“There’s nothing wrong with being different, Ell,” Zane replied gruffly.
“I could say the same thing to you,” she answered lightly, but her heart was smiling from his words.
He didn’t answer as he pulled up to the entrance of his enormous home. The iron gates were incredibly high and the posts along the top looked sharp. Nobody sane was going over one of the walls of his fortress.
She watched as he punched in a code and the iron gates began to swing open.
“Paranoid much?” she asked curiously.
“I have to be. I’ve had people try to steal my research too many times. I can’t use electric fences because of the wildlife, but it’s as safe here as possible.”
Ellie could believe that. She saw video cameras and motion lights click on as they went down the driveway. “Is it that bad?”
“Bad enough to be cautious,” he answered as he pulled his vehicle into a massive garage. “Since I keep a research lab here, I’m careful. I’m rich enough, and my lab has made me even richer. I might not care about the money, but there’s a lot of it to be had with the right research in biotech.”
“Your lab here…it’s in the house?” Not that she doubted that a lab would fit inside the enormous mansion she’d gotten a brief look at on the way down the drive. But it was getting late, and it got dark early in the winter. She hadn’t seen much except the enormous size.
He shook his head as he shut off the engine. “Not in the main living area. It’s underground.”
Ellie held up a hand when he headed toward the passenger side to help her out. “I can walk. I want to.” After lying in bed for so long, it felt good to be up and walking.
He frowned. “The doctor said no heavy physical exertion for a few weeks.”
She gave him a stubborn look. “I hardly think that walking qualifies as heavy physical exertion. I’m fine. Really. Please.”
Reluctantly, he grabbed her bag in the backseat and unlocked the door, waiting for her to walk around the SUV. He hovered as she went up the few steps in the garage and into the house.
“Shit!”
Ellie heard the low, frustrated curse behind her. “What?”
“I forgot to have somebody come over and clean things up. The house is kind of a mess,” he answered sheepishly.
She stopped and turned around, tears springing to her eyes. “Do you think I care about that? You’re giving me a temporary home. I’m grateful.”
It was hard to believe he cared about the fact that he hadn’t cleaned up because she was going to be here.
“I care. You deserve better after the shithole you were forced to endure for months.” He dropped the bag on the floor of the entry hallway and advanced until her back was against the wall. “You’ve been through hell and back. I want you to have some of the things you didn’t have while you were held prisoner by that psychotic asshole.”
Ellie sighed when he was close enough to smell, and then close enough to touch. “What are you doing?” She looked up at him curiously as he put a hand on each side of the wall, temporarily surrounding her with his heat.
His expression was intense, his smoldering gray eyes hot enough to incinerate her on the spot. “Giving you something you’ve never had. I’m going for breathless. Kiss me, Ellie,” he demanded as a few dark locks of his hair fell to the very top of his eyes.
“W-why?” she stammered, wanting nothing else except to obey his command. She wanted his hard body pressed against her, his mouth on hers, making her feel alive again.
There was no fleeting second of panic as he imprisoned her. He wasn’t touching her. But dear God, she wanted him to touch her…desperately.
“Because I said so,” he replied arrogantly. “I want to give you something you’ve never had. A lot of things, actually.”
“Am I supposed to obey your every command?” she said, stalling because she couldn’t believe he was looking at her like he really wanted to kiss her. Just staring at the ferocious expression on his face nearly made her breathless.
“No. It would be easier if you did, but I know that’s never going to happen.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he lowered his head, his lips so close to hers that she could feel the heat of his breath on her face.
The sensations bombarding her made her shudder. Slowly, her hands crept up his chest. She pushed his wayward hair back from his eyes, and then wrapped her arms around his neck. “You don’t have to do this because it was some silly, unfulfilled wish of mine when I thought I was dying,” she whispered nervously.
“I’m not. I’m doing this for me, too,” he informed her brusquely before he cradled the back of her head and then lowered his mouth to hers.