Beauty Dates the Beast(20)

“At work? I told Giselle you had a family emergency.”

I gave a moan of dismay and sank down on the arm of the couch. God, I hadn’t even thought about work. “You didn’t talk to Giselle.”

“I did. She said to tell you that she’d take care of everything.”

I moaned even louder. Knowing Giselle, that was a bad sign. Given that I’d ditched Garth last night, and now I wasn’t there to hit the new string of dates she’d set up for me, she’d take care of things, all right. She’d start by telling everyone that Sara was a wolf, and we wouldn’t be able to get away before the wolf pack caught on.

I looked over at Beau, an idea sparking. “Will Ramsey do anything you want?”

He stiffened, as if I’d wounded his masculine pride. “Of course he will.”

“Good,” I said, thinking fast. “Tell him to kidnap Sara, too. She’s in danger. Those monsters might be after her.”

He paused, clearly thinking. “You’re asking me to organize her abduction.”

I threw one of the couch pillows at him. “You abducted me, you moron! What’s one more?”

He grinned. “Yours isn’t an abduction but a seduction. It’ll never hold up in a court of law.”

“Bullshit,” I said. “Don’t change the topic. Now, are you going to call that mammoth that you call Ramsey?”

“You’re ferocious when it comes to your sister, you know that?”

“Sara’s the only person I care about.”

His eyes darkened. “The only person?” Before I could comment on his reaction, he said, “All right. I’ll do it in exchange for a favor from you.”

I gave him a wary look. “What sort of favor?” Spread your legs and act interested?

The smug grin returned. “You need to kiss me again.”

“Kiss you?” I sputtered. “Remember the part where I broke up with you? Not seeing each other means there’s no kissing.” My heart pounded in my chest. He did have the sexiest damn mouth. Even as I stared at it, his lips curved into a smile that I wanted to lick right off his face.

Beau closed his eyes. “I don’t think your motivations were solid. Kiss me and we’ll save Sara. Those are the rules.”

“This isn’t a game,” I snapped. “This is Sara’s life.”

“Then I guess you’d better get started.” He didn’t move a muscle.

I waited a moment longer, exasperated by his stupid game. He remained motionless, his arms at his sides. I still smelled a trap.

I slid forward an inch or two on the couch.

A pleased rumble emitted from his chest and his mouth curved into a smile, his eyes still closed. “That’s it. Come closer.”

I slapped his chest lightly in irritation. “Don’t you mean, ‘Come into my web, said the spider to the fly’?”

“That would imply that I’m going to eat you,” he said, his words soft. “It’s your lips that are going to be moving.”

A tingle shot through me. I moved a little closer until I was near enough to kiss him. He was sprawled out and I couldn’t find a good angle to lean in, so I straddled his leg and slid forward a bit more.

He groaned and shifted slightly, his thigh pressing against the V of my legs. “I liked that.”

I poked him in the chest. “Hush. I’m concentrating.”

“Sorry,” he said in a tone of voice that was anything but.

I inched closer, moving a little bit further down his thigh, feeling surprisingly vulnerable. But he didn’t move a muscle, so I leaned in. My breasts grazed his chest and I pulled back at the sensation.

He groaned, the confident smile fading. “Tease.”

I had to admit, I liked that reaction. So I leaned in again, making sure to brush up against his chest once more, and I kissed him.

At first, it was just a light press of my mouth to his. I expected him to take control, but to my surprise he remained still. Then the challenge hit me and I suddenly wanted to see him lose control. If this was a contest, I was determined to win.

I excelled at tug-of-war.

So I kissed his full and sensual lower lip first, giving it a light bite and then soothing it with the tip of my tongue. His breath rasped at that, sweet and hot against my mouth, and it made me bolder. I traced both lips with my own, then repeated the motion with my tongue, every so often dipping mine into the faint crease of his mouth. He still didn’t move, but his breath quickened against my own.

I slid my tongue into his mouth, searching for his. Beau tasted terrific—warm, musky, delicious. A soft noise of pleasure escaped my throat.

That sent him over the edge. Suddenly one hand was at the base of my skull, the other one grabbing my ass, and he pulled me against him, his tongue fiercely meeting my own. It was a dance, a flirtation of tongues. Taste, tangle, retreat. It went on for long moments, lips meeting with each tongue thrust, until I gasped for air and broke away.

He gave me a hot-eyed look, breathing hard. “You don’t kiss like a virgin.”

Irritated, I tried to shove him away. “That’s right,” I said sarcastically. “You’ve figured me out. I moonlight as a professional call girl.”

“That explains your weird hair yesterday,” he said, and winced when I slapped his shoulder.

“Very funny.” The hand in my hair had slid down my back, holding me against his chest. “Now please call Ramsey about Sara. I’m really worried about her.”

He leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose. “She’s already been moved.”

“What?”

He grinned, pleased as could be. “Ramsey took care of it last night while you were out. Sara is hiding out at a safe location, much like you and me. We decided to separate the two of you to determine which is the target.”

I knew who was chasing her, and why. She’d never be safe as long as I kept that a secret … but how could I tell Beau that the reason I knew the wolf pack was after Sara was that she was the runaway female they were demanding in exchange for Savannah?

I couldn’t. And I needed to hear her voice to know she was okay.

“Beau,” I said in a warning voice.

He shifted under me, prying something out of his back jeans pocket. “Here,” he said, handing me the phone. “Call Ramsey if you’d like.”

I flipped open the phone and paged through the address book—noting with irritation that a good many names were female, and Arabella’s name was still in his list—and hit dial when I saw Ramsey’s name.

“Yes?” he said, answering on the first ring. If I thought Beau’s voice was deep, Ramsey’s voice was the abyss. It definitely matched his Godzilla-sized body.

“This is Bathsheba. I need to talk to Sara.”

A moment later, Sara’s voice chirped into my ear, “Hello?”

“It’s me, Bath. Are you all right? Where are you?”

She paused for a moment. “Ramsey says it’s not safe for me to say. How are you? Are you okay?”

It was really starting to irritate me that Beau and his cronies could waltz into our lives, turn them upside down, and we were suddenly dancing to their tunes. I glanced at Beau, who was obviously listening in on the conversation, and I was positive Ramsey was doing the same. I couldn’t tell her that the wolves were after us. “I’m fine. And you? You’re … fine? You’re being careful?”

Sara sounded almost shy. “I’m good. No problems on this end. I’m being careful.”

I exhaled in relief, knowing what she was saying. “That’s good. That’s very good.”

“It’s okay, Bath. I’m going to stay here with Ramsey and the rest of the Russell clan for a few days. It’s going to be fine.”

“Okay,” I said, as if our lives hadn’t all been torn to shit at the moment.

But her voice was even and steady, and didn’t have the vibrato of fear that I’d become so attuned to. Whatever was going on, she felt safe, and that made me relax.

“I have to go,” she said after a few minutes. “We’re picking teams for Xbox and I don’t want to be stuck with Jeremiah again. He sucks at Call of Duty—all thumbs. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you.”

“Love you,” I said slowly, but she had already hung up. I felt a little stung. Wasn’t she even worried about any of this?

“She knows you’re safe with me,” Beau offered, almost as if he could read my mind. “And that she’s safe with Ramsey. He’d die before he’d let anything happen to her.”

“I know,” I said softly. “I just worry about her.”

His mouth quirked into a half smile. “You mother Sara, don’t you? For all that she’s maybe a year younger than you—”