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  I run my hands through my hair and remember that I put it up before work, but it’s down now. I look at my nails and notice my hands are clean, too. Someone not only changed my clothes, they washed the warehouse dirt and dust off me. Flipping off the bathroom light, I walk out and go to the other mystery door on the far side of the room. When I open it, a long hallway is revealed, with not much light leading the way.

  I pop my head out and as soon as I do, Bear shoots out and takes off running down the hallway.

  “Bear!” I whisper-shout.

  I chase him down the long hallway as he darts around a corner and down a flight of stairs. I follow him in a panic trying to catch him, but he’s too quick. Just when I’m almost close enough, and I’m about to scoop him up, he darts to a crack between two massive doors and slips inside. I make a grab for him but he’s already through. The movement causes one of the doors to slowly open.

  “Bear, get back here,” I whisper again, not wanting to wake anyone who might be asleep.

  I’ve never seen his ass move so fast before, and of course he’s doing it right now.

  I push the door open a little more and step inside. There’s a light on, and I spot him right away. He’s on a large wooden desk, lying on top of it like he’s been doing it for years; as if he owns the damn thing.

  Thunder cracks loudly again, and the lights in the room flicker before going out. My hand flies over my mouth and I try to stop myself from screaming as my eyes move to the only other source of light in the room. There’s a fire lit in the fireplace, and I freeze when I notice someone standing in front of it.

  A man is standing there with one hand braced on the mantle. His back is to me, and his size is intimidating. Not to mention he isn’t wearing a shirt. He’s only wearing a pair of slacks that hang low on his hips. I can even make out the place just above his ass, and suddenly my lips are dry. I lick them as my eyes roam over his broad back, thinking about how every thick inch of him is muscled.

  When I realize I’m starting to drool, my cheeks heat. I can’t believe I’m stunned into shock by the way he looks. I should have my mind on other more important things at the moment. Like where the hell am I, and how did I get here. I look down at the shirt I’m wearing and wonder if it’s his shirt. I also wonder who owns all the clothes upstairs and where she is. That sure looked like a master bedroom to me, and I don’t want to get caught checking out her man.

  “Cricket,” he says.

  His deep, strong voice fills the silent room and it sends a warm chill down my back. I know he’s called me by that name before because it sounds familiar.

  He pushes off the mantle, and the muscles in his back flex. Jesus, is this guy an advertisement for Bowflex? I didn’t think he could look any bigger, but from the front he’s like Thor.

  When his eyes land on me, I feel completely naked. My palms sweat, and I try not to stammer as I see this big, muscled, hammer-wielding god before me.

  “Where am I?” I ask, proud of myself that I was able to string a couple of words together.

  Thunder strikes again, only it’s louder this time. I don’t have time to cover my mouth as it makes me jump and I let out a little scream.

  He moves to me, faster than one would expect with how big he is. And before I can comprehend what he’s doing, he’s wrapping me in his arms to comfort me. That deep, rich smell fills my lungs again, and I know for sure now this shirt is his. So is the bed I woke up in.

  I look up into his bright green eyes, and everything comes back to me.

  “You’re home,” he says, as he places a kiss on my forehead.

  Chapter 8

  Fritz

  “Where is she?” Lilith snaps, and I can see the anger and frustration in her eyes. I’ve let her down. Just like I let my parents down. The thought sets me on edge.

  “I don’t know. She couldn’t have gone far. I went by her apartment this morning, but she wasn’t there.” I check my phone again, but she still hasn’t read my texts from last night. I try to reassure Lilith. I don’t want her to think I’ve fucked up completely.

  “How could you be so fucking stupid? I told you to make sure she was gone for the day before you came in my office.” Lilith places her hands on her narrow waist.

  “I know. I’m sorry,” I say, reaching out to touch her hand. She jerks hers back like she can’t stand the thought of me. “What’s the big deal? She’s gone. Let her go. It was time to end things anyway.”

  Lilith turns around and gives me a death stare, and I take a step back from her, realizing she is even more mad than I thought. I don’t understand how she didn’t get upset that I had to pretend to be with Blair. You’d think she would have been jealous and that she’d now be glad Blair is gone from our lives. We can come up with a new plan.

  “You have put this entire operation in jeopardy,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “It took years for you to find her then get her to work here. We don’t have the time to find someone new. Do you know how difficult it was to find someone so isolated and easy to manipulate? She was the perfect person for this job and you had to go and fuck it up!”

  She shouts the last part at me and suddenly I’m afraid that I may have screwed things up beyond repair. I try to think fast so I can fix this.

  “I’ll make it right. I promise. I’ll come up with something.”

  Lilith rolls her eyes and lets out a long breath. “Jesus, how could I get involved with an idiot like you?” she asks, but I don’t answer. I can fix this, show her I can handle things.

  “You’re not going to kick me out of your guest house, are you?” I ask, wondering where the hell I would go. My family disowned me years ago, and I’m flat broke until more money starts coming in from the stolen art.

  “This was going to make both of us a fortune. I don’t have time to find someone else to take the fall for this. It was years of grooming and coordination. One slip with a lousy lay and now all of it is on the line.” She turns to look at me, and there is fire in her eyes. “You get her back here and make this right. You do whatever it fucking takes for her to agree to come back to work. And I don’t care if that means you marrying her or never seeing her again. If you cost me all that I’ve built, I’ll make sure this all falls on your shoulders. Get it done, Fritz.”

  She spits out my name like it’s dirt in her mouth.

  “It’s late. Why don’t we go home and I can run you a nice bath?” I offer, but the set of her jaw leaves no room for debate. “You can count on me,” I finally say, trying to do what I can to smooth things over until I can fix this.

  She turns and give me her back as she waves her hand and dismisses me. I leave the gallery and check my phone again, seeing nothing new from Blair. Rage bubbles inside me just below the surface as I think of where the fuck she could have ran off to.

  I purposely made it so that she didn’t have any friends, had a shitty roommate, and nowhere else to turn except to me. I never wanted anything to do with that mousy nobody, but Lilith said we needed someone to pin it on. Blair was the perfect candidate and barely took any effort. She was so desperate for attention from anyone that she’s lucky all I wanted from her was this job. A lesser man probably would have fucked that cherry out of her a long time ago, but I was never interested in that. I didn’t want her trailer trash hands on me. I’m a goddamn blue blood. I won’t let some Louisiana redneck destroy my good name, and I’ll make sure she goes along with the plan. Even if I have to spell out for her exactly what I’m capable of.

  “Fucking bitch,” I say to myself as I make my way back to her apartment.

  Chapter 9

  Ryker

  “Would you like some tea?” I ask, rubbing her back up and down, breathing in her scent. I still can’t believe she’s here. In my arms. In my shirt.

  “I-I don’t know,” she says, looking up at me with confusion in her eyes. “I’ve got a lot of questions.” She bites her lip, drawing my eyes there and making me want to kiss her.

&n
bsp; “I know,” I say, brushing a strand of dark hair away from her eyes. “Let’s get you warmed up and then you can ask all the questions you want.”

  She nods, letting go of her lip. Her little pink tongue peeks out between her lips, soothing the place she bit and I have to fight back a groan. I take her small hand in mine, and for a second I look down to see the size difference. She’s so small compared to me. I’ll have to be careful with her.

  Pushing those thoughts away, I lead her out of the study to the east wing of the house. The walls are lined with wood, and the floors are a mix of wood and stone. I check to make sure she’s still got on the socks I put on her earlier. This house can get cold at night, even in the heat of the summer.

  I can practically hear the gears turning in her mind and I know she’s desperate to ask questions.

  “Where are we?” she asks, and I smile.

  “We’re in Perscia,” I say and look down at her. When her eyebrows pull together in confusion, I squeeze her hand. “It’s a peach grove south of Charleston. I bought it a few years back and now I call it home. It’s about a thousand acres of trees, but mostly I use it to ride horses when I need to get some fresh air.”

  “That sounds big.”

  “It is.” You couldn't leave this place on foot and make it out before night fall. I keep that thought to myself. We turn a corner and keep walking until we reach the back of the house. “The house here is about as big as I can stand it, and I don’t know if I’ve even been in every room.”

  When I push open the door of the kitchen, Lily, my chef, stands up from the table. She’s in her robe, and her long white hair is in a braid over one shoulder. She’s having what looks to be milk and cookies.

  “What can I get for you, Mr. Hunt?” she says, smiling sweetly at me and then Blair. “And you, Ms. Rosewood?”

  “Me?” Blair says and then looks up to me like I have the answer.

  “It’s all right, Lily. I can manage,” I say, and she nods. I watch as she puts her dishes in the sink and then turns on the tea kettle.

  “Just leave the dishes there when you’re finished. I’ll take care of them.”

  “How does she know my name?” Blair asks when Lily leaves out of the back and towards her room.

  “Everyone here does,” I say, because it’s true.

  “Okay. I think I need to sit down,” she says and takes a seat at the little kitchen table. My shirt rides up her thighs, showing me more of her silky skin.

  “It’s going to be a lot to process, Blair, but just try and breathe.” I go over and kneel down beside her and rub her back, trying to comfort her, wanting to be back closer to her, touching her. It takes her a second, but she nods like she’s okay. “Let’s start with an easy question.”

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is Ryker Hunt,” I say, and hedge the rest of who I am. I don’t want to beat her down with information right now, so we’ll go slow.

  “What day is it?” she asks, looking around for a clock. When she finds it above the stove her eyebrows do that confused thing again and it’s so adorable it’s an effort not to reach out and rub them until the worry is gone. “It’s nine, but that can’t be right.”

  “It’s nine p.m.”

  “How long did I sleep for? Did you…” She starts to ask something then shakes her head and changes it. “When did you bring me here?”

  “I met you outside the gallery around midnight.” I don’t mention the part where I drugged her. “You slept all day yesterday and today. I was beginning to get worried.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?”

  The tea kettle begins to whistle and saves me from having to answer right away. I knew these questions would come, I was just hoping to have some more time before they began.

  “What kind of tea would you like?” I ask as I get the cups and saucers.

  “Whatever you have is fine,” she says and shrugs one shoulder.

  I turn around from the cabinet and place the cups on the counter before I go back over and kneel down in front of her again.

  “You can have anything you want. Do you understand me? This is a safe place where you can have your heart’s desire. This is a lot to take in, but I want you to know one thing is always certain. If you want it, you can have it. All you have to do is say the word.”

  I reach out and touch her chin before I stand up and go back over to the cups. “Now, Cricket, what kind of tea would you like?”

  “Do you have anything with orange blossom?” she says and bites her lip again. She’s not used to asking for what she wants, but she’s about to get a crash course.

  “I do,” I say, grabbing some and pouring us each a cup.

  I go to the refrigerator and grab the milk then set it all on a tray and bring it over to her. I serve her, even adding sugar to her tea before I stir it and set it in front of her.

  “There, drink up.”

  My eyes are locked on her mouth as her full lips part and she takes a drink of the tea. Her cheeks are pink, and she looks away when she notices I’m watching her. I should stop, but I can’t help myself. Having her this close is surreal. I feel like a kid on Christmas morning.

  “Was I hysterical?” she asks, and now it’s my turn to be confused. “Is that why I passed out in your arms? I mean, thank you for taking care of me, but I should probably go soon. I was just wondering if somehow I had a panic attack.”

  I lean back in my chair and watch her for a second before I answer. She isn’t going anywhere. She’s fidgeting with the sleeves of my shirt, and I can see there’s a nervousness there at what I’m going to say.

  “You were upset when you left the gallery,” I say, answering very carefully. I hate that she had to go through that, but I also hate that she cared so much for another man. “But before I answer anything more, I want you to understand that you’re not leaving, Blair.” There, I put it out on the table. I try to keep my demeanor calm and unthreatening. I’d never hurt her.

  “What?” She sets her teacup down in the saucer and there’s a bit of a rattle to it. “What do you mean I can’t leave?” She looks like she can’t even process the words.

  I sit forward, bringing my body closer to hers. “It was no accident I was there when you ran out of the gallery.”

  “Ryker.” She whispers my name, and it calls to something dark inside me.

  “I made sure I was there, because I’ve been watching you.”

  “You’re scaring me,” she says, and though I don’t see fear in her eyes, she’s definitely nervous.

  “I won’t ever hurt what belongs to me,” I say, reaching out and tracing a finger down her neck along the necklace I placed on her. “You’ve never noticed what’s right in front of you. All this time I’ve been there, waiting.”

  Her breath catches as my finger touches her collarbone and then begins to trail lower.

  “My little cricket,” I say as my finger slowly moves to the space between her breasts.

  “Why do you call me that?” Her voice is barely a whisper now.

  “Because growing up, the sweetest sound in the world was at night. I always thought the crickets came out and played their songs just for me until I fell asleep.” I look up into her hazel eyes, and the gold in them is twinkling. “The first time I heard your voice, I knew that I’d never sleep again. Not until I had you in my bed.”

  Just as my finger touches the edge of her breast, lightning cracks and she’s in my arms.

  “Shhh, I’ve got you,” I say softly against the top of her head as I smile from ear to ear.

  Chapter 10

  Blair

  Ryker’s scent pulls me from the panic that hits when the loud sound of thunder strikes. Calm rolls over me for a moment until I realize what he just said. I lean back to look at him, and I can’t believe I threw myself into his arms like that. He has a smile on his lips, and I involuntarily lick mine. He has to be the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in my life. Then a memory from what feels like forev
er ago enters my mind. I saw him at the coffee shop on my first day at the gallery. I was about to start my new job when I saw those eyes. His eyes. How could I ever forget them?

  You’re not leaving.

  His words repeat through my mind. He’s crazy. That has to be it. It’s the only way this makes sense. He’s too good-looking to have it all together anyway. Nobody is this perfect, so clearly he’s nuts.

  I realize my fingers are digging into him and I jerk my hands back. I wiggle to get away from him, needing space. I’ve got to figure out what the hell is going on.

  The grip he has on me tightens. I fight a little harder but freeze when my ass comes into contact with something hard. It’s then I realize I’m straddling him, with my core right up against him. The shirt I’m wearing has ridden up, and my panties are on full display. I glance down and then back up, and our eyes lock. It takes everything in me not to wiggle again. My breathing becomes shallow and I say nothing. His own is growing deeper and more pronounced.

  “I have a boyfriend,” I blurt out.

  Well, maybe I do. I never really told Fritz it was over, or even processed what happened between him and Lilith, so I guess we haven’t officially broken up. Though in my head he’s pretty much dead to me. I would never be with a cheater. Not like my mama. She didn’t care when her boyfriends stepped out on her. Maybe because more than anything I want loyalty. I’ve never had that in another person, to be able to always count on them no matter what.

  Ryker’s whole face changes when I say that, and a look of anger takes over. The gentle softness he carried before is gone, and my heart starts to race. Fear takes hold and I try to remind myself that he wouldn’t hurt me. But should I believe that from a man who said he isn’t going to let me go? I don’t know why, but I do believe him. He seems like a man who always says the truth no matter if you’re going to like it or not. Kind of like how he said he isn’t letting me go. Though I’ve been wrong about a man before. That’s clear from my choice in my last boyfriend.