Collector's Item by Denise Golinowski Read Free Book Online

focused on squelching her own reaction. Andi’s behavior aside, KT knew she had better control than this. Ignoring the jag’s amusement, KT reasoned it had to be a leftover effect of the pheromones.
    “Sorry. You were saying?” She shook her head and took a hard grip on herself. They had too much going on now without all this—distraction. Another shiver coursed through her, only this one, colder than the first, reminded her again of the dangers ahead. Focused, she looked up to meet his gaze. “Oh. Right. I’ll stay out of the way.”
    He had moved enough that his face was in shadow, his expression impossible to read, though the signals she read from his body shared her own sense of confused denial. He took a firm grip on her ankles and dragged her closer until her legs dangled over the bumper. “Okay, now comes the fun part.”
    KT struggled to get her hormones under control and focused on his eyes. “Oh?”
    “Make like a sack of potatoes.”
    She did not have a chance to react before he grabbed her around her waist and slung her up over his shoulder. She muffled a grunt of pain when his shoulder slammed into her gut. Upside down, she had a very close view of his butt, and a tiny part of her mind could not help thinking it was a rather nice one at that.
    He straightened, one arm around the back of her knees, and slammed the door shut with his other hand. Her nose bumped against his back with every step, and with her wrists tied behind her back, her shoulders objected to the angle. All the blood in her body began a bum’s rush into her head, making her pulse throb in time with his every step.
    Eyes closed, she strained to hear anything that would give her a clue about where Massey and Peyton had brought her. Kennedy or LaGuardia? She rolled her eyes against her eyelids. Just how did she expect to be able to tell the difference by sound?
    The roaring engines faded and the voices rose as Peyton entered the hangar. From beneath her eyelashes, she glimpsed the edge of metal doors as they passed inside. Voices echoed around her, but the sound of Massey’s voice focused her on a conversation somewhere off to her left. She strained to hear over metallic clanking, hurried footsteps, and other sounds she could not begin to identify. The scent of jet fuel, oil, and rubber filled her nose and, to head off a sneeze, she brushed the tip of her nose against Peyton’s shirt. I hope he didn’t feel that.
    An unknown male voice interrupted her thoughts. “Trouble?”
    Massey’s voice responded. “Nothing we couldn’t handle. Peyton’ll get her locked up and then she’s all yours.”
    “Excellent.” A voice like silk-covered steel flowed over the background noise without strain. KT knew that voice—Douglas Torne. “I still can’t believe Anton let her out of the compound without protection.”
    “Well, his mistake is your gain,” Massey said. “Now, about the finder’s fee?”
    Peyton stopped and dumped her onto the ground. She bit back a cry of pain and surprise, grateful that his hand cupped her head to keep it from banging on the concrete floor. He moved away, and she heard metallic clicks behind her.
    The first voice said, “Here. Everything we agreed on.”
    Peyton hauled her up, hands under her armpits, and dragged her a short distance. She tried to stay loose in his hands, her head lolling on her shoulders. Her heels bumped over a raised edge before he dumped her on the floor and moved away. She heard a metallic clink followed by a rattle. She chanced a peek through her eyelashes, and even though she expected it, her pulse sped up another dozen notches.
    She was inside a metal cage!
    Andi leaped into panic mode. KT scrambled for control. The effort not to shift drove a stifled groan through her clenched teeth and strained tears from beneath her eyelids. She teetered on the brink, fought Andi back, and collapsed against the floor, panting softly.
    “Sssh!” Peyton hissed beneath his breath.
    She peered