Dangerous Proposition (33 page)

With a grin, he brought his mouth against her ear. In his deep voice, he whispered, “Might want to keep it down,
captive.
Wouldn’t want our prison guards to come in here and decide they want to join the fun.”

No, she certainly didn’t, Julia thought, her face undoubtedly turning as red as the gash on the side of Colin’s neck. But how could she keep quiet when she could barely hold still? His mouth, his hands, it was as though he had set this all up as some sort of torture test. So far, she was failing miserably.

Deciding that two could play at that game, she sat herself up. Bringing her hand against his hardened length, she massaged in a slow motion, sure to gain the result she was aiming for.

Colin’s grunts became as loud as hers. He cleared his throat, pushing her hand away.

“We’ll just see about that,” he whispered into her ear.

“Will we now?”

With a smile, he rolled her onto her back. He leaned over her, bringing his lips against her belly. His warm mouth moved along her skin. He moistened her waist with slow, wet kisses as he began to undo her jeans. He tugged them quickly downward.

Julia’s heart pounded in her chest. She met Colin’s eager lips as they sought hers. He positioned himself, and with one powerful thrust he was deep within of her.

The feel of him inside her body was overwhelming. It was a wonder she didn’t explode. He came deep, and she met his motions as he moved within her.

Colin’s fingertips trailed down her body. He stroked her clit and Julia squealed, bringing him more tightly against her. His hands tangled in her hair. Faster and harder he drove, taking her beyond reason and sense.

I love you, Colin
,
she thought, as a feeling of sweet euphoria overcame her.

Colin’s tender lips met hers. In one massive explosion she climaxed around him, his warmth spilling deeply inside of her body.

“Damn it, legs. I think you did kill me.” He took several deep breaths, planting a kiss against her shoulder. “Next time you’ll be able to scream my name so loud you’ll crack the roof, I promise.”

“What makes you so sure that would happen? I certainly didn’t do anything like that last time.”

He tipped her chin. “Care to test that theory, Julia?”

He kissed her raw mouth, and before she knew what was happening, he was touching her all over again. Soon, he was inside of her, and not long after she was once again erupting in pleasurable shutters. Beyond satisfied, she fell back against the pillow, laughing giddily.

“Shhh,” Colin said, wearing a grin that ran from ear to ear. “We wouldn’t want to draw a crowd. I kind of like having you all to myself.”

“Do you, now?” Julia said on a breath.

They were venturing into dangerous waters, the kind that could break a girl’s heart, or whatever it was that was left of one. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t take that risk. She’d already taken far more from this than she ever should have.

Colin drew her close, and within minutes he was asleep, snoring like a freight train. With a smile on her face, Julia inched herself more snugly against his body.

She shut her eyes. Doing so, she felt more wonderful than she ever had. But the longer she lay there, the more she began to feel as though she’d already lost Colin. It was as though the last hour had been merely a dream.

Maybe it had. Because even if they somehow survived, there was still the little matter of where things went from there. And after living in a dream, seeing how wonderful things could be, she was no longer sure that walking away was going to be an easy thing.

Colin’s eyes stung as he attempted to open them the following morning. At least, he believed it was morning. He stretched his arms as his body gradually woke itself up. He wasn’t sure what was going on outside the room, but the sound of something banging had woken him from his sleep.

As there was no window, and certainly no clock, he had no idea what time it was. He looked at his watch, which he was surprised his attackers hadn’t taken. They had taken his cougar ring from his pocket, though. Squinting, he saw that it was a quarter after seven.

As he adjusted his position, his severely bruised back brushed against the mattress. Sore ribs stung inside his chest. Looking down, he saw that Julia was cuddled against him.

He shifted his weight, doing his best not to disturb her as he attempted to find a comfortable position. Though he’d been hurt pretty badly, there was no reason to make Julia any more upset than she already was. He kissed her forehead, brushing a few curly tendrils from her face.

He was worried about her. More so than he had ever been about anyone, but he was doing his damnedest not to think about it. Julia was strong, but vulnerable in many ways, and not at all prepared for what was about to happen to them.

Desmond had obviously been captured, and the rest of the security team had apparently had difficulty getting there as well. Tucking a lock of hair behind Julia’s ear, Colin laid back against the pillow.

Last night with Julia had been every bit as thrilling as the first time. But in many ways, it had been better. Not that he ever wanted her to be afraid, but when she let her guard down it seemed to bring them that much closer. It was a feeling beyond physical. And this connection they shared, though God knew it scared the hell out of him, was something he didn’t want to let go of. Regardless of whatever happened to them, he planned on making the most of the time they had together.

Keeping Julia against him, Colin rolled onto his side. He knew he ought to be figuring out a plan of escape, but he was still pretty out of it. He shut his eyes, intending to keep them closed for only a moment.

He awakened some time later to what sounded like a drill saw. His eyes shot open as he realized that Julia was no longer beside him. He sat up, patting the sheets. So help those bastards if they had so much as touched one lock of her red hair…

Turning toward the farthest corner of the room, Colin froze. Julia, back turned toward him, was sitting on the ground. Her arm moved up and down, and she was holding a pair of nail clippers. She was using them to try and saw through the wall.

Unable to help himself, he watched her work. She’d tied her long hair back, and she was scraping at the surrounding cement like there was no tomorrow. Her stance was cool and collected. Whatever pain she’d experienced in the last few weeks, she seemed to be that much stronger for it.

“Honey, what in the world…” He walked to where she was crouched. “Even if you could somehow remove that cinder block, there’s no way either of us could squeeze through an opening so small.”

“Not if you don’t knock out some of the blocks around it,” Julia said, shooting him a slick smile.

Colin shook his head. Where had this woman been when he needed a right arm? She was feistier than his ten best men, and that included her father. But he wished she’d stop trying so hard to put herself in danger. It was next to impossible to keep her safe when she was constantly doing her best to knock at trouble’s back door.

“Fair enough. But that is an awfully big job you’re attempting to complete.” Laying a hand on her shoulder, he said, “Our captors are going to be here any minute.”

“What makes you so sure? It’s not as if they handed us a schedule before locking us in for lights-out.”

Colin shrugged. “I guess they didn’t. But I have a feeling once that surprise of theirs shows up, they’ll be in this room faster than we can say boo.”

“And what do you think that surprise is?” Julia looked at him.

He swallowed. “I have my suspicions. Whatever it is must be good, considering they decided to keep me alive long enough to see it. Maybe they’re getting me an electric chair.”

“God, Colin, that’s not even funny!” she said, scraping furiously at the cement. “None of this makes any sense. If you’ve been managing Project Gemstone on your own for over a year, why would these guys suddenly decide they want to kill you now?”

“I’m not exactly sure,” he answered honestly. “I fired Griffin Strycker about six months ago, after I learned he was skimming from me.”

Julia scrunched her nose. “That does give him motive. But something tells me there’s more to it than that.”

“Like…”

“Like before Griffin knocked me out, he said something. Something strange. Come to think of it, the guy said a lot of strange things, but this one in particular seemed to stand out.”

“What was it?” Colin eyed her carefully.

“Well, it was something that more or less slipped out at random, as I was trying to convince Griffin that you and I are enemies, and that my dad and I are working together, trying to take
you
down.”

A smile formed on Colin’s face. “Is that right?”

“Oh don’t get smart with me, Westwood. It’s actually a very believable story if you think about it.”

“How do you figure?”

Julia crossed her arms. “Do you really want to go there?”

“We’ll revisit that part later. What was it that Strycker said that threw you?”

She looked up, hesitating a long moment before speaking. “He said something about ‘another man’ who would be impressed with my tactics.”

Colin’s stomach filled with an eerie sense of discomfort. Taking Julia’s hand, he said, “Julia, I think you should know—”

The door to the room was opened, and Griffin Strycker stormed through. He was followed by Rizzo and Rossler, both of whom had guns.

“Isn’t that sweet?” Strycker said. “Not as good as what we heard last night, but I have a feeling she’d be good in quite a few positions.”

Julia released Colin’s hand. She charged toward Strycker, nearly throttling him.

But Colin got to him first. He grabbed the son of a bitch by his scrawny neck, forcing him back against the wall.

“Get off him!” Rizzo shouted, pressing the head of his gun against Colin’s temple.

Colin ignored him. Though he was all too aware that his brains could be blown out at any second, he was done letting this prick speak to Julia as though she was some sort of whore. He tightened his hold, causing Strycker’s complexion to become red then purple.

“I’ll kill you, Westwood,” John Rizzo threatened.

“You won’t kill me. If you were going to do that, you would have done it already. Besides, your boss wants the pleasure of killing me himself. Doesn’t he, Strycker?”

Faintly, he heard Julia scream before Rizzo’s pistol struck the back of his neck.

* * * *

Thank God he was coming to. He had been out for almost ten minutes, and Julia had begun to wonder whether he was going to wake up at all. She struggled to keep the fear from her expression as Colin lifted his head, eyes half closed, face full of bruises.

Rizzo and Rossler had bound his ankles and wrists, and they’d tied him to a chair. She’d tried to fight them, but she wasn’t much of a match for three enormous men, two of whom had guns. After coming head-to-head with Rizzo, she’d been taken at gunpoint, and her wrists had been bound with duct tape.

Colin, who appeared to be fighting to keep his head above sea level, swiveled his eyes. Praying he’d somehow regain his strength and find a way to get them out of there, Julia stared at him. They were in the basement, which was cold and smelled like mildew. She was held by Rossler, whose gun was aimed at the center of her chest.

Colin, sandwiched between Strycker and Rizzo, looked down at his restrained arms. He grunted, pushing forward, causing the chair he was bound to, to shake. But Julia knew it was no use. She’d watched them secure his limbs. They’d be lucky if they could cut the bindings with a chainsaw.

“Are you all right, Colin?” she asked, taking a cautious step forward.

“Shut it, bitch!” Rossler lifted his gun, cocking the trigger.

“Now, that isn’t any way to speak to our guest,” Griffin said, looking from Julia to Colin. “Is it, Westwood?”

He snatched Julia’s arm. Dragging her in front of Colin, he said, “I’m sure you would agree that Julia Dyson ought to be handled very delicately.”

Chills swept through Julia’s body. She winced as Griffin took Rizzo’s gun with one hand. With the other, he clasped her breast.

Colin’s face became the color of his scratches. He sprang to his feet, taking the chair along for the ride. Ramming it against Griffin, he took Griffin, himself, and the chair, crashing to the floor.

“Julia, run!” he shouted.

Julia darted across the floor. She made it past Rizzo before he could get his gun in the air. Sidestepping a maze of furniture, she kept her eyes on the doorway.

Racing over the rug that lay in the middle of the floor, her heel slipped. She tumbled forward as her ankle was captured from behind. She turned, kicking at her attacker. With a couple of blows, Rizzo was down and she was back on her feet. She made it to the staircase as a man she’d never seen before stepped into her path.

At the sight of him, Julia sprang back. He was tall, and he had dark brown hair and a demeanor to match. His gray eyes were sharp, and he was wearing a long black trench coat. Snatching her by the arm, he dragged her back inside the room.

“Well, Ms. Dyson. It seems I’m not the only one getting a surprise today.”

“Who are you?” Julia stammered.

Colin, who was still strapped to the chair but splayed across the ground, looked at the man holding her. He became pale and remained that way a long moment before speaking. “Dear God in heaven. This is impossible. How in the world did you—”

“Cheat death?” The man laughed. “I assure you, Dr. Westwood. I’ve become quite proficient at it.”

He twisted Julia’s arms. Bringing her against his body, he positioned his gun a respectable inch from her temple. “Quite a risky venture, Ms. Dyson, becoming involved with such a dangerous criminal. But then, your father was always a piece of work. I must say…” He brought his mouth against her ear. “My once-partner does have impeccable taste in women. What do you say, my dear? Shall we show your lover boy how it’s done?”

“Not a bad idea,” Julia muttered. She turned, bringing the heel of her shoe down hard against his foot.