“Saving me.” He shifted the gun away from the man, but she didn’t think for a minute that this was done. “Saving me, how?”
“He’s not strong enough now to go throwing fire around. Pyros have to work harder, and if he’s weak, he can’t handle it. He’s not the threat he was a few minutes ago. He’s wounded, and he’s unarmed. If we go around killing the helpless, we become just like the monsters.”
Thick black lashes fell down, shielding Gus’s eyes. “Vaughnne, I already am just like the monsters. It’s one of the reasons I was able to keep the boy alive.”
She shook her head. “No.”
Another long, tense silence and then finally he knelt back down. She held her breath as he changed his hold on the weapon and swung out, using it to club the man across the head. Her breath gusted out of her and she almost went to the ground in shock. “You cannot save me, Vaughnne,” he said softly. “I’m already lost. But you can pretend to save yourself . . . for a little while longer.”
NINETEEN
THE hotel had seen better days, that was for certain. It was mostly vacant, on an isolated little strip along the Texas interstate. The terrain had gone from lush and green to flat and brown, with scraggly little bushes that looked like they struggled to stay alive.
Kind of like the hotel.
Punch drunk with fatigue, she looked toward the highway, half expecting to see another SUV, a sedan with black windows . . . something ominous. It had been quiet for more than a day, ever since she and Gus had left the pyro tied up on the porch of that tiny little shack back in Louisiana.
She’d called Taylor. He’d said he’d handle it.
No telling how he was handling it, but she’d kept an eye on the news in that area. No reports of fires springing up out of the blue, so she didn’t have to have that on her head.
And nobody else had caught up to them yet. The best she could do was hope they could get some rest before anyone new showed up on her radar. A couple of hours, she thought.
That was all she wanted.
“Are you thinking about running?”
She looked behind her as Gus came out of the bathroom.
She’d already showered and changed into some clothes he’d picked up for her earlier in the day. The tank top and yoga pants were comfortable enough to sleep in, but if she had to move—or fight—she could.
The only direction she really wanted to move just then, though, was toward the bed. She was so damn tired. Turning away from the window, she decided she’d do just that. This might be her last chance to get any decent rest for a while, right?
“No,” she said, shooting him a dark look. “I’m not thinking about running. For the hundredth time. If I decide I’m going to run, Gus, you’re not going to see me doing something so obvious as staring yearnfully out the window.”
A moment passed and then he echoed, “Yearnfully? Is this really a word?”
“Oh, bite me,” she muttered. She stretched out on the bed closest to the door. She had her Glock on the table right next to her, and out of habit, she reached for it, checked it. Loaded. Ready. It didn’t do much to ease any of the weight on her mind.
She put it down and closed her eyes.
Five seconds later, she jerked up in the bed as Gus lay down next to her, shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of loose-fitting gray pants. Low-slung, they revealed far too much for her peace of mind. But then again, everything about Gus was too much for her peace of mind. “What are you doing?”
“Lying down.” He rolled on his side to face her. “You should do the same.”
She glared at him. “There are two beds.”
“There are.” He reached up and touched her lips, and her skin all but buzzed from the light contact. “But I’m going to be closest to the door. And even if you move to that other bed, Vaughnne, once we’ve both had some rest, I plan on being inside you again. Before we leave this room, if nothing else goes wrong.”
She gaped at him.
Part of her wanted to sneer at him.
The other part wanted to forget how dog-tired she was and just crawl on top of him, take him now.
“You know, that’s a terribly romantic proposal,” she said, shooting for sarcasm. Hopefully it would keep him from realizing just what she was thinking. Feeling. Wanting . . . “But I’m thinking I might pass. You have it in your head that it’s a foregone conclusion, pal, the two of us getting it on again. Whoever said it was going to be a repeat?”
He just stared at her, and after a minute, a faint smile tugged up the corners of his lips. “Why don’t you get some sleep, Vaughnne?”
“Are you going to move to the other bed?”
“I’m staying closest to the door.” He stroked his thumb across her lower lip and then lifted his hand, settled it between them on the bed. That was when she saw the gun—that Sig Sauer he carried around like it was a pacifier. “If you don’t want to share the bed, then you can move to the other one.”
She should do just that. Really.
But instead, she lay down.
From the corner of her eye, she could see that smile of his. Infuriating. She rolled away from him and gave him her back. The guy was hot as hell, too beautiful to be real. And arrogant as all get-out.
Knowing that last part didn’t make it any easier to convince herself she wasn’t going to have sex with him once she woke up.
She already knew what was going to happen.
Assuming they had the chance.
THE phone rang.
Nalini rolled up off the bed, grabbing the phone as she moved. She checked the caller ID and looked up to see Reyes glaring at her. Her hold only lasted for a short time when she wasn’t in physical contact, and she had no desire to stay in physical contact with this guy indefinitely.
Tying him up, though, that always worked.
“Hello?” She smiled at him as she brushed her fingers over his brow, establishing the connection, looking for what she needed. He made it too easy. He was greedy and grabby and wanted everything. She twisted those needs and used them against him. Sinking the compulsion deep inside him, she promised him, You can have what you want . . . me. Hurt me as bad as you want. After you help me. Again . . .
It was all lies, but he didn’t know that. Didn’t have to, either. He’d figure it out once the compulsion wore off, but it wouldn’t help him then. You’re going to tell them everything is fine. She set the guidelines mentally as she spoke with his second in command.
They’d all looked at Reyes as though he’d lost his mind when he told them that everybody was going to leave. He wanted a few days alone with his lady. That was the lie Nalini had offered him last time. She wouldn’t be mad at him for hitting her, she’d never leave again, she’d do him however he wanted her to . . . and damn, the guy was a freak. However he wanted sometimes included the kind of violence that women sometimes died from.
As a voice jabbered on in her ear, she held Reyes’s gaze, watched as his eyes went unfocused, and she felt it when her hold on him snapped into place. “Yes, he’s here . . . we’ve been . . . well, I can’t tell you that, but he was still in bed.”
She smiled a little as she put the call on speaker. She kept one hand on his cheek as they lapsed into Spanish. Some part of him tugged against her hold, and she wrapped her will more tightly around him, felt him acquiesce.
“No, no . . .”
Reyes smiled, a dazed, blissed-out look on his face as spoke to his second, Yes, yes, everything is fine. No, you are not to return yet. Yes, we are well . . .