Tanner grinned at that. “I wouldn’t go that far. ”
“And why did I expect that answer?”
She was avoiding the discussion coming. He could see her need to hide from it, to distance herself from what she knew he’d heard.
“You should have guessed it,” he agreed, moving away from the entrance and stalking slowly toward her. “Sit up and let me wash your hair. It’s so damned long, it dragged the ground a time or two. ”
“I can wash my own hair. ”
He doubted she could wash her own face at the moment. She was stiff from the bruises and from sleeping so long. Abused muscles stiffened up after time, and he had been forced to keep her under longer than he would have liked.
“Don’t make me force you to sit up. It’s going to end in something you don’t want. ”
Moving stiffly, she sat up in the tub as he collected the girly shampoo and conditioner his pride sisters Sherra and Dawn had stocked the bathroom with.
“Lean forward,” he ordered as he lifted the detachable showerhead from its holder above the tub. “Let’s see if we can’t get you cleaned up here. ”
He pushed her hair forward, suddenly as reluctant to ask the questions as he knew she would be to answer them. Sometime in the past Cyrus Tallant had killed her child. Tanner had heard the pain in her voice, the bitterness as she refused to discuss it with the father who had aided Tallant in the vile act. But that didn’t mean she had any loyalty to his enemies. Until he knew for certain, he would have to play his game very carefully.
The scent of honor he had detected from her, mixing with deceit, anger and bitterness, could have been there for many reasons. She could believe in what she was doing. It was possible. She could hate her father and yet believe in his battle against the Breeds.
At this point, nothing was certain except the need to learn the truth.
CHAPTER 5
Why was she letting him do this?
She was never this weak. It wasn’t acceptable.
Scheme stiffened her body, attempting to lift her head, to deny the erotic thrill of calloused fingertips working over her scalp.
“Shh. Relax. ” Those diabolical hands gripped her neck, and strong fingers began to work the tense muscles as she forced back a moan.
She had never had a man bathe her. Ever. And now she knew why. The intimacy of the act was a weakness itself.
Swallowing tightly, she kept her head down, forcing her breathing to become regular while he wrung the water from her hair and twisted it expertly into a towel.
“Lean back. ” His voice was insidiously soft, his hands firm as he gripped her shoulders and forced her to recline against the back of the porcelain tub.
“There you go. Just rest,” he murmured. The sound was a purr of male satisfaction, one she wanted to fight.
She was in dangerous territory here and she knew it. Her father could have more than one spy in Sanctuary, and she knew that at least the one she knew of was in a very high position. She couldn’t discount Tanner.
At this point, anyone within Sanctuary was suspect. Especially Tanner. He was trained in non-weapon warfare. Before he was fifteen years of age he had excelled in guerilla infiltration and subversive techniques. The Council scientists had determined he had the mental capabilities and lack of emotion to excel at it. He could just as easily be one of the spies her father had managed to secure within Sanctuary as any other Breed could be.
Trusting him was too dangerous.
Just because Tanner had rescued her from Chaz didn’t mean he could be trusted. Her father knew about the message she had destroyed; he knew she wouldn’t break if he hurt her, or if he buried her. Tanner could have been her father’s insurance. He could have been in place to gain her trust, even if it meant killing Chaz.
General Cyrus Tallant was nothing if not diabolical, and he left very few things to chance. He would have wanted that information above all things, if possible.
“What do you want from me?”
“There are a lot of things I want from you. ” He eased around the tub, a bath sponge in one hand, a bottle of bath gel in the other.
Scheme watched as he squeezed the gel onto the sponge then set the bottle on the floor.
“Like?”