“This is weird.” I’m on a plane—a really posh one—and without going through the airport or dealing with security. No one groped me as if my underwire could be used as a weapon. The TSA confiscated my cannoli once because it wasn’t sealed. I think the organization has a serious pastry problem. As soon as Sean is seated, we’re taxiing down the runway. No waiting.

He smiles at me, enjoying my amazed expression. “I’m going to spoil you to the point that you don’t think anything is unusual.”

“I don’t think that’s possible, but I don’t mind you trying.” A lazy smile lines my lips. It’s nearly sunrise and I’m exhausted.

“Sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there.” Sean hands me a blanket and a pillow, and I snuggle up and before I can badger him about where we’re going, I doze off.

CHAPTER 15

The constant vibration of the plane has stopped and roused me. Okay, it’s more of Sean’s fingers poking my ribs. “Avery, wake up.”

I want to roll over and stay here. I must mutter something to that effect with an expletive on the end for emphasis, because Sean laughs and says, “You can’t stay here. Come on.” He scoops me up and I get a dopey grin on my face. He’s going to carry me like a bride over a threshold. Internally I sigh, because he’s the most awesome man alive, but it’s short lived. Sean drops my legs so I’m upright. They slam into the floor of the plane and jar me awake. I thought he was going to drop me.

“Hey!” I rip my shoulders from his grip and spin around in time to see a light smile lace his lips. Damn it. Why does he have to look so beautiful? I bite back the slew of nasty things I was going to say and resort to something less insulting. “Asshat.”

That makes him laugh, full dimples and all. Sean must be hysterically tired because that wasn’t all that funny. “I’ll wear your ass any way you’ll let me.”

My face flames red and I glance around, assuming that we aren’t alone, and we’re not. The pilot heard him, and whoever is standing in the open doorway of the plane. I punch his arm, which makes him laugh more. Note to self, stop calling Sean an ‘asshat.’ Apparently it makes him think about doing sexy things with my butt. Psh. What a child. The expression must cross my face, because Sean’s blue eyes go wide.

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?”

“No, Mr. Jones,” I answer sarcastically, “I’d never roll my eyes at you. Once I started, I’d just keep going and God knows they would have fallen out by now.”

Sean’s smile vanishes as he leans in close to my ear, “You’ll pay for that.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” We’re eye to eye, nose to nose, and a kiss apart. Sean is charged, like a huge magnetic field and it feels impossible to keep the tiny bit of space between us. As he breathes, the rise of his chest brushes against mine and shoots tingles through my body. A smug look crosses my face, and I tilt my head to the side and whisper in the most seductive voice I can manage, “Asshat.”

His eyes darken and this primal look comes over his face, before he presses those lids shut. I want to kiss both of them and hold him in my arms, but the look he has says things won’t be like that tonight—or today. I’ve lost track of time.

When his eyes open, there’s a jolt that travels through me when that wicked smile lines his face. Sean raises his fist to his mouth and bites it for half a second and then gives me a gaze that makes my heart pound fast and furious. “Let’s get your ass inside, Miss Smith, and I’ll see what I can do.”

Girlish giggles erupt from me even though I try to swallow them down. My emotions shorted out hours ago. My hands cover my mouth, but I can’t stop. Suddenly I see Sean’s hand fly and the next thing I know, he slaps my butt hard. My hands move to cover my stinging hindquarters and I turn to stare at him, gaping.

He grins, “What? I thought you wanted to stop laughing?”

Oh God. That makes it worse. More incoherent thoughts tickle my stomach, stopping only after Sean helps me down the steps from the jet. I stop abruptly and look around. There are tall rafters and, hay? “Are we in a barn? Seriously? We hopped in your private jet to hide out in a barn?” I must look bizarrely worried, because Sean is kind to me. Maybe he thinks my brain broke on the plane.

“It’s a hanger.”

I point to the corner, “There’s hay.”

“Yes, it’s for the horses. Where else should I store the shipments when they arrive?”

I shrug and start giggling again. “I don’t know, in a barn?”

Sean doesn’t reply. Instead he grabs my arms and pulls me from the hanger and out into the open. “Smart ass.”

“Ah, back to my ass again.”

“Your ass is going to be sore if you keep talking about it.”

“Psh, so is yours.” Yeah, I have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, but it sounded good.

That makes him look over at me. Amusement dances in his tired eyes. “I look forward to it.”

Oh, shit. It figures he’d be into anything and everything. Why didn’t I keep my mouth shut? I change the topic. We’ve been walking through a field. The grass is knee high, and early morning sunlight makes the dead grass look golden. It’s pretty, but it appears that we’re going to walk on forever since there’s nothing to see but grass and trees.

“Where are we?” Just as the question slips out of my mouth, I see a beautiful house. It’s a log cabin with huge shimmering windows. There’s a stream that runs behind it, cutting the golden grass in two like a long blue ribbon. My jaw drops at the same time that my feet stop. It looks like something from a ski magazine, and not one of the exclusive tailored penthouses where Sean Ferro normally resides.

“One of my homes.” His voice softens, and almost sounds somber. “Come on. I’ll show you around.” We walk up to the front, and go up the steps to a wraparound porch. As Sean puts a key in the door, I survey the area. The view from here is breathtaking. I can see the clearing we walked through, the stream, a gleaming lake in the distance, and it’s all nestled between mountains that look positively blue in the early morning sun.

Sean pushes the door open and holds it for me. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to go inside. My chest constricts as I walk past him and step into the cabin. I’m barely inside before I spurt out, “Wow.”

My neck cranes back and I stare at rafters that are twenty feet or more above my head. One end of the cabin is made from glass—twenty feet of glass. It’s insane. The view from the porch is nothing compared to the one from this huge window. I’m drawn to it, and slowly cross the cabin. The floors are dark, hand carved wood with a distressed finish. There’s a state-of-the-art kitchen with butcher block counter tops and rustic cabinets, but I don’t stop. The window is amazing. I pass a pristine white bed with a wrought iron canopy and velvety drapes that look soft enough to sniff. I bet they smell like the Snuggle bear. I’m totally smelling them later.

Stopping in front of the window, I look out and can’t help but smile. But something is way off. This seems so unlike Sean, and he’s barely stepped through the door. He’s standing there with it open behind him, like he might bolt. Turning, I ask, “What is this place?”

Sean’s eyes lock with mine for a moment, then he looks down and shakes his head. He steps through the threshold, and pushes the beautiful carved door closed without a word.

“Sean?” I’m worried about him. I’ve never seen him like this before. It’s my Sean, but he’s broken. Sometimes there are no words. I cross the room and throw my arms around his neck and hold him tight. To my surprise, he doesn’t pull back, but he buries his face in my neck. I hold onto him for a while, the way I did at the club, and wonder what ghosts haunt this place. What was this cabin supposed to be?

CHAPTER 16

When Sean snaps out of it, he looks like his old self. His defenses are up and that stern expression is back. Crap. I want to coax him back out, but Sean has other plans. He explains, “I need time to think and no one knows about this place. If anyone shows up here, we’ll know who’s trying to hurt you.”

“Where are we?”

“Upstate, in the Catskills.” New York is broken into several parts, the three main sections are Long Island, New York City, and then that massive amount of land north of Manhattan that’s called ‘Upstate.’ His reference to the Catskills is the only thing that gives me any idea of where I am. If he didn’t say that, we could be anywhere between the City and Canada.

I nod, and memories from last night start to flash behind my eyes. Sean grabs my wrist and commands, “No, Avery. Stop thinking. I want you to lay on that bed and let every thought rush out of your head. I only want you to feel what I’m doing to you. I want to be the one that evokes your fear or rapture. For the next few hours, I own you.”

The corners of my lips lift as I step up to him. “You’ll own me for much longer than that.” I wink at him and whatever restraint he had is gone. Sean scoops me up and carries me over to the bed. He looks down at me and I swear that there’s no blue left in his gaze. Those eyes are so dark that they’re nearly solid black. As his eyes rove over me, I feel naked even though I’m clothed. My heart beats faster, wondering what he’s going to do.

“Where’s your bracelet?” he asks suddenly, looking at my bare wrist.

“In Gabe’s limo. I shoved it between the seats.” A smile crosses my lips as I think about it. “Black is going to assume I’m stalking her.”

Sean grins at me before leaning down and kissing my forehead. “Good girl. That should give us a few days if the issue originates with her. She’ll think Gabe is protecting you.”

“Uh, I think he is.”

“No!” Sean’s voice is fierce. His entire body tenses to the point he trembles as he yells. “No one is protecting you, except me. I don’t want you to trust anyone until this is over—not Mel, not Gabe, not even my brothers—no one. Do you understand me?”