laugh again, that’s all.”
He touched her cheek, wishing he could take the time to talk to her about it. To explain, at least a little bit. She leaned into the caress for a second, then pulled away, and Donovan wondered if she would even let him try.
No time to find out now, he reminded himself.
“You ready?” he asked.
She nodded, and they slid to the wall beside the door silently, where Donovan paused to lift a finger to his lips. He stepped to the opening and leaned out.
Down the hall, a large, black-clad man slammed his foot into the door in quick succession. Thump. Pause. Thump. Pause. A second man stood beside the first, arms crossed as he waited for the bigger man to put his strength to good use.
Donovan slipped back inside, and as he did, there was a final thump, then a shattering cr-r-rack followed by a triumphant yell from the intruders.
“Now,” he said to Jordynn. “Quickly. Quietly. And don’t look back.”
He took her hand again and pulled her out into the hall. Donovan made himself follow his own order to ignore the commotion coming from the bedroom and to not check behind them. He didn’t even breathe until they’d made it halfway down the stairs.
He heard Jordynn let out a loud exhale, too. It was a shaky sound, and it reminded him that if he was scared, she must be downright terrified. He was the one who’d spent the past decade on the run. She’d simply carried on with her life there in Ellisberg, Oregon. Middle of the night runaways weren’t par for the course for her.
“Almost there, honey,” he said.
When they reached the bottom step, he pulled her to the wall, careful to keep out of view of the space where they’d tied up her assailant. He didn’t know how close to consciousness the other man was, and he didn’t want to find out, either. He eyed the hall skeptically. It would take them right past the living room and the man inside.
“Guess the front door’s out of the question.” Donovan kept his voice low.
“Do you want to go through the laundry room and into the garage?” she whispered back. “Mom’s old car is out there. We can try it, but I’m honestly not even sure it runs.”
“Garage door’ll be too noisy and car’ll be too easy to track.”
“What then?”
“Still got that little deck off the kitchen?”
“Deck?”
“The platform that hangs under the window.”
“You mean the one for the flower boxes?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You think it’ll hold our weight?”
“No.”
“Do you see another option?”
“It’s five feet from the window to the ground. If it breaks...”
“I’ll go out first. If it does break, it’ll give me a chance to use the stuntman moves I’ve been working on. And I’ll catch you when you follow.”
“How chivalrous.”
In spite of the stress-filled moments ticking by, Donovan smiled at her sarcastic mutter. “Always.”
For a second, her mouth turned up, too—just a tiny bit—and he had to rein in a compulsion to lean down and kiss those curved edges. He clenched his jaw to stop from actually doing it, and contented himself giving her hand another squeeze.
“Time’s running out,” Donovan said.
As if to emphasize his words, a crash came from above. An angry bellow followed it, and Jordynn flinched.
“Okay,” she breathed. “But if this doesn’t work, and we live, you’re paying for the repair.”
Donovan let out a low laugh, then tugged her down the hall and around the corner to the raised kitchen. He let her hand go—only because it would’ve been impossible to do what had to be done otherwise—and reached over the double sink to push open the window. When he’d swung it as wide as it would go, he turned to Jordynn once more.
“Forgive me for this, okay?” he said.
“For what?”
He bent down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Heat rushed through him, fast and hard. Five seconds of pure bliss, ten years in the making. Even though he would’ve liked the moment to last forever, he didn’t let himself linger. He didn’t want to give her a chance to reject the gesture. Or to make him regret it.
So Donovan pulled away quickly. He mounted the counter, then pushed his legs through the window and tested the platform with his boots.
Solid enough, he thought, and spun around to ease himself down.
“I should be on the ground in a second or two,” he said. “You can climb up and—”
The rest of the words died in his throat as he lifted his eyes and his gaze landed on Jordynn. And the man standing behind her with a gun pressed to her head.
* * *
“If either of you move an inch, you’re both dead.”
The gravelly voice, full of smug disdain, came from far too close to Jordynn’s ear. And something about it made her want to do the opposite of what it commanded. Like staying still and obeying could possibly be more frightening than the death threat itself.
She wanted desperately to turn and run as fast and far away as she could. She actually had to force her feet to stay planted. Warm metal dug into the back of her neck, and the man’s hand pressed to the small of her back.
Run! urged her brain.
Jordynn fought the urge. She stared straight at Dono, using his face to keep her rooted to the spot. She concentrated on his lips, and the memory of how they’d felt pressed into her just a minute ago. How the kiss had sent of jolt of longing through her, reminding her how much she’d missed him for the past ten years and making her hope it wouldn’t be the last time she got to experience it. And it worked. Though she couldn’t quite stop her body from shaking, she was able to keep from bolting.
For several frantic heartbeats, Dono held her gaze with his own before he pulled his hazel eyes up to the man who held her and gave a small nod of recognition.
When he spoke, his voice was calm. “Ivan. My favorite right-hand man.”
“You remember me. I’m flattered.”
“Hard to forget the man who ate Sunday dinner at my dad’s table, then beat me soundly and left me for dead. Cracked my jaw, broke my arm and made my head ache for a month, thank you very much.”
Jordynn cringed at the mental image that formed to go along with Dono’s words, and the man behind her jabbed the gun into her a little harder. She steadied herself, but her mind was working at hyper-speed
