“Stop it! I don’t want to hurt you! All right, now, don’t move. Don’t even think about moving. Do you understand?”
It was a husky voice. Harsh and coolly grating.
I don’t want to hurt you. The words echoed in her mind, and she tried to comprehend them; she longed to trust him.
The darkness was so strange. She couldn’t see, but she felt so acutely. She sensed, she felt, as he released her, as he balanced on his feet above her.
She was still shivering, still yearning to give way again to panic and strike out at him and run. She was dazed and she needed to think, desperately needed to be clever, and she could not come up with one rational thought. She could smell him so keenly in the black void of this world of fear, and that made her panic further, for his scent was pleasant, subtle, clean, like the salt breeze that came in from the ocean. She was so well-known for her reserve, for her cool thinking under pressure, and here she was, in stark, painful panic, when she most desperately needed a calculating mind. But how could she have imagined this situation? So close to that which she had run from, taking her so swiftly by surprise, stripping away all veneers and making her pathetically vulnerable.
Fight! she warned herself. Don’t give up….
“Please…” She could barely form the whisper.
But then, quite suddenly, there was light. Brilliant and blinding and flooding over her features. She blinked against it, trying to see. She raised her arm to shield her eyes from the brutal radiance.
“Who are you?” the voice demanded.
Dear God, she wasn’t just being attacked; she was being attacked by a thief or a murderer who asked questions. One of them was mad. She had every right to be! She was going to be living here. He had been prowling around in the darkness. He must have waited while she had fumbled with the door; he had stalked her in silence, watching while she came to the window and broke it to tumble inside—and into his ruthless hold.
She couldn’t speak; she started to tremble.
“Who are you?” he raged again.
Harsh, stark, male, deliberate, demanding. She lost all sense of reason. Her arms were free. He had even moved back a little; his weight rested on his haunches rather than full against her hips.
“Arrgh!” Another sound escaped her, shrill with effort. He swore, but did not lose his balance. Alexi managed to do more than twist her skirt higher upon her hips and bring him harder against her as he struggled to maintain his new hold on both her wrists with one hand and keep the flashlight harsh against her face with the other.
She wanted to think; she kept shaking, and her words tore from her in gasping spurts. “Don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me.”
“Kill you?”
“I’m worth money. Alive, I mean. Not dead. I’m really not worth a single red cent dead. My insurance isn’t paid up. But I swear, if you’ll just leave me—alive—I can make it worth your while. I—”
“Dammit, I’m not going to kill you. I’m trying very hard not to hurt you!”
She didn’t dare feel relief. Still, sweeping sensations that left her weak coursed through her, and to her amazement, she heard her own voice again. “Who are you?”
“I asked first. And…” She could have sworn there was a touch of amusement in his voice. “And you’re the one asking the favors.”
She swallowed, stretching out her fingers. If he’d only move that horrible flashlight! Then she could think, could muster up a semblance of dignity and courage.
“Who the hell are you? I want an answer now,” he demanded.
His fingers were so tight in their grip around her wrists. She clenched her teeth in sudden pain, aware of the fearsome power that held her.
“Alexi Jordan.”
“You’re not.”
He had stated it so flatly that for a moment she herself wondered who else she might be.
“I am!”
He moved. The heat, the tight, vibrantly muscled hold he had on her body was gone; he was on his feet and was dragging her along with him.
“Ms. Jordan isn’t due until tomorrow. Who are you? Speak up, now, or I’ll call the police.”
“The police?”
“Of course. You’re trespassing.”
“You’re trespassing!”
“Let’s call the police and find out.”
“Yes! Let’s do that!”
He was walking next, pulling her along. Alexi was blinded all over again when the light left her face to flash over the floor. She tried to wrench her hand away as the light played