Yield to Me (19 page)

Sophie began to squirm against him
and it was clear her desire was renewed. They were both panting out of control
when the fiery kiss ended. But when she started to kiss and suck her way from
his neck to his chest Brent took control and rolled, pulling her beneath him.
Their gazes met and clung, and at that moment something unspoken moved between
them.
An emotion that went beyond the physical.

“Brent…I”

Was that tears swimming in her eyes?
He shushed her, reining kisses over her forehead, eyes and cheeks. He gave her
parted lips a brief kiss and met her eyes again. The vulnerability in her eyes
caused his heart to swell and he knew he was in trouble.

“Just feel,” he finally said in a
low tone.

“I am feeling,” she admitted softly.
“Way too much.
I haven’t felt this much alive in
months.”

Her admission didn’t surprise Brent.
Whatever her relationship was with Lord it wasn’t intimate, and it sure as hell
wasn’t emotional. Not in the way they were sharing. Damn! It was too late to
pull away from Sophie, and inject a measure of indifference. They were already
more involved than two people could get.

“Fuck me, Brent.”

Her comment brought him back to the
present. Sophie using the word fuck caused him to smile. Looking at her now,
she hardly resembled the Senator’s daughter he’d met at the museum. Her
luxurious hair was a wild mass around her. Flushed heat warmed her cheeks and
her eyes were sparkling with strong emotion.

“Make me forget, Brent.
Please.
” She backed up her plea by
raising her hips against his hard cock.

Forget? His cock was reminding him
he had a beautiful, responsive woman beneath him. But he also had a job to do,
and he couldn’t let Sophie’s comment go without asking her about it. Her answer
might be exactly what the senator was looking for.

Brent knew he needed to find the
strength to pull away. His fingers curled around the delicate bones of her
wrists and he pinned her to the bed, pulling back to look down at her. Eyes
clinging, their harsh breathing echoed through the small cabin, heard well
above the noise of the rain. She was thrusting against him, her need mirroring
his own.

“Tell me again that you love
Jonathan Lord,” he demanded softly. “A woman supposedly in love with another
man doesn’t give herself so easily to someone else.”

Her expression showed surprise. “Is
that why you made love to me? So I’d let down my guard?” Her soft, slightly disappointed
words reminded Brent of how he’d felt earlier, when he thought she’d used her
body to do the same thing. “You don’t think a woman can love one man and still
want to make love to another?”

Oh, it was more than possible. But
he didn’t want to believe it. He narrowed his eyes on her lovely, flushed face,
trying to read the truth. “Are you that kind of woman, Sophie?” She glanced
away, only he wasn’t about to let her get away with that. Gripping her chin,
Brent forced her to look at him. “Are you?” His tone was harsh.

“Yes.”

“You’re lying. Just a second ago you
asked me to help you forget.” Brent’s instincts told him what she wouldn’t
admit to. Acid churned in his gut that a man like Lord had such a strong hold
on her that she was willing to sell herself. However, it was the thought that
Sophie might be telling him the truth that made a knot twist in his gut. “What
has he got on you?” he demanded angrily. Maybe she would tell him what her
father couldn’t get out of her.

Her eyes widened with alarm, his
words obviously hitting close to home. “What d-do you me-mean?” she asked in a
broken whisper. “I lo—”

“There are plenty of signs that
indicate to me that you don’t love Lord. A woman in love doesn’t remove the
man’s ring and leave it behind. A woman in love wouldn’t think of betraying him
by letting another man fuck her.” He had little to base that observation on
except for his mother and sister. “And don’t think I didn’t notice you cringe
the other night at the museum when Lord kissed your shoulder.”

“I don’t know what you mean!” Her
voice was shaking, and she tried to push him away from her. “You were imagining
things!”

“Don’t insult me by the innocent
act. Why don’t you try telling the truth for a change?” Before he lost control
and shook some sense into her, he released her and rolled off the bed.

Once he was on his feet, he swung
around. He narrowed his gaze on her pale face with the thought that if he
pushed her into spilling the truth, he would be able to contact Senator Adams
and put an end to the whole damn mess. It was risky, but Brent decided to take it.
Besides, what do I have to lose?

“Just who are you protecting,
princess, yourself or your father?”

She caught her breath, her eyes
widening into round saucers. All she could do was lay there and roll helplessly
with the movements of the boat. “You’re crazy!” she finally replied.

“Am I?” There was no disguising the
fear in her eyes, or the desperation in her tone. Brent instinctively knew he
was getting close and that she knew it and was terrified of it. What the hell
was she hiding? “Why are you so afraid, then?”

“Wouldn’t you be? I’ve been kid—”

“Don’t try and change the subject,”
he cut in ruthlessly, even while realizing he had to be careful. If Sophie
figured out he wasn’t what he appeared to be she’d have the upper hand, and he
wasn’t about to let that happen.

“What kind of kidnapper are you?”
she asked, her tone changing to suspicion.

Brent had to think fast. “The kind
who wants to make sure he’s asking the right man for the ransom money. I don’t
want to waste my time with Lord if he doesn’t love you as much as you claim to
love him.”

She glanced away, her fingers
clenching into the covers beneath her to keep from rolling. “He wants me,” she
said softly.

Didn’t she realize what she just
revealed? “I want you too, but let’s not confuse lust with love.” Brent looked
at her long and hard.
Who am I kidding?
I’m already half in love with her.

In spite of all his misgivings and
sour experiences with the opposite sex, he knew Sophie was different. His gut
told him when she loved someone she would do anything for them, including
protecting them by sacrificing herself.

The sadness in her gaze tore at his
heartstrings. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her everything would
be all right. That he would make it all right. Yet how can I do that if I don’t
know what to protect her from? He hoped to hell that the senator was having
better luck at his end. Brent wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up the
lie. His cellular began to ring, putting an end to any further discussion. As
he reached for his jeans to retrieve it from his back pocket, Sophie quickly
slipped beneath the blanket.

“Yeah?”
His stare remained on her, holding her gaze.

“It’s me! We have a problem!” Tom’s
excited tone was hushed as if he was afraid someone would overhear him. “Get
out of there! Senator Adams’ lines have a tap on them. Our…”

“What?” Brent barked into the
receiver with disbelief.

“We don’t know when but a tap was
placed on his line to monitor all incoming calls, in case the kidnapper
contacted him instead of Lord. I just received a call from the senator’s
office. He wasn’t even aware of it.” Of course, he wasn’t aware of it. Why
would he knowingly agree to put a tap on his phone when he already knew his
daughter was safe with me? It had to be Lord, the bastard! I underestimated the
man. All at once, Brent realized Tom was talking a mile a minute and he hadn’t
heard a single word. “…from the boat?”

“Repeat,” Brent said between his
teeth, in a tone that left little doubt to anyone who heard it that he was
furious. Sophie looked ready to bolt, if the alarm filling her eyes was any
indication.

“I asked if you made any calls from
the boat.”

He hadn’t but Sophie had. “Damn it!”
he stormed, his lips thinning with anger. The force of his seething reply
caused Sophie to jump. If Tom asked him that, then he obviously knew the
answer, which also meant Lord was on to him.

“What’s the plan now?” Tom
questioned. “I say it’s over! We let Miss Adams go and return to the office,
and pretend nothing’s happened.”

Tom’s plan of surrender didn’t surprise
Brent. He probably thought it would be as easy as that, too. “The plan is we’re
getting the hell off this boat,” Brent grated with exasperation. “I’ll contact
you later with the details.”

He flipped the phone shut and
crammed it in his back pocket. He estimated a good hour had gone by since she’d
called her father, and he knew the only thing saving them from being overtaken
by the cops was Lord’s ego. He was the kind of man who would want to handle
things his own way, with his own people. This probably means I’m a dead man.
Hell! His mouth thinned with displeasure. What a mess!

“Come on, princess, we have to get
the hell off this boat before lover boy shows up with the cavalry.” The last
thing he wanted was for her to be caught up in any gunfire.

Her eyes rounded as she took in the
news. “The police are on their way?” She had no choice but to let him pull her
off the bed. “How…”

“It appears when you phoned daddy,
the call was traced.” Brent caught her when the boat suddenly swayed. In the
blink of an eye her light fragrance, her soft body and a need so strong it
threatened to consume him, engulfed his already weakened senses. That sharp,
unwelcome sensation was almost enough to make him into throw caution to the
wind and toss her back upon the bed. He took a moment to gain control of his
wits, pretending to steady her before setting her away from him.

“Hurry up and get dressed.”

He didn’t bother looking around for
anything that might give his identity away. He figured it was too late for
that. By now, Lord knew who he was, and where to find them. A sense of urgency
made the adrenaline rush through his blood like a torrid river. While Sophie
dressed, he went topside to see what, if anything, was going on. Mostly anglers
used the dock on weekends and in this kind of weather, it was deserted.
However, that didn’t mean that someone would not be returning from a fishing
trip cut short.

As soon as he stepped on deck, he
was drenched in the downpour. It looked like early evening, although it was the
afternoon. The skyline was dark, and the clouds overhead resembled dirty snow
banks. As Brent’s gaze took in the area, he whistled a sound of relief that no
one was around. Hoping his luck continued, he turned to go back below,
surprised to find Sophie patiently waiting for him at the bottom of the steps.
For as long as he lived, he would never forget the look of regret in those
sapphire eyes.

She was wringing her hands. “I
can’t…” He could barely make out her softly spoken words. She seemed frozen in
place, and Brent doubted there was anything he could do about it.

He knew her fear was going to cost
them valuable time. “Sure you can, princess, just put one foot before the other
and climb,” he coaxed gently. He could see she was already shaking her head no.
“Trust me, sweetheart,” he added softly. “I promise I won’t let anything happen
to you.”

Chapter 16

Sophie
hesitated,
mesmerized by the patient sound of Brent’s voice in spite of the fact rain was
beating down on him.
Why should I trust
him?
The answer was as clear as the unexpected tenderness she saw in his
eagle sharp eyes. He was protecting her from something. Why didn’t I see him
for what he was from the start? Intuition warned her she had nothing to fear
from Brent and never had.

“I trust you,” she breathed softly,
still not taking the first step that would bring her topside.

Featherlike laugh lines crinkled
around his eyes, and his face broke into an encouraging grin as he held his
hand down to her, blinking back the rain. “Keep looking at me and take it one
step at a time.”

Taking a deep breath to steady her
nerves, she took the first step, doing as he instructed and keeping her stare
glued to his. With each step she took closer to the top, she could feel the
spray of rain and smell the ocean air. By the time she placed her hand in his,
she half expected him to haul
her the
rest of the way
out.
Surprised when he didn’t.
He let her make the
journey at her own speed. Within seconds she became as drenched as he was.

“Ready?”

No! Still, she nodded anyway. Before
she knew it she was standing on deck and in his arms. She buried her face
against him, refusing to look at her surroundings, trembling uncontrollably.

“I’ve got you. I won’t let you go, I
promise.” His arms closed tightly around her, crushing her against the length
of him.

She released a weak, nervous laugh.
“You’ve got me this far but how are you going to get me off this pier and to
the truck?”