“Kill me. Yes, we’ve gone over this.”
“No.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “If you put me in the trunk again, I will never forgive you.”
It was such a softer threat, but it hit harder than any of her others to date. It wasn’t that Dante didn’t believe Rose capable of murder. He knew for a fact she was. She would have killed him three months ago if his reflexes were any slower.
But this? By saying this, she’d all but stated that he hadn’t crossed the line of unforgivable actions to date. If he wanted Rose, he had to stay on the correct side of that line. He considered the hood in his hand. What did it really matter if Rose knew where they were? The door with the code was the main thing keeping her in place. Not to mention allowing her to see just how isolated they were might be beneficial.
With a shrug, he tossed the hood onto the couch. “Turn around.”
Rose considered him for a long moment but finally obeyed. He kept one eye on her and tapped in the code really quick. The door gave with a quiet snick sound. “Come on.” He held it open for her. “The quicker we get this done, the better.”
Chapter 15
Rose understood why Dante relented so easily within ten steps of the cabin. She’d expected nature to be quiet. It certainly looked peaceful when she sat on the couch in the early morning with her coffee and looked out over the view. Now that she was outside, all she could hear were strange sounds. The buzzing of insects. The trees shifting in the breeze. Something moving deeper in the woods just out of sight.
She inched closer to Dante. Not intentionally, of course, but this strange world was not her world. She didn’t know what to expect. She didn’t even know where they were. Did they have mountain lions in this area? When Sasha was younger, she’d gone through a big-cats phase, and as a result, Rose knew far more that was comfortable about one of the few big cats native to North America than she’d like. Sasha, sweet girl that she was, had several books about how to survive a cougar attack, and they were all filled with stories about hikers or joggers or campers being stalked and attacked by the cats.
“What are you doing?”
Rose stopped searching the branches above them, instantly feeling foolish. “Are there cougars around here?”
Dante gave her a long look. “Sometimes. They don’t usually come too close to the cabin, though.”
She expected him to laugh at her. In his place, she would have. Silly city girl, afraid of the woods. He just offered his hand. She shouldn’t take it. He’d look into the gesture and see it as a sign of her capitulating to his theoretical future.
Rose slipped her hand into his.
He led the way down a dirt path that was barely wide enough for him to walk, let alone both of them side by side. She told herself not to be foolish, but she couldn’t help continuing her search of the trees… At least until the space opened and she saw their destination. “I knew there was a car around here.”
“Si. Traveling by plane is quick but not convenient at times.”
“I suppose.” She followed him to the garage. It looked like a smaller version of the cabin, albeit with fewer windows. Rustic, but in the unique way only the ridiculously wealthy seemed to accomplish. She reluctantly turned away when Dante keyed in the code, straining her ears as he typed it in. Six digits instead of eight, but they weren’t tonal like so many devices, so she had no idea what the number combination was. Oh well. It wouldn’t matter soon enough.
She had absolutely no intention of letting him bring her back to the cabin.
Rose wished she could say the sex was all part of the plan, down to needing Plan B, but she’d be lying if she claimed that. She hadn’t been thinking about anything in that moment but getting as close to Dante as possible, with nothing between them, and how hot we shouldn’t was. The potential consequences only slapped her in the face after the high from her orgasm wore off.
There were times over the past three days when she forgot she was supposed to be looking for a way to escape.
He opened the door, stirring her from her thoughts, and stepped aside for her to precede him into the dark garage. Rose stepped in perhaps a little too willingly, but having all that nature at her back gave her the heebie-jeebies.
Inside, there was a spotless black SUV and nothing else. She eyed the empty walls. It made logical sense not to have a bunch of shit in here, especially when so many tools and outdoors type equipment could be used as weapons, but… “This really is a sex cabin, isn’t it?”