Captive Star. Nora Roberts

a pithy and anatomically impossible suggestion, then disconnected.

      “Well, sugar, your hide’s now worth ten thousand to me. We’re going to find a nice, quiet spot so you can tell me why I shouldn’t collect.”

      He zipped off an exit, did a quick turnaround and headed back north.

      Her mouth was dry. She wanted to believe it was from shouting, but there was fear clawing at her throat. “Where are you going?”

      “Just covering my tracks. They wouldn’t get much of a trace on a cellular, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”

      “You’re taking me back?”

      He didn’t look at her, and didn’t grin. Though the waver of nerves in her voice pleased him. If she was scared enough, she’d talk. “Ten thousand’s a hefty incentive, sugar. Let’s see if you can convince me you’re worth more alive.”

      He knew just what he was looking for. He trolled the secondary roads, skimming through the holiday traffic. He’d forgotten it was the Fourth of July weekend. Which was just as well, he thought, as it didn’t look like there were going to be a lot of opportunities to kick back with that cold beer and watch any fireworks.

      Unless they came from the woman beside him.

      She was a firecracker, all right. She had to be afraid by now, but she was holding her own. He was grateful for that. There was nothing more irritating than a whiner. But scared or not, he was certain she’d try to take a chunk out of him at the first opportunity.

      He didn’t intend to give her one.

      With any luck, once they were settled, he’d have the full story out of her within a couple hours.

      Then maybe he’d help her out of her jam. For a fee, that is. It could be a small one because at this point he was ticked and figured he had a vested interest in dealing with whoever had set him on her.

      Whoever it was, they’d gone to a great deal of trouble. But they hadn’t picked their goons very well. He could figure the scam well enough. Once he captured his quarry and had her secured and in his car, the men in the van would have run them off the road. He’d have figured it to be the action of a competing bounty hunter, and though he wouldn’t have given up his fee without a fight, he’d have been outnumbered and outgunned.

      Skip tracers didn’t go crying to the cops when a competitor snatched their bounty.

      The goons might have let him off with a few bruises, maybe a minor concussion. But the way that mountain of a man had been waving his cannon in M.J.’s apartment, Jack thought it was far more likely that he’d have sported a brand-new hole in some vital part of his body.

      Because the mountain had been an moron.

      So at this point he was on the run with an angry woman, a little over three hundred in cash and a quarter tank of gas.

      He intended to know why.

      He spotted what he was after north of Leesburg, Virginia. The tourists and holiday travelers, unless they were very down on their luck, would give a dilapidated dump like the Kountry Klub Motel a wide berth. But the low-slung building with the paint peeling on the green doors and the pitted parking lot met Jack’s requirements perfectly.

      He pulled to the farthest end of the lot, away from the huddle of rusted cars near the check-in, and cut the engine.

      “Is this where you bring all your dates, Dakota?”

      He smiled at her, a quick flash of teeth that was unexpectedly charming. “Only first class for you, sugar.”

      He knew just what she was thinking. The minute he cut her loose, she’d be all over him like spandex. And if she could get out of the car, she’d be sprinting toward the check-in as fast as those mile-long legs would carry her.

      “I don’t expect you to believe me.” He said it casually as he leaned over to unlock the cuff from the door handle. “But I’m not going to enjoy this.”

      She was braced. He could feel her body tense to spring. He had to be quick, and he had to be rough. She’d no more than hissed out a breath before he had her hands secured and locked behind her. She sucked in air just as he clamped a hand over her mouth.

      She bucked and rolled, tried to bring up her legs to kick, but he pinned her on the seat, flipped her facedown. He was out of breath by the time he’d tied the bandanna over her mouth.

      “I lied.” Panting, he rubbed the fresh bruise where her elbow had connected with his ribs. “Maybe I enjoyed that a little.”

      He used the torn T-shirt to tie her legs, tried not to appreciate overmuch the length and shape of them. But, hell, he was only human. Once he had her trussed up like a turkey, he looped the slack of the handcuffs around the gearshift, then wound up the windows.

      “Hot as hell, isn’t it?” he said conversationally. “Well, I won’t be long.” He locked the car and walked away whistling.

      It took her a moment to regain her balance. She was scared, she realized. Really, bone-deep scared, and she couldn’t remember if she’d ever felt this kind of mind-numbing panic before. She was trembling, and had to stop. It wouldn’t help her out of this fix.

      Once, when she’d just opened her pub, she’d been closing down late at night. She’d been alone when the man came in and demanded money. She’d been scared then, too, terrified by the wild look in his eyes that shouted drugs. So she’d handed over the till, just as the cops recommended.

      Then she’d handed him the fat end of the Louisville Slugger she had behind the bar.

      She’d been scared, but she’d dealt with it.

      She would deal with this, too.

      The gag tasted of man and infuriated her. She couldn’t push or wiggle or slide it out, so she gave up on it and concentrated on freeing the loop of the cuffs. If she could free her hands from the gearshift, she could fold herself up, bend her legs through her arms and get some mobility.

      She was agile, she told herself. She was strong and she was smart. Oh, God, she was scared. She moaned and whimpered in frustration. The handcuffs might as well have been cemented to the gearshift.

      If she could only see, twist herself around so that she could see what she was doing. She struggled, all but dislocating her shoulder, until she managed to flip around. Sweat seemed to boil over her, dripped into her eyes as she yanked at the steel.

      She stopped herself, closed her eyes and got her breath back. She used her shaking fingers to probe, to trace along the steel, slide over the smooth length of the gearshift. Keeping them closed, she visualized what she was doing, carefully, slowly, shifting her hands until she felt steel begin to slide. Her shoulders screamed as she forced them into an unnatural position, but she bit down on the gag and twisted.

      She felt something give, hoped it wasn’t a joint, then collapsed in an exhausted, sweaty heap as the cuffs slipped off the stick.

      “Damn, you’re good,” Jack commented as he wrenched open the door. He dragged her out and tossed her over his shoulder. “Another five minutes, you might have pulled it off.” He carried her into a room at the end of the concrete block. He’d already unlocked the door, and he’d paused for a minute to observe, and admire, her struggles before he came back to the car.

      Now he dumped her on the bed. Because her adrenaline was back and she was fighting him, he simply lay flat on her back, letting her bounce until she was worn out.

      And he enjoyed that, too. He wasn’t proud of it, he thought, but he enjoyed it. The woman had incredible energy and staying power. If they’d met under different circumstances, he imagined they could have torn up those cheap motel sheets like maniacs and parted as friends.

      As it was, he was going to have a hard time not imagining her naked.

      Maybe he lay on her, smelled her, just a little longer than necessary. He wasn’t