“He’ll catch on quick and follow you, Morgan. This guy isn’t stupid. Psycho, but not
stupid. You want to be safe or dead? Besides, it’ll be a good opportunity for you to learn
about Dominance and submission. I can ensure you’ll sound like an expert on your
show.”
“I think I get the picture.”
“Cher, you haven’t even scratched the surface.”
“I don’t need you touching me anymore.”
His smile could have melted butter. “You may not think you need it, but I know
better. You need it every bit as much as you want it.”
Morgan’s jaw dropped. “You are one arrogant bastard.”
“You’re submissive, and I’m arrogant. See how well we’re getting to know each other
already?”
His quip put her temper in a twist. “I am not— That’s it! Take me back to Lafayette.”
He sent her an amused glance. “Back to your friend’s car, the one your stalker
probably has his pretty rifle trained on as we speak?”
She bit her lip. Damn it. Why did he have to be right?
“Or maybe I should drop you off at the police station,” he taunted. “They’re always so
much help in stalker cases.”
Clenching her fists, Morgan said nothing, again knowing spoke the truth.
“Or maybe, you could hop a plane back to L.A. How long do you think it would be
before he stopped shooting pictures and tried again to shoot you between the eyes? You
got a death wish?”
“No.” Her voice vibrated with the anger she felt coursing through her body. “You got
an off button for your mouth?”
Jack just smiled. “You’re too smart to want to face a killer more than your sexuality,
Morgan. I’ll ask you the same question I asked before your stalker started shooting:
What are you afraid of?”
“I’m not having this conversation with you.”
He shrugged, as if he didn’t care about her response one way or the other. “Fine. It’s
your life. Am I taking you back to Lafayette or are you going to stay safe with me?”
God, she wanted to shock the bastard. Spit in his face and verbally cut off his balls by
demanding he take her back to Brandon’s car so she could zoom back to Houston, far
away from his challenging words and his wicked touch.
But once again, damn it, he was right. Putting herself back in the path of a killer
because Jack pushed a few of her sexual buttons was flat stupid. She had no place safe to
go, and despite Brandon’s suggestion, she was not calling Senator Ross. He wouldn’t lift
a finger to help her.
“I’ll go with you,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Good girl. We’ve got a few hours to travel and it’s getting late. Try getting some
sleep.”
Morgan wasn’t sure she could. Being that vulnerable around a man like Jack,
especially while she still had a stalker on her tail. “I’m fine.”
“It wasn’t a suggestion. We’re not being followed. No one is on this road for miles.”
He gestured to the open road and fields around them, completely devoid of headlights.
“You’re safe and you’re going to need your strength later, cher, in case we haven’t lost
your stalker for good.”
She sighed, then shot him a reluctant glance. Again, he was right.
Morgan crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her body toward the passenger
window. But soon the rhythmic motion of the car lulled her. She closed her eyes and
drifted off.
Two hours later, Jack stopped the truck at the water’s edge, in front of the boat
waiting where he’d left it. After he scrambled aboard with a groggy Morgan, they cruised
down the river for a while, Jack poling his way down the swamp with Morgan drifting in
and out of sleep and shivering in the February air. He did his best to shelter her from the
wind with his body. She unconsciously snuggled into him when he wrapped one arm
around her.
That gave him a hard-on so stiff it hurt.
They reached their destination shortly before ten. Jack lifted a slumbering Morgan
into his arms, settled her in his grasp, and headed for the dark cottage.
He’d expected to have to talk fast in Lafayette, to hustle and sweet-talk her to a hotel
room to get his revenge. Having her here, in his domain, was better—and worse. Her
stalker had helped him maneuver Morgan right where he wanted her and never dreamed
he’d have her. He would have Morgan to himself, on his turf, where he could devote
hours to her seduction and his revenge. Sweet, yes.
But Jack couldn’t pretend her sick stalker didn’t concern him. At least here, with him,
he could protect her from the psycho who’d clearly decided that if he couldn’t have