Tightly Wound

By Mia Dymond

Copyright 2011 Mia Dymond

Published on Smashwords

Cover photo: Les3photo8|Dreamstime.com

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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Who are you?

Claire gripped the steering wheel almost in two, the rubber and metal slippery beneath her fingers. Someone followed behind. Someone with a vendetta and determined to catch her. She glanced into the rearview mirror at the vacant highway and exhaled loud.

God, why did she always have to
know
things?

She loosened her hold long enough to wipe the sweat from one hand on her thigh and then resumed the death grip. If she could make it another ten miles without being slaughtered, she might have a chance.

Damn this curse.

Until the last few days, she dealt with her psychic abilities the best way she could; she put them to work. Her
talent
, partnered with her criminal justice degree, rendered her a crime investigator’s secret weapon. But now things were different. Evil had turned the tables; she was now the hunted.

Claire drew in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly as the Bluetooth mechanism flashed on her dashboard. One push of a button would send someone to her rescue. A white knight who would give his life for her without hesitation.

No
.

The repercussions were too risky.

It had almost killed her to leave Diablo, Arizona two days ago, but when she’d felt the evil force close in, she knew she had no choice. So she left in the dark of the night, convinced everyone would understand. Everyone except him.

She pressed harder on the accelerator, assaulted by bittersweet memories. He laid in bed, naked down to his jet black boxer briefs, bronzed and beautiful, his wavy shoulder-length dark hair tousled in his sleep. One arm thrown across his forehead and the other resting on his solid six pack, he had no clue she’d snuck in to say a silent goodbye. Her lips ached for one more life-altering kiss like the one they shared the night before. His firm mouth fitted to hers while his hands caressed the side of her face. The low, almost savage growl that left his throat while he possessed her. Yet, even though both her body and her heart screamed for his touch, she backed away and closed the door on what they could have had.

To save his life.

Claire parked her Mercedes in the driveway then inhaled a deep breath while she took an extra minute to analyze the atmosphere. The feeling of being followed had lessened but intuition told her that he still waited. She released the breath in an impatient huff. He who? And more importantly, why?

The last monster she helped the FBI apprehend dragged her so far down she ran to Diablo and sought comfort from her brother. And now, thank God and SWAT, the lunatic was six feet under. No, the person in the shadows was not someone she hunted.

Claire rested her now aching head in her hands and huffed again, just because. Her brain felt like scrambled eggs. No sense trying to figure out any more now, the visions and feelings came and went as they pleased. She lifted her head, opened the car door, paused to make sure she was safe, then headed to the front door.

Once she stood in the front doorway of her inner sanctum and pushed buttons to quiet the alarm, she allowed herself to relax. Home. There was only one place she would rather be. She shook her head more or less to remind herself it was her own fault.

She could have stayed in Diablo in the safety of his arms. No doubt somehow, some way, he would have protected her, given his life even. And she could have never forgiven herself; she might as well have been buried beside him.

The door creaked closed while she punched several more numbers on the keypad, confident she was safe for the moment. And then he stepped into her peripheral vision.

Claire turned and stopped short of a blood-curdling scream. “Shadow!” Her heart pounded and she attempted to regulate the beat with several deep breaths. “You scared the crap out of me.”

The six foot plus man of steel didn’t immediately respond. He just stood silent, still, not one emotion scarred his face. His deep, paralyzing green eyes pinned her in place. Narrowed, deadly. Eyes of a leopard waiting for a kill. She counted heartbeats in the silence. Instinct told her to blast him. Experience told her she would only ask for trouble.

The tick tock of the living room clock echoed in the sterile moment and still he made no effort to explain his presence. He left her with one only alternative. She gave his mind a very gentle nudge. She frowned when an iron fist met her intrusion.

Shadow lifted one eyebrow. “You always cheat when you don’t get your way.”

“Don’t be so smug. I couldn’t get in.”

Shadow shrugged. Just like him to be so non-committal.

“Why are you here?” she pressed.

“Why did you run?” he countered.

Claire sighed. She knew he would come and not because of her psychic curse. Simply because she knew him better than he knew himself.

“Is Brett with you?”

“No, why?”

“You know why. You and my brother never pass up an opportunity to gang up on me.”

“Steele doesn’t know I’m here.”

That caught her attention ten-fold. “How’d you manage that?”

“I just didn’t tell him.”

Claire pressed her fingers to her temples in an attempt to quiet her throbbing nerve endings. “Were you behind me on the highway?”

Shadow shook his head in denial and stepped close to brush her fingers from her temples. “I’ve been here for hours.” He grasped her hands and placed them flat against his chest. The pain oozed from her body.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Don’t thank me.”

She frowned in confusion.

“My motive was entirely selfish, Claire Voyant.” He repositioned her arms around his neck, pulled her flush against him, and gestured with his head toward the master bedroom. “You have approximately three seconds to explain, then I’m carrying you in there and stripping you naked. No way in hell will I let your headache stop me.”

“Fine.” She stepped from his embrace. “You win.”

“I always do.”

“Come on.” She shoved his shoulder and pointed toward the kitchen. “I’ve got lemonade.”

Claire used the distance from the living room to the kitchen to pull herself together. Experience told her the former Navy SEAL had a battle plan, one she couldn’t defeat. Besides, it was her own fault, leaving Diablo without explanation just invited him to find her.

Her hand shook as she removed a frosty glass from the freezer and set it on the counter.

Shadow chuckled from behind her. “You expected me.”

She shrugged while she opened the adjoining door of the refrigerator for a pitcher of Shadow’s guilty pleasure. “Lemonade doesn’t taste right unless the glass is frosted.”

He placed a hand over hers and guided the pitcher to the counter top. Once he extracted her fingers from the handle, he boosted her to sit on the cool, granite surface. Claire sighed. Eye-level made his interrogation inescapable.

Shadow poured a glass of lemonade and then took a swallow before he spoke. “What’s got you so spooked?”

She fidgeted for several seconds and then finally opened her mouth. He cut her off before she uttered a word.

“No bullshit, Claire, the truth.”

Her eyes widened and she snapped her mouth closed, determined not to answer. Shadow didn’t appear concerned. He lifted the glass back to his mouth and took another swallow.

“You,” she answered while the glass rested against his lips.

He lowered his beverage and placed it back onto the granite. A muscle ticked at the base of his jaw as he rested both hands on the counter, one on each side of her thighs. Caging her in, she supposed.

Claire mentally reached for his thoughts, amazed when she was allowed entry, and shocked out of her mind when she heard him speak.

“I’m sorry I scared you. I had too much to drink and I should have let Cpt. Sterling take me home.”

Flashes of their last night together skittered across her mind. Although he had been drunk, his kiss had nothing to do with alcohol. In fact, without his injection of liquid encouragement, she may have never experienced the ecstasy.

“I’m not sorry you kissed me, Shadow. In fact, I probably would have stripped naked if you asked.”

Her admission appeared to render him speechless for a few seconds. She nudged his mental walls again, but this time they wouldn’t budge.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and then spoke. “Really?”

His gaze remained glued to hers as she nodded. “I wanted you.”

A cocky smirk split his lips. “You still do.”

Claire fought the urge to wrap her legs around his and have her wicked way with him. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and didn’t answer.

“And not just for sex,” he prodded.

She bit her tongue, unwilling to feed his ego. Not until she determined his intentions.

He reached to tuck a piece of her hair behind one ear. “I’ve waited for you a long time, Claire.”

“Is that so?” His chin lifted maybe half an inch as she continued. “I seem to recall ample opportunity for you to cut to the front of the line.” Unable to stop it, a wave of insecurity rolled over her. “Am I that scary?”

“No. You just weren’t ready for me.”

“Oh, that’s right.
You’re
the scary one.”

“Watch it. You don’t know how true that statement is.”

“Believe it or not, you’re the one thing I’m sure I’m not afraid of.”

“Oh yeah?”

She squared her shoulders then narrowed her eyes on him like a laser. “Positive.”

“Then answer my question. Why did you run?”

“I didn’t.”

“You did.”

“I had no choice.” Maybe, just maybe he’d get tired of their argument and accept that excuse.

“Explain.”

Or maybe not.

“How’d you get past my security system anyway?”

“Busted your code. Funny that you used my birthday.”

For two long seconds, she stared into the deep, dark eyes of the one person, other than her twin brother, she trusted with her life.

“I can’t get you out of my head, Shadow.”

He reached to stroke her cheek with his knuckles, his touch gentle despite his obvious frustration. “I won’t let you, Angel.”

Without a second thought, she eased off the counter and sought the warmth of his embrace, damning the repercussions for the moment.

Shadow held her close, his chest expanding with each labored breath while he weaved his fingers in and out of her hair until they were wrapped in the tresses.

Claire giggled. “Sooner or later you’re going to get tangled and then what?”

“I haven’t yet.”

She sighed. From the first time Brett brought Shadow home, Shadow confessed an obsession with her hair. She’d spent quite a few nights trapped in his bulky arms, not in a lover’s embrace, but held by a man who accepted her quirky behavior without question. Although she’d never told another living soul, Shadow chased the darkness from her mind. She’d come to learn that he wound his fingers around her hair almost subconsciously, as if it were part of his thought process.

He gave the wad of hair a slight tug and her thoughts suddenly turned a whole different direction.

“Tell me why you left me, Claire.”

She raised her gaze to his. “I didn’t leave
you
, Shadow, I left Diablo.” She swallowed hard. If it were storming, lightening would strike her down.

“You are one stubborn woman. We’re way past this argument.”

“What argument?”

“The one about how much in love with me you are.”

“Sure of yourself, aren’t you Solider Boy?”

Another yank on her hair sent hormones reeling.

“Very.”

“And what about your confession?”

“I’ve loved you since the day Steele brought me home.”

“Sure.” She snorted. “You had five Steele women to choose from. You had so much sugar spilled on you, I thought you’d pass out.”

“You avoided me like the plague.”

“I was different.” She shrugged. “I had no idea how you’d react.”

“I’ve told you a thousand times, your talent makes no difference to me.”

“Well, it should.”

“Spill it, Claire.”

“Fine, but let go of my hair. I don’t want to be your prisoner when I tell you.”

Shadow unthreaded his fingers. She attempted to back out of his embrace but he held tight.

“Uh-huh. You might need me.”

As much as she wanted to argue, she couldn’t. Just like her brother, Shadow possessed an uncanny knack for blocking her pain when emotion tormented her. “You’re playing this anchor thing for all it’s worth, aren’t you?”

Another lazy shrug answered her question.

Claire took a deep breath, hesitant to destroy the playful banter between them. “Someone wants to kill me.”

Before her very eyes, Claire witnessed his silent transformation from gentle, easy, playful Lt. Malcolm Windsor III to the dangerous, deadly, lethal warrior known as
Shadow
. A man able to slip in and out of the darkness without detection and kill his prey with a single, solitary movement.

“Who?” Although his usual soft voice remained steady, she didn’t miss the undisputed anger that laced his tone.

“I wish I knew. I’ve tried to figure it out all week and all I do is give myself a headache.”

“You’ve known for a week?”

She nodded. “Since Diablo. I got a call from Navajo PD. I’ve been assigned a new case.”

“Local?”

“I didn’t want to get too far away from Brett.”
Or you.

“You left for my sake.”

She rolled her eyes. “I knew exactly how you’d react. And once he knows you’re connected to me, you’ll become a target.”

“He?”

“I know it’s a male. That’s all I know except he wants me dead.”

He took one hand off her waist and unsnapped his cell phone from his belt. Claire snatched it from his grasp.

“Do not call Brett, Shadow, it’s too dangerous.”

“Give me the phone,” he demanded through gritted teeth, “I need back up.”

She shook her head so violently her brain may have rattled. “Absolutely not. Not only do I refuse to put my brother in danger, I can’t concentrate with him around. He’s too much of a blocker.”

“I’m a blocker.”

“I can get around you.”

He didn’t argue, obviously more interested in what she attempted to hide. “What the hell do you have up your sleeve?”

“I can lure him in.”

“And then what?”

“Whatever I have to.”

“Oh
hell
no. Give me the phone.”

Desperate, Claire made a rash decision. Since his six foot frame towered her five foot two inch height, there was only one way to keep the phone from him. She dropped it down the front of her top and wiggled until it rested inside her left bra cup.

For a brief second, Shadow appeared dumbfounded, but she knew better. And when the grin of pure male appreciation split his lips, she realized she only encouraged him. On purpose? She swallowed. Maybe.

“Think that’s gonna work?”

She folded her arms across her chest and silently chided her feeble attempt to dissuade him. Like that would stop the human freight train headed straight for her. But, she could at least fake it. “Yes.”

His grin never faltered while he unfolded her arms, placed them at her sides, and then grasped her waist with both hands. Without hesitation, he lowered his head and took her lips between his.

Claire whimpered and pressed herself against him, all the while scolding herself for being so easy. Yet, at that particular moment she really didn’t care. Shadow’s lips were pressed to hers, her body was now beginning a nice hum, and easy could just go straight to hell.

Shadow’s hands left her waist while his tongue eased her lips apart and then swept the inside of her mouth. Her nipples tightened when his fingers grazed the sides of both breasts. She released a moan and pressed them further into his touch. He cupped the weight in each palm and then ran each thumb across the thin material stretched across her nipples.

Something in the back of her mind, way back behind the haze of overwhelming desire, told Claire to end this madness. Except, the hum had now become a full-fledged vibration and she had absolutely no intention of stopping anytime soon.

He released a growl from his throat. One that warned her not to even try.

Then she felt a tug on the left side of her bra. With one more pass of his tongue over hers, he closed his lips and placed a small peck on hers.