedding his own jacket and placing it across Kai’s shoulders in an effort to keep her warm.

* * *

FORTY MINUTES LATER Matt reentered the room with another blanket and a small sack of supplies. Exhaustion shadowed his gray eyes as he covered her with the blanket. Guilt plunged through him. She had curled up into a tight fetal position for protection. Tucking the blanket around her body, he felt the pulse at the base of her neck again. This time it wasn’t so jumpy. That was a good sign.

As gently as possible, Matt brought her arm up to examine it. There had been no reason to mar her flesh. Her skin was smooth, reminding him of the velvet quality of a ripe peach. Reaching down, he pulled out a bottle of antiseptic, some cotton and gauze from the sack at his feet.

Kai moaned. She had felt someone’s hand on her lower arm. Nausea brought her back to consciousness. Drowsily she forced open her eyes. She looked up only to meet his concerned pewter gaze. A rush of warmth flowed through her, and immediately Kai relaxed. She was safe with him. Though she opened her mouth to speak, only a croak came out.

His gaze grew more intense as he studied her in those heart-stopping seconds. “Water?”

Kai gave a weak nod of her head. Why did her body feel as if she’d been in an accident? She was vaguely aware of Taylor as he changed his position and gently gathered her into his arms. Kai’s head lolled against the hard, well-muscled wall of his chest. She felt as if she had sawdust in place of her bones.

“You’re weak,” he cautioned her, supporting her so that he could maneuver the paper cup to her parted lips.

Kai was conscious of his strong, slow heartbeat. It gave her a sense of stability. Eagerly she consumed four cups of water before her thirst was quenched. She felt his hand tremble as he awkwardly caressed her hair in a gesture meant to give her some comfort. Her mind told her she should remain on guard, and she stiffened in his embrace. He smelled of rain, and that combined with the masculine scent of his body was like a perfume to her reawakening senses. She saw the corners of his sensual mouth curve slightly upward.

“More?”

His voice vibrated through her, telling Kai this man was different from his companions. She groped to understand why he was being kind. And yet, he was her captor.

“N-no.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Awful….”

He carefully placed her back on the bed. “They shot you up with too much of the drug,” he said as he briskly placed the blankets over her once again. He lifted her arm and rested it across his thigh so that he could cleanse the rope wound.

Kai licked her lips and forced her jigsaw thoughts into some semblance of order. “Please, what’s going on here? Where am I?”

She stared up at him, her vision continuing to improve. His face was somewhat narrow. There was an intensity to his handsomeness. It showed in his well-placed cheekbones, which gave his face breadth. She saw his mouth tighten when she asked the questions. His nose had been broken, her nurse’s observation told her—at least twice. He glanced up briefly from his duties, and Kai detected a haunted expression in his eyes before he veiled it. She tensed then.

Matt froze, realizing he must have hurt her. “Sorry,” he said gruffly, “but these cuts have to be cleaned.”

Kai avoided his stare. “I’ll try to be braver.”

“For being Susan Easton, you sure aren’t the society witch I thought you’d be.”