Take Me Deeper by Jackie Ashenden Read Free Book Online Page B

the aching intensity of his eyes. “I’ve been keeping a lookout for him, but so far he hasn’t turned up. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know you’re here though.”
    Familiar fear began to twist through her. She let out a breath, trying to calm the hell down. “We’ve got to get out of here in that case. He’ll turn up sooner or later and then—”
    “Wait.” The word was flat and icy. “Tell me who he is.”
    “You know already. You guessed back in the truck.” She pulled on the handcuff holding her wrist to the bed. “Get these off me. I’m not going to escape.”
    His gaze was steady and sharper than a drawer full of knives. “I don’t believe you. I think escaping is the first thing you’re going to do.”
    The fear twisted tighter, made worse by the unaccustomed feeling of being restrained. She tugged on her wrist again, the metal digging into her skin. “I promise I won’t. Scout’s honor.”
    He snorted. “Something tells me you were never a Girl Scout.”
    “Okay, okay. My mother’s grave then.”
    “According to our records, your mom is still alive.”
    She bit her lip. “Look, if that guy comes, he’ll try and shoot you too. You really want that to happen?”
    The look on Zane’s handsome face was maddeningly unconcerned. “He could try. But I guarantee he won’t succeed.”
    “Oh sure. What are you? Superman?”
    “No. I’m just good at protecting myself.”
    “Yeah, well, you might be a ninja, but I’m not, okay?”
    Something about his long, hard mouth softened. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Iris.”
    The way he said her name sent a small electric shock down her spine. She ignored it, staring belligerently at him. “Of course you won’t. You want your money, right?”
    He didn’t look away, his gaze implacable. “You can’t escape the law. No one can.”
    Cursing under her breath, she turned her head and stared at the ceiling instead. “I was right. You’re the fucking Terminator.”
    There was a frustrating silence.
    “Tell me what the hell you were thinking of, running drugs for the cartels,” Zane finally said, though of course, again he made it sound less like an invitation and more like an order.
    “Money. Glamor. Excitement. You know, the usual.” Iris glared at the ceiling, testing the handcuffs again. Her hands were small but not quite small enough to slip out of the metal ring, dammit.
    “Stupidity in other words.” His tone was stiff with disapproval. “Or are you an addict too?”
    Frustration burned inside her. God, she hated feeling trapped and she so did
not
want to have the conversation about how stupid she’d been, especially not with an asshole bounty hunter.
    “Can we skip the getting-to-know-yous?” she said, impatient. “If you want to take me in, just take me in.” And then something occurred to her. She turned to look at him once more. “Actually, let me ask you a question. Why
haven’t
you taken me in? Why did you bring me back here?”
    His gaze dropped to her front. “You needed that scratch cleaned up.”
    That scratch? Puzzled, Iris followed his gaze, looking down at herself. And then remembered. She’d hurt herself on the window latch at the bar and her stupid T-shirt had torn in half. Except she was now wearing a loose-fitting black one that was far too big for her. Where had that come from? Frowning, she pulled up the cotton with her free hand to examine her injury. The wound had been cleaned and what looked like antiseptic cream applied.
    “I had to get you a new T-shirt,” Zane added. “I did owe you one after all.”
    For a second Iris just stared down at herself, not at all sure how to process this. He’d cleaned up the scratch and bought her a new T-shirt. He’d taken care of her.
    No one had ever taken care of her before, not one person. Not even her mother, not that her mother had been the maternal type. At all.
    Slowly Iris turned to him, this time rolling onto her side. She stared at the