Awakening Abduction (3 page)

“Yes, I was there. It was only a scraped knee and some tears, but you always managed to scream as though your arm had been sawed off when you were hurt.” He gave a soft chuckle.

As much as she craved his touch, any contact with him at all, she was loath to admit it yet and tried to distance herself from him by scooting closer to the door. Whatever strange reaction she had toward him was downright weird.

James looked so genuine and sincere. Her foggy memories of him towering over her childhood self flickered in and out, the snapshots of a photo album burning into her memory.

All Hannah had were more questions, no answers.

Why did she have so many memories of him near her when he had to have been about five years older than her? Didn’t he have any friends his own age?

Had her father been looking for her for sixteen years? How long ago had he found her?
God
.

They settled into silence, Hannah watching the trees go by out the passenger window as the sun came up over the horizon at their back. She needed to talk to her mom. She needed answers.

Digging into the deep recesses of her brain, all Hannah could remember was her mother’s repeated insistence throughout the last sixteen years that Hannah be diligent and careful about her surroundings. As though she somehow knew one day Hannah would find herself in just such a predicament. She’d harped repeatedly on safety, locked doors, deadbolts, stranger danger. Now it all made more sense. They’d been on the run, essentially, most of Hannah’s life. For whatever reason, Meredith Stone did not want Hannah to be found.

And that reason scared Hannah to the bone.

A shrill sound coming from behind the seats jerked Hannah from her reverie. The ringtone was assigned to her mother, who was no doubt wondering why Hannah wasn’t at home. She stared at James. Would he keep her from her own mother? Why had he even brought the cell along? She hadn’t realized he had.

“Aren’t you going to get that? She’ll be worried sick by now.” He didn’t look at her.

Hannah scrambled to reach behind his seat and search for the mix of vibrations and ringing filling the side pocket of her favorite duffel.

Just as the fourth ring sounded, Hannah yanked the little cell free and flipped it open.

“Mom.”

“Hannah? Where the dickens are you? I’ve been calling your apartment for ten minutes.”

A deep breath. “Mom, I’m…” What was she supposed to say? Calmly tell her mother some stranger—well, he really wasn’t a complete stranger after all—broke into her apartment and kidnapped her in the night? Why was James even allowing this call? Hannah stared at his profile. He hadn’t moved a muscle. The only indication he was even under distress was the furrow of his brows pinching together.

Perhaps he too hoped for some of the same answers Hannah needed.

“Hannah?”

“I’m here.”

“Where?”

“Somewhere in Pennsylvania by now.”

“What? Why? Oh
God
.”

“You knew this would happen, didn’t you? Mom, why? Is it true? Have you been lying to me all these years?”

“Hannah, who has you? What did he say? Has he hurt you? Can you get away?”

“Mom, I’m fine. I don’t need to get away. Unless you want me to jump out a car barreling down the highway. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was trying to protect you. Who took you, Hannah? Did he say his name? Is he tall, heavy, sixtyish, beard?”

“No. Mom, what are you talking about? His name is James. You must know him. Even I remember him.” Confusion caused more questions to brew, adding to a list a mile long.

James reached his hand over and set it on Hannah’s thigh, squeezing gently as if providing her with his own strength to face her mother. Strangely, she welcomed the contact.

Of all the people in the world, it seemed the one person who wasn’t lying to her was the man who’d abducted her from her own apartment only a few hours ago.

Meredith exhaled a long relieved breath. “Thank God. I was so scared.”

“What the hell is going on, Mom? I need you to fill in about six dozen holes in my life. Now’s a good time.” Impatience was wearing on her.

“It’s a long story. I’m just so glad you’re with James. You’ll be safe with him. Don’t let him out of your sight, you hear?”

“Mom, this is preposterous. Safe from what? Who?”

“Hannah, I’m so sorry. Believe me, your father and I didn’t make this decision lightly. We did what we thought was best for you. I promise we would have told you everything eventually. I had hoped we had more time. Listen, I’ll call you back—”

“Mom! No. You can’t go. You have to tell me what’s going on. Why—”

“I have to call your father now, find out what happened. Why didn’t he call me? Crap, my cell was dead yesterday afternoon. God, he probably did call. Please, just stay safe. Use all the information I’ve ever taught you and watch your surroundings. Hannah, James is a good guy. He won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll call you back as soon as I can. I love you.”

Click.

Hannah held the phone in front of her and stared at it. What the hell was going on?
Your father and I didn’t make this decision lightly…
This was planned? Her father knew? Her mother fled with her from her childhood home to protect her? From what?

“Hannah?” James’ deep baritone dragged her gaze to his.

She knew he’d heard everything, the entire huge pile of nothing that only caused more questions and cleared up not one thing. Her mother’s voice was so loud.

Hannah flipped the phone closed and dropped it into the center console. “I guess she trusts you. At least she wants
me
to.” She resumed her staring out the window.

She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Can we stop? I need to use the restroom. And I’m starving.”

She didn’t glance away from the exciting outdoor scenery. “Of course. I could use a bite myself.”

Chapter Three

A bite
? He could sure use a bite all right. Of the thin skin above this vixen’s clit.

James may have squeezed her leg a bit harder than intended when she used the term “bite”. His mind had been doing nothing but wandering around the memory of her soft sexy body beneath the thin little number he’d found her wearing when he’d shown up at her place.

At the next exit, James pulled off at a gas station and started filling the tank while they went in to use the facilities. He was leery about letting Hannah out of his sight. At this point, he didn’t believe she’d bolt, but what if someone was following them?

James ducked quickly into the men’s room and was back in front of the women’s before Hannah finished. Nevertheless, relief flooded him when she emerged. Her cheeks were pink and damp, her blonde hair smoothed back and tucked behind her ears. He stared at her, not budging.

“What?”

“Thanks for trusting me. I was afraid you’d run.”

“Lucky for you, the only sense my mom made on the phone was to reiterate more than once I should trust you. Of course,” she added, raising her chin toward him, “at this point I don’t even know why I should trust
her
.”

True. Couldn’t argue with that.

“Drive through?” he asked as they made their way back to the pump.

“Anything. I’m easy.”

Fuck
. Would she please stop saying such things? James held his breath. As did Hannah. Had she realized the double meaning of her words?

“’Kay then, let’s just grab some fast food and keep moving. We’ve a long ways to go.”

And it was going to seem even longer trapped in the confines of this luxury car with his body reacting violently toward the sexy scent of his mate beside him. He didn’t know how he would avoid pulling over along the highway and taking her right in the front seat.

This vixen was going to be the death of him, he was sure.

“If we’re in such a rip-roaring hurry to get to Seattle, why don’t we just fly?”

“Because…people might be following us.” He exhaled. “Listen, driving helps us lay low, makes it much harder to track us. If we’d gone straight to the airport, there’d have been no way to know for sure if we were followed. Too easy to corner us.”

“Do you really think I’m in that much danger?” Hannah wrapped her arms around her middle.

“No, I don’t. Really.” He paused. She looked dubious, worry wrinkling the corners of her eyes. “I don’t think whoever was on your tail was in the area last night. I think we gave them the slip. But we aren’t taking any chances anyway.”

* * * * *

Luckily, after a quick on-the-go meal, Hannah fell into a deep sleep, leaving James to his thoughts.

He had a difficult time keeping an eye on the road, but he sure wasn’t tired, with one eye trained on the beautiful woman relaxed in slumber beside him. She was nearly curled into a ball, her feet beneath her, her head resting against the passenger door where she’d stuffed a sweatshirt as a pillow.

Long glorious locks of blonde hair curled around her angelic face. In sleep, she looked as innocent as she had at five years old, with the same peaceful, relaxed face he remembered seeing when she’d fallen asleep on his parents’ couch after a late-night family party. He’d stared at her that night, wondering what his obsession was with a five-year-old girl, in no way understanding at the time she was actually his mate.

He’d thought about her over the years, but had shoved those memories to the recesses of his brain to stave off the pain of her loss in his life.

Now, it was all so clear. She was his. His pre-pubescent ten-year-old body had even known.

Now he had to tell her father, and her mother, apparently.

She was still young, only twenty-one, but it wasn’t unheard of for matings to occur at that age. Only fate seemed to control when mates would meet. Apparently even at ages five and ten.

With each mile, James’ need grew incrementally more insistent. He couldn’t put off the inevitable much longer. This little wolf was his. Eventually they would have to find a hotel and stop, get some rest. At least for a few hours. When that happened, could he keep his hands to himself, buy her another day, another night, before he took her? Seemed unlikely.

Did she even know she was a wolf? The question lingered, but he still had no idea what she knew of their kind. What had her mother told her over the years? Sounded like nothing. She could get away with that. Unlike the males of their species, who began to shift during puberty and started running with the adults of the pack soon after, a female of their kind wouldn’t experience a change until after she mated.

Hannah’s mother would have known these details and could have kept the information from her indefinitely if she chose.

James shivered to think he would have to be the one to educate Hannah in about nineteen different ways in such a short time. His mind warred between feeling the nervousness of such a responsibility and the pride at being given the opportunity to provide such an important influx of knowledge to his mate.

With his chest pumped up just a little, he once again inhaled the spicy, fresh scent—all Hannah. James allowed a few deep breaths so he could wallow in his own ability to identify everything about her.

Even in a light slumber, her pheromones heightened, a steady need to be taken by him. Her essence made him adjust his crotch. With each shallow breath he caught a whiff of the mint she’d eaten after their makeshift breakfast in the car. The aroma of the perfume she’d probably applied more than twenty-four hours ago lingered in the air. He liked the soft floral smell; it wasn’t overpowering. But he secretly hoped to convince her to quit wearing perfume at all. He didn’t like the idea of her masking her own sweet fragrance.

A long exhalation brought his attention back to her face for a quick glance. Her eyes had fluttered open. She smiled at him slightly and it lit up his insides.

“James?”

“Yeah?”

“What the hell is going on?”

Oh
shit
. Her question was loaded like a grenade. He’d no idea how to respond. “What do you mean?”
Sure, throw the ball back in her court. Wuss
.

“I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I do know you have more information than you’ve shared. There is something between you and I that seems…familiar. As though we’ve known each other our entire lives. And I’m not just talking about some brief encounter when I was five.”

“Yes, I agree.”

“Seriously? That’s your answer? You agree?”

He couldn’t keep from smiling. At least she wasn’t oblivious, or even extremely shy about their connection. It might make things easier on him…later.

“We…will talk. Later. When we stop for the night.”

“Chicken.”

Her challenge turned his grin into a hearty laugh and he couldn’t keep from reaching for her hand, even though the contact was probably a bad idea.

“Scout’s honor. I want to be able to look into your gorgeous eyes while we talk. Promise.”

Hannah actually
snorted
at him. “Right, you’re some Boy Scout, all right.”

Lucky for him, she didn’t continue to press the issue. Hannah turned her gaze toward the passenger window and stared out at the passing scenery for most of the day. Sometimes she dozed for a while. Other times she fiddled with the dials on the radio, trying to get reception as they entered a new city. Even when they stopped for lunch, she didn’t mumble more than a few words. He hated her stance, somewhat resigned, defeated. Or maybe she was just pissed and biding her time. He couldn’t be sure.

In the late afternoon, the silence broke. Her phone, still in the cup holder between them, produced the shrill sound he recognized as her mother’s. Without asking permission, he picked up the call himself this time.

“Hello, Mrs. Stone. James here.”

“Thank God. Where’s Hannah?”

“She’s fine. She’s right next to me. What did you find out?” This time he intended to get some information from the horse’s mouth.

“I spoke with Maxwell. He didn’t fill you in on many specifics before he sent you on this wild mission, did he?”

“Hardly. And I’d sure like to know why.”

“Listen,” she mumbled so softly even James could barely hear her, “Hannah doesn’t know—”

“Doesn’t know what?”

“Anything.”

“Ahh.”
Great, just great
.

“We were going to tell her, eventually. But not yet.”

Hannah grabbed his arm, muttering something about giving her her own damn phone, but he leaned away, holding up a finger as a sign to hang on with what he hoped was a good puppy-dog look.

She harrumphed, but sat back.

The man drove her crazy. How dare he answer her phone? Talk to
her
mother. He had no right. And she needed far more answers than he did right now.

All she got out of the conversation was a series of “uh-huh”, “I see”, “are you sure?”, “do they know where he is?”, “okay”, “keep us posted”.

“Here, your mom wants to say hello.”

“Fuck you,” she mumbled while grabbing the phone he held toward her. “Mom? What the hell is going on?”

“James will explain everything. I’m sorry, honey. For everything. Believe me when I say I love you, your father loves you and we always have, both of us.”

“Why, Mom?”

“For your protection. Please, just trust me. I’ll be with you again soon. I’ll fly to Seattle and meet you there as soon as possible. In a few days.”

“No. Later isn’t good enough. What the hell is going on? Mom? Mom?” She pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it in disbelief. “Either she hung up on me or the call got dropped.” Slowly, she turned to James. “What the hell is going on?” The question was becoming redundant, but she didn’t care.

James laid a hand on her thigh again, probably intending reassurance, but only succeeding in sending her libido through the roof once more. Every time he touched her, sparks shot through her body.

“You wanna just hang on to this so you can screen all my calls?” She didn’t care if her sarcasm leaked out for his enjoyment. Not to mention James didn’t even crack a smile. He literally took the proffered phone, lifted his hips a bit and put it in his jeans pocket.
Bastard
.

“I’ll look for a place to stop,” he tossed her way. Surely he could feel the daggers she was about to start shooting through the car if she didn’t get answers, and soon.

“I advise you do, if you don’t want me to start punching you for answers.”

“Hmmm, that’s not a bad vision. You pummeling me with your tiny fists until I have to restrain them to avoid injury. Could you do it after we check into the room?”

“
Bastard
.” This time she didn’t keep the name calling to herself.

Three exits later, James pulled off the highway at a busy intersection advertising about six hotels.

Glancing around, he pulled into a seeming random selection, cut the engine and turned to face her. “I know you’re losing patience. Please hang on a few more minutes until I get us checked in…and maybe order a pizza. I’m starving.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Fair enough. Come on.” James stepped out of the car, grabbed the bag he’d stuffed behind the seat and his own duffel with one hand and swung around the car to open the door for Hannah before she could literally get her seat belt off. The man had gentlemanly skills she’d not seen in…well, forever.

How many kidnappers were kind enough to open the door for their victims?

In no time, they acquired a room, ordered room service and settled on a loveseat in the sitting area.

Hannah stared at James as he fiddled with his hands before leaning forward and taking her own. His gaze, when it met hers only inches away, reached into her soul. She shivered at the intimate contact she’d been bereft of for about twelve hours now. Ever since she’d come shamelessly against his leg in the dark during the early morning hours.

He wasted no time. “Hannah, apparently there’s someone from another pack who—”

“Pack?”

James froze for a fraction of a second, but it didn’t go unnoticed.

“Another…town…I guess you’d say.” James dropped her hands, jumped up and started pacing. “Look, I suck at this. Talking, I mean. Explaining things. Things you should have been told by your own parents, not your…well, not me. Please, just bear with me. Let me try to explain.”

His fidgeting was endearing in a way. He rang his hands together and paced the room. She wished she could feel sorry for his plight. Their predicament was no more fair to him than to her, but somehow she believed she was the least informed in this matter.

A knock at the door made her jump, her heart racing.
Relax. Lord. No one has a clue where we are
. It was absurd how uneasy she felt about the unknown enemy lurking somewhere out there.

“It’s just the pizza.”

“How do you know?”
What is he—psychic?

“Can’t you smell it?” James headed for the door, his nose lifted into the air, a deep exhalation of excitement escaping his lips on a sigh.
Pizza must be his favorite food
.

And yes, now that he mentioned it, she could smell it. She’d just been concentrating so hard on the masculine scent of James quickly filling the entire room, she couldn’t care less about what wafted in from the hall.

Moments later, James returned balancing a steaming box, a six-pack of beer dangling from his pinky and a bottle of soda in his other hand. “I wasn’t sure if you were a beer drinker, so I ordered you a soda.” He placed the contents on the tiny coffee table, yanked one can free of its plastic casing and popped the top. When he reached the beer out in offering, Hannah willingly took the sweat-covered can. She didn’t drink beer often, but today it seemed necessary.

The second one he opened was half empty in one long swig. “Sorry, I figure a little alcohol will give me the fortification I need to tell you your life story.”

“I’m ready.”

James whipped open the square box between them and grabbed a piping-hot slice of pizza before pushing the box toward her. “Ow, ow, hot.” He glanced at her, but the warning must have been for her only, because two seconds later, he stuffed half the slice in his mouth and swallowed with barely a chew.