The knife was coming toward her hand. The man with the cold eyes smiled as he prepared to slice off her finger. Tina tried to jerk her hand back, but it was caught on something.
“Easy.”
Her eyelids flew open.
Drew stared down at her. “You’re safe,” he said, the words a low, deep rumble. “You’re with me.”
Her breath eased out as the nightmare—memory—faded.
They were on the old bed. Still cuffed. And Drew was leaning over her.
A much more aware, focused Drew than she’d seen a few hours ago. Right before he’d passed out on her.
Tina swallowed. Her throat was parched. It must have been at least eight hours since she’d had something to drink, but she figured the dry throat was the least of her worries. Her voice was husky when she asked him, “How are you feeling?”
“More human.”
Good. A fast glance showed that there had been no additional bleeding since she’d last checked him. “I don’t even know how you stood on your feet for that long. Much less controlled that bike.” Anyone else would have been down the instant the bullet hit.
Not Drew. The guy seemed to have a will made of iron.
And now that he wasn’t down for the count, she became aware of the fact that they were in a highly intimate situation.
In bed.
His body over hers, his arm curving around her.
Her heart slid into a double-time beat, and that faster pounding wasn’t just from fear.
His eyes were on hers. Golden eyes. She’d never seen a man with eyes like his before. They always looked a little wild.
His eyes we
re so startling because other than his wild stare, he’d always been so controlled in every encounter they’d had back at the EOD offices.
“I—I’m not Mercer’s daughter.” She wasn’t sure why she blurted that out right then. Especially since she’d been staring at him and thinking that his lashes were incredibly long... That his lips were sexy...
That she wanted him to kiss her.
“I know.”
He was— Wait. “You do? How?”
He just stared back at her.
He knows who Mercer’s real daughter is.
But then, so did Tina. But she only knew because Mercer had been so determined to protect one particular agency “asset” a few months ago. On a case that had caused Drew to wind up with more bullet wounds and an emergency trip to the hospital.
The asset had been in that hospital, too, and guarded by other EOD agents. Mercer had wanted to transfer the woman out of that hospital, to move her ASAP. He’d even gone so far as to order the woman drugged.
But, fortunately for the woman in question, EOD Agent Cale Lane had been there. Cale had fallen fast and hard for the asset and he hadn’t been about to let anyone threaten her.
Not even the woman’s own father.
“You...you worked on her protection detail,” Tina said slowly as she put the puzzle pieces together. That was how he knew her identity.
Drew shook his head. “Bruce Mercer doesn’t have a daughter.” Flat. Hard.