Sandra Marton - Wild Revenge

AT NINE, Addison had run away from home.

She’d done it before.

No special reason, just the childish hope that somewhere out there was a place where people read books instead of watching soap operas, where your mother didn’t spend hours putting curls in her hair and paint on her nails and then, though you hated it, doing those same things to you.

That time, instead of heading for the highway, she’d cut through the woods that led into the mountains.

Branches had slapped at her face, brambles had torn her shirt and jeans.

At last, she’d emerged into a clearing. And found herself face-to-face with a mountain lion.

The big cat had put back its ears and snarled.

Addison’s heart leaped. She knew a lot about mountain lions. They were fast. They were unpredictable. They were beautiful and intelligent….

They were also incredibly dangerous.

Adrenaline pumped through her muscles. Run , every instinct said.

Fortunately, her head knew better. Showing weakness would be the kiss of death.

So, though she was terrified, she’d held her ground. And—such a silly cliché—time stood still.

How else to describe what happened when predator and prey confronted each other?

Now, almost two decades later, she flashed back to that memory. She hadn’t run and after what had seemed like hours, but had surely been only seconds, the cat had turned and bounded away.

Jacob Wilde was coming toward her, and he looked every bit as dangerous as the mountain lion.

Until a few minutes ago, he’d watched her with an intensity that had been … What was the word? Disconcerting. His brothers had been talking to him. About her, she’d assumed, from the way he, then they, had looked at her.

She’d waited for something to happen.

For Travis and Caleb to bring him over to introduce him. Or for him to acknowledge her with a smile, a nod.

She’d waited. And waited. His stillness baffled her. Annoyed her.

Irritated her.

Was he expecting her to make the first move?

Okay , she’d finally decided, why not? She’d smiled. Raised her glass. She’d done all she could to convey the message, Hello, I’m Addison and you’re Jake, and though I don’t think we’ll really do business together, we probably should at least meet to make your brothers happy… .

And then everything changed.

His jaw tightened. His mouth thinned. A hot, hungry look swept across his face.

She knew that look. It was one of pure sexuality.

She hated when men looked at her like that. They always had, from the time she’d first grown breasts.

See that, baby girl? her mother would say. Boys like you. Isn’t that nice?

It wasn’t, not when you knew, even then, that you wanted to make it on your intelligence, not on whatever it was boys liked.

So, yes, she hated that look men got….

Except, this time, a stranger looked at her the way a starving man would look at a steak, and she felt her knees go weak.

It shocked her. Flustered her. She felt breathless.

She’d tried to deal with it by changing focus.

She’d taken a mouthful of wine….

And everything had gone to hell.

His brothers said something. Jacob Wilde swung toward them. There was a fast, obviously unpleasant exchange of words.

And then he’d headed straight at her, and all she could think of was that mountain lion and how she’d felt when it had turned its savage eyes on her….

Except, he wasn’t a lion and she wasn’t a scared kid, and she’d be damned if she’d let him intimidate her.

The thing was, it was all happening in slow motion.

His single-minded approach.

His brothers hurrying after him.

“Jake,” Caleb called. “Jake, wait a minute!”

“Dammit,” Travis said, “you’re making a big mistake.”

By now, heads were turning. People were staring. That was the last thing she needed.

A public scene over who-knew-what when she’d spent the past weeks doing everything she could to avoid public anythings !

Okay.

She took a step back.

Forget facing the lion. Forget refusing to be intimidated. The man was crazy, and she was absolutely not going to permit him to—

Too late.

His hand, hard as steel, wrapped around her wrist.

“Going somewhere?” he said in a low voice.

Addison’s heart was racing. It was difficult to speak calmly, but she did.

“Let go of me.”

“Why? My brothers said you were eager to meet me.”

“Hardly eager.” Her gaze went from his face to her wrist, then back again. “Are you deaf? I said—”

“Deaf as well as blind?” He smiled thinly. “No, Miss McDowell. One disability at a time is my limit.”

She winced. The guy was a nut-job but she had no intention of insulting him.

“I can assure you, I didn’t mean—”

“No. And you can also assure me you didn’t tell my brothers how much you wanted to meet me.”

“Jake,” Travis said in a warning tone.

Addison looked past Jacob Wilde. His brothers had positioned themselves slightly behind him, one on either side. They seemed ready to grab him and march him away.

The idea should have been comforting. It wasn’t. All three Wildes were big and strong and hard-bodied, but she had no doubt that this one’s icy rage would surely give him an edge.

Maybe a calm approach would work.

“I told them I’d agree to meet you,” Addison said. “It seemed to mean a lot to them.”

“You wanted to meet me,” he said coldly. “And when they told you they knew damned well I wasn’t going to be interested in taking you on as a client—”

“A client?” Her eyes narrowed. “What they wanted was for me to give you a job.”

“The hell they did.”

Addison felt her resolve to stay calm slipping.

“They close to begged me to give you a reason to hang around.”

“Right,” Jake snapped. “That’s why you went into that—that routine.”

What was he talking about?

“Look,” she said carefully, “I think there’s been a misunderstanding—”

“The look. The smile. That last little touch, the sip of wine and that sexy lick of your lips.”

“You,” she said flatly, “are a lunatic.”

“Holy hell,” Caleb growled, “Jake. Man, you’ve got this all wrong.”

Jake ignored him.

“Has it ever failed you before, or is this a first?”

Addison stared at him. The ridged scars below the black eye patch were red and angry-looking.

She felt a twinge of compassion.

His visible wounds were brutal. Maybe they went even deeper. Was his behavior yet another indication of what he’d gone through?

He’d sacrificed for his country. For people like her. If he’d come away from the war with some idiosyncrasy, some behavioral tic—

“Don’t,” he said sharply.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t look at me as if I were a dog lying by the side of the road.” His hand tightened on her wrist; he gave a little twist that brought her to her toes and she gave a soft, inadvertent gasp. “I don’t need your pity any more than I needed your come-on.”

So much for compassion.

“Come-on? You think I—” Addison glared at his brothers over Jake Wilde’s shoulder. “Get your lunatic brother away from me,” she said through her teeth, “and do it fast!”

“Jacob,” Travis said, “let’s go outside, okay? Get some fresh air—”

“Jake,” Caleb said, “man, let go of the lady.”

The certifiably insane Wilde brother didn’t respond. Then, after what seemed an eternity, he dropped his hand from hers.

She wanted to look and see if his fingers had left marks, but she’d sooner have let her hand fall off than give him the satisfaction.