Sloane drifted back to consciousness. She opened her eyes and the bright light overhead brought a shaft of pain through her head. “Ooooh,” she moaned, closing her eyes to stop the barrage of banging inside her skull. She tried to move, but her hands and feet were tied. “Where am I? What is this?” Sloane pulled at the restraints, and the rope cut into her wrists.

“Easy, girl.”

Her pulse accelerated and a wave of terror crashed against her ribs. Gavin had taken her… but how? She couldn’t break through the fog in her brain to get the answer. Oh God. No one knew she’d been kidnapped. Yet. They’ll realize it as soon as I don’t arrive in Los Angeles. Ben. He’ll know when I don’t text him. She swallowed hard and held her breath, waiting for the fear slithering up her spine to backtrack with her eyes shut tight.

The sound of walking and then the cool press of a wet washcloth dabbing on her temples and brow had her blinking her eyes open again. Only to stare into Gavin’s baby blues.

“Sweetheart… thank God. I thought you’d never wake up. And we have so much to do.”

She tasted bile. Confusion swamped her mind until she remembered being grabbed from behind... recalled struggling when she’d recognized the pungent smell of Gavin’s cologne. He stifled her scream with his hand over her mouth… chloroform… then nothing. “How’d you get me out of the airport?” she asked. Did no one see her being carted off to his SUV? Didn’t anyone care about people anymore?

“I parked near the lobby entrance and waited. After you passed out, I tapped you on the head to give you a bruise. That way if anyone asked why I was carrying you, I could say I was taking you to the hospital because you’d tripped.” He smiled, and his pupils dilated. “See how smart I am? Nothing can keep us apart.”

He bounced as if giddy, proud of himself. God. She had to keep him talking. The longer he talked, the longer she had until he’d… more bile crawled into her throat. “You’re supposed to be in New York,” she said through numb lips. “In jail.”

“Oh, I never got on that plane. I got a lookalike to take the flight for me.”

“A lookalike?”

“Yeah. I met him at a local dive and paid him a shit ton of money to do it. Told him it was a punk joke on a cast member.” Gavin pressed the damp cloth to her head. “Too bad the joke’s on him.”

“You need to let me go before you get into even worse trouble than you are already in,” she said.

“Nothing bad will happen to me now that you’re back in my life.” Gavin caressed her cheeks and then tenderly kissed the knot on her forehead. “You haven’t stopped loving me. I know it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have left that nimrod you’ve been fucking.”

God. She should have stayed with Ben and tried to work through their impasse instead of holding him to an impossible standard. She’d been a fool. “You’re deluded,” she said. “And that so-called nimrod isn’t an idiot. I was supposed to text him when I arrived in LA. He’s probably out there looking for me right now.” God. Please be looking for me. And please come here… to this cabin…

Gavin laughed. “You’re wrong. He got his text from you.”

“How?”

“I used your thumbprint to unlock your iPhone and sent the jerk a ‘we’ll do it if you’re in my neck of the woods’ message. You know, if his hotshot sister has another premier.” Gavin stood and loomed over her. “So you may as well give up on the idea of him coming between us again.”

A sliver of hope crept into her heart. Ben may not have known her for long, but he knew her well enough to realize that text couldn’t have come from her. Now, if she could keep Gavin talking, maybe even reason with him, she might have a chance of getting out of this horrible mess.

“First of all, there is no us.”

“There has to be… you’re the only person who cares about me,” he cried. “I’m sorry I hit you. I’m sorry about the gambling. Everything. I need you to let me make this right so I can prove it to you.”

Poor Gavin. He’d never had an ounce of real love in his life, and now he’d blown it with her. “You call this proving your love to me?” Sloane tugged at her restraints again. “Drugging me with chloroform, whacking me over the head, and forcing me to go with you? You’re incapable of love.” Ben had been right. She couldn’t fix Gavin. Now this broken man would do God knew what to her. And she’d walked away from the one man who had the power to give her everything she wanted and more.

Gavin crawled on top of her, held her cheeks, and kissed them one by one, tears streaming down his face. “I love you so much. As soon as I know you won’t run away from me again, I’ll release you.”

Over and over, he slobbered on her face and lips. Nausea roiled through her and she tasted bile. Her worst fears reverberated through her mind. Gavin could do anything he wanted to her, and she didn’t have any way to stop him. “No.” She writhed her head to avoid his mouth and tongue. “Don’t do this… please don’t do this to me.” She had no idea how long she’d been unconscious or if anyone had figured out she’d been kidnapped, but she clung to the fact that Ben would never believe she sent that text.

He jabbed his tongue between her lips, and she could feel the hard ridge of his erection pressing against her. The cold realization that he could rape her turned her blood to sludge. She couldn’t let it happen. He’d taken so much from her. She would refuse to let him violate her with every ounce of her strength.

“You’re so hot. I want you… you’re the only one for me.” Gavin pawed her breasts roughly and cupped her through her pants, rubbing her mercilessly. “Say it. Tell me you love me… that you love what we’re going to do… that you want me more than any other man.”

His jealousy had tripped him over the edge of reason. “Never!” She bopped his head with hers, saw stars again, and blinked them away. Then she used the only weapon she possessed to fight him off, sinking her teeth into his neck.

“You bitch!”

Gavin raised his hand to strike her, but before he could hit her, Ben burst through the door. “You lay another hand on her and you’re dead, you bastard.” Ben grabbed Gavin’s fist and pulled it behind his back, twisting the wrist until it snapped. The crunch of bones breaking joined Gavin’s screams.

Ben ignored Gavin’s cries, catching him in a chokehold and pulling him off Sloane.

Ben rammed Gavin face-first against the wall and pinned him there with his knee, keeping him in the chokehold. His vision tunneled and adrenaline whipped through him, giving him more strength. He increased the pressure on Gavin. He didn’t care about the gurgling sounds coming from the man. He wanted to kill the motherfucker for what he’d been about to do to Sloane.

But then he’d go to jail and he’d really lose the one thing he cared about. He loosened his grip and Gavin’s gurgles returned to normal. Seconds later, he whined, “You broke my wrist.”

“Shut up or I’ll break your million-dollar face.” Ben tightened his hold while Hank and two other Brotherhood Protectors entered the room. “Take him before I kill him.”

“Will do. Sheriff’s here to bring him in.”

“Good. Fucking bastard needs to get locked up for a long time.” He passed Gavin over to the other men and then stepped over to the bed. “This won’t take long.” He brought out his standard issue knife and cut the ropes binding Sloane before bundling her into his arms. “I’m sorry I was such a hard ass. So, so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

She held him, kissed his shoulders, and feathered her fingers over his mouth. “I should never have doubted you, Ben,” Sloane said, tears welling in her beautiful brown eyes. “I’m sorry too.”

Ben caught her hand in his. “I pushed you away, and I could have lost you forever.” His voice caught in his throat. “There’s no way I’m letting you walk away from me again. You got that?” He held her gaze, still thanking the cell tower Gods for actually working tonight. Otherwise, the Find Your iPhone feature wouldn’t have brought him here in time to save her from that monster.

“I do have to go back to Los Angeles.” She brought her other hand to the joined pair. “Long-distance relationships require a lot of sacrifice. But I’m not going anywhere as far as my heart is concerned. You’ve got me.”

For the first time since he feared losing Sloane, Ben's entire body relaxed… every muscle releasing the tension and terror he’d held onto for hours. Happiness… hope… love refilled the hole in his chest. “I need you by my side always, not just once in a while.” He kissed her pale cheeks one by one and brushed his lips over hers.

“Are you proposing? ‘Cause we need more time to get to know each other before we do anything crazy.”

Ben laughed, and the sound echoed through the room. “No,” he said. “I’m asking you to take a chance on a Marine who accepted a position to make a difference in the world outside the corps so he can be closer to the woman he loves.”

“You’re leaving the Marines?”

“Yes. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and I don’t want to lose you. Not ever.” He kissed her again, drinking in her flavor, knowing only she could bring him happiness. “I love you, Sloane Bishop. And I will propose one day. So you'd better be prepared to say yes when I do.”

“Oh, Ben, I love you too. You’re all I need as a friend, a partner… a lover.” She held his gaze with shimmering brown eyes that no longer held pain but only glowed with the love mirroring his. “So tell me. Where is this new job?”

“Napa Valley. Top secret agency… operations people got my name from a woman I knew from the CIA.” He cradled her in his arms. “Position comes with living quarters. So how’d you like to write your screenplays in wine country? Is that close enough to LA and your parents?” He hoped she’d say yes with all his heart.

“Hmm…. Wine, great food, and oh… you?” She tapped her jaw and looked upward, contemplating, and then looked back at him. “Yes. I’m in.”

His chest filled even more and the last of the weight pressing down on him lifted. This gorgeous woman had hooked him from the get-go, and now he planned to keep her with him forever. He anchored her head and rubbed her nose with his. “Thank God, because I love you,” he said and then fused their mouths together, kissing her all over again.