Beyond the Dark

Unedited Excerpt



“Where are we?” She finally asked wearily, staring up at the ceiling of the SUV, trying to hide her response to his touch.

“We’re about two hours from your cabin,” he told her softly, enjoying the feel of her satiny knee and the flesh in the curve of her leg against his fingertips.

“You researched me well then,” she stated, fighting to control her breathing.

The scent of her arousal was growing. The glands in his tongue were thickening. He should stop touching her, he should place both hands on the steering wheel and concentrate on driving the vehicle rather than driving them both crazy with lust.

“I researched you for months,” he admitted. He refused to lie to her any longer. “I followed you at night when you jogged, and tracked your movements otherwise. You were under surveillance for nearly six months.”

He hurt her. He could smell the scent of her inner pain and he hated it.

“Why did you choose me? Why not the head of security? Or the head manager? Why a lowly assistant manager with limited power?”

He snorted at that. “You mean the lazy manager who has shifted all the work, responsibility and information to your shoulders while claiming the fruits of your labor?” He asked. “I didn’t have to get very close to smell the laziness on that woman to know the truth of her. All I had to do was read the file that had been prepared on her.”

“How did you know Albrecht would be here during the security upgrade?”

“I had my sources.” He shrugged.

“How many of you are working together?”

Matthias flashed her a grin. “How many of us did you see?”

“You had help,” she bit out. “How else did you manage to get my luggage or have my car moved? You couldn’t have done this alone.”

“I was alone.” He wouldn’t tell her different. There was always a chance she wasn’t the person he thought she was, and he didn’t dare betray the others. “Stop asking me questions, Grace. We’ll talk when we get to the cabin.”

“Stop touching me then. And I swear to God, if your fingers go any higher, the first chance I get I’m cutting them off your hand.”

His hand had slid higher, inches above her knee, and despite her order, she was enjoying it. The smell of her arousal was now covering her fear. The air around him was indolent with the scent of a wicked storm. He could feel the wild pulse of her blood beneath her flesh, and knew it matched his own.

“I’ve been dying to touch you, Grace,” he finally admitted. “Holding back these past weeks has been hell on my control.”

“Well isn’t that just too damned bad,” she snapped, though he could hear the breathlessness, the hunger inside her. “Because you don’t have a chance in hell now. Unless it’s rape your after, big boy, you fucked up when you pulled that trigger. I wouldn’t sleep with you now if all that mating heat crap the tabloids printed was true.”