Kidnapped at the Gun Show [Ransomed Hearts] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (2 page)

She scrambled off him, moving fast enough to avoid his hands. Sara grabbed her purse and looked for an escape route.

“Help me out, fellas. Don’t let her leave,” Kale asked the crowd.

Before she got too far, the grinning men surrounded Sara. She spun and checked every angle while fishing her phone out of her bag. Speed dial to Paige and Emma went to voice mail both times she tried. Damn it, she was stranded at this damned gun show, all alone in a sea of camouflage. By the time the texted reply arrived, Kale was right beside her.

Sorry. This is for your own good. Please don’t hate us.

“What have you done?” she whispered to her friends. Her nonexistent friends. They’d left her alone to deal with the man who’d broken her heart just three miserable years ago.

“When you wouldn’t give me a chance to talk to you, I asked, no, I begged them to help me.”

“Man, you should never beg,” one man said from the crowd.

Another added, “Unless you’re desperate.”

Sara turned away from the onlookers, furious and ready to spit nails. “I want to leave. Now.”

“Let’s go.” He moved to take her hand and she stepped out of reach.

“Not with you. I want out of this place. And you can go to hell.” She texted rapidly, hoping one of her friends would respond.

“Sorry, babe. You’re with me.”

Unfortunately, he was right. The text from Emma confirmed it. She was on her own with the heartless bastard.

“I’m not leaving with you, Kale. We aren’t together. You should be used to it by now.”

“Sara, be reasonable.”

“You ambushed me with the help of my now ex-friends. How reasonable do you expect me to be?” Keeping her voice even was getting harder and harder. The urge to yell would take over any minute, and she really wanted to be out of this crowd when it happened.

“Now, darlin’, don’t blame them for helping me. Just give me a chance.”

“You don’t deserve a chance.”

“You’re right, but I’m asking nicely.” He mugged for the crowd and chanting began, all in favor of Kale.

He cozied next to her, whispering, “You didn’t kiss me like you hate me. Come on, give me a chance to convince you.”

“That won’t happen again.”

Hands on his thighs, Kale crouched and looked her in the eye. “You sure about that, darlin’?” She looked damned irritated at him, and he couldn’t blame her. He’d walked out of her life three years ago, desperate to get out of town after a reckless run of misconceptions and hurt feelings. Time brought clarity, and he wanted another chance. Her friends claimed she still had feelings for him, but it was seriously looking like those feelings weren’t the good kind. Taking a risk was all he could do right now.

He knew Sara. She was stubborn as all get out and hated to be proven wrong. But if he’d learned anything in the last three years, it was perseverance.

Leaning in, he pushed his shoulder into her abdomen and lifted her into a fireman’s hold, wrapping an arm around her thighs to hold her in place while she cursed him to the rooftops. The tightly clenched muscles of her denim-encased thighs showcased how truly enraged she was, and a moment of conscience worried him. He was pushing her to accept him back into her life without giving her a choice.

Basically, he was kidnapping her.

Disturbing, in an academic way, but the only way to get her undivided attention until she calmed down a bit.

As they left the main hall, one of the duty officers approached them. Kale stopped, and the man stepped around him to lean over and look into Sara’s face.

“Ma’am? Are you okay? Is this man hurting you in any way?”

Kale felt Sara’s body stiffen for a moment then relax completely against him.

“I’m okay.”

Kale’s breath caught in his throat at her acceptance of his actions. He raised a hand to the swell of her hip and squeezed, earning him a swift, sharp kick in the thigh with the point of her boot. Another two inches and he’d be a soprano.

“You’re sure, ma’am? If this man is taking you out of here against your will, I can help you. Just say the word. He won’t hurt you.”

“I’m pissed, but not hurt,” she said, and her tone vouched for her feelings.

The officer stood. “Okay, Kale. You’re good to go. Just had to make sure.”

“Thanks, man,” Kale said with a laugh while Sara grumbled.

It helped that he didn’t have any problem getting her out the front door. Several men commented about her situation and her cursing, but they readily held the door open for him, and one even offered to help him unlock his truck. Hunters were such a friendly bunch of guys.

“I should have had you arrested, you jerk. You can’t kidnap me and think you’ll get away with it.”

“But you didn’t. So you must still care.” Kale shot her a hopeful look. “Desperate measures for a desperate man.” He opened the passenger door and gingerly set her on the seat, careful to shield her head when she rolled off his shoulder. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Been there, done that, just not physically. Remorse and regret had been his companions for three years.

Sara twisted away from him, trying to scoot across the cab to the driver’s side, but he pulled her back and secured the seat belt. He pulled his one and only purchase from the gun show out of his back pocket, glad he’d opened the package before stowing it. Soft, pink rubber-encased handcuffs. He slipped one around her right wrist, looped the other around the seatbelt brace, and then grabbed the other hand. She fought him, trying to get away, but she was already restrained enough that he could finish cuffing her without hurting her.

Then she started crying and he almost lost it.

“Please don’t. I don’t want to hurt you. God, it breaks my heart when you cry.” Kale smoothed his thumb across her cheek, wiping away moisture. “I’m not trying to—hell, I don’t know what to do, now. I expected anger, not tears.”

He leaned in and kissed her cheek, her eyebrow, her forehead. “Don’t cry, Sara. Please, I just want to take you somewhere private, so we can talk.”

“I don’t know who you are anymore, Kale.”

“I’m the man who loves you, Sara.” Damn it, he would convince her or die trying.

“That’s not possible,” she hissed.

Well, at least she’d stopped crying and the anger was back. He walked around the front of the truck and got inside. Silence greeted him. Kale fired up the engine and backed out of the parking spot and put the car in drive.

More silence.

Crawled through the parking lot.

More silence until the moment they passed Paige and Emma standing next to their car. Rage, pure and simple, was the sound coming from Sara. No real words, just a growl of real disgust. Probably what she felt for him, too.

“Sorry, darlin’. I didn’t want to do this, but you wouldn’t talk to me any other way.”

The silence was back, and he couldn’t blame her for not wanting conversation. He hit the freeway and set the cruise control. He’d borrowed a friend’s hunting cabin for the week but hoped they wouldn’t have to stay that long. He had a lot of hopes for this adventure, but they all hinged on Sara’s forgiveness.

An hour and a half later, he turned down a dirt road and got his first words from his captive.

“Where are we?”

“Piney Woods of East Texas.”

“Duh. I know that much. Where, exactly? Or are you planning to rape me and dump my body in a shallow grave in the woods?”

“Fuck, Sara. Do you really think I’d do that to you? Was I ever rough with you when we were together?”

More silence, then finally he heard a very soft “No.”

“I have never, and never will, raise a hand to you in anger. That’s a promise, an oath before God.”

“I know.”

She sounded wistful, like the world she knew had fallen away and she just wanted to survive. Not unexpected, but definitely not what he’d hoped.

“I’m having a little trouble figuring you out, Kale. You left me with no idea of what went wrong between us. Well, I guess your decision to sleep with Kathy had something to do with it. And then you just vanished.”

He parked the truck in front of Riley’s cabin and got out. Opening her door, he said, “I didn’t sleep with Kathy.”

“Yes, you did. You got her pregnant and abandoned her.”

“Not possible, since I never laid a hand on her.” Kale fished the key out of his front pocket and unlocked the cuffs. Taking each wrist in his hands, he massaged the red spots where the rubber had chafed.

She slid out of the truck and socked him in the chest. Stomping to the cabin door, she said, “I hope there’s running water in this place. I need a bathroom.” She turned hard eyes on him. “Don’t you dare tell me I’m going to have to find a bush out here.”

Kale hurried to unlock the door. “Straight down the hall and to the left.” Wisely, he waited until she was inside to laugh.

He went back to the truck and pulled her bag out of the large metal toolbox mounted in the truck’s bed. Emma had packed a few things for her last night and passed them to him early this morning. Sara’d be pissed when she saw just how complicit her friends had been, but he knew she’d be happy to have her things while they were here. It was a little rustic, but Riley liked his creature comforts, so electricity and running water were a priority. And the only bed in the place was a plush king with lots of pillows and high-end sheets.

The only thing missing was a phone line. And because of the location, cell service wasn’t consistent. Sara stood in the doorway, cell in hand, glaring at him.

“How long do you plan to keep me here?” she asked. “I have things to do—what the hell are you doing with that suitcase?”

She was a fire-breathing goddess, and he couldn’t suppress his smile. Which did him absolutely no good. She threw her cell at him, since it was the only weapon she had, and screamed when he caught it.

“You won’t need this, since there isn’t a tower for miles. And I didn’t coerce your friends into helping me. I told them the facts, and they believed me. More to the point, they believed you would understand, once you got over being mad.”

Kale walked past her, brushing against her as he passed through the doorway, then carried her bag into the bedroom.

“I’m not sleeping with you, Kale, so don’t even think about sharing that bed with me.”

“Darlin’, when I lay down in that big warm bed with you, sleeping will be the last thing on my mind.” Kale laughed at her growl of frustration. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t hold it in. She was a wildcat in anger, and he hoped her wild spirit would be part of their passion.

“I hate you, Kale.”

“No, I don’t believe that, Sara.” He reached out, his fingers barely touching the soft skin of her throat. “I think you’re scared of how you feel about me. When you’re ready to talk about what happened three years ago, we’ll work it all out.” She was frozen in place, but he leaned forward anyway and skimmed his lips across the curve of her shoulder where it joined with her throat. Her trembling response told him more than words would.

But he didn’t mention it, didn’t want to push her too far, too fast. Instead, he walked away, putting space between them in the guise of taking the groceries into the kitchen.

He heard her step off the stoop and into the gravel drive. After a year of surveillance work, his sense of hearing was acute, and he could track her movements without looking. He knew she wouldn’t go far. There was nowhere to go, really. The Piney Woods stretched for miles in all directions, and the road they’d taken into the area was a simple two-lane blacktop. Sara was smart enough to know she needed to stay within sight of the cabin.

He left her to her thoughts for the time being and pulled out a pot and some provisions from the refrigerator. He started a pot of chili, watching her through the kitchen window while he chopped an onion and added it to the cooking meat. Sara’s hands were stuffed in the pockets of her jeans, her brows down while she paced between the wooden bench and the picket fence surrounding the septic tank. Thinking things out. Working it through. It was a good thing.

He hoped.

For all he knew, she was planning to strangle him and take his truck back to civilization.

After a while, she sat on the bench and wrapped her arms around herself. It was a warm day for late January, but the wind was a little brisk and she looked cold. Kale rifled through the linen closet and found a light blanket. Lost in her thoughts, Sara looked up in surprise when he dropped the blanket across her shoulders.

“Thanks.”

“Figured it out yet?” he asked, keeping his tone gentle, as nondominant as possible. A stretch for him, but she needed to feel in control, and he’d do whatever it took to make her feel safe.

“What?”

“You’ve been out here for over an hour. Have you decided what to do next?” Kale sat next to her and kept his eyes focused on the trees in front of them, giving her space.

“No.”

“Want me to help?”

When she turned her head to stare at him, he ignored the urge to meet her gaze. If he did, he’d want to kiss her senseless, and that wouldn’t get them anywhere near the truth. She had to hear the facts and come to him willingly. The physical attraction they still had would get in the way until she was ready to decide.