Iris Johansen - Quinn

Her gaze was probing his expression. “You care about her. She told me that what was between you was only sex.”

“It was the truth. But Bonnie changed everything. Passion became something else. We both loved Bonnie, and that meant we had to care about each other.” He shook his head. “Oh, nothing like what she had with Quinn. There are all kinds of love and caring. I’ll always feel that bond with Eve.” He smiled faintly. “Even if she did send her favorite ninja after me.”

“She didn’t send me. I owed her, and I knew she couldn’t come here herself.” She added, “If you care about what happens to her, why don’t you let me go? Do you think that she’ll want Joe to come after you? Let it be me.”

“But that’s changed, too. The dynamics are different now, aren’t they? The hunt wouldn’t be the same, and neither would the finale.” He met her gaze. “No, it has to be Quinn.”

She couldn’t breathe. “Let me go.”

He shook his head. “You’ll have to do it yourself.” He began to strip off his clothes. “Because I’m going to take this time for myself.” He waded into the water. “Something is happening between us. You may not like it, but it’s there. I think that we’ll have to ride it out.”

She watched him as he moved in the water. Magnificent.

Tight muscular butt, flat stomach, totally male.

Totally.

And that maleness was having an effect on her own body.

“We’ll have to ride it out.”

The sentence brought to mind an image that was causing her body to ready. Stop it. So he was magnificent physically and fascinating mentally. She couldn’t be drawn into the web that was hovering. Enemy. She had to think of him as the enemy.

He was coming out of the water. She should close her eyes. Not from any sense of embarrassment. That did not exist for them. But every step he took was causing a jolt of feeling, a surge of heat.

She would not close her eyes.

She met his gaze with boldness as he stopped before her.

“Me, too,” he said quietly. “What do we do about it?”

“Ignore it.”

“I’ve never been known for my restraint. I have a tendency to take what I want.” There was a glitter of pure recklessness in his eyes. “And I don’t believe I’ve ever wanted anything as much as I do you, Catherine Ling.”

She could see the crystal drops of water beading on his shoulders and tangling in the thatch of dark hair on his chest. He was close enough for her to feel the heat of his body. She wanted to reach out and touch him.

Dizzy. The intensity was overpowering. She felt like a damn virgin. She had been married and had a child. She’d had occasional one-night stands in the years since her husband had been killed. But she’d never felt anything of this intensity before.

“Catherine?”

He wasn’t forcing, he was asking. She should say yes, and he would cut the ropes. A man was never so vulnerable as when he was engaged in sex. She would be able to go on the attack.

But would she do it?

Dear God, she was afraid that she wouldn’t.

She couldn’t afford to take a chance of that self-betrayal.

She shook her head. “There’s too much baggage. I won’t let you complicate my life, Gallo.”

He stared at her for a moment in which she saw emotion after emotion flickering in his expression. “You mean the way I’ve complicated the lives of everyone else around me? Complicated and destroyed.” His smile was bitter. “You’re right. And I’d do it, too.” He turned away. “Just give me the chance.” He was dressing quickly. “And you can bet that I’d take advantage of any chance you gave me. So keep me away from you.” He grabbed a knife from his knapsack and came back to her and cut the ropes that bound her to the tree. Then he cut the ropes binding her wrists. “Or take off. That would probably be better.”

She stared at him in shock. “You’re releasing me.”

“I’m not stupid enough to let you have any of your weapons back. Though I’m sure that you could be formidable in hand-to-hand.” He looked at her. “But you don’t want to be that close to me, do you? It might turn into something else.”

She shook her head as she rubbed her wrist. “I won’t stop, Gallo. Why did you change your mind?”

“Victims. I’m sick to death of victims. I won’t make you one, Catherine.”

“‘Victim’? You son of a bitch. You can’t make me a victim. Who the hell do you think you are?”

“A son of a bitch who seems to have a talent for bringing down even the strongest and most worthwhile.” He turned away. “Why don’t you get going? There aren’t any guarantees that I won’t change my mind.”

She didn’t move. “And you’ll wait for Joe. I’m supposed to run the risk that you’ll let him kill you? Hell, you tell me that you’re unstable. That there aren’t any guarantees, that you can change your mind. You have warrior instincts. So does Joe. That creates a scenario that spells big-time trouble. I’m not going to lose him.”

He turned to look at her. “And what are you going to do?”

“I’ll stay with you until Joe comes and make sure that he survives.” She met his gaze. “And if I get the chance, you’ll go down. I made a promise to Eve, and nothing has changed that.”

“No, I guess that would be your first priority. She’s lucky to have you for a friend.”

“Lucky? She helped me find my son. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do for her.” She paused. “But we can end this now. I’ll postpone trying to bring Eve your head for the time being. All you have to do is tell me what happened to Bonnie and where she is.”

“All?” His lips were tight with bitterness. “That would be fine, wouldn’t it? But I can’t help you, Catherine. I told you, I don’t remember. I don’t even remember taking her life.”

She glanced away from the unbearable pain in his expression. She mustn’t let him affect her like this. “Then we’re at an impasse. I stay.”

He gazed at her for a moment, then his expression changed. The recklessness was suddenly there again. “Why not? Go with the flow. Step into my parlor, Catherine.”

“Bad phrasing. That would indicate that you were in control. You’re not, Gallo. This is my choice. You’ll never be in control of me.”

“A challenge.” He smiled, and the recklessness was even more obvious. “Up or down. The compromise would be for us to take turns. What do you think?”

She ignored the inference. “I think if your memory suddenly returns, we’ll both be better off.”

“But maybe I’m suppressing it. It’s possible. It would hurt me, and I’m a selfish bastard. Maybe I don’t give a damn about anything or anyone but myself.” He grabbed his knapsack and slung it over his shoulders. “I’m going back to camp. Come along if you like. We’ll see what comes of it.”

“I want my phone back.” She picked up her knapsack. “Keep the weapons. But I want my phone.”

“A phone can be a weapon.”

“I want to call Eve. She may have been trying to reach me. I won’t have her worried. What difference does it make? I’m not going to tell her anything that would bring them here. I don’t want Joe on your trail until he’s entirely well.”

He thought about it. “There are all kinds of ways that you could use that phone to bring havoc down on me. You’re probably up on every technical advance that could cause me to be traced or destroyed.” He shrugged. “What do I care? It should make the game more interesting.” He reached into his knapsack and brought out her phone. He disconnected it from its solar battery charger and handed it to her. “By all means, call Eve.”

BUT CATHERINE DIDN’Tmake the call until later that day. Eve had phoned her during the time that Gallo had possession of her phone and Catherine wasn’t sure what excuse she wanted to give her for not answering. She could tell her that she was out of tower range. Eve might accept that because she knew Catherine had had problems before when they were trying to track Paul Black through this forest.