Rules In Blackmail. Nichole SevernЧитать онлайн книгу.

       Chapter Three

      Dying hurt like hell.

      Heat blistered along his forearms, neck and face. His entire body ached in places he hadn’t thought about since his SEAL days. He hadn’t been on active duty for over a year now, but Sullivan still trained as though he were. Had to be ready for anything his clients might throw his way. Even the beginning stages of hypothermia. Damn it, he should’ve known better. Groaning, he cracked open his eyes, stomach still rolling. A fire popped a few feet from him.

      At least he knew where he was. The cabin was sparse: one bedroom, one bath, a living room and small kitchen. He mostly came out here when he wanted to be alone, needed to get away from people, the city or both. No neighbors, no one to encroach on his business. And he’d never brought anyone here before. He’d kept this place under his mother’s maiden name in case he’d needed a safe house. It couldn’t be traced back to him if Jane’s stalker—or anyone else—had the inclination to investigate. But how in the hell did he get here?

      Sullivan raised his head. He wasn’t alone.

      Endless amounts of warm, smooth skin stretched out beside him under the heaviest blanket he kept on hand in the cabin. A head of black hair rested against his right arm. Jane? He had to be dreaming. Skimming his fingers across her shoulder blade, he sank into how very real she felt. Nope. Not a dream. But why would she... The lapse in his memory filled almost instantly. The last thing he remembered was the look on her face as he...collapsed. Terrified. Hell. Had she dragged him all the way out here on her own?

      Her shoulders rising and falling against him in a slow, even rhythm said she was fast asleep. He couldn’t have been out for long. An hour—two, tops—from the amount of moonlight coming through the front room window. He’d messed up out there, but her sultry vanilla scent spared him a few ounces of guilt. It dived into his lungs, and he took a deep breath to keep it in his system as long as possible. His heart rate dropped to a slow, even thump behind his ears. He closed his eyes, all too easily seeing himself burying his nose in her hair for another round.

      Nope. Not the time and definitely not this woman.

      Sullivan shifted his hips away from her backside. If Jane woke up now, there’d be no hiding what was going on downstairs in that moment. His brain might have control, but with the expanse of soft skin along his front, his body had other ideas. He scanned the living room and spotted his clothes hanging from fishing line around the open rafters by the fireplace. He’d gotten out of some real complicated situations in the navy. There had to be a way to unwind himself from this warm, coldhearted woman without waking her.

      He leveraged his weight into his toes and stretched out his arm. A soft, guttural moan worked up Jane’s throat. Something primal washed through him. He froze. There was a stalker on the loose and he’d nearly died out in the wilderness, but all Sullivan could think about was what he wouldn’t give to hear that sound again.

      She shifted against him, wrapping her leg around him as though she sensed he was trying to escape. What the—

      The breath Sullivan had been holding crushed from his lungs. He settled back where he’d been, pressed right against her, his front to her back. “You’re awake, aren’t you?”

      Rolling into him, Jane startled him with a wide, gut-clenching grin. The dark, sultry look of her gaze constricted his throat, and a shiver chased down his spine. Her pupils expanded. For an instant, he swore he saw desire blazing in her eyes. Or maybe the hypothermia had done more damage to his brain than he’d originally thought. “I couldn’t wait to see your reaction when you woke up and found a naked woman under the blanket with you. Surprise.”

      “Did I meet your expectations?” Sullivan was proud of the fact his voice sounded steady and calm. Especially considering how very far from calm he felt at the moment. Aware of how naked he was and how she couldn’t possibly miss the show going on at her lower back, he held his weight away from her.

      “Absolutely priceless. And, as a bonus, I got to see you naked.” That amused smile of hers did funny things to his stomach, and he couldn’t help but clench the blanket in his grip for some piece of control. Resting her hand on his chest, Jane pushed herself up to a sitting position, taking the blanket with her as she stood. Cool air rushed down his body, prickling his skin along the way. “Don’t worry, big guy. It wasn’t anything sexual. You were dying and I had to get your body temperature up.”

      Her long legs peeked out from between the folds of the blanket as she walked, the fire glinting off her bright red toenail polish. Not exactly the color he’d visualized for the woman he’d blamed for his brother’s suicide this past year. Black maybe, something to match her soul.

      But Jane had saved his life out there. Even if she was only using him to track down her stalker, that counted for something in his world. Her reputation said she was the JAG Corps prosecutor willing to do anything and everything to convict the men and women who interrupted her crusade for justice. He scanned over his clothing hanging from the rafters. The Full Metal Bitch had only kept him alive to fix her stalker problem. Nothing more.

      There was a lot he didn’t know about her, even more he couldn’t trust. One thing he did know? He would’ve died out there today if it hadn’t been for Jane. So, for now, he would choose to see a woman in danger, a woman who’d lost her grip on everything she thought she could control. Not someone who could turn on him at any moment.

      She smiled over her shoulder at him as she pulled her clothing from the makeshift laundry lines.

      Pulling a pillow from the couch across his hips, Sullivan cleared his throat. “Thank you for saving my life out there. Can’t imagine what it took to get me through that door. Couldn’t have been easy.”

      “Guess that makes us even, doesn’t it?” Her hair flipped around her head as she headed straight for the single bathroom on the other side of the cabin and shut the door tight. The sound of the lock clicking into place shut down any hint of something between them.

      It wasn’t going to happen. Not now. Not ever. She might’ve saved his life out there a few hours ago, but Jane had a lifetime of steel running through her veins, steel that’d gotten his brother killed. She was the reason he didn’t have any family left in this world. Besides, she was a client, and Blackhawk Security operatives were never to get involved with their clients. No exceptions.

      Which reminded him—he had to fill his team in on their new case. Because even without blackmail hanging over his head, the bastard terrorizing Jane owed Sullivan a new SUV.

      He tossed the pillow back onto the couch and dressed in a hurry. She’d hung his clothes up by the fire to dry them out, and the warm fabric chased away the chill of Jane leaving his side. How could he have been so stupid out there? Rule number one when in below-freezing temperatures: stay dry, stay warm. He usually had enough sense to slow down and ensure he wasn’t sweating. What had changed?

      The bathroom door clicked open and his attention slid toward Jane as she stepped back into the main room. He pulled his shoulders back. There stood his answer. He hadn’t exactly been in the right frame of mind after nearly getting run down by a tow truck. He’d wanted to get Jane to safety as fast as possible. Stupid. She’d proved she could take care of herself, had even saved his life in the process. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, she was no worse for wear.

      “This is a nice place.” She scanned over the small cabin, fingers stuffed into her jacket as he