Mine to Hold

  their way to him, you’ll have more than the governor to worry about.” He tore the pictures into pieces. Marched toward the warden. “You’ll have me. And when it comes to the biggest threat you need to fear, Warden, it’s not the governor because I can buy and sell him ten times over.”

  The warden glanced nervously around the room. “He…he’s probably going to get out.” His voice was low, carrying just to Noah’s ears. “For the funeral. He was right. There won’t be anything I can do to stop it if the order comes down…”

  Noah’s fury burned even hotter. “If that happens, you call me. Understand?”

  The warden’s gaze dropped to the torn pictures scattered on the floor. “I know what he is,” Jeremiah said. “And if I had my way, he’d stay locked up forever.” His eyes lifted. Held Noah’s. “If he ever gets free, he will kill that woman.”

  “No,” Noah swore, “he won’t.”

  ***

  “All right, Claire…” The rumbling masculine voice was followed by a light rap on the office door. “It’s quitting time for the night.”

  Claire glanced up and found herself staring into Drake Archer’s green gaze. She’d been aware of him covertly checking on her during the day. He hadn’t actually spoken to her until now.

  Since the guy had a tendency to unnerve her, she’d appreciated his silence.

  Claire shut down her computer. Well, Noah’s computer. She was in his office, in his suite, and she’d spent the day pouring over marketing plans for the hotel in D.C. She wanted to prove to Noah that she could be useful to him.

  And not just as a bed partner.

  Drake stepped into the room. The light glinted off his dark, blond hair.

  Claire tensed.

  “Why do you do that?” Drake asked her, frowning. “I’m not going to bite.”

  She wasn’t sure she believed that.

  She’d met Drake and Noah back in Chicago. Actually, her first image of Drake was rather twisted. Stained in blood. One thing remained clear to her, though.

  Drake Archer is dangerous.

  “It’s not the first time an old friend has asked me to keep an eye on his girl,” Drake added with a roll of his broad shoulders. “And Skye doesn’t jump when I get within ten feet of her.”

  She rose to her feet. “I’m not Skye.”

  His gaze slid over her. “True, but this is the same city she used to love. This is the place where I watched her.” His head tilted a little to the left as he seemed to savor a memory. “Skye was one hell of a dancer.”

  Claire had actually seen Skye once on stage. He was right—Skye was phenomenal.

  “You remind me of her,” Drake added as he kept studying her. “Something about the eyes. No, the fear in your eyes.”

  Warily, she eased around the desk.

  “What are you afraid of, Claire Kramer?” Drake murmured. His voice was low, rumbling. His face was all hard lines and angles. Danger. When she looked at Drake, she thought of darkness and of the threats that waited in the night.

  Some women might like that wild edge that clung to him. It just made her nervous.

  What are you afraid of? His question had made her tense. “Don’t you know?” Claire asked him. Noah did. Trace did. Surely Drake had been told about her past, too.

  But Drake shook his head. “Some. Not all. Your past is your own.” His lips twisted. “I sure as hell don’t want anyone looking at my past. It’s bloody and full of death.”

  “So is mine.”

  The silence stretched between them.

  “Then why don’t we just screw the talk about the past and just focus on the present?” Drake suggested. “And in the present, you sure have my boy Noah twisted up.”

  She did?

  Was that good or bad?

  “Noah’s not like me and Trace. He holds himself back. He’s damn smart. He knows that a woman can destroy a man faster than anything else on earth.”

  Drake sounded as if he were speaking from personal experience. “I’m not looking to destroy Noah.”

  “Good.” His smile flashed. “Because then I’d have to destroy you, and I think I rather like you.”

  He’d just threatened her. Claire’s fingers curled tightly around the edge of the desk.

  “I don’t have a lot of friends in this world,” Drake continued. “Noah is one of the few people who has always stood by me, no matter what screwed up shit I did.”

  Just as Noah was standing by her?

  “But don’t let his appearance fool you, sweetheart.”

  Sweetheart. Helplessly, Claire shivered. Only one other man had called her by that endearment.

  “Noah is a hell of a lot more dangerous than most people believe. I’ve always thought that, if someone were to wreck that perfect control of his, Noah York might just be the deadliest man I’ve ever met.”

  “Why…” She pulled in a deep breath. “Why are you trying to warn me away from him?”

  “Because I think you might be the one to wreck that perfect control.” He crossed the room until he stood just two feet away from her. Not touching her, thank goodness, but still too close. “He doesn’t keep them, you know.”

  Now she was lost. “Keep what?”

  “His women. He sleeps with them, gets the lust out of his system, then he lets them go. He doesn’t like to have the same lover twice in a row.”

  Her heart seemed to freeze in her chest. Noah had been with her, and as soon as they’d returned to New York, he’d rushed out of town. Away from me?

  “He usually pushes his lovers aside, but here you are, all snug in his suite, and he has me playing guard duty for you.” He gave a low whistle. “That’s new, and it’s dangerous.”

  He was wrong. “I’m not a threat to Noah.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Good. Because, as I said, I like you.”

  Then what did he tell to the women he didn’t like?

  “Even if you do have that injured, delicate bird thing happening.” He waved his hand at her. “Do something about that, would you?”

  She could only blink. “I’m not an injured bird.” Now that was just insulting.

  He smiled. “That’s better. You had some bite in those words.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I’m in the suite. Completely safe for the night.” She’d been safe all day. “I think you can probably leave now.”

  “Why would I leave the suite? I just ordered room service for us. The room service menu in this place is damn good. Noah made sure of that.”

  Uh, yes, Claire had realized that quickly.

  “Come on. It will be here any moment…” Then he turned his back and took about four steps before he hesitated and said, “I promise, I won’t bite. Noah’s already marked you as his. I know how to keep my hands to myself.” After that little announcement, he kept walking.

  She didn’t follow him.

  Noah’s already marked you as his.

  She rubbed her chilled arms.

  ***

  Noah opened the door to his suite and slipped inside the dark interior to—

  “Three a.m., hoss…sure didn’t expect to see you come dragging in at this hour.”

  A light flipped on near the couch. The illumination spilled on Drake’s features. The guy was lounging against the cushions, looking quite at home. Too at home.

  “What the hell are you doing in my suite?” Noah demanded. Since he’d known that Drake was in New York, he’d gotten the guy to keep an eye on Claire.

  Not spend the night in the same suite with her.

  Drake grinned. When Drake grinned, it made Noah nervous.

  “I was getting to know your Claire,” Drake said. “That woman likes her secrets, doesn’t she?”

  Claire…she has secrets. A darkness inside. With her, what you see isn’t what you get.

  Noah shut the door behind him. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean getting the woman to talk with me was like pulling teeth.” H
e shook his head and stayed sprawled on the couch. “I don’t think she cares much for me.”

  “Usually you don’t have a problem charming the ladies.”

  “No.” Drake glanced toward the shut bedroom door. “But I don’t think she’s one for charmers.”

  Noah dropped his bag. He was so tired his bones ached, but he’d been determined to get back to Claire as fast as possible.

  “Want to tell me about your mystery trip?”

  Now Noah was the once glancing toward the bedroom door. “Is she asleep?”

  “She’s been that way for a few hours now. Tried to get her drunk with some wine,” Drake confessed. “Didn’t work. The woman didn’t even touch her glass.”

  Noah’s eyes narrowed. “We need to be clear on something.” He’d thought it was obvious when he asked Drake to watch Claire. “You don’t fuck with her, understand?”

  Drake laughed softly. “But you do.”

  “Only me.” He tossed aside his jacket. “Claire is—”

  “A broken bird, a woman who needs your protection.” Now Drake was mocking.

  “No,” Noah snarled. That sure wasn’t what he saw when he looked at Claire. “She’s a survivor. She’s been through hell, and I want to make sure she never has to suffer again.”

  Drake seemed to absorb that. “And you’ll do anything to keep her safe, is that it?”

  “Yes,” he rasped.

  “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” Now Drake rose and paced toward Noah. “I don’t give out advice often, but for you, I’ll make an exception. Seeing as how we go back so far…and you’re one of the few people who can—”

  “Actually stand your psychotic ass?”

  “Understand me,” Drake muttered. He heaved out a sigh. “You were smarter than Trace and I were. You didn’t get wrapped up in a woman. You kept your distance. You played it safe.”

  Noah waited.

  “You need to keep playing it safe. Opening yourself up to a woman like Claire, that is a big mistake. She’ll rip your world apart, man.”

  Noah didn’t speak.

  “When Trace almost lost Skye, you saw what it did to him.” Drake’s face hardened as worry glinted in his eyes. “Do you really want that shit to happen to you?”

  His back teeth had clenched so hard they ached. “I have no intention of losing Claire.”

  “Aw, hell, it’s already too late for you, isn’t it?”

  It had been too late for Noah the moment he’d met Claire—and she’d taken a swing at him in that Chicago alley.

  “What are you doing?” Now real concern was in Drake’s voice. “Don’t let her push you too far.”

  But how far was too far?

  “Reporters were at the Towers most of the day, trying to get to her. They even asked me if she was involved in the death of a certain Senator Colby Harrison.” Drake’s brows rose. “Seems he died in D.C., right during your recent little visit there with the tempting Claire.”

  Noah fired another fast glance at the bedroom door. “When she was sixteen, Claire’s boyfriend killed her parents. He put a gun to Claire’s head, and he was going to kill her, too.”

  “What?”

  “That boyfriend was Ethan Harrison, Senator Harrison’s younger son. Instead of just admitting that he had one screwed-up kid, the senator tried to paint Claire as a seductress who’d led the boy down the wrong path.”

  Drake rocked back on his heels. “She said her past was blood and death.”

  “It is.” Her future wouldn’t be. “The senator harassed her for years, and now she’s free of him.”

  Drake absorbed that, then muttered, “Free, right at the same time you two hook up.”

  Noah didn’t let his expression change. “Sometimes, that’s how fate works.”

  “Don’t be cute, Noah…did you do it?”

  “If I had, then I wouldn’t be so worried about keeping a watch on Claire.” He did not want Claire overhearing this conversation. “Before she moved in here at the Towers, someone trashed her hotel room at the Hamlet. That asshole Ethan Harrison, he’s been watching her—from prison. He’s got a PI on her. Ethan had photos of her, recent damn photos, all over his cell.”

  “So that’s where you went on your little trip.”

  “I needed to see him with my own eyes. Needed to talk to him.”

  Drake assessed him. “You were measuring your enemy.”

  It was the way they’d worked when they were in the military. Know your enemy. Learn his weaknesses. Exploit them.

  Take out that enemy.

  “He’s as obsessed with her now as he was nine years ago.” Actually, the guy might even be more obsessed. Time should have made the bastard let her go.

  The bedroom door squeaked open. “Noah?” Claire slipped out of the darkness and into the light of the main room. A smile swept over her face. The smile that he loved. The one that started with her lips, that flashed her dimples, and made her eyes shine.

  Every muscle in his body locked down.

  “I don’t think he’s the only one obsessed,” Drake said, voice low. “I’m telling you…watch yourself. Because you’re headed for an implosion.” Then Drake raised his voice as he drawled, “I’ll be seeing you again soon, Claire Kramer.”

  Then he left them.

  Noah drank in the sight of Claire.

  “How was your trip?” Claire asked him as she crept toward him. A few seconds later, she stood in front of him. Her hands lifted, then hesitated.

  He didn’t want Claire to hesitate when it came to touching him. He started to reach for her, but Noah locked his muscles down. He wanted the next move to be hers.

  After a moment, she pressed herself against him. Hugged him. It only lasted a moment, but he felt the impact of that embrace rock through his whole body.

  “I’m glad you’re back.” Her words were faint as she drew back. She put her hands behind her. Stared up at him with those big blues that always seemed to make him a little weak.

  I missed you, Claire.

  When he’d never missed anyone, not until her.

  This wasn’t about just repaying some debt anymore. Wasn’t about trying to fix the hole in Claire’s life that her sister’s death had left behind.

  It was about more.

  “Did you finish your business?” Claire asked him.

  He put his hand on her cheek. Like touching silk. “Not yet,” he told her. “But I will, soon.”

  Her breath caught as she stared up at him. “Noah?”

  “I need you.” So badly that his whole body seemed to be burning. He hadn’t been able to get back to her fast enough. She’d been the only thing he could think about on the flight home.

  She wore a dark robe. Her hands lifted. Unbelted that robe. It fell at her feet.

  Claire took his hand. She led him back to the bedroom. The woman had no idea just how close to pouncing on her he truly was.

  He should be careful with her. After their last time together, she was probably sore.

  “I want you.” Her voice was pure sin, like a stroke right over his aroused cock.

  His control was shredding. Every second with her ripped it a bit more.

  “I want to give you pleasure,” Claire told him as she stared up into his eyes. “Teach me how?”

  Right then, he couldn’t. He could only push her back onto the bed. Part her thighs. See the perfect pink flesh that waited. “This gives me pleasure.” He put his mouth on her and feasted.

  She bucked beneath him. Arched. Her taste drove him insane.

  Get her ready. Take her.

  When her nails raked down his back, Noah rose. He positioned his cock right at the entrance to her body. He’d put on a condom, pausing just those few seconds—one day I’ll have all of her—and he drove deep into her.

  Only then, only then, the frantic tension left his body. The fear. The fury. The lethal combination that seeing Ethan Harrison had roused within him.

  Claire will tease and she will flirt, but she
won’t sleep with you…She can’t. Claire knows she belongs to me.

  Ethan was so wrong.

  Noah thrust harder into Claire. She whispered his name. Her sex squeezed around him. So hot and tight and wet. Perfect for him.

  She climaxed, crying out and her sex clenched him even tighter.

  Noah’s thrusts became faster then. Deeper. The bed shook beneath them. The headboard thudded into the wall. He didn’t care.

  Nothing could have stopped him at that moment.

  He plunged into her. Lost sight of everything but Claire.

  And when he came, he roared her name.

  Mine. Always.

  Noah would do anything necessary in order to protect what was his.

  ***

  They’d taken Claire away.

  Ethan Harrison paced the length of his cell, rage pouring through his veins. All of his pictures were gone. The pictures that let him see Claire. That let him feel her.

  Those pictures were important.

  He needed them.

  I need Claire.

  That bastard Noah York didn’t scare him. After what he’d survived in prison, nothing scared him.

  His father had thought that he kept Ethan safe from the other inmates. But when the lights went out, when the guards turned their backs…you had to protect yourself. He’d gotten very good at protecting himself.

  And now…his father was dead.

  The funeral would be in a few days. That gave him so little time.

  It was a good thing he’d been plotting his escape for nine years. All of the plans were already in place. Soon…very soon…

  I’ll see you again, Claire.

  And it wouldn’t just be a thin photograph that he touched. He’d have the real