Mine to Crave (Mine #4)(70)

Victor glanced away. Oh, no.

“She doesn’t have killers chasing her,” Jasmine said again.

He sighed. “We haven’t found him yet. Maxwell’s gone to ground, and I don’t know how the hell he’s managing to avoid our agents.”

She backed away from him.

“We’re going to find him,” he rushed to reassure her. “It’s just a matter of time.”

Jasmine nodded even as fear twisted inside of her. She headed back toward the window. Stars were shining overhead. So many stars.

“But Maxwell Case isn’t our only problem,” Victor’s voice flowed behind her. “Drake Archer is proving to be difficult.”

“Like I didn’t see that one coming,” Saxon muttered.

Jasmine rubbed her chilled arms and stared out into the night. They were isolated out there. No other cars were on the long, winding road leading to their cabin. They had the perfect vantage point to watch and guard their position.

“The guy’s acting obsessed. What the hell did you do to him Jasmine?”

She bristled at that. “Nothing.”

“Really? Cause I’ve got my bosses breathing down my neck about you. Archer is demanding to see your remains. Your remains! I don’t think he’s buying your death, and the more he pokes around, the harder this situation is to contain.”

A light appeared in the distance. Jasmine’s eyes narrowed.

“You had to go and sleep with him.” Victor was annoyed then. “Him. You couldn’t just find some safe, boring accountant-type—”

“I told her not to sleep with anyone,” Saxon had to add his two cents. “I knew trouble like this would come.”

“It’s her eyes.” Victor was quick to jump on this bandwagon.

Jasmine narrowed said eyes even more.

“They make her look all vulnerable. Like she needs protecting. She pulled Archer in, and the guy is all twisted up because he thinks—”

“Someone’s coming,” Jasmine told them.

“What?” Saxon hurried to her side. “Shit.” He pulled her away from the window. “You were followed,” Saxon accused Victor.

“No way!” Victor denied immediately, sounding affronted. “I covered my ass. Took every possible precaution.” Now he was at the window, too. “That’s just some lost tourist.”

But he didn’t sound convinced, and he was already reaching for his weapon, the gun he kept holstered under his left arm.

“Go upstairs, Jazz,” Victor said. “Lock the door and stay in the bedroom until Saxon or I come up there.”

Saxon pulled out a gun from the nearby desk. “Keep this with you.”

Her mouth had gone bone dry. “Because of a lost tourist?”

Saxon held her stare. “If someone comes up there and it’s not me or Vic…shoot.”

She could hear the growl of a car’s engine. Getting closer and closer. Since when did tourists race up a mountain, in the dark? Jasmine turned and hurried up the stairs.





Chapter Fourteen


Jasmine carefully shut the bedroom door behind her. She clicked the lock into place. Killed the lights. Then backed up, moving until—

She backed into something. Not the soft edge of the bed that she’d expected to hit.

A person. Big. Warm. Hard.

Jasmine opened her mouth to scream, but a hand covered her lips, choking back the sound. She twisted and squirmed, determined to bring up her weapon.

“Now why would you want to use that…” A deep voice rumbled in her ear as the gun was taken from her. “On me?”

Her heart stopped. Drake.

“I’m going to move my hand away from your mouth, and you aren’t going to scream.”

She nodded.

“Because if you scream, those two jerks downstairs will run up here, and right now, I just want to deal with you.” The words were angry. Hard.

She didn’t care.

Drake was there.

His hand lifted. She turned in his arms. “Drake, I—”

His mouth crashed down on hers. It was a hard, desperate, almost brutal kiss, and Jasmine loved it. She strained to get closer to him. She’d missed him so much. It had felt as if someone had sliced right into her heart. No, as if someone had taken her heart.

His tongue thrust into her mouth. She rose onto her toes as she arched against him. One kiss, and the desire had ignited within her like a maelstrom. She couldn’t get close enough. Couldn’t touch him enough. Couldn’t—

His mouth tore away from hers. They were surrounded by darkness and the harsh sound of his breathing filled her ears.

“If I planned to…punish you for every lie you told me…” That voice was a rasp against her ear. “What do you think I’ll do…since you let me think you were dead?”

“I’m sorry. The plans were in motion long before we met.” Jasmine Bennett had been ordered to go into Maxwell’s organization—she’d been assigned the task of gathering intel on him. Of bringing him down. He’d been her last job. She’d already gotten too close to being caught before. Her “death” had been bound to happen, no matter what. “And I…I didn’t think it would matter so much to you.”