Oh, wow.

The knife clattered to the linoleum floor, and the man, doubled over, grabbed at his throat. Already turning blue, his eyes bulged as he choked and gagged. The awful sound he made resembled a goose’s honk before Jackson shoved him back into another man who tried to draw a gun.

Thrown off balance, the second guy stumbled, and Jackson moved in. His fist landed on the man’s jaw with unerring force. Head snapping back, the man staggered, and when he righted himself, Alani had no doubt that he suffered a badly broken or dislocated jaw. The grotesque misalignment of lips and teeth made her stomach lurch.

Not giving the man an opportunity to recover from that first blow, Jackson hit him again, shattering his nose and sending blood to spray all over his shirt. One more punch, and the guy crumpled awkwardly, one leg twisted beneath him, his ankle unnaturally turned.

“Oh, my God.” Alani knew that Jackson, Dare and her brother were capable, but she’d never seen, never expected…

After picking up the gun and knife, Jackson leaned into the closet and caught her wrist. “Out.”

“Oh, my God,” she said again as she began picking her way over the clutter, her thoughts rioting, her limbs quaking.

“Move your ass, babe. They won’t stay out forever.”

“I’m sorry.” Remembering her determination to be an asset, not a liability, she blocked the gruesome sight of fallen bodies and hastened her step.

Besides, she did not want them coming to while she remained in the vicinity.

Once out of the way, she peered at the demolished men. Jackson had taken them out with very little effort. He wasn’t even breathing hard. “Unbelievable.”

“So little faith in my ability?” With practiced ease, Jackson shoved the first guy, who’d passed out from lack of air, onto his stomach. Using nylon restraints, he bound his hands behind his back, and then his feet. He dragged him into the closet and came back out to do the same to the second man.

The guy started to revive, and, casual as you please, Jackson slugged him again, putting him out once more.

Alani looked at his big fists, at how he wielded them so effectively, and at the same time she couldn’t help but think of how gentle he could be when touching her.

Jackson was not an ordinary man with simple motivations and morals.

The amazing contradictions left her fascinated.

In efficient haste, he bound both men, and then, using the big knife, he cut strips from their shirts to gag them.

They were left so uncomfortably constrained that Alani almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

Lastly Jackson hobbled them by attaching their foot restraints and hand restraints together. If they came to—and Alani had no idea if they would—they’d be able to do no more than flop about like beat-up fish.

Feeling very ineffectual, she stood by in an agony of suspense, certain that someone would come down the long hall and bust them doing things so…illegal and scary and insane.

But with the men both secured, Jackson let out a breath, smiled at her and used both hands to finger-comb his hair back. “Ready?”

Speechless over his ability and negligent disregard of what had just happened, she stood there.

He said, “Shake it off, woman. I need you with me one-hundred percent.”

“Of course.” She nodded, swallowed and finally found her tongue. “What do you need me to do?”

He barked a laugh but said nothing else as he freed the cell phone from his jeans and, using his thumb, called Dare. After a brief hesitation, he said, “Disabled two, but there has to be a…you got him already? Great. Yeah, I’ll let Trace know.”

Alani said, “There was a third?”

He disconnected the phone and nodded. “Yeah. Someone had to tell them where we came in, right?”

Oh. She hadn’t even thought about it. They’d entered, and the bad guys were just…there. “They wanted to kill us?”

He shrugged. “No worries, though. These two are through, and Dare took care of the other guy.”

She had no idea how Dare had taken care of him, and didn’t ask.

Using the phone again, Jackson hit a few keys, waited and the phone beeped back in return.

The complexities of their operation astounded her. “Code?”

“Yeah. Letting Trace know what happened.” He tucked the phone away and looked at her in expectation.

Alani shook her head. “You’re scary.”

“Yeah. Scary, but with mad skills, right?” He smiled and slung an arm around her shoulders for a brief hug. “Damn, but I needed that.”

“You…” She couldn’t credit his manner. “Why in God’s name would you need bloody violence?”

“Sexual frustration?”

Thinking of his excessive drive, her jaw loosened. “I’ve left you frustrated?”

“Course not. But we keep getting cut short.”

“Cut short?” She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation now.

“That’s right.” He slewed a hot look her way. “I only had you alone for three days.”

And they’d made love multiple times each day, sunup to sundown, and a few times he’d even awakened her halfway through the night. “Are you insane?”

“About sex? With you?” He gave her a lazy look. “Probably.” He switched gears again. “I doubt there are any more of them here right now, but we’ll find out soon enough. C’mon.”