Mine to Hold (Mine #3)(39)
Author: Cynthia Eden

Claire realized this hardly counted as “better” than anything. “I’m scared,” she admitted. Confessing that truth to Skye wasn’t hard. She’d only met Skye a few times, but Claire had never felt as if Skye judged her.

She knows what it’s like to be helpless.

“What can I do?” Skye asked her.

“Help me to get away.”

Skye’s eyes flared. “You don’t mean—”

“Noah could’ve died because of me. They’re all dying because of me. The senator, Ethan, Sloan Hall—they were all tied to me.” The senator who harassed her, the lover who nearly killed her, and the PI who stalked her. Their one common denominator—it’s me. “Noah was the one who was supposed to go into that old hotel. He was the one being set up to die.”

“And how will you leaving help him?” Skye shook her head. “It won’t. It will just drive the guy crazy!”

“Or maybe it will take a target off his back.”

Skye’s breath caught. “And do what? Put that target straight on you?”

Maybe. Claire was sitting up on the bed now. She really wanted to make a run for it. “If I leave, if I change cities, then, yes, perhaps this guy will come after me and leave Noah alone.”

A furrow appeared between Skye’s brows. “Just how hard did you hit your head, Claire? Because I’ve got to say, that sounds like a real piss-poor idea to me.”

Claire blinked at her in surprise.

“Noah isn’t just going to let you walk away. I saw the way he looked at you.”

“It’s sex.” The words sounded hollow. “Noah trades up his lovers all the time.”

“Really? And how long have you been his lover?”

Just a few short days. Not long enough for him to really care, and certainly not long enough for him to put his life on the line for her.

“Claire, I can’t help you run. That would just be putting you in danger.”

Then she’d have to do it on her own. “You felt this way, didn’t you?” Claire asked her.

Skye stared at her with a troubled gaze.

“You knew someone was out there, and you just wanted to get away.”

Skye’s mouth tightened. “Trace has the best security firm in the U.S. He’s got agents working on this case now. He’s going to find the person doing this. I know he will.”

But how long would it take? And would the man hunting out there, killing out there, have a chance to strike again?

I lose everyone…I can’t lose Noah, too.

Chapter Nine

“You’re not supposed to sleep,” Noah told Claire as he leveled a firm stare her way. “Not for a few more hours.”

So the doctors had said. They’d agreed to release her, as long as Noah made sure that Claire wasn’t alone.

He didn’t plan to leave her side any time soon.

They were back in his suite. Claire was wearing a pair of yoga pants and a loose top. There was a small bandage on the side of her head. The doctors had stitched her up, but the wound was right on her hair-line, so no one would even be able to see it once she was healed.

Heal fast, baby.

“Since I don’t feel sleepy, that shouldn’t really be a problem,” Claire murmured. She was gazing toward the large windows that looked out over the skyline.

Claire hadn’t looked Noah in the eye, not since he’d left her hospital room in order to talk with Trace.

When he’d gone back, Claire had been too quiet. Withdrawn.

Afraid?

“You’re safe,” he said, and his fingers trailed over her arm.

Claire flinched. “It’s not me that I’m worried about.” Then her head turned and she finally stared into his eyes. “It’s you.”

He had to laugh. “I’m not afraid of this guy.” If Claire only knew how many hell-holes he’d fought in during his military days…

But I don’t want her knowing.

The laughter stilled as she gazed at him.

“Maybe you should be afraid.” Claire’s body shifted slightly against the couch. “If you nearly die, it’s okay to fear some.”

He hadn’t been afraid, not since his parents had died. Even when he’d been battling the enemy—in ice, in sand, in the dankest forest he’d ever imagined—Noah hadn’t been afraid.

But I was scared when she was so still on that sidewalk. Fear had come back then, and he wouldn’t forget the feel of its icy claws raking into him.

“I don’t want you to die for me,” Claire said.

He leaned toward her. His finger slid down her arm. She didn’t flinch at his touch that time. So much better. “I have no intention of dying for you.”

He thought some of the tension left her shoulders. “Good.”

But I would kill for you. I think that would be far more effective.

“The police are working,” he murmured, “bringing in their bomb experts. I’m sure they’ll compare this blast with the one that took out Ethan. Bombers often have a signature. It’ll take some time, but the authorities will be able to determine if the attacker was the same.”

“What if we don’t have time?”

His fingers lightly caressed her. “We have all the time we need.”

“Not if he’s hunting.”

He hated the fear in her eyes. “I’m good at hunting, too.”

Her teeth pressed into her lower lip. “Your time…in the military.”

“And after.” He had his own demolitions expert coming in. Drake had stayed down in Alabama to learn more about the blast that killed Ethan, but he was already on his way up to New York.

“You killed, didn’t you?”

He glanced away from her. “Men die in battle all the time.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“And you shouldn’t ask questions that you don’t truly want answered.” He looked back at her. “You don’t want to know, not really, do you?”

Her fingers curled around the pillow on the couch. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true. People like to see the surface, not the darkness underneath.” Life was easier that way.

Claire shook her head. “I’ve seen your darkness all along.”

Her words caught him by surprise.

“But you have to tell me your secrets,” Claire said as her eyes gleamed. “You know every one of mine. No matter how painful, you know. Don’t you think I deserve to hear yours, too?”