SOLACE IN SCANDAL
Kimberly Dean

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

More from Mischief

About Mischief

Copyright

About the Publisher

Chapter One

Peace and calm.

Elena concentrated on her breathing as she tried to quiet her mind. She’d thought she’d been making progress towards that goal, but she’d worked too long on her dissertation today without taking a break and the effects were showing. She should know better by now.

Focusing on the tall trees across the lake, she inhaled fresh air through her nose and felt her lungs expand. It was that mystical part of the day when the sun sat fat on the horizon behind her and the night waited impatiently to move in. The beauty of nature surrounded her: a dense forest, a secluded private lake and aromatic earth. Tranquillity was practically reaching out to her, if only she could let it in.

Exhaling, she bent at the waist and planted her hands flat on the dock in front of her. The position lifted her hips and she felt tightness in her hamstrings. The disquiet in her mind was seeping its way into her body. She lifted her hips higher, pushing carefully against the tension, before dropping flat and arching up in the Cobra pose. The position opened her chest and released a kink in her back.

‘Mm,’ she sighed.

The leaves were heavy on those trees, she noticed, changing colour but not yet ready to fall to the ground. Some looked as if they were hanging on for dear life.

She knew how that felt.

Serenity.

From the prone position, she swung back up into Downward Dog. She blew the air in her lungs out through her mouth until her chest ached. The need for oxygen brought her concentration back and she relaxed her shoulders. She couldn’t let herself get worked up like this. She was safe here, hidden and protected. She’d come here to find answers to all the questions running around inside her head, but she’d found something she hadn’t expected. A haven.

In this, the unlikeliest of places.

Twisting into Warrior pose, she looked up to the house. It sat perched atop the hill behind her. The trees around it had been cleared, making sure there were no distractions from what was important. Wolfe Manor.

The sun was level with it now, making it almost glow, but it was impressive no matter the lighting. Built in the late 1800s, the residence was a testament to human ingenuity and grit. Thick limestone walls stood four storeys high, with a stair tower taking precedence out front. Turrets overlooked the corners, while two larger-than-life wolf statues guarded the main entrance. It was a mansion that made a statement.

Although that statement was being questioned after recent events.

Elena stretched her arms high overhead and felt the knot in her shoulder pop. It was ironic how she felt here, on this property. By all rights, she should feel anger and distrust. Outrage. The Wolfe family represented everything that the 99 per cent hated – greed, opulence, excess and unscrupulous entitlement. Yet while the manor stood proud and stately, its owners’ house of cards had finally fallen down. Deservedly so.

Although their deception had nearly pulled her down, too.

She shivered in the cooling breeze. She didn’t understand that kind of ruthlessness. What made some people think they were better than others? That they could push the less fortunate down and not allow them to breathe? She never would have come here if she hadn’t been in dire straits, but Leonard had offered her refuge. The Wolfes wouldn’t be needing the residence for some time, and the lake house had been empty before she’d moved in. Only the staff and groundskeepers remained.

Dear, sweet Leonard. Out of everyone, he understood the position she was in and how powerless she felt. He’d come to her rescue when she’d needed him most, and she didn’t know how she’d ever repay him.

She could start by taking better care of herself.

She focused on the lake again as a breeze stirred her hair and was surprised to see a thousand diamonds glittering back at her. The sun was glinting off the water now, making it appear as if lights were dancing on its surface. The beauty was undeniable. Pure, spiritual and unexpected.

Yet that wasn’t what made her breath catch. ‘What?’

The air. It had just changed.

It felt heavier … pricklier … It was subtle, but the hair at the back of her neck rose. It was the sensation one got in a quiet old house when a floorboard squeaked and nobody else was supposed to be home.

She was being watched.

The awareness destroyed her rhythm and the inner peace she’d fought so hard to obtain. Her first thought was ‘predator’. She scanned the area around the lake and the rocky beach behind the dock. What roamed these woods? Coyotes? Red foxes? Deer? She couldn’t think of anything dangerous, yet the feeling remained.

She finished the sequence she was going through, but turned reflexively when she felt the air behind her snap. ‘Ah!’

A man.

Looking up, she spotted the source of the disquiet. Suddenly, the benefits of the yoga disappeared. She recognised him on sight. Alex Wolfe. In the flesh. The most dangerous predator of all.

‘Oh, dear God.’ What was he doing here?

Their gazes connected and she felt a jolt. Even with him hundreds of yards away and up the hill, she felt his attention and it was solely on her.

Her stomach tightened and, for the first time, she felt the chill of the evening. With the sun going down, it was getting brisk. Too brisk to be wearing a skimpy sports bra and thin pants. She pressed her hand against her bare stomach, but was surprised to find her skin hot. Tingly.

Sweet heavens, he was something.

His hair was shorter than it had been in the last newspaper picture she’d seen of him. So short, it was almost spiky. His face wasn’t as clean-shaven, either. He had that rough stubble that only male models and movie stars could seem to pull off.

And, apparently, billionaire felons.

His expensive shirt and pants fit him impeccably, yet the power radiating from him wasn’t only the power associated with wealth and status. The disgraced entrepreneur was lean and chiselled. He’d done more on the inside than read books.

Warning signs flared in Elena’s head, and she knelt to pick up her yoga pad. She’d learned to listen to her gut. The exercise usually sped up her pulse, but right now it was racing. He shouldn’t be here – or she shouldn’t. Her hands felt clumsy as she rolled up the springy foam. When she looked up again, he was still staring. Energy crackled in the air between them. She could feel the charge all the way down to her bare feet, and her toes curled against the sensation.

Sex. The man practically radiated it.

Goosebumps rose on her skin.

She didn’t know him. She’d never even met him, but she wasn’t stupid or naïve. Men found her attractive, and she recognised lust when she saw it. From the way he braced his hands against the marble railing and leaned towards her, the wolf seemed ready to pounce. When he uncoiled and folded his arms across his chest, her stomach sucked in even further.

‘Mm,’ she whimpered. She also recognised when the feeling was mutual.

Her response was inappropriate – unthinkable – yet she couldn’t stop staring at him. Her nipples tightened, and she held her yoga mat against her chest to hide her reaction. The sun was gone, and its trailing streaks of light were dimming fast. The noises coming from the woods were getting louder. The chirps of crickets … the hoots of owls … A hot shiver went down her spine, and she started moving to the lake house.

She’d come here to retreat, but had she just ended up in the wolf’s den?

One last time, she cast a glance up towards the main house. Her ponytail swung over her shoulder with the movement and she felt the caress of a hot look slide down her bare back. He was still there. Watching. Wanting.

Quickly she moved inside and locked the door.

* * *

Two hours earlier

The sun was glaring as the man walked out of the nondescript concrete building. The rays bounced off the grey walls and matching parking lot, piercing his polarised sunglasses. For some reason, the sun was brighter outside the walls than inside the complex where he’d spent the last eighteen months. Brighter, warmer and more intrusive. He headed straight into the blinding light, his Salvatore Ferragamo wingtips clipping a steady beat that was soon drowned out by the crowd outside the fence.

A commotion arose when they saw him. People called out his name and shifted to get better views. Cameras clicked and microphones were thrust through the holes in the chain-link fence.

‘Mr Wolfe, what are your plans?’

‘Do you feel remorse?’

‘Where is your grandfather?’

Moving efficiently, his driver opened the back door to the Bentley and blocked their view. ‘It’s good to see you, Mr Wolfe.’

‘Thank you, James.’ He slid onto the supple leather seat, but the click of the closing door made his muscles tense. He didn’t like that sound any more.

He placed the stack of spiral-bound notebooks on the seat beside him and stretched his legs as the Bentley headed for the opening gate. Into the mouth of the lion … The crowd swarmed the car, shouting and fighting for the perfect angle. The sun’s rays bored through the tinted windows into the back seat. The man-made glass couldn’t stop Mother Nature, but it obstructed the flash-bulbs of the cameras that tried to pry into his private space.

The paparazzi couldn’t see him, but he settled his hand protectively over the stack of notebooks as the Bentley kept a slow and steady pace through the horde. There were more important things to think about, like the buttery softness of the leather seat, the brightness of that big yellow sun and the loud clank of the gate as it closed behind the moving car.

Freedom.

Awareness and caution coiled inside him like a snake. After eighteen months, he was finally a free man, but he wouldn’t unwind any time soon. In fact, he doubted he’d ever totally relax again.

‘Don’t you worry about this, sir,’ the driver said from behind the wheel. ‘I’ll get us through.’

‘I have no doubt.’ His voice was raspy from lack of use. As much as he wanted to barrel through the crowd of gnats, he kept himself contained. Patience. He had it in buckets, although the snake inside him was lashing out.

At last, self-preservation forced the photographers in front of the car to give ground and James was able to pull through and escape. Once free, he dropped the hammer on the gas and the car gracefully picked up speed.

The Bentley probably hadn’t been the most inconspicuous choice in the Wolfe garage, but the vultures from the press would have found Alex if he’d left in a city cab. If he was coming back out in the world, he wanted to do it in style and in comfort. He had nothing to apologise for.

The chauffeur turned onto an on-ramp for I-84 heading east. ‘You relax now, sir. I put some newspapers and your laptop back there for you. It’s only about an hour and a half’s drive until we’ll be there.’

Alex’s gaze snapped to the carrying case on the floor. A computer with the Internet, a connection to everything he’d been denied while he’d been detained. He didn’t have to settle for grade-school notebooks any more, but he kept the ones he had secure at his side.

Getting online was tempting, but he remained gazing through the window. There would be time enough for that soon. Right now he concentrated on the passing scenery, fully aware that the Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville was at his back.

He wouldn’t think of it any more. It was the future on which he was focused now. Firmly. With steel-like focus.

It was time to take back what was his.

* * *

The sun was hovering just above the horizon when, an hour and forty minutes later, the car arrived at Wolfe Manor. Just outside the affluent town of Bedford, New York, the family home was situated on a hundred acres of prime virgin real estate. The gates that closed behind the Bentley as it pulled onto the property were as big and strong as those in Otisville, but the wrought iron here was styled in a pattern of winding ivy and leaves.

More importantly, Ax could control them.

Tall trees crowded the long drive, grouping closer as the Bentley left the main road. The forest soaked up the light, making it seem darker than it really was. At long last, all those trees opened up again in a man-made clearing and the main house rose before them.

‘Here we are.’ James stopped along the circle of the drive, got out and rounded the car to open the back door. ‘Home sweet home.’

Ax looked at the wolves guarding the house’s front door and the snake in his stomach curled into a tighter knot. There was nothing sweet about the place. Never had been, never would be.

But the land … He glanced at the grounds, from the manicured lawns and gardens to the woods that stood just beyond.

The front door of the house opened, silent for its size. A silver-haired man in a crisp dark suit bowed in respect. ‘Master Wolfe.’

‘Leonard.’ Ignoring propriety, Ax reached out and shook the older man’s hand. The grip was tight and went a moment past what was necessary. ‘I see you’ve kept up the place while I’ve been gone.’

‘Yes, sir.’ The butler cleared his throat. ‘We’ve done our best.’

With a nod, Leonard dismissed the driver and closed the front door.

It blocked out the piercing sun, but Alex was ready this time for the inevitable click. He breathed slowly and set the laptop and the notebooks on a side table. Glancing up, he took in the staircase as it loomed above him. He could gain access to anywhere he wanted here, whenever he wanted. Hell, he could sleep out on the balcony if he got the urge.

His shoes clipped along the polished hardwood flooring as he made his way into the main room. Everything was so familiar, from the heavy mahogany furniture to the ornate wall fixtures to the delicate vases with fresh flowers. Familiar, yet foreign. Loved, yet hated.

And right now he hated it with a passion that burned white hot.

The snake inside him leaped, attacking with a sudden surge. He swept up a black onyx wolf figurine from the sofa table, turned and hurled it at the wall. It cracked against the fireplace and shattered into pieces as it hit the ground.

Leonard wisely disappeared from the room.

Alex stood with his hands opening and fisting at his sides. He looked at the ceramic shards that littered the floor. ‘Damn it.’

Tugging at his tie, he loosened his collar. That would not do.

Looking out of the panoramic window, he stared hard at the lake. Wolfe Lake. Deep and dark. Mysterious and beckoning. He shrugged out of his Savile Row jacket and tossed it over the back of an overstuffed chair. Opening the glass door off the main room, he stepped out onto the balcony.

It was quiet out here. He braced his hands on the balustrade and soaked up the silence until a noise caught his attention. He looked towards the trees. For the first time in months, he heard birds twittering and squirrels chattering. The lake was alive, too. With the sun low on the horizon behind him, the water reflected the rays like countless golden jewels.

A sanctuary. That’s what these grounds were. He rolled his head on his neck and felt the fire inside his chest bank just a little.

But then he noticed movement and his chin came up. He looked again towards the water. This time it wasn’t a bird or a squirrel.

It was a woman.

On his dock.

On private Wolfe property.

His spine snapped ramrod straight and his fingers dug into the limestone railing. ‘What the hell?’

His gaze focused with laser-like intensity on the lone figure. Out there, over the water, a young woman stretched her arms high over her head. She looked like a siren, straight out of Greek mythology. Her loose low-slung white pants fluttered in a soft breeze that also captured the strands of her long dark ponytail. She stood motionless, breathing rhythmically, before gracefully stepping back and twisting at the waist.

She was doing yoga.

Alex stared on in disbelief. She moved fluidly from pose to pose, her body seeming long and lean, even though she was a petite thing. She controlled each movement, each breath and each position. She seemed so calm and peaceful as he stood fuming, enraged by the intrusion of her very presence.

He was about to call out to her, to order her off the property, when she folded in half and planted her hands flat on the dock in front of her. The position lifted her hips in a way that brought to mind only one thing and lust slammed into his body with all the delicacy of a battering ram.

Pure, white-hot and dangerous.

The words died on his lips and his mouth went dry as a bone. He felt like a voyeur, but he couldn’t stop watching as she flexed and contorted, the water glittering all around her.

His fingers turned numb around the railing. He hadn’t seen a woman in what seemed like for ever. Hadn’t talked to one. Hadn’t touched one and certainly hadn’t made love to one.

Yet this beauty was no ordinary woman.

Hunger swirled around inside him, combining with the anger for a treacherous blend. He didn’t know who she was and didn’t like that she was here, but he was a red-blooded man. She was a sensual woman and he wanted her underneath him, naked and straining. He wanted to slide into her hot, tight heat.

Most of all, though, he wanted her gone.

He straightened, pulling back his shoulders as irritation won out – but then she relaxed from her exercise and looked over her shoulder. Their gazes connected and he nearly vaulted off the balcony to go claim her.

The air pulsed as their gazes locked. Each breath Alex sucked into his lungs was hot and jagged until she finally broke the connection. She seemed timid then, a scared little rabbit needing safety. She darted to the lake house, and he watched as the lights came on and the shades were pulled.

‘Run, little siren,’ he murmured. ‘You run good and far.’

Turning away from the night, he stalked back into the house. ‘Leonard?’ he roared.

The ceramic shards in front of the fireplace were gone as if they’d never been. The decorative pieces on the sofa table had been rearranged so no gaps appeared. His manservant floated around this house like a ghost, but he heard things and knew more than anyone suspected.

Anyone but Alex.

‘Yes, Master Wolfe?’

The butler appeared from the hallway behind him, making Ax turn. His eyes narrowed. He’d become sensitive to having people at his back. ‘When did we start renting out the lake house?’

‘We haven’t, sir.’

He let one eyebrow lift. ‘There’s a woman staying down there. She was just doing yoga out on the dock.’

The butler glanced at the watch on his wrist and nodded. ‘Yes, that is her routine. She finds the exercise challenging to the body and soothing to the mind.’

Alex cocked his head. ‘You seem to know her very well.’

‘We’re friendly.’

Friendly. It wasn’t the first word that came to mind when Alex looked at her.

He reached up to rub his stiff neck. He trusted Leonard, but the man was being deliberately evasive. ‘Who is she?’

‘Her name is Elena.’

Elena. He rolled it around on his tongue. It fit her. Elegant yet exotic. ‘I gave you specific instructions to protect the house during my absence. By whose authority is she here?’

The Feds and the Securities and Exchange Commission regulators were still on his ass. They wanted access to his home, his businesses, his charities and his financial dealings. He’d already given them a pound of flesh, but the hungry zombies wanted more. He’d be damned if he’d give it to them.

Leonard cleared his throat. ‘By my authority, sir.’

That gave Ax pause. ‘Is she family?’

‘Not quite, sir. She’s the daughter of a previous employer. Miss Elena arrived needing shelter and a place where she could work on her studies. I didn’t realise you would be returning so soon. Your … timeframe … was moved up so quickly.’

So quickly? A year and a half? Alex felt frustration bubbling up inside him. Apparently not even his butler was immune to a pretty face and a shapely ass. What did they really know about this woman? She used an old connection and they just let her inside the gates? She could be a reporter working undercover. She could be a wronged investor looking for revenge. Hell, she could be a gold-digging tramp who’d set herself up at the right time and place, hoping to latch onto the family’s remaining fortune in a time of weakness.

He dragged a hand through his hair. ‘Get her out of here. Tomorrow at the latest. I want the woman gone.’

‘But Master Wolfe, I –’

‘In the morning, Leonard. That’s all the time I’ll give her.’

The butler schooled his face and bowed stiffly from the waist. ‘As you wish. I’ll deliver the message to Ms Bardot personally.’

He was practically out of the room before the words sank in. Alex turned on his heel, away from the window. ‘Bardot?’

He moved towards the kitchen when Leonard didn’t return and they nearly collided in the hallway. ‘Did you say “Bardot”?’

The butler gave a concise nod. ‘Yes, sir. She’s Randolph Bardot’s daughter.’

Alex rocked back on his heels. Randolph Bardot, his grandfather’s business partner. Son of a bitch.

He quickly backtracked. ‘That can’t be. I’ve met his wife and kids. They’re only teenagers.’

And that seductress down the hill was a woman in every sense of the word.

‘That would be his second wife, I believe. I was employed by Mr Bardot when Miss Elena was a young girl, before your grandfather hired me away.’

Alex stepped back to look through the picture window. The lake house was still locked up tight, but light glowed, warm and inviting. He wandered closer. Randolph Bardot’s daughter. If he needed any more reasons to stay away from her, that one went to the top of the list. How much did she know?

Leonard followed quietly at his side. ‘She’s had a difficult time of it, too, since … the event. When she came asking for help, I couldn’t turn her away. I thought you’d understand.’

Oh, Alex understood all right.

It was hell when you discovered the depths to which the people closest to you could sink, and her father and his grandfather had been hand in hand on their way into the gutter. He thought of her sweet face and her delicate form.

He scanned the lake again. The glittering jewels were gone, and the surface had turned dark and impenetrable. ‘It’s not good that she’s here, Leonard,’ he said quietly.

‘I realise that now, sir.’

‘I’ll need to look into this.’

‘Of course, but in the meantime?’

Ax didn’t waver, but he decided to give an inch.

‘She can stay.’ Until he figured her out, she could stay.

* * *

Elena’s breaths were short as she braced her hand flat above the lock on the door. Darkness peeked through the window panes and she yanked the short curtains into place. She backed away until she found herself in the bedroom. She tossed the yoga mat into the corner and began to pace about the room.

Alex Wolfe. The Ax. He was back. He was here. How could that be?

She dove for the bed, opened her laptop and quickly fired it up. It didn’t take long to find the story. It was the lead on every news site she opened. ‘Alex Wolfe Freed’ read the headline.

‘Good behaviour?’ she coughed. ‘Good behaviour?’

The man had been at the heart of the biggest Ponzi scheme in the past century. He and his grandfather – and her father – had lied to people, wiped out life savings and driven businesses into the ground. Hundreds of millions of dollars were gone. She pushed the laptop aside so hard it slid across the bed. She dove to catch it before it could tip over the edge.

‘That’s all you need,’ she reprimanded herself. That laptop held all the work for her dissertation, the doctoral degree that would help her support herself and her mother and get them out of this mess. Neither of them had the funds to buy a new one now.

She rolled off the bed and began pacing again but finally stopped and leaned against the doorjamb. She wasn’t a pacer; she did her best thinking when all was still. She needed to slow down and consider what this change in her situation meant.

Alex Wolfe had been released early from prison. He’d done his time and served his sentence. He was a free man, back on his own property. She stroked the door’s oak trim. This was his property.

She couldn’t stay here. There was no way.

But where would she go?

Another shiver went through her, significantly cooler than the one she’d felt outside under his watchful gaze. There was nowhere else she could find the peace to do her work. It had become impossible back in the city. Once her classmates at NYU had figured out who her father was, the attacks had been relentless. The harsh accusations, the scathing stares, the stalking by the press …

She moved to the living room, wrapped herself in the afghan on the sofa and huddled into its cushions. The leather was Wolfe property; the afghan was hers.

She never would have come here if she’d thought she’d cross paths with the man. He was supposed to be behind bars for another six months, and she’d thought that sentence was too lenient. Most people had agreed with her.

‘Damn overcrowding,’ she hissed. How could the prisons be overcrowded when people who should be locked up were still roaming around free? People like his grandfather Bartholomew.

Angry with herself for going down that path, Elena tugged the ponytail holder out of her hair and ran her hands through the long strands. She was scared, she had to admit it. What was she going to do? She wasn’t ready to go back outside that wrought-iron gate, back into the real world. It had chewed her up and spit her out. She’d come here looking for answers.

But she didn’t have them yet.

She glanced around the cottage. She’d grown accustomed to the quiet little place in the month she’d been here. The house was nicer than the one she’d grown up in, but that’s how the Wolfe family thought of it … as a bungalow. Yet it fit her needs. It had given her the seclusion she’d needed to lick her wounds and concentrate on her studies. Leonard had even given her free access to the library in the main house. She’d only ventured out to Bedford a few times for groceries or to the post office. She’d grown comfortable here.

She didn’t feel so comfortable any more.

She pulled the afghan higher around her shoulders. God, the man was something. Enigmatic and provocative. She hated to think what he’d be like up close. All that danger and power and mercilessness rolled into one.

She shifted on the sofa, rubbing her thighs together unconsciously. She knew she should run, but the way he’d looked at her …

What was she going to do?

This changed everything.

Chapter Two

Elena slid another box into the trunk of her old-model Malibu and wondered for the hundredth time if everything would fit. She’d been up most of the night worrying and packing. It was amazing how deeply she’d settled into the lake house in such a short time. She hadn’t collected much stuff, but it had expanded somehow. It was certainly strewn about. She was still finding NYU mugs in the kitchen and peppermint lipgloss in the bathroom.

She wedged the box tighter against one that was already stowed. The space was going to be needed. She hadn’t packed up the second bedroom yet, the one she’d used as her office.

Her heart dipped.

She hated the thought of leaving before she was done. She’d made so much progress here. Things were organised the way she wanted, and the solitude allowed her to concentrate. That might not sound like much, but putting together a dissertation was a major undertaking. Getting rid of distractions had helped, especially the kind she’d been facing.

She hoped another move wouldn’t set her back.

She rubbed her hand over the ache in her chest. She might be leaving, but she didn’t know yet where she was going. She couldn’t return to her apartment in the city. She’d broken the lease there when she’d left to escape the paparazzi. It was going to take time to find another place she could afford where she could have some semblance of privacy. If she didn’t finish her work on time, her PhD would be in jeopardy. That would affect her job offers and her ability to pay off her student loans.

She blew out a long breath. It was circular thoughts like this that had kept her up all night. She scowled towards the main house. And that was his fault. Her life was in turmoil again, all because an over-indulged rich man had charmed the legal system into going easy on him.

She found nothing charming about the situation whatsoever.

Wiping her hands, she turned back towards the lake house. She flinched when she heard someone coming down the hard-packed dirt drive. The footsteps were clipped and precise and heading straight for her. With the lid of the trunk lifted, she couldn’t see who was approaching but she had a good guess.

She braced herself.

‘Ms Elena?’

Her spine relaxed. ‘Leonard.’

The butler came to an abrupt stop near the taillights of the car. A frown settled on his face when he saw her half-filled trunk, and the expression deepened the age lines around his mouth. ‘You’re leaving?’

She gave him a sad look. ‘It’s time. I appreciate the hospitality you’ve shown me these past few weeks, but I can’t be a burden any longer.’

‘You aren’t a burden.’ He folded his hands together primly, but she could see how tightly he held them. ‘There’s no need for you to go.’

‘We both know there is.’ She nodded towards the second-floor balcony of the manor. It was empty now. It had been empty every time she’d checked it since she’d caught his intimidating boss watching her from that perch.

He followed her wary look. ‘Yes, Master Wolfe is home, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave. He gave his permission yesterday eve for you to be on the property.’

Elena regarded her old friend. She was sure that permission had come at a cost, but had it been for him? Or would she be paying? ‘That’s a kind gesture, but I can’t accept.’

She wouldn’t take charity from a Wolfe. She couldn’t stomach it, and she couldn’t trust it.

‘At least stay until your studies are complete. It would be a shame to throw everything into a tizzy when you’re so close to getting your degree.’

A tizzy.

Elena nearly laughed. Wasn’t everything in a tizzy already? Alex Wolfe had shown up on his doorstep when she’d expected him to be in a prison cell for another six months. She’d never dreamed he’d be walking around a free man. Or that he’d be watching her … ‘I’m not comfortable here any more, Leonard. You’ve got to understand.’

‘I do understand, dear, but I think it would be more uncomfortable for you outside the manor’s gates.’ Those hands that he kept so tightly clenched together finally separated, and one waved up the road. ‘They’re already here, Elena.’

They. She didn’t need more description than that.

The media.

Her head whipped around. From her vantage point down by the lake, she couldn’t see any difference. She wouldn’t have been able to tell anything was amiss from the manor either. The drive from the main gate was a good quarter of a mile long and lined by trees, yet she could picture the news vans parked along the shoulder of the main road. She envisioned their antennas lifted and all the reporters milling about. She was well acquainted with the scene, because the same thing had happened outside her apartment in New York.

‘You’re safer here,’ Leonard insisted. ‘The gate will hold them out and their cameras won’t be of any use with the woods blocking their view.’

But they would try. Tension grabbed the muscles between her shoulder blades. Like hungry rats, the news outlets would swarm the place. They’d scurry around looking for openings and bits of tasty info.

‘That won’t stop them,’ she said.

‘If they trespass, the Bedford police will respond. They’ve already been notified.’

So the police would drop everything to respond to a call from an ex-con, but they hadn’t done anything when she’d called them for help. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. At its worst, she hadn’t been able to set foot outside her building without reporters and cameramen harassing her. One had even grabbed her in the stairwell, putting his hands on her and trying to stop her for an interview. Who knew that a pothead on the third floor would be more helpful than the NYPD?

The tension between her shoulder blades crawled up her neck. She didn’t want to go back to living like that. After that incident, she hadn’t been able to leave her apartment without fear. She’d been trapped inside, as much a prisoner as Alex Wolfe, only he’d had a trial.

‘How many are out there?’ she asked. Maybe she could just zip through.

‘Too many. The sheriff is already having to deal with the congestion. They’ve set up outside the main gate and down the road. You’d have to drive right through them.’

Elena looked at her white Malibu. It was nondescript, but on Wolfe property that made it stick out like a sore thumb. Even if she put on a scarf and sunglasses, they’d track down her licence plates before she made it to Bedford.

The thought made her queasy. They couldn’t catch her here. Not with him.

The tension swept outwards through her entire body. The tabloids would explode if they caught wind that she’d been a guest. The Bardot and Wolfe names were already twined in a sick, unbreakable knot. If they somehow put her and the younger Wolfe together?

She braced her hand against her car. Oh, God.

‘They don’t know you’re here. At least, not yet.’ Even Leonard’s hands were twisting together now, all semblance of composure gone. ‘It’s a big place. The grounds and the house are such that you wouldn’t have to interact with Master Wolfe if you don’t want to, although I think the two of you should commiserate. The press have villainised him even more than they have you.’

That’s because the man was a villain. Her only failing was genetic. She’d been born the daughter of a man without a conscience.

She turned towards the lake. No jewels gleamed from its surface today. If anything, the view was haunting. A morning fog clung to the low-lying regions. The mist hovered over the water like vapour rising off a cup of hot coffee, while trails of it wove through the trees.

It was as if even the grounds knew that the darkness had returned.

She let out a tight breath.

Would the situation outside the gates be even worse? It would be harsher, she knew. Inside the gates, there was quiet. Seclusion, even if it was in the belly of the monster.

‘Maybe I can leave late tonight,’ she murmured, fighting the decision she knew she had to make.

‘They’ll be here around the clock until they get what they want. You know that, and those individuals assigned to late-night hours will be even hungrier.’

Hungry for the illusive big ‘get’, only she had nothing to tell them. She hadn’t been involved. She didn’t know where the money had gone. She looked at those leaves still clinging to the trees, trying to withstand the weight of the dew that had settled on them.

‘All right, I’ll stay,’ she said quietly. She had no other choice. ‘But only until things settle down.’

Leonard’s shoulders relaxed and his hands loosened into their customary position. ‘Wonderful. You don’t know what a relief that is to me.’

He stepped up to the trunk. ‘Let me help you unload.’

‘That’s all right. I can do it.’

She didn’t want to make more work for him.

‘Nonsense.’ He’d already lifted the heaviest of the boxes from the trunk, and she stepped aside to let him pass.

Elena wasn’t sure she’d made the right decision. The manor looked as vacant as it had for the past month, but she could feel the new presence. The aura of the place had changed. The sleeping giant had awakened. She could feel it in the air; she could sense it in the ground beneath her feet.

Alex Wolfe wasn’t a person who could be ignored, but she was going to do her best to avoid him. She needed to avoid them all.

Movement caught the corner of her eye, and her head snapped around. A curtain in a far window of the mansion swayed before settling back into place.

A shiver ran through her, and she grabbed a box from the trunk. The weight pulled heavily at the muscles in her arms, but she lugged the clothing back into the cottage and set it on the floor near the door. ‘Over here is fine, Leonard.’

His white eyebrows pulled together. ‘Do you want Marta to help you unpack?’

‘No need.’ She nudged the box closer to the wall with her foot. Unpacking wasn’t part of her newly formed plan. She wanted to be ready to go, in case she needed to leave fast.

The butler finally bowed at the waist. ‘Then I’ll send her down with some hot chocolate for you.’

Elena did her best to work up a smile, allowing him that much. She knew he only wanted to help. Hot chocolate had been the treat he’d given her when she’d been young and in his care. ‘That would be lovely. Thank you so much, Leonard, for everything.’

By the time she’d lugged in everything from her car, Marta was on her doorstep with a warm mug of cocoa. Elena accepted it gratefully. It had always managed to soothe her, but fixing her current problems would be a challenge. She sipped at the sweetness as she looked out of the window to the lake. All was still out there. No breezes disturbed the haze, and the water looked like black glass. Deep and endless.

It gave off the oddest looming sensation.

She wandered over to the side window and peered up at the manor. He’d been watching her again. She’d felt it. The back of her neck had prickled, yet a warm spark had run through her veins.

A warm, pulsing spark.

She shook her head. This was wrong. All wrong. She couldn’t stay here, yet she couldn’t leave. She was locked in the wolves’ den, trusting the alpha male to protect her from the danger outside the lair.

It was insane. How had she gotten herself into this mess? What was she supposed to do now?

Jerking away from the window, she walked about the house. The mug cooled in her hands as she considered her options. There weren’t many. She found herself in the doorway to her office. Piles of paper were strewn about, notes were taped to the walls, and her laptop waited for power. She was so close to making a breakthrough, she could feel it.

Yet it was all so close to slipping through her fingers.

She rolled her tight neck. Alex Wolfe had ruined everything.

She slammed the mug down on the coffee table, pivoted on her heel and headed to the door. She’d found a sanctuary, but all she wanted to do right now was run.

‘Damn that man,’ she hissed.

Why did some people have it so easy, while others had to plod and fight?

Moving past the dock, she headed for the trail that rounded the far side of the lake. She’d taken it several times over the past few weeks. The silence and the remoteness might help calm her down, especially the remoteness.

She couldn’t shake the feel of him watching her.

The air was thick as she settled into a brisk hiking pace. There really was no air stirring today. The leaves weren’t rustling and the lake wasn’t lapping against the shore. It created an odd combination of serenity and foreboding. The mist in the air gathered around her, and it was only then that she realised she’d forgotten to put on a jacket. She wrapped her arms around herself and kept on going. The trees had closed in behind her and she could no longer see the manor bearing over her. Its overwhelming presence had disappeared.

With it, some of the tension left her shoulders.

Leaves crackled under her feet as she walked along the well-worn path, but even that noise was muted. The dampness coated the undergrowth, too. Lifting her chin, Elena inhaled the moist coolness. It was like a different world out here, and all of it was Wolfe property.

Maybe they really could avoid each other. The plot of land was huge, even for the wealthy who lived in this part of the state. Celebrities and politicians, writers and music-makers were all neighbours in this upscale New York county.

What must it be like to have that kind of wealth? To be able to live in a place that pushed the rest of the world away?

Who would risk all of this to take more?

She shook her head. Maybe she could hide away here for a little longer, at least until she had some answers and finished her dissertation. In the end, that was what was most important, her education. Her life plan. She doubted she’d ever be wealthy like this, but she needed to be able to support herself.

She ran a hand through her hair and found it heavy with dew. Out here, things seemed clearer. Calmer. Yes, she could do it. She needed to hunker down anyway. She’d dive into her work and ignore whoever or whatever was happening up at the main house. It didn’t concern her anyway.

At least, that was what she kept telling the reporters.

Movement suddenly caught her eye, cutting her thoughts short. She stopped in her tracks, all her attention focusing on her surroundings.

Had that been a deer?

She peered through the openings in the trees. The leaves that still clung to the bushes made it difficult to see. With the dreary day, everything was blending. After a few hopeful moments, she decided she’d missed the sighting and continued.

That was when she heard the rustling on the path ahead of her.

Or was it further up the hill?

She stopped again and tried to quiet her breaths. One thing was for certain, she wasn’t alone in the forest.

Listening hard, she picked up the gentle crunch of leaves and twigs against the softened earth. Her gazed darted around the area until she saw a figure moving through the trees. It wasn’t a deer. It was walking upright along what must be another path, higher on the hill. A man.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Someone was stalking around the property and, from the way he moved, he was up to no good. For a moment, he stepped into a space where the branches were bare and she could see him more clearly. He wore a fleece jacket with the hood pulled up over his head. His feet were swift and sure as he moved along the path with hardly any sound.

Elena took a step back.

Someone was trespassing. A photographer? A journalist? Something worse?

Her heart began racing.

Quickly, she evaluated her options. He hadn’t seen her yet, or at least she didn’t think so. She looked down at herself. At least she wasn’t wearing bright colours. She rubbed her hands over her arms. Goosebumps dotted every patch of exposed skin, and a shiver ran down her spine. She glanced back along the path. She could go back the way she’d come, but she was on the main hiking trail around the lake. If others were sneaking around in these woods, she might run into them.

Her teeth worried her lower lip. There was a fishing spot down on the shore not far from where she was. From there, another trail ran along the edge of the lake. She could move quickly there. It was the shortest path back to the cabin.

She watched the figure and the silent way it moved until the grey sweatshirt blended in again with the fog. Keeping her steps quiet and her breaths quieter, she took the fork in the path that would take her away from him. Only the way was slick. She slipped once and had to catch a sapling to keep from falling. By the time she made it to the clearing along the lake, her legs were quivering.

She stepped over a fallen log and bent at the waist to take a steadying breath.

It choked off in her throat when she realised she wasn’t alone.

The man with the hood stood lakeside with his back to her. As she watched, he side-armed a rock over the surface. It skipped three times before sinking into the dark depths.

Elena took a cautious step back and then another. She’d just about made her escape into the trees when the heel of her boot knocked against the fallen log. She tensed as the man turned.

And she found herself looking into Alex Wolfe’s silver-grey eyes.

She sucked in a surprised ‘Oh!’ but then her mouth snapped shut. Fight or flight? The question struck her like a blow on the chest, but she found she could do neither. Instead, her heart beat like a drum-roll as she stared into the face of the man she’d sworn to avoid.

She waited for him to say something, but he watched her as warily as she watched him. He was taller and bigger than her, by nearly a foot and way too many pounds, all of them muscle. He had the fleece zipped close, and it emphasised the lean mass of his body.

Elena’s mouth went dry. He was an impressive figure, yet nothing could have prepared her for the astuteness in those silver-grey eyes. It was like looking into the eyes of an actual wolf.

A hungry, sexual wolf.

Her entire body gave one delicious pulse. There was so much to see in those eyes. Hunger, anger, determination and desperation – but the emotions were there for only a moment. He blinked and, when he looked at her again, it was as if shutters had come down over his soul.

Only the hunger remained.

That was the one thing he couldn’t hide, and a muscle in his jaw ticked. He wasn’t happy to see her or he wasn’t happy that she’d seen him.

It was difficult to tell which.

She pressed her lips together, unsure of what to say. ‘Hello’ would just sound stupid. ‘I’m sorry’ was better, but she refused to say the words to a man who had more to apologise for than anyone she knew. In the end, she just nodded. She started to turn away, but he moved then, pushing off his hood.

His hair was mussed. Without the hood, the shadow of his dusty beard seemed darker. Those silver eyes were still bright, and that face … It was a face that had graced magazine covers from Fortune to Business Week to GQ, but if he photographed well, he was even more beautiful in person.

Her stomach squeezed, but this time the sensation was deeper and more resounding.

God, why did he have to turn her into mush? Why couldn’t he be smelly and hideous? It felt like a betrayal to be so attracted to him.

She wanted to step forward. She made herself take a step back down the trail instead.

‘Wait.’

Her gaze snapped up to his face. The word had been soft, but the authority made her even more aware of him.

He reached for the zipper on his fleece. ‘You’re cold.’

He shrugged the hoodie off his shoulders before she knew what he intended to do. Stepping forward, he held it out to her. She looked at the offering. It was such a simple gesture. Nothing flashy or inappropriate, but, like her attraction to him, she didn’t want it.

Yet looking at the jacket made her unbearably aware of the chill that had seeped right down to her bones. The low-hanging fog had coated everything – her clothes, her skin, her hair. Unlike him, she hadn’t dressed for a hike. Her boots were flats, but more for fashion than for traipsing along the underbrush. They were zipped over her skinny jeans, and her lightweight sweater didn’t provide much warmth. It clung, but its three-quarter sleeves didn’t fully cover her arms. She shivered as she looked at the fleece he was holding out to her. Her wrists ached and her fingers felt numb.

‘You can give it back to Leonard when you’re done with it.’

He watched her, those entrancing eyes becoming more guarded. Who was the wild beast being tamed here?

Elena was proud, but she wasn’t rude. She was freezing, and they both knew it.

‘Thank you.’ She took the final step forward that put her in reach. She stayed there only long enough to take the jacket. He was watching, so she sorted out the hood and the arms. Swinging it around her shoulders, she pushed her hands into the sleeves.

A fierce shudder went through her when she felt the warmth.

The heavy sweatshirt material felt soft and substantial. That alone would have been enough, but it still held his body heat. Her hands began shaking more as she realised just how cold she was. Her fingers were clumsy as she tried to catch the zipper. The two of them stood uncomfortably, feet apart, as she tried to start the metal tab. He’d just moved towards her when it caught. Shying away, she yanked the zipper all the way up to her chest.

It was only then that she realised another tell-tale sign she’d been giving off. Her face flared. Her nipples were hard. Their outline was clear against the light blue sweater she was wearing. The dampness made the material even more clingy, and the chill didn’t help her condition. The hard peaks were still obvious with the bulky sweatshirt covering her.

Her chin snapped up, but his head came up much more slowly.

He’d seen. Obviously, he’d seen.

When he finally dragged his gaze to her face, the heat was back. It smacked into her like the air coming out of an oven on a cold winter’s day.

Elena wanted to be angry and offended, but then she saw how he looked in his hiking boots, jeans and grey T-shirt. He didn’t look like any billionaire she’d ever seen before. He looked like lust felt. Helplessly, her gaze scraped over him. The T-shirt was the soft kind that took the shape of whatever it was draped across, and there were all kinds of arcs and valleys she wanted to explore more. His biceps were thick, and his shoulders were wide. His chest was powerful, tapering down to a narrow waist. As she watched, the dampness in the air seeped into that dry material and the delineation of his muscles and tendons became more defined.

As did his masculine nipples.

Her mouth watered, and she jerked her gaze away. The heat in her cheeks was now a raging fire. It was time to go. With a nod, she dipped her head and turned. She didn’t look back as she walked shakily down the path that ran along the lake.

The chill coming off the water was worse, even though the air stood like bated breath. She tugged the hood up over her head and pulled her hands into the sleeves. The hoodie was way too big for her, yet the extra material was appreciated. It hung down to her thighs and bundled her up.

She shuddered again, the warmth almost hurting.

Giving in, she glanced over her shoulder. She was disappointed to find he’d turned away. Another stone went skipping along the surface of the lake. He’d forgotten her as quickly as he’d noticed her.

The ball of heat building in her belly turned hard. That was the Wolfe she expected.

Tucking her chin against her chest, she watched her steps as she hurried back to the cabin. The time it took to get back was less than half what it had taken to round the lake to the fishing spot, but it seemed like for ever. Stepping inside, she quickly closed the door behind her so the heat couldn’t escape.

‘Darn it,’ she hissed.

Her shivers were constant now, and she stomped her feet. She walked over to the thermostat and turned the heat up another five degrees. The hoodie might have warmed her core, but her feet were cold. She pulled off her boots, but her jeans were damp, too. With fumbling fingers, she unzipped them and pushed them to the floor.

Her shivers were becoming shudders that had her teeth clacking. She scurried to the bed, jumped in and pulled the covers up to her nose. The cocoon felt cosy and safe. Burrowing deeper, she waited for the warmth to come. Even her insides were trembling.

Problem was, she didn’t know if it was from the cold or from running into him.

‘What was he doing out there?’ She’d thought she’d been safe that far out on the property, but she’d somehow managed to run into the very person she was trying to get away from.

She’d dreamed about that encounter every day for practically the past two years. It was what had kept her up last night, worrying and obsessing, but once it had been upon her, none of it had gone the way she’d imagined. She’d thought there’d be angry words. Tears and more lies.

Not that.

The cold knot in her stomach gave way to confusion.

All she could think about was the heat that had been in his eyes. Her eyelids drooped as she remembered those fascinating eyes, that gorgeous face and all those emotions that had quickly been shut off. A pretty exterior for such a flawed soul.

Another shiver went through her and she rubbed her legs together, trying to generate heat. She got more than she expected when the borrowed hoodie chafed high on her thighs. A gasp escaped her lips, and she went stock still. It only made her more aware of the garment that held her body, wrapping around it like a lover.

She took a shaky breath and smelled a musky cologne, faint yet powerful. His scent.

Rolling onto her back, she stared at the ceiling. He was a callous man; she couldn’t forget that. Look at how many investors he’d betrayed. Look at the way he’d just turned his back on her. Her nostrils flared as she took another potent drag. Her hips rolled ever so slightly, testing the sensation again.

‘Mmm,’ she hummed helplessly.

The ribbed material at the hem created the sexiest of caresses, and her fingers clenched inside the sleeves of the fleece.

She knew he was dangerous, yet he’d given her the very shirt off his back.

How was she supposed to process that?

Her teeth sank into her lower lip. The heater cranked steadily, creating a soothing purr. Fatigue was pulling at her. That, and something else. The tension that she’d sustained all night was shifting into something just as powerful and maybe more profound.

Her body relaxed deeper into the softness of the bed. Warmth was finally settling over the room. Instead of the bite of a chill, she now felt the softness of the sweatshirt against her bare arms. The hood kissed the side of her neck, making it arch. The teasing was gentle, but it surrounded her, especially down low.

The friction against her thighs was hot, the ribbed material almost abrasive. She couldn’t help the rocking motion of her hips. When the cool zipper dragged over the front of her panties, she moaned. The sensation was so shocking, her hand dove between her legs to stop it.

Or to keep it.

Her fingers stalled when she found wetness. The nylon of her panties was damp all the way through. She explored carefully, her thighs falling open as she delved deeper. Her entire body gave a shudder that had nothing to do with a chill when she touched the most sensitive part of herself.

‘No,’ she whispered into the slowly overheating room.

It shouldn’t be like this. Not with him. Not with the scandal heating up all over again.

But she couldn’t help herself as her hand skimmed away from her core, only to come back again, this time under her panties. She let out a whimper. Her flesh was plump and warm. Sensitive. Her heels dug into the mattress as her body bowed. The sweatshirt was all around her, not letting go.

She explored herself with just the pads of her fingers. The butterfly touches were creating zaps of energy that filled her whole body. Her breasts felt heavy and full and her nipples beaded tightly. She could feel the weight of the fleece upon them. With her breaths at a pant, she circled her tender opening. Even knowing it was coming, her hips surged when she pressed a finger inside.

‘Heaven help me,’ she whispered.

It wasn’t heaven that was going to give her what she needed. From that point on, everything became a blur. Her feelings, the complications, the public fascination, the slippage of time … One finger became two, and her hips were lunging as she remembered the hunger on the wolf’s face. The intensity of his sexual gaze. Perspiration broke out on her forehead, and cries of pleasure left her lips.

This was impossible. Dangerous.

Yet when the teeth of the hoodie’s zipper raked across her sensitive nub, she arched off the bed, caught in a scorching orgasm. The sensation clutched her, dragging on as the fleece brushed insistently against her bottom. It let her go in degrees until she sagged onto the bed, her body limp.

The blur of her consciousness slid directly into fatigue. The little sleep she’d gotten the night before combined with the orgasm’s drugging release. Her head rolled on the pillow and, once again, she smelled that sexy cologne. The hum of the heater lulled her.

Despite her worries and fears, she was soon asleep, with Alex Wolfe’s sweatshirt wrapped around her, holding her tight.

Chapter Three

‘I’m fine, Mom. Really.’ Elena stepped out of the lake house and tucked the key into her pocket. The ever-changing fall weather had swung around. The sky was a brilliant blue, although the temperature still had a bite to it. That slippery slope into autumn was getting steeper and steeper.

‘But you’re trapped there.’

‘On a gazillion acres of beautiful private property,’ she teased. Still, she gave a shudder to shake off the feeling of cabin fever. Her mother knew her too well. The fact that she couldn’t leave – not without serious repercussions – was straining her nerves. She looked over the trees and the rippling water. It was a beautiful trap, but a trap nonetheless.

‘Those darn bottom feeders,’ her mother muttered. ‘Please, honey. Just brazen through them and come out here to stay with me in San Diego.’

Elena sighed. ‘You know I can’t do that.’

She’d already tried running away once. The paparazzi had tracked her down here, although they didn’t know it. There was nothing that would keep them from finding her at her mother’s condo, and this place offered much more protection, unconventional as it was. Besides, a plane ticket would set her back financially and she couldn’t afford the time it would take to pack up and move across the country.

‘But you’re stuck there with that reprobate.’

The edge in her mother’s normally dulcet tone sounded harsh against Elena’s ear, and her gaze swept along the balcony of the manor. It was empty and she saw no movement behind the windows. The ‘reprobate’ must be out on one of his walks again.

‘He sticks to his house and I stay in mine.’

‘So you haven’t had to interact with him?’

Interact.

Well, that was a difficult word to define. The only time they’d spoken was the day they’d run into each other at the fishing spot, but there had been a lot more going on between them than words. Her fingers froze over the zipper she was toying with and she pulled her hand away as if she’d just touched fire. She needed to remember to drop the hoodie off with Leonard on her way back.

‘We’ve bumped into each other a few times.’ On the trails, but that was something her mother didn’t need to know. Alone in the remote, dense woods … away from any other human souls … It had happened twice more since that first encounter. Both times, that prickly awareness had returned.

Both times she’d scurried home to safety.

And hot, uncomfortable thoughts.

‘You’ve talked to him?’ Yvonne gasped. ‘What did he say to you?’

‘Nothing,’ Elena said quickly. She looked to the sky and sighed. She hadn’t wanted to worry her mom about this. ‘We don’t speak.’

No, they didn’t speak. They watched each other, sensed each other, and circled. ‘We don’t have anything to say to each other.’

‘You be careful of him. Elena, nobody knows the full story yet. Nobody knows what happened to his grandfather, and you’re there all alone with him.’

‘I’m not alone, I have Leonard.’

Yvonne let out a frustrated sound, but it cut off on a downward note. When Leonard had first made the offer of shelter, she’d encouraged it.

‘I spend all my time in the lake house,’ Elena said soothingly. ‘I’ve got a lot of work to do. Remember? My PhD is our goal.’

Her mother blew out a breath. ‘Fine, you’re right, but I don’t like it.’

‘Neither do I, but that can’t be helped right now.’

‘If your father had just –’

‘But he didn’t.’ He hadn’t ever lived up to their expectations, and they both knew it. They both fell quiet for a long moment.

‘We need to talk more about this, but I have to get to work. Thea didn’t tell me she was running short on pastry bags,’ her mom finally muttered. ‘You call me if you need anything.’

‘I will.’ There wasn’t anything her mother could do about the situation, the reporters or especially Alex Wolfe, but talking to her always made things better. ‘Have a good day.’

‘You, too, honey.’

‘Bye.’ Elena tucked the phone into her pocket and inhaled the fresh air. She’d been cooped up for so long she couldn’t stand it any more. She needed to move around. She had to think about things other than supply, demand, stock evaluation and market volatility. She loved her studies, but sometimes they sucked her under.

Instead of going round the lake, she headed up the garden path. It was quiet, pretty and ruthlessly manicured. She hadn’t seen her manor mate on this part of the grounds. He kept mainly to the lake and the untamed woods, sometimes exploring for hours. She’d started to keep track of him from the window in her office, when she managed to spot him. He was like his namesake in the way he moved around, silent and elusive.

The muscles in her thighs fired as she walked up the limestone steps on the steeper part of the hill. She was beginning to understand why he spent so much time outside. She’d only been sequestered in the lake house for a week. He’d been in prison for a year and a half. She couldn’t imagine what that would do to a person’s mind, especially a Type A, determined, forceful man like him.

Not that she was feeling sorry for him.

Her spine snapped straight when she realised where her thoughts were wandering. He had brought this punishment upon himself; he was the reason the reporters were here. She hadn’t done anything to deserve any of this.

But she had to find a way to deal with it.

The back of her fingers brushed against something soft. Looking down she saw a blood red rose. Opening her hand, she cupped the heavy blossom. It was full and lush. Her thumb brushed over a velvety petal. Beautiful, yet hearty. It was thriving, even with the erratic temperatures and cold dew. Something inside her softened.

‘A lesson in resiliency.’

Lifting her chin, she looked about. The fall garden was waning, but it was still a riot of colours and textures. The Wolfe Gardens could compete with any public garden that charged entry fees. Then again, their private benefactor probably spent more money on them, and the wear and tear was less.

She began travelling through the wandering maze, appreciating the discoveries at every turn. The gardens ran all the way up beside the manor. Beyond that, there was a sweeping, expansive lawn, but then the trees started up again. They were thick all the way up to the main road.

An idea started clicking inside her head. She hadn’t seen the reporters for herself. What if the situation wasn’t as bad as Leonard had made it seem?

She was deep in thought when she turned into the English tea garden. So deep, she nearly barrelled in on the one man she was trying to avoid.

The Wolfe was in the garden.

Her breath caught and she quickly hid behind a white pergola laced with vines and roses. What was he doing here? Was he following her? She bit her lip, considering what to do. By rights, she should turn around, go back down the hill and lock herself in the lake house.

But the road was in the other direction.

She peeked around the corner. He was still heading away from her. Unlike her, he was a true pacer. She watched the way he stalked down the little path, his broad shoulders narrowing to a taut waist and even nicer butt. Her tongue ran over her lips.

Oh, damn. He was wearing the jeans again.

She ducked back into hiding when he pivoted. For a brief moment, she saw a muscled chest and bulging biceps. Yet she’d also seen the mussed hair and the shadows underneath his eyes. Something had him worked up.

She heard a curious tapping noise. When she risked another peek, she found that he’d stopped at the table. For the first time, she became aware of the patio furniture that had been set up in the centre square. It was white wicker with deep green cushions. What caught her attention, though, was the computer sitting on the table.

She frowned. What was he doing? Reading news articles about himself? Getting caught up on The Wolfe Pack’s bottom line? Emailing cohorts who still agreed to associate with him?

She watched as he typed then pulled back to reference something. It looked like a grade-school notebook. For a moment, the red colour threw her. Even though he was dressed so casually, she would have expected his notebook to be leather-bound with a Mont Blanc pen within reach.

He followed along in the notebook, tracing a line, before looking back at his laptop. That, at the other end of the spectrum, was top grade. His fingers flew as he typed, but then he stood upright. Lacing his hands behind his neck, he stared at the screen. Finally, he swore and turned. His foot lashed out at an outdoor ottoman, and it went clattering along the flat stone patio before abruptly coming to a stop.

Elena jumped at the violence of the movement, but more so at the anger that lay underneath. It was gritty and fierce, palpable from where she stood. Almost immediately, though, it was tamped. With iron-like mettle, the man before her reined it all in. The anger sank back below the surface – or, more likely, was shoved. Standing with his fingers still wrapped together behind his neck, he let out another curse and looked towards the sky. The word was low and breathy, but it was enough to make her realise she needed to be moving along.

She headed into the garden maze, intending to take a path further away from the house.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’

She looked around quickly. Was there someone else around that she hadn’t seen?

He sighed. ‘Stay away from the front gate, Elena.’

That brought her straight upright. Her breath caught when she found him staring straight at her. His grey eyes were piercing and all too knowing.

How had he sensed her? More so, how had he figured out her plans? ‘I … I just thought I’d see if the reporters are still out there.’

‘Trust me. They’re dug in like ticks.’ His attention returned to his computer screen. ‘Ready to draw blood.’

Apparently they were talking now. Or were they?

He planted a foot on the chair in front of him and braced his forearm across his knee as he leaned forward. The position emphasised the long muscles in his back. Whatever he was working on had his attention more than she did.

Although he’d somehow spotted her when she’d made little to no noise.

She edged backwards. ‘I’ll stay hidden in the treeline.’

‘Did you watch TMZ last night? They were trying out a thermal camera.’ He tapped a few more keys on the keyboard. ‘They managed to spot one of the rabbits that run around the place.’

His gaze was on her again in that second. ‘My rabbit.’

She froze under his stare.

‘There’s no telling how rabid they’ll get if they spot a person.’ That grey gaze slowly trailed down her body. ‘Especially if it’s female.’

There it was again, the crackling in the air. Self-consciousness overcame Elena as she stood before him – or was that just awareness? Awareness of her body, acknowledgment of their differences, him male, her female? He missed nothing with that gaze, and she felt the way her breasts filled out her knit top. She sensed the lift in the heels of her boots and the resulting tilt of her hips. Even with the extra three inches, she barely came up to his chin.

The hoodie’s zipper bit into the palm of her hand.

His hoodie.

The one she was wearing and hadn’t returned.

Her immediate impulse was to give it back, but the bulkiness hid her shape. In that moment, she could no more take it off than she could walk down a stripper runway. ‘I suppose I shouldn’t do that then.’

‘Leonard will let you know when it’s clear.’

She nodded. All right. That sounded like a dismissal. It rubbed wrong, but this was his land. He hadn’t invited her here. ‘Thank you,’ she forced herself to say.

The sooner she got out of here, the better.

She turned on her heel, this time back towards the lake. His voice stopped her again.

‘You haven’t been doing yoga in the evenings.’

Oh, yes. He knew exactly what her body looked like underneath his fleece jacket.

Awareness ran like an electrical charge down her spine. When she looked over her shoulder, she found him still watching her. His pose was casual, still leaning over with one foot braced on the patio chair, but his eyes were alert. She might have been watching him on his walks through the woods, but he’d been watching her too.

Warmth unfurled inside her and began to circulate through her veins.

‘It’s getting too chilly.’

He waited for a long moment, almost as if he was debating what he’d say next. When he spoke, the offer surprised her.

‘You could use the gym in the main house, if you’d like.’

The main house. She’d made use of the library before he’d returned. There were some valuable resources there that rivalled those she’d found in the NYU library. Yet he was offering her more than that, and she wasn’t certain how to interpret it. She doubted he was the type for friendly gestures – although he’d been a renowned philanthropist before the scandal had broken. Or had that all been part of the illusion?

‘I found space in the living room of the lake house,’ she replied. She had to move the coffee table and she constantly bumped up against the sofa, but he didn’t need to know that.

Although, from the look on his face, he probably did. He owned that tiny bungalow.

His gaze narrowed and his lips flattened. Finally, he dropped his foot back to the ground and folded his arms over his chest. ‘It’s up to you.’

And with that she was summarily dismissed.

This time she knew it and she felt it.

She also felt a bit guilty, as if she’d hurt his feelings. Which was just silly and wrong on so many levels. What this man had done had hurt so many people. Yet Elena knew she’d dwell on it all night if she thought she’d been rude. She hadn’t been raised that way.

She took a step forward.

His concentration was on the laptop again, but she saw the muscles in his back stiffen. Those long, thick ropes of muscles … He knew she was still there.

‘However …’ she started.

He didn’t react, just stood there with his back turned.

It unsettled her. Should she continue? Just turn and go?

‘The library,’ she made herself say. She had Internet access, but, contrary to what some people believed, not everything could be found with a Google search.

She nearly jumped when he turned. She had his full attention. Only then did she realise she’d had it all along. The signs of fatigue were still on his face and his mussed hair made her fingers itch to smooth it into place, yet it always came back to his eyes. She couldn’t look away from them.

‘Leonard said you were going for your PhD.’

Her mouth went dry. They’d spoken about her? She nodded.

‘What subject?’ he asked.

She had to lick her lips to get them to function, and her stomach squeezed when his grey eyes sparked. ‘Ec … Economics.’

The expression that crossed his face was at once amused, ironic and resigned. ‘Of course it is.’

The knot in Elena’s belly turned fiery. ‘As it was before you and my father came clean about your Ponzi scheme.’

His jaw hardened, and the lines on his face deepened. The air between them pulsed and, for a moment, she thought she was going to see his anger flare to the surface again. She couldn’t have been more wrong. Ice was what she received instead. Cold, hard and unyielding. ‘I think everyone knows that I never came clean about that.’

She held his stare, refusing to back down. He had never admitted guilt, and it was something that galled most people. Yet there was something in his tone …

He said nothing more. He just stared at her, daring her to come at him again. She’d seen that look before as he’d done interviews. She recognised it from videotape of the prosecuting attorney questioning him. It made him look cocky, aggravating and sexy as hell.

But she wasn’t the one who was going to bring him down.

Better, more powerful people had tried and he’d come away with barely a slap on the wrist. Although … her gaze was drawn to the ottoman that sat a cockeyed angle.

‘Forget it,’ she said softly.

She turned towards the lake house, but was surprised when he took a step to follow her. It wasn’t a voluntary move, and they both knew it.

‘You can use the library,’ he said, his tone low and rough.

She looked at him through her lashes, but his gaze was on her body. Or, more precisely, on the way she’d wrapped the sweatshirt around herself. Hot embarrassment ran through her. He wasn’t the only one throwing off mixed signals.

‘But stay away from me.’

Her chin came up in surprise. Now that wasn’t a mixed message at all. It was a direct blow and it stung, but before she could say anything he turned, swept up his laptop and walked away.

* * *

The woman was a distraction.

Alex considered the implications as he did pull-ups in the gym in the basement of the manor. High-tech equipment surrounded him, but he’d learned that old-school still sometimes got the best results. Crossing his feet at the ankles, he kept his body still and made his arms lift his dead weight up and down. The burning became intense, but he kept going until the muscles wouldn’t respond any more. He dropped to the ground, flipped onto his back and started doing sit-ups.

She was an unwanted, uninvited distraction who apparently didn’t want to be here any more than he did.

He stopped for a moment on the upbeat with his elbows bumping against his knees.

No, that wasn’t all true. He wanted her like hell.

His teeth gritted as he started pumping out the reps again. She was beautiful. Heart-stoppingly so. When she’d come upon him down by the lake, he’d gotten his first up-close look at her. It had nearly made him swallow his tongue. She was tiny, but with curves in all the right places. Her hair was so long and silky, it made his fingers itch. But that face. Her skin was flawless and he couldn’t look away from her eyes. She had doe eyes. Deep, dark and captivating.

He could drown in those eyes.

Or he could drown her.

He didn’t need her here, not now and not like this. He needed this time alone. He couldn’t afford distractions, no matter how gorgeous or tempting.

But he couldn’t send her away. He might be a heartless son-of-a-bitch, but he wouldn’t feed her to the wolves. Not the kind that stood outside his door, anyway.

‘Shit,’ he muttered.

Collapsing back, he lay on the gym mat and stared at the fluorescent lighting. This was the first time he’d used the gym in ages. The rain this morning had forced him inside. A little drizzle wouldn’t have stopped him, but a constant downpour was another thing. He’d had his share of discomfort. The Precor and Cybex equipment was here for a reason.

He rolled his head and looked around the room. Full-length mirrors on the opposite wall showed his reflection. He’d put in a hard workout. His body felt like mush as he tried to catch his breath. His muscles were warm and his skin was damp with sweat. For a moment, he let his eyes close. Worn out, maybe he could relax.

He lasted for fifteen seconds. Twenty tops.

He heard every little pop and whir in the building. The last year and a half had honed his senses, and he was aware of everything that went on around him. Too aware. That made it all the more difficult to explain how she had snuck up on him yesterday in the garden – and she’d come up behind him. The last guy who’d made that mistake had ended up in the infirmary, yet she’d come upon him like a butterfly on the wind. He’d only known she was there when he’d sensed her watching him.

And felt the responding tightness in his groin.

With a surge of energy, Ax came to his feet. Grabbing his towel, he wiped his face and stalked off to the shower. The woman was like a wraith, so quiet as she floated about the grounds. She was ethereal as she took her morning walks in the mists along the waterfront … entrancing as she did yoga on the dock … but so sad, it made him ache.

He needed to get her out of his head. He needed to be sharp. He would be sharp.

But today, instead of feeling like a knife blade, he felt more like a hammer head.

The towel snapped against his back as he flung it over his shoulder. ‘Damn rain.’

It had him trapped him inside this house. It might have more rooms than he could count, but so had Otisville. He didn’t like being pinned down here by the media any more than his guest did. Wolfe Manor had its own special kind of demons, even for one of its own.

Especially for one of its own.

Something caught at his athletic shoe as he walked into the bathroom, and he looked down quickly. The thick rubber mat that covered the floor had flipped up at the corner. Demons, indeed. They were grabbing for him even now. Walking into the bathroom, he slammed the door shut behind him.

He stripped as the water warmed. When he finally pulled the glass door shut behind him, the steam was already rising. Bracing his hands against the granite wall, he let the dual shower heads spray over him. He was pushing himself, he knew. That snake was still coiled inside his chest. He was doing his best to keep it contained, but she’d seen it lash out yesterday. He regretted that.

He bowed his head and the pulsating water beat against the back of his neck. He needed to get both of them out of here.

Those eyes.

They showed everything she was feeling – distrust, curiosity, anger, lust …

Ax felt himself stirring. His tired body was filling with another kind of energy, one that was immediate and gnawing. Hunger started seeping through his veins. His mouth watered and his fingertips ached. His senses heightened, and the images behind his closed eyelids became vivid. Below the belt, he was hard and aching. Damn near throbbing. When the tip of his erection bumped against his belly, he swore and slapped the slick wall.

‘Fuck.’

Standing upright, he reached for the soap. He’d had her pegged that first night. She was a temptress, a siren luring him in so she could bring him down.

That was not going to happen.

With their intertwined histories, they could destroy each other.

He soaped himself, shampooed and rinsed off. His body was one big ache, but he ignored it. Screw the rain, he needed to get out of this house.

He turned off the water so abruptly, the pipes shook. The bathroom was cloudy as he stepped out of the shower stall. He’d forgotten to turn on the fan. The mirror was fogged over and condensation covered the fixtures. He dried off the moisture, but it came back just as quickly. He wrapped a fresh towel around his waist and reached for the bathroom door to let in some fresh air.

It didn’t give.

His head came up. The tired muscles of his gut seized up as one, and he gave another tug on the door.

It held firm.

‘What the hell?’

Stepping closer, he looked to see if a lock had been flipped. There wasn’t even a mechanism. Wrapping his fist around the handle, he braced his other hand against the wall. He might be fresh from a workout, but he should still have enough strength to open a stinking door. With a sound close to a growl, he gave another yank.

This time the top corner bowed inward, but the bottom remained lodged. Something had the door jammed.

Ax felt his breaths go short and his chest tighten unbearably. The air wasn’t going past his throat and it felt like it was bulging. He yanked on the door again. Shoved it and pulled. It was like a bank vault.

The walls pressed in on him. He looked over the door, his thoughts pinging about as he tried to force his brain to work. Looking around, he realised he was in an interior room. No windows. No other route for escape.

The snake slithered. He jimmied the door and yanked it harder.

Nothing worked.

He was locked in. Trapped in the tiny space. Those demons he remembered were out and about, taunting him. He slapped the light switches, turning on the string of bulbs over the vanity, and switched the fan on high. The dampness in the air was making it hard to breathe. The moisture coated his vocal cords and clung to his exposed skin.

‘Hey!’ he yelled, banging his fist against the door. ‘Somebody!’

The big old house was silent.

Not wanting to, he turned off the fan so he could hear. The loss of the whirring noise left a gaping hole. He heard nothing. No water dripping, no gym equipment running, no footsteps, no voices in return.

He set up a staccato rhythm that had the door bouncing on its hinges. It set up a racket, but the door was immovable.

‘Can anyone hear me?’

He heard a noise now, but it was his heart pounding in his ears and his head. He was confined again. He slammed both fists against the heavy oak door, making contact all the way down his forearms to his elbows.

His control was crumbling.

And then the snake was loose.

‘Help! Get me out of here. Anyone. Hey. Let me out!’

Chapter Four

Elena hurried through the door to the kitchen of the main house and shook herself to get rid of the rain. It was pouring outside. The walk up the hill didn’t look that long, but she’d gotten drenched in the time it had taken for her to run the distance. She dropped her backpack onto the floor and tugged off her jacket. She hung it on the metal coat rack beside the door and tried not to shiver when a droplet of water ran down the back of her neck.

‘Hello?’ she called. A stack of freshly washed kitchen towels was on the granite counter. She grabbed the top one and brushed it over her damp skin. ‘Is anyone here?’

She knew that Marta and Leonard were out running errands, because they’d asked her for a list of things she needed. The only other person’s location she wasn’t sure about was his. She hadn’t seen any lights on in the main house from her view down by the lake. There’d been no movement or any other signs of life. It was hard to believe he’d be out wandering around in this kind of weather, but she already knew he didn’t like being cooped up.

Maybe he was sleeping or off in some distant room. The place had enough of them. She slipped off her shoes and left them on the throw rug by the door so she wouldn’t track mud.

‘It’s Elena,’ she called. She didn’t want to raise her voice too much. She just needed to buzz down to the first-floor library, but she didn’t want to stumble across anyone unexpectedly. That had already happened with a certain person too many times, and she didn’t want it to happen here, in his home.

Even if he had given her permission to be here.

Blotting her wet hair, she padded over to peek through the kitchen doorway. ‘I’m just here to borrow a book,’ she called lightly.

The looming stillness of the house gave her visions of a black hole just waiting to suck her up. She waited another moment, and then yet another for good measure.

Summoning up her nerve, she began tiptoeing down the hallway. She knew which book she needed and where it was. Her plan was to just grab it and go. The problem was that the library was at the other end of the house, a trek away.

She started down the long corridor, trying not to let it unnerve her. The place was just so big and museum-like. She looked into the foyer with its massive stair tower rising overhead. It picked up even the soft patter of her footsteps and made them echo. Squeezing the last bit of moisture from her hair into the towel, she looked in the other direction. It made her pause. The open room was sweeping and expansive, and it offered a wall-to-wall view of the lake – and, off to the right, her house.

Well, not her house. His lake house.

He’d been watching her that first night from the balcony right outside those windows. Had he been watching her since?

The idea sent another kind of shiver down her spine.

Hurrying along, she passed empty rooms filled with oak furniture, priceless antiques and vintage rugs. She felt out of place here, surrounded by so much wealth. Everything felt so heavy, yet so luxurious and tempting. The only context she had was the time she and her mother had vacationed in Rhode Island. Her aunt had taken them on a tour of the famous mansions of Newport – the summer getaways for the likes of the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers. The only difference there was that the rooms had been roped off. The classic look-but-don’t-touch approach.

This was real.

These people lived this way. They kept this mansion that was way too big with way too many rooms. They slept on these beds, walked across those priceless rugs, toyed with those pricey ceramic figurines … Privilege. There were so many aspects to that word. She couldn’t imagine how it would feel to not have to worry about money, to have any pleasure or comfort available at the snap of her fingers.

She moved past a study and then a music room with a grand piano and harp. It made her frown. Did someone actually play that thing or was it just for show?

It didn’t matter; she was dawdling. Straightening, she focused again on the library at the end of the hall. She was about to walk inside when she realised she was still carrying the kitchen towel. A damp towel and books … It wasn’t a good combination.

There was a half bath just off to her right. She stepped inside to drape the hand-towel over a towel rail. For a moment, she let her toes curl into the rug beneath her feet. Even the bathroom rugs here were thick and sumptuous. Its burgundy colour matched not only the towels that were artfully arranged over the brass rail but also the soapdish and lotion dispenser. She was admiring the heavy ceramic set when a bang suddenly came through the pipes. The sound was so loud, it made her jump.

‘Ah!’

Lurching back, she looked at the sink and toilet. Was something wrong with the plumbing?

Another sound radiated through the walls. In the small room, the reverberation seemed to be coming from everywhere. Elena flinched again, warnings flaring in her mind. Shuffling backwards, she braced herself in the doorway.

What was that?

She looked for the source of the racket. It sounded as if the pipes were about to explode.

Wait. No, that wasn’t the pipes. She could hear them now in a distinct rattle. This was something else … some kind of impact … She looked out the window. Had someone made it onto the grounds? Were they trying to break in?

Another series of hard thuds rang in the walls, making her wince. She could literally feel them under her fingertips. No, this was coming from inside.

She looked up.

A strange sound had her quickly reevaluating and looking down. Under her feet. Below her, she’d heard a cry that could only be associated with a wounded animal.

‘Oh, God.’

Something was down there.

She didn’t think that Leonard had been caring for any pets, but would he have kept a guard dog inside if he’d known she was on the property? She doubted it, but she jumped when there was another explosion of noise beneath her. Banging noises. Desperate sounds.

‘Hold on. I’m coming.’

Shaking with adrenalin, she backed into the hallway. Whatever was down there, it needed help. She couldn’t ignore the frantic sounds. She looked up and down the hall. How could she get down there? The library was the only place she’d ever visited. She’d never explored; she hadn’t wanted to.

Bang, bang, bang.

More clanging rang up through the walls and her toes curled with the need to move. Where was the staircase? She didn’t try to be quiet as she raced back to the main entrance, though she nearly fell, her socks sliding along the hardwood flooring, when she found an open archway. There. Carpeted steps led downwards to the basement.

She flew down the stairs and immediately turned to her right. The sounds were louder down here. The limestone structure had soaked up most of the noise, containing it. On the lower level, they were booming. Her sense of urgency grew, and she ignored the indoor putting green and wet bar as she honed in on the anguish in the air.

‘Hello?’ she called. ‘Where are you?’

Heart pounding, she found the gym. It was nearly as big as the one she’d used in the city, only the equipment was better and it didn’t smell like sweaty socks. On the balls of her feet, she scoped out the situation.

There. The door off the end. It was shaking on its hinges.

She heard that raw, guttural sound that had stifled her breaths upstairs. Only this time the keening was clear. It wasn’t an animal; it was a person. A man.

‘What’s wrong?’ She raced over to the door, but was afraid to get too near just in case it exploded outwards. ‘Do you need help?’

The person inside didn’t hear her. They were setting up a racket, pounding on the door and scratching at it.

She lifted her hands to protect her face when they started kicking.

‘Hey!’ she yelled.

A roar responded. He’d heard her this time. ‘Out! Get me out!’

Her breath caught in her throat. She recognised that voice.

‘Now!’

She lurched back into action. ‘Stop kicking.’

Again, in his panic, the man didn’t listen. He was going at that door like his life depended on it.

‘Alex!’

The racket fell and the noise level dropped so suddenly, it was jarring. Still, Elena swore she could hear ragged breaths coming through the sturdy wooden door. She approached cautiously and laid her hand over the handle. ‘Alex, is that you?’

‘Elena?’

His voice was thin, and her name sounded plaintive. Urgency clawed at her.

‘Is it the lock? Are you stuck?’ She twisted the handle on the door and pushed, but nothing happened. She tried again, feeling him help from the other side, but something was blocking the door’s natural movement. Her brain began clicking as she sized up the situation.

‘Open it,’ he ordered, his voice brusque. ‘Damn it. Get it open!’

She yelped when he started kicking again. She could see the door bowing as he made contact, but he was kicking out, while the door swung inwards.

‘Wait! Hold on!’ She turned the handle and felt the latch open fine. Putting her shoulder into it, she shoved again. The top corner of the door swung in, but the bottom held tight. She knelt down when she found the source of the problem. ‘The gym mat is lodged under the bottom corner.’

She reeled back when the door starting shaking again.

‘You’re making it worse. Alex! Let me help you.’

He stopped abruptly. She pounced while she had the chance, talking out loud to keep him distracted. ‘It’s wedged in tight. Kicking it will only make it worse, and you aren’t Bruce Lee. You can’t kick through it.’

Although he’d certainly tried.

How long had he been locked in? Trapped like a wild animal?

No matter what she thought of him, the idea of that kind of suffering made her throat hurt. He wasn’t one who was built to be tied down. He could barely stand to be in this gigantic house for a full day. ‘Let me just try something.’

She let out a grunt as she fisted her hands around the mat and pulled. The corner of the door only dug deeper into the rubber.

‘Elena?’ His voice was raw, more a harsh whisper than tone now.

‘It’s coming,’ she promised. Sitting down, she braced her feet against the wall to give herself leverage. ‘Don’t do anything. I’m right behind the door.’

She tugged again, her teeth gritting at the effort. She could feel him on the other side of that door, hovering and fidgeting.

‘Did you try the hinges?’ She needed to keep him talking. She needed to calm him down. If she let him slip into a panic, he’d only work against her.

‘I broke two combs trying to pry them out.’

He was standing just on the other side of the door, his voice right above her. It was intimidating, but he was focused. That was good. Anything to pull him back from the brink. She began pulling on the mat, working it back and forth. It was malleable, but so heavy-duty she could hardly lift it. It wasn’t one of the thick cushy mats everyone did sit-ups on, it was the rubbery kind that gyms laid across their walkways and underneath equipment.

‘That was innovative.’ She smiled fiercely when the right side of the mat slipped out a good inch.

‘Not really,’ he said in that raspy voice. ‘You should see what inmates can make with those things.’

She froze.

‘No, I take that back,’ he said more softly. ‘You should never see that.’

That edge was back in his voice. She had to get him out of there now. She looked around the room for something she could use. For all the shiny equipment and heavy free weights, there wasn’t much. Besides, she didn’t think cutting the mat was the right way to go.

She kept wiggling it with her feet braced like a rower. Her shoulders began to ache at the effort, but then she fell backwards.

‘Ooo, almost.’

She felt his anticipation jump and wondered how she could ever miss him when he was walking through the forest. He was standing on the other side of a slab of wood. She couldn’t see him, but she could feel his presence. His heat was blistering.

It made her uneasy. She’d never seen him like this. Every time they’d crossed paths, he’d been cool and contained. Low-key and reined-in.

Except for that time in the garden.

‘Can you lift on the handle?’ she asked. ‘Pull up.’

Before she even finished the question, she felt the resistance give. She yanked on the rubber mat and her momentum swung. She rolled halfway onto her back when the stupid thing popped loose.

‘Ha!’ She scrambled to her feet and stepped back, getting out of the way. She brushed off her bottom, but the door stood eerily still.

Why wasn’t he –

Oh, God. She’d told him not to do anything, that he could hurt her if he came out suddenly.

She sprang forward and grabbed the door handle. It turned smoothly, and the door swung silently on its hinges as she opened it. It stopped halfway when masculine fingers curled around the edge. Those fingers turned white, and he pulled the door open so wide it banged against the bathroom vanity.

That ache in Elena’s throat spread to her chest when she finally saw him. He looked haggard. His colour was ashen, although heat and humidity poured out of the room. The lines of his cheekbones were harsh, and his jaw was set like a master lock. His eyes, though … Those icy grey eyes glinted with something raw and wild. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked.

He jammed his foot in front of the door and she winced when she saw the bruising and swelling that had already started. He’d been kicking at that door with his bare feet.

Then again, that wasn’t all about him that was bare.

She swallowed hard. He must have been taking a shower when he’d gotten trapped, because all he was wearing was a towel. A loose, very insecure towel. It sat low on his waist, with the knot looking like it could slip at any moment.

Awareness prickled along her skin and her face warmed. She’d known he was fit, but this went beyond that. He was ripped. Lean and animal-like.

Beautiful.

He started moving then, determined to get out of the tiny room. Her gaze snapped up and she stepped back to make way.

Only he didn’t stop coming at her.

Instinctively, she lifted her hand. To stop him or ground him, she didn’t know. He came out of his makeshift prison like a bull coming out of a gate, and her palm spread wide across his warm, muscled chest. The contact was shocking, but she gasped aloud when he touched her. He caught her by the shoulders, his grip hot and urgent. Their gazes locked and her heart kicked like that bucking bull that just escaped.

‘You,’ he rasped. His hot breaths hit her square in the face.

They stared at each other, chests working. Electricity passed between them, creating a full circuit through touch. His fervency transferred to her; her agitation swam back to him. The tension in the room changed, ratcheting impossibly higher.

Elena watched him with wide eyes as he pulled her close, but then his head dipped and his mouth closed over hers. He kissed her hard, his lips firm. Hungry. Frantic.

The adrenalin that had been rushing through her veins dove deeper into her belly. Arousal knotted in her gut and her thoughts splintered.

His need; it went bone-deep. She could feel it in the tremble in his grip. He wrapped an arm low around her waist and cinched her up tight. Their bodies connected from mouth to knee. All she felt of him was bare skin as he leaned over her. Smooth, delicious skin. His heat seeped into her and she shuddered.

‘Elena.’ Something close to a groan rose from his chest.

He was bigger than her and stronger by far, yet he was hanging onto her as if she was the only thing keeping him from going under.

She hesitantly slid her hands up his back. The strength she’d imagined was all there, with nothing to hide. His body was a tapestry of muscles and tendons that jumped at her touch. Her fingertips curled inward. The power she felt was intoxicating.

His tongue pressed demandingly at the seam of her lips. When she gave him access, he swept it across hers. The contact was wet and slow, so erotic she could barely stand it.

‘Mmm.’ She let out a mew when he hitched her up. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing, and her feet dangled inches from the floor. Her toes curled in reaction. When he slanted his mouth across hers again, she was ready for it. The kiss was deeper, more passionate and intense.

The ache between her legs intensified. Age-old instinct had her wrapping her legs around his waist. She locked her ankles and rubbed helplessly against the hard bulge that pressed between her legs.

‘God, yes,’ he hissed.

The room spun as he turned. When it righted itself again, Elena found herself on her back on the mat – not the thick rubber kind that had trapped him, but the cushy kind that absorbed impact … and cushioned the weight of two intertwined bodies …

He was heavy as he splayed out on top of her. His chest plumped her breasts, and his hips nudged determinedly at hers. She cradled his erection between her legs and wiggled until he pressed against the spot where she needed him most.

He nipped at her lips. ‘I have to have you.’

So blunt. So straightforward.

And so sexy.

Arousal clogged her thought processes, and everything honed in on the physical. All she knew was the clench of his hands in her hair, the feel of his bare chest and the press of his hardness between her thighs.

He pushed her top upwards, forcing her to lift her arms above her head, and made quick work of the front tab on her bra. When he cupped her breast, her head rolled against the mat. His hand was big and possessive. Burning. Her nipple poked hard into his palm, but her body bowed when his rooting lips circled her nipple. She struggled to free herself of the stretchy material as he plumped her breast higher and suckled at her with such voraciousness it made her belly contract.

‘Alex!’

He dragged his tongue slowly across her sensitive nub, making it tingle. ‘That’s right, pretty siren. Say my name.’

Elena couldn’t believe this was happening, but it was. He was like a man possessed as he worked his hand between their bodies. He yanked down the zipper of her jeans, but she wasn’t ready when he shoved them down. Her hips rocked when he cupped her.

‘Ahh!’ Desire clenched deep in her belly, and she arched against him.

Propping himself up on one elbow, he struggled to catch his breath. They were both breathing hard, and she could felt the hot gusts against her lips.

He was watching her so closely. There was nowhere to hide when he ran a fingertip around her opening. Nerve endings fired, and her pulse jumped. When the tip of one of those curious fingers began to penetrate her, she grabbed at him. Her hands found natural resting places over the curves of his sexy bottom. The towel was gone, and her fingers dug deep.

His jaw clenched underneath the shadow of his dusty beard.

His finger dipped deeper into her wetness, and there was no way to hide her reaction. Elena became one big shuddering mess. She could feel the strain in his muscles as he kept touching so intimately below. One finger became two. She couldn’t find her breath as they rubbed, swirled and plunged.

He leaned his forehead against hers as he touched a spot that made her moan. ‘Tell me you want me.’

Want? It was such a tame word for what she felt. She ground her mound against his hand, and her thigh muscles burned. If something didn’t soothe the ache deep inside her soon, she was going to go crazy.

‘Tell me,’ he ordered.

She kissed him instead.

A growl rumbled against her lips. His mouth raked across hers, and his tongue plunged. She let out a cry when his fingers left her empty, but then he was pulling off her clothes. She squirmed as she tried to help, lifting her hips and pointing her toes as he dragged everything down at once. He yanked off her socks along the way and she suddenly found herself naked with him towering over her.

Her breasts heaved as she looked up at him. He’d settled back on his haunches between her spread legs and was looking her up and down.

She looked at him just as fiercely. Her gaze swept over his handsome face. The ashen colour was gone, and the hollow look in his eyes had been replaced by something hot and reckless. She admired the strength in his chest and arms, the definition in his abdomen and –

Oh, my.

His erection stood hard and tall.

He was big, and he was ready.

He toppled over her, taking his weight on his arms so he didn’t crush her. Their gazes locked, and she caught at his sides. ‘You can’t look at a man that way,’ he growled. ‘Not when he’s trying to stay away from you.’

‘I didn’t come here looking for you,’ she panted.

‘But you found me.’ His gaze homed in on her lips, and some of the tension in his shoulders sagged. ‘You rescued me.’

He lowered himself onto her, skin pressing against skin, as he kissed her. He coaxed her to wrap her legs around him, and Elena shivered as his big hands cupped her bare bottom. He tilted her hips up as he positioned himself and then he was pushing into her.

‘Oh!’ she cried. ‘Oh … oh …’

She had to stretch to take him, and the pinch rode right on the thin edge between pain and pleasure. She dug her fingers into his back, and he went still.

‘Mmm,’ she whimpered. She felt so full. At once, it was too much and not enough. She wiggled beneath him, trying to ease her distress, but his hold locked down, keeping her in place.

‘Like this,’ he whispered into her ear. Using her wetness to ease the way, he began pumping in short, slow strokes. With the angle at which he held her, each glide bumped against that tender nub between her legs. It set off a flurry of sensation and her feet arched, her toes pointing hard.

‘Alex,’ she gasped.

He began pumping deeper and then deeper still until with one surge, he embedded himself all the way.

Elena cried out, her body bowing. Oh, God. He was right. It was good. Better than good. He was perfect.

He held himself still again, and she pressed her face against his neck. ‘More,’ she begged. ‘More.’

The words set him loose and they both began moving desperately. She stroked his back and kissed the line of his collarbone. He thrust into her harder and faster. The tight fit had them both groaning and shifting.

‘Damn you,’ he grunted.

‘I didn’t want this either.’ She’d tried to stay away, too, but that magnetic pull she’d felt that first evening had been indomitable.

They fell into a hard, driving rhythm, and words turned into cries and groans. The mat hissed and squeaked as it cushioned their lovemaking. Elena’s senses were on overload. It was all so fast, so overwhelming.

And so carnal.

She craned her neck when he licked at her ear and she spotted their reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors. She’d never seen anything so erotic. Their bodies were connecting, moving in the most intimate way, and to feel it as she watched …

She closed her eyes as her body began to spiral upwards.

She clung to the stranger who’d just become her lover. He was plunging faster and harder, and her hips rose to accept him. The slap of their bodies sounded naughty and wonderful in the empty room. That energy that always circled around them was now crackling inside them. The voltage was cranking higher and higher.

She cried out when it zapped inside her like a bolt of lightning. ‘Ah, Alex!’

He bucked into her and his neck arched as the charge ran through him too.

She felt his wet warmth spurt into her, and an aftershock hit her. They stayed that way, locked together, energy shimmering. It was chemical, magical and out of control. The surge couldn’t last. After long moments, the energy ebbed and then dipped.

Elena collapsed back against the blue mat and struggled to catch her breath. Alex relaxed upon her, his body heavy and warm.

‘Holy hell,’ he murmured. He brushed her hair away from her face. He looked as stunned as she felt. She stared into his grey eyes, happy that the wildness was gone. The panic and anxiety that had choked the room when she’d first entered had disappeared.

Only new feelings were starting to niggle at her.

Feelings of doubt …

Regret …

And, finally, dismay.

She looked up at the virile man she’d just made love to – the man she was still making love to. Their bodies were connected intimately, and she’d played a part in that. A big part, and why not? He was beautiful. Male perfection. She responded to him like she’d never responded to anyone else.

But this was Alex Wolfe.

Oh, dear God. What was wrong with her?

She pushed at his shoulder and tried to worm out from under him. ‘I … I have to go.’

His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t budge.

‘I can’t be here,’ she said tightly. She couldn’t do this.

She wiggled her hips, and his hands latched down tight.

‘Hold still,’ he said sharply. The lines on his forehead deepened as he looked at her, and that muscle in his jaw bulged. ‘Let me.’

Heat flared in her cheeks as he disconnected their bodies. Slowly. Almost as if emphasising it. Inside, she felt the flutter of desire and her anger bubbled up all over again. That would be his way, wouldn’t it? To lord it over her.

She felt wetness on the mat underneath her, and she bit her lip when his softened erection brushed against her thigh. Horror built up inside her.

She’d always been torn when it came to this man. He epitomised so many things for her … wealth, corruption, excess, greed … sex, physical attraction and lust … She knew both sides of the equation, yet rational thought had gone out the window when he’d touched her.

What was wrong with her? She was a smart, level-headed sort of girl. She knew right from wrong. This may have felt right, but it was so wrong it bordered on stupid.

She scrambled away when he sat up.

‘Elena.’

She looked at him as she clutched her jeans and her top to her chest. The expression on his face made her nearly crumple, but she steeled her spine. She rocked back onto her feet and stood. The position made her feel all the more vulnerable. She didn’t have the nerve to put on any of her clothes in front of him, and she knew that damned mirror stood at her back, reflecting everything for him to see.