Cold as Ice - Anne Stuart [79]
“Harry didn’t touch her. In case you hadn’t noticed, she’s a stubborn woman. She’s not very good at taking hints.”
“That she isn’t,” he agreed, looking down at her. “Why the gag?” He reached for it, about to cut it free, when Takashi’s words stopped him.
“You warned me she was mouthy. I figured it would make life easier if I didn’t have to listen to her complaints.”
Peter hesitated. She was glaring at him over the encompassing gag, and he tried to ignore his feeling of relief at her first sign of life. “Good point. Maybe I’ll leave it on.”
She shoved herself away and began clawing at the gag herself. The woebegone waif was already fighting back.
Takashi’s knots weren’t likely to be undone by a simple New York lawyer. “Put your hands down or I might cut off a finger,” he said, slicing through the silken bonds. He cast a knowing glance at Takashi— the restraints must have come from Harry’s well- known supply. Silk was soft and sleek but very strong, and there was no escaping a silk binding no matter how much the victim struggled. Blood, sweat and tears only made it stronger.
The gag fell to the floor and Genevieve Spenser’s mouth started working. “You son of a bitch!” she began.
“Yeah, I’m glad you’re alive, too,” he snapped. “Now shut up and let me get us the hell out of here.”
“I leave her in your capable hands,” Takashi O’Brien murmured.
“You’ve got things covered? Dumb-ass question, of course you do. Thanks for this.”
“If by this you mean me—” Genevieve said.
“Shut up,” Peter said. “If you want to get out of this alive without screwing me or Takashi over you’ll keep your mouth shut.”
“Your well-being has never been my particular concern,” she said haughtily as she stood at the bottom of a cave dressed in black silk pajamas that were too big for her. “Mr. O’Brien, on the other hand, deserves my complete gratitude.”
“God, no!” Takashi O’Brien’s expression was pure horror. “Just a favor for a friend.”
“We’re both going to get our asses handed to us,” Peter said, “so if you could just shut up and follow orders we may have a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving.”
Any trained operative was adept at concealing his expression, and Takashi O’Brien was one of the best, but even Peter couldn’t miss the light of amusement in his dark eyes. “Who would have thought it?” he murmured half to himself.
“Who would have thought what?” Peter demanded, incensed.
But Takashi had already vanished the way he’d come, leaving him alone with the extremely angry Ms. Genevieve Spenser.
He wasn’t feeling any too happy about the situation either. “Are you going to shut up and come with me, or am I going to have to leave you down here for Harry’s goons to find you?”
“I’m not sure who I’d prefer.”
“Lady, if you haven’t figured that out by now then you aren’t even as marginally intelligent as I thought you were,” he said. “I’m leaving. Follow me or not.”
She did, of course. He’d never doubted it for one moment, but her damn pride insisted that she put up at least a token resistance. The descent down the rock-carved stairs had been bad enough for him—after days of forced inactivity she’d be having a miserable time getting her body to climb back up. But he couldn’t afford to adjust his pace. The only way he was going to get her out of there alive was to move fast, and for some idiotic reason he’d decided to rescue her. He must be out of his mind.
At least it was all she could do to keep up—she had no energy left to harangue him. She hadn’t lost her fighting spirit, even if exhaustion was silencing it. He’d found her anger, her refusal to be cowed, one of the most appealing things about her.
Scratch that. One of the least annoying things about her. If she’d been a docile dishrag he probably would have left her to her own devices. After all, she’d gotten herself into this mess by ignoring the escape plan he’d practically delivered to her on a silver platter.
This was a favor for a friend. Takashi O’Brien could do what needed