Chapter Six

A Collision of Lips

Tucker

He fell to his knees, moving close enough to reach out and wrap his arms around her. Her body was stiff as he enveloped her, her face turned away to reveal her long and slender neck. Breathing in, the tantalizing scent of her hair goaded his nostrils.

"I want you to be safe and well." Although he admitted his treatment of her so far hadn't always demonstrated that.

"It doesn't feel like it." She turned toward him, their faces only inches from one another.

"Well, it's true." Christ, she was beautiful. More pleasing than any woman he could recall, and once upon a time, there had been a lot of women.

"Let me go then." Her voice was soft, as though she accepted it would never happen.

"You know I can't."

"Won't." Her lips looked so tempting.

"Whatever." He steeled himself. "But I do want to look after you." To love you. The bizarre thought exploded into his head, although he couldn't account for it.

He didn't want to love her. He didn't love anyone, remember?

"Do you?" Slowly, she inhaled, and for one breathtaking minute, her tongue flicked over her lower lip.

Fuck.His throat dried. Was she doing this on purpose?

"Yes." He inched forward, teetering on the edge of the caress he yearned to bestow. "If you'll let me."

"I do want to be looked after." Her brow rose as though she, too, couldn't believe what she was saying.

"Then I promise to look after you."

As if an unseen person had nudged him forward, his mouth grazed hers, their passion blooming as her lips responded. For one heart-stopping moment, there was only the swelling connection between them—a truce in the midst of war.

"Tucker."

His name had never sounded better before, although her breathy mewl spoke of desire rather than disgust.

"I know." He drew away, although it pained him to do so. "I shouldn't have done that."

"I didn't say that." Her cheeks were flushed as she eyed him. "I just can't keep up with your good-cop, bad-cop routine. My head is whirling."

He was starting to know how she felt.

"I'll give you some space." Rising to his feet, he suppressed the urge to groan at the loss of intimacy. She smelled so good. Christ, he wanted to devour her.

"Okay." She sounded unsure as he walked back to the counter.

"How old are you?" He should have asked before he pressed his mouth to hers, but the constant conflict between them yesterday had made small talk all but impossible. Glancing back at her, the wildcat seemed calmer after his sensual interjection. Hopefully, a meal would improve her mood again.

"Twenty-six." She crunched her legs tighter toward her body. "You?"

Twenty-six?He blew out a breath. That was younger than he'd been expecting, although her smooth skin suggested she was telling the truth.

"A lot older than you." He laughed, running his fingertips through his stubble. He rarely used a blade to shave anymore but found his hair stubbornly refused to grow much longer. It meant he constantly looked as though he required shearing while never quite growing a beard.

"That's not fair." She tilted her head in his direction. "I told you my age."

"I'm almost fifty." Far too old for you. He tensed. So why did I try to kiss you?

He bit back the final line, his confusion growing. First, she was an inconvenience, then an object of desire, and now what? He longed for more? To get to know her? Tucker knew better than to play such dangerous games, especially with a woman almost half his age.

"What are you going to do with me?" Her brow creased as she vocalized the query he presumed had been on her mind before his caress. "Last night was grueling and terrifying."

"Yeah, about that…" He shifted from one foot to the other, aware that he'd overstepped the mark. Just because he could strip her didn't mean he should have done, though if he was pushed, he couldn't say he honestly regretted it. Ella was divine. He'd relished exploiting her, but facing her in the cold light of day, his selfishness was difficult to justify. "I-I shouldn't have treated you that way."

"No, you shouldn't have." Her tone was sharp.

"You shouldn't have run, though." He folded his arms across his chest. "I was going to bring you in here and let you sleep, but you bolted and changed the plan."

"I wanted to get away," she told him, although he sensed the true meaning in her tone. I still want to get away… "And that's not an excuse for what you did."

"No, it's not," he agreed. "But based on your behavior, your treatment could have been far worse."

His alleged apology was starting to seem thin.

"Worse?" she balked. "Worse than being trussed up like a piece of meat?" Her face reddened as she recalled how he'd dealt with her. Tucker had the feeling she wouldn't forget it. "You ripped my clothing and half-stripped me. You touched me!" Her breathing accelerated as she hissed the accusation. "You had no right to do that."

"But you liked it…"

Of course, the wildcat had writhed and screamed in protest. No pussy liked to be caged, but when push had come to shove, he'd seen the way her body responded, her pebbling nipples and heated skin. The cold water might have inspired her reactions, but his ministrations had multiplied them. Ella wanted him. She wasn't ready to admit it, but it was true.

"I did not!" She was virtually shaking as she jabbed a finger in his direction. "How dare you say so! How dare you…" Rising to her feet, she dropped the blanket and staggered from the bed, but as she rushed past him, he caught her bound wrists.

"Okay." He held his free palm aloft in a gesture of conciliation as he held onto her. Evidently, Ella needed more time before she ceded what he knew to be true, but that was okay. They had time. She wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. "If you say you didn't, then I guess I have to accept that."

He didn't accept it for one moment.

"That's good of you." She snatched her wrists away from his grip, her glower scathing as she glanced from him to the door.

"Don't." His voice was firmer that time, his desire to placate her waning.

"Don't what?" she snapped.

"You know what." He motioned at the door. "Don't be stupid enough to try again. It's how you ended up in the barn."

"You're saying you'd do that to me again?" Her chin rose in defiance, a laughable gesture when he considered how little say she had in the process. But then he supposed that was the problem. Out of control, the wildcat was prepared to fight against every verdict handed down to her.

"In a heartbeat." He might as well be clear. "I'll look after you, little girl, but you need to understand—you're mine until I get what's owed."

"I can't believe this." Her hands rose to her cheeks as she looked away. "You mean it, don't you? You mean to keep me here?"

"One hundred percent." Tucker had always been prepared to protect his assets, but having spent a few hours with her, he was surer than ever that he wanted to keep this one safe.

Despite his meager surroundings, he enjoyed wealth. Knowing there were millions scattered in assets around the globe for if and when he chose to employ them had always made him happy, but—as it turned out—that contentment didn't compare to the excitement she'd injected into his life.

"Shit." Turning away, she skulked back to his bed and seized his mother's cover, pulling it against her chest. "I can't do this, Tucker. Can't live like this."

"I understand." Reassured by her apparent withdrawal, his arms fell to his side. He didn't understand at all. No one had ever dared inhibit his will before, and he doubted anyone else was foolish enough to try. "Let's make the best of things. The pie will be ready soon." The mouthwatering aroma of the rabbit pie pervaded the cabin, momentarily distracting him from her temptation.

"The best of it?" She wiped her eyes with the heel of her bound hands. "That's easy for you to say. I need to get out of here."

"The answer's no." His tone was harder that time. "You're my responsibility."

"It wasn't a question." Her lips twitched. "So the answer can't be no."

"You know what I mean." He mirrored her half-smile, unsure if he should trust her retreat.

Ella was such a paradox. How could one woman be so infuriating yet utterly captivating at the same time?

"So." She shrugged, apparently ignoring his reply. "What are you going to do with me?"

"I don't have specific plans."

It was only a half lie. Tucker had plenty of good ideas about what they could do, but he'd already ripped through a lot of the boundaries last night, and unsurprisingly, she was rather sensitive about it.

I can't let that happen again. He rubbed his temple at the goading thought. I need to ensure she's willing before I make another move.

But how was that possible? Could he spend days and potentially weeks with her and not make another advance?

Blowing out a breath, he met her weary eyes. He'd done that to her. He'd taken a fresh-faced woman and reduced her to a weeping shell of herself, and he wasn't even sorry.

"I'm just keeping you here until your dad pays up."

"How much does he owe you?" The deepening line in her brow conveyed her worry. "I never even knew he was in debt."

"I'm very discrete." That was one way of putting it. "I never expose my debtors." Without warning. He held back the final two words, assuming it was more than she needed to know.

The few men who'd fallen behind with their payments in the past were currently pushing up daises. He made sure the people who crossed him didn't come back to cause him more problems.

Tucker didn't normally take prisoners.

Ella was his first.