Dominance Never Dies (Masters and Mercenaries #11)(32)

His eyes flared and then he smiled. “I’ll pay the dry cleaning bill. You’re really all right?”

She nodded and noted he’d already picked up the guy’s gun. “I’m fine. You did what you had to do, but I will get in trouble for getting blood on the carpet. Drew takes this plane seriously. He doesn’t have another gun on him, does he?”

“No.” Case took her hand. “And I’m not giving you this one. Try to remember that we’re flying through the air in a pressurized tube and putting holes in our tube would be bad.”

Having his hand in hers gave her such strength. “Tell that to the bad guys. Do you think they’ll hurt Hutch and Michael?”

It was a stupid question. Of course they would.

He squeezed her hand. “I’m going to do everything I can to stop it. You’re going to hide.”

He was back to that plan. She didn’t want to split up. The idea that he wouldn’t have anyone to watch his back didn’t sit well. “I can help you. I know this plane way better than you do.”

“Then you’ll know where to hide.” He stopped in front of the door and looked back at her, his eyes hard. “I’m not kidding, Mia. You’re going to stay where I put you. I have to do some seriously dirty work to get us all out of this and I can’t do it while I’m worried about you. You agreed to obey me. We might not have a written contract in place, but there’s a verbal one and I expect you to abide by it or there will be harsh punishment. Am I understood?”

“You can’t expect me to hide while you’re in danger.”

“I don’t merely expect it. If I think I won’t get it, I’ll tie you up myself and stash you.”

Arrogant ass. “Fine. There’s a closet in my brother’s office built for just such a scenario. Apparently the last owner was very safety conscious. I’ll cower in there while you get horribly murdered.”

His expression didn’t change at all. “Excellent. You’ll forgive me if I tuck you in myself.”

He didn’t trust her at all. “I can find my way.”

His hand clutched hers. “Not on your life. The office is the one across the hall from here?”

She nodded. If she really looked at it, maybe this wasn’t about trusting her so much as he was worried about her. That was a much better way to look at it. Even in the midst of serious chaos, she preferred to look on the bright side. Sure she was covered in some dude’s blood and Case was being an unreasonable *, but he was likely one of those guys who didn’t handle pressure well. Women were infinitely more suited to handle stress than men. She had to encourage him. If he thought he worked better without her, there wasn’t exactly a ton of time to argue her point.

But they would have a serious discussion about it later.

“Mia?”

She rolled her eyes and then sighed. “I’ll hide.”

“Come on. You stay behind me.”

She didn’t point out that the hall went both ways so there was a fifty-fifty chance that he would be behind her from the would-be kidnapper’s point of view. Again, likely not the time to question him. Mia followed him as he opened the door and checked the hall, only bringing her out when he seemed sure they were safe. Luckily it was only a few steps to the office.

Mia was so tempted to try to see back out into the cabin, but Case hauled her along.

She found herself standing in Drew’s office.

“Where is it?” Case looked around the office, trying to find what was cleverly hidden.

Mia moved to the wood-paneled wall behind Drew’s desk. There were three floor-to-ceiling panels and the one in the middle hid the tiny safe place…she couldn’t call it a room. It was basically a closet.

Who the hell thought to put shit like this on a plane? It wasn’t like the cops could show up to save her at thirty thousand feet. All this casket of a room really did was f*ck up her life. She touched the right place and it opened, revealing the tiny space with its cameras. She’d never been in it. Now she realized she could see every room from a small bank of monitors in the wall.

Her brother was such a liar. “I don’t think this is a safe room at all. This is like a creepy watch place. He could see into the bedroom from here. Ewww. I don’t want to know why there’s a box of tissues in here, do I?”

He pushed her inside. “I don’t care. Don’t you open this door until you know it’s me outside. I’m trusting you. I can’t do what I need to do unless I know you’re safe.”

He reached for her, his hand cupping the back of her neck and pulling her in. He kissed her, his mouth dominating hers. Her body relaxed, his need calling to her on every level. She molded her body to his, letting her hands run up the muscles of his back. So strong. So forceful. He was everything she needed in a man. With the singular exception of not understanding how competent she was, he was practically perfect.

She kissed him with everything she had. The passion between them was off the f*cking charts. Never before had she felt anything close to the emotion she had for Case. Sometimes it felt like it had always been Case. Like she’d waited all her life for this one infuriating, arrogant, sexy as hell, other half of her soul man.

“Don’t you dare die, Taggart.” She held him fiercely for a moment before letting him go.