Training Their Mate(13)

She looked out the window, needing to remember where they took her. Once they passed through downtown, Trax continued toward the commercial district. The area was mostly rundown, but it was dotted with a few nice places.

It wasn’t until he turned down a back alley that her nerves shot to high alert. “Where are we? What’s going on?” She scooted to the far end of the seat. If she thought she could actually get away, she might have tried to run.

“We live here.”

“Here?” It was a bunch of old three story brick buildings. There wasn’t a residence in sight.

Trax parked. Dante pushed open his door and rushed to her side. Was he being a gentleman or did he think she’d run? Regardless, she appreciated the help because the minute she put weight on her knee it buckled, but she recovered quickly and held out her wrists.

The interior light illuminated Dante’s face enough to see him quirk a brow. “Sugar, we’re not going to cuff you. You couldn’t get away if you tried.”

The challenge pumped up her adrenaline. “Maybe while you’re getting my stuff out of the back, I’ll take off.” That was assuming her legs would hold up.

“I’d like to see you try. Trax would catch you in five seconds.”

That was probably true. “He some kind of runner?” Stupid comment but her brain wasn’t working.

Dante leaned close and winked. “He’s faster than a werewolf in heat.”

She swore Trax growled a response. “Let’s get the lady inside in case we have any prowlers.”

Their conversation creeped her out, but in truth, her life was in danger. Dante grabbed her gear and motioned for her to follow Trax. At least the rain had stopped, but the sky remained overcast.

Trax stepped up to a metal door and leaned forward. A green light glowed, and a whirring sound emitted for two seconds before the door clicked. Okay, that was cool. Maybe they did own a monitoring company.

Trax pulled it open. “Ma’am.”

Apparently, she wasn’t getting out of staying with them, though at the moment, she might have more peace of mind being here. Her biggest concern was keeping her thoughts off these two amazingly hot men and her unexplained attraction.

She stepped into a dark alcove. A second later, light flooded the hallway. A handrail traveled up twenty steps and led up to another door. Liz placed her right foot on the step. When she pushed up, her knee ached. She had to balance on the wooden handrail but couldn’t grasp it.

“Aw fuck.” Trax swooped her up in his arms and jogged up the stairs.

Her pulse shot skyward. Given the steep angle, her head rested against his rock solid chest. As amazing as it was to be in his strong, virile arms, his irritation pissed her off. “I can walk.”

He finally made eye contact, and she swore his lips turned up. “I know, but I want to get inside sometime tonight. I’m starving.”

So it was all about him. At the top of the steps, he leaned her against his flexing chest to get the key into the lock. Only then did her hip bump into something very large and very hard. No freaking way he had a hard-on.

When he pushed open the door, she expected him to unceremoniously dump her on her feet, but instead he crossed the room with her in his arms. While he hadn’t touched a switch, the lamped turned on automatically. Dante had mentioned something about having sensors everywhere and now she believed it.

Trax set her on the sofa. “Don’t move.”

She wasn’t sure where she would go even if she did. They were in a humongous loft apartment that was very upscale. Two of the walls were brick and shot up fifteen feet, giving the place an expansive feel. Ductwork and pipes crisscrossed the ceiling, which made her believe she was in a bigger city than Gulfside. Across from the living room sat a large, modern kitchen with granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. Her heart ached as she remembered how much her mom always wanted a kitchen this grand but had never been able to afford it.

Besides the large colorful paintings adorning the walls, what struck her was how neat the loft was. Maybe it was that few personal affects appeared anywhere.

“Do you live here year around?” Maybe this was a kind of safe house.

Dante set down her suitcase. “I’ll answer that. Yes. And before you ask, Trax is OCD so don’t make a mess or he may have to spank your ass.”

“His hand ain’t going to touch my ass, ever.” Holy shit. Did that come out of my mouth?

That got another round of laughter out of Dante. “I told you, bro. She’s a live one.”

This whole time, Trax was removing what looked like packages of frozen vegetables from the freezer and not answering.