Her decision had been made.
She would stay with Raphael until she could be absolutely certain her child was safe.
After that…
She shook her head, hitching up the sheet as she climbed the stairs leading to the back of the bar.
Right now it was enough to take it day by day.
Hell, it was enough to take it minute by minute.
Bayon led them back through the storage area and into the hidden room she’d been in before, but he never paused as he continued through a door at the back that led to a narrow staircase.
She grimaced, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu as they headed to the top floor. A feeling that only intensified as he entered one of the rooms that lined the long hall.
Absently walking toward the double bed in the center of the wood-planked floor, she barely paid attention to Bayon as he slid the still unconscious Raphael off his shoulder and onto the mattress.
This was the room she’d been in over a month ago.
She was certain of it.
There was a foggy memory of the hand-carved headboard that matched the wooden rocking chair in the corner. And the paintings of graceful plantation homes that were framed and hung on the walls. And of course, the patchwork quilt that covered the bed…
Sorting through her vague recollections, Ashe sensed Bayon step toward her, but it wasn’t until she felt something cold snap around her wrist that she realized her danger.
With a gasp, she glanced down to discover that she’d been handcuffed to the sturdy headboard
The jackass.
“What the hell?” she growled, glaring into his impassive face. “I’m not going run again.”
“No, you’re not.”
With those words he headed toward the door.
“Wait.” She tugged at the metal bracelet holding her captive, achieving nothing more than a painful welt on her wrist. “Let me out of this thing.”
He didn’t even bother to acknowledge her plea as he stepped out of the room and closed the door.
“Bastard.”
Cursing the day from hell that refused to end, Ashe awkwardly climbed onto the bed. She was too weary to work up a proper fury.
Not that she was the forgive-and-forget type.
Next time she crossed paths with Bayon she was going to kick him in the nuts.
Managing to keep the sheet wrapped around her, she moved until the handcuff wasn’t biting into her skin and turned her attention to the man sprawled in the middle of the mattress.
Did they always pass out after shifting back to human?
It didn’t seem very efficient.
Or had he been hurt?
Leaning to the side, she inspected the bronzed perfection spread over the quilt.
Her mouth went dry as she tried to concentrate on searching him for injuries. She’d never seen a man so magnificently…proportioned.
A broad, chiseled chest. Powerful shoulders. Washboard abs. Long, muscular legs. And a huge…
Yeah. Magnificently proportioned.
Her gaze moved back to his chest, lingering on the stylized tattoo that resembled a puma crouched to pounce.
She had a hazy memory of exploring that tattoo with her tongue the first night they’d shared this bed.
Did it have a special meaning?
Raphael made a low sound, his head turning in her direction. Without thought, she reached out to brush the silken golden hair from his face, her fingers tracing the prominent line of his cheekbones before moving to the lush curve of his lips.
She’d tried to fight against the sense of connection that she’d felt from the moment she’d opened her eyes to find him in her hotel room.
Now she simply savored the comfort of having him near.
No one had ever tried to protect her.
Certainly not her mother or deadbeat father.
It made her feel…cherished.
Shuffling through her unfamiliar emotions, Ashe wasn’t prepared when Raphael’s eyes snapped open, something that might have been panic flaring in the golden depths before he was surging up to grab her face between his hands.
“Ashe.”
She barely had a chance to brace herself before he was covering her lips in a kiss of stark need.
“Raphael,” she muttered, when he at last lifted his head so she could breathe.
“I thought I’d lost you.” He spread desperate kisses over her face before he bent down to place his mouth against her lower stomach. “I thought I’d lost you both.”
The heat of his lips seared through the thin sheet, and without thought she combed her fingers through the satin gold of his hair.
There was no mistaking the stark fear that continued to haunt him.
“We’re fine,” she soothed, stroking him in a comforting motion.
“Ashe.” His hands brushed down her shoulders, his lips nibbling a tender path upward. “I couldn’t bear to lose you.”
“Raphael, I—” Whatever she was about to say was lost in a haze of pleasure as his lips reached the edge of the sheet.
“What?” he whispered.
“I don’t remember.”
He chuckled as his hands drifted down her arms, pausing when he reached the handcuff.
With a sound of surprise he lifted his head to meet her darkening gaze.
“What’s this?”
She made a sound of disgust. “Your pain-in-the-ass friend was afraid I might try to escape again.”
“But the locks…” His gaze narrowed as he belatedly remembered she’d escaped before. “How the hell did you get out of here?”
She rolled her eyes. Like she knew?
“I just walked out.” She shook her arm, making the handcuff rattle. “Get this off me.”
A slow, wicked smile curved his lips. “I think we should leave it in place for now.”
A treacherous heat flared through her body. “Don’t tell me you’re kinky?”
“Desperate,” he corrected, his smile fading as his eyes smoldered with a naked hunger. “I need to be inside you, ma chère,” he said with blunt honesty. “My cat needs to know I haven’t lost you. Say yes.”
Ashe shuddered at the simple plea. She found it oddly erotic to know just how much he wanted her. It gave her a sense of power that she rarely experienced.
“Yes.”
He hissed, as if he was caught off guard by her ready capitulation, and then with a slow motion he was pulling open the ends of the sheet.
She forgot how to breathe as the night air hit her skin, her heart pounding as his fingers gently cupped the small firmness of her breasts.
“Beautiful,” he muttered, stroking his thumbs over the hard points of her nipples.
Ashe knew she wasn’t beautiful.
Her own mother had lamented the thick dark hair and prominent nose that Ashe had inherited from her father. And then there was her body that was too skinny, and her skin too pale.
But beneath his predatory gaze she felt beautiful.
Snarling deep in his throat, Raphael turned her until his lips could stroke down the sensitive scratch marks that were nearly healed on her back. His touch sent jolts of shocking arousal through her, but she made no effort to pull away.
In this moment she needed him as much as he needed her.
Turning back to face him, she boldly ran her free hand over his chest, astonished by the satin smoothness of his skin. He was completely furless. A perfect bronze velvet draped over steel.
Enjoying her exploration, Ashe barely noticed when Raphael gently arranged her against the pile of pillows, careful to keep her shackled arm above her head. Not until he bent over her to capture a nipple between his teeth.
She moaned as his tongue teased the sensitized tip, tormenting her until she was moving restlessly beneath him. Good lord. She’d never gotten so hot so quickly.
It was as if his touch had a direct connection to her libido.