She was breathing so fast she was almost panting, and he could feel the urgent tension in her body. She was just as turned on as he was. He felt a surge of pleasure at this thought.

Suddenly, she pushed him away. “I’m sorry,” she choked, grabbing her clutch and straightening to her feet. “I can’t do this.”

Caleb froze for a moment, watching her walking away from him, stumbling slightly as she did so.

What the hell? She was leaving him like this? She looked upset, like she was on the verge of tears.

And he’d done absolutely nothing.

When he registered the situation, he experienced a wave of annoyance and frustration. Women didn’t just walk out on him like this—certainly not without explanation.

So he followed her. He would never pressure her into doing anything—that was the refuge of a lesser man—but he would at least get an explanation.

“What are you doing?” he demanded, falling in step with her in the lobby of the hotel.

“I told you. I’m leaving.”

He reached out to grab her arm to keep her from going any farther. “But why? You can’t tell me you don’t want me too.”

“I don’t”—she shook her head roughly—“it’s too complicated,” she continued. “But I don’t want to be here anymore. Please let me go.”

He almost groaned in exasperation and resisted the urge to shake the truth out of her. Instead, he said mildly, “At least let me walk you to your car.”

She gave him a quick look, but then nodded mutely.

They walked down the sidewalk toward her car in silence. The moon shone on her face, and he noticed long strands of hair slipping out of her loose braid.

Despite the murmuring resentment, he was once more aware of his intense attraction for her. His body stirred again as he studied her out of the corner of his eyes. He noticed her supple lips, the trace of nipples through the fabric of her dress, the unconscious swing of her hips.

He waited for her to say something, explain why she’d suddenly broken the way she had—as if something was driving her that he was completely oblivious to. But she never did. She walked in complete silence, and it would feel like a defeat for him to break the silence himself.

Eventually, they made it to her car. He’d taken note of it yesterday. Expensive. Not ostentatious.

“All right,” she said, with an obvious conclusion in her voice. She stood next to the driver’s side door and stared at him impatiently. “Thanks. Sorry the night didn’t turn out the way we thought.”

He pressed his lips together, fighting back annoyance at her stubbornness and at how she was blatantly trying to get rid of him, when it was quite clear that she still wanted him. “Tell me what’s wrong, Kelly.” He paused for her to answer, but she didn’t. “If you need some sort of help, then just tell me.”

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I don’t want your help. I don’t even know you.” She focused on his face with a strangely tired gaze. “You’re not someone I’d turn to for help.”

She didn’t know him, which meant she didn’t trust him. He didn’t know or trust her either. But he was fascinated, and he was sure now that she was in some sort of trouble, which would explain her strange reactions to him.

Caleb hated not knowing things, especially things that affected him in any way.

Kelly was still staring at him, waiting for him to walk away. As if he would just do what she wanted him to do without question. Finally, she said, “I’m more stubborn than you are, and I don’t have anywhere I need to be tonight. I can wait you out.”

Caleb stared back at her for a minute, until he was forced to admit that she wasn’t going to cave. It didn’t matter. He was flexible. He could work with her infuriating refusal to talk to him.

He could still get the answers he needed. He’d just do so in a different way.

“All right,” he said softly. “I’ll leave. Take care of yourself.”

Kelly blinked, as if he’d surprised her, then she nodded. “You too.”

She wouldn’t move until Caleb had turned around and started walking away from her.

His back to her, Caleb headed toward his building. He felt irrationally angry, at being dismissed by her this way. No one had treated him like that in years.

He had made it almost half a block when he heard her scream.

Whirling around, he immediately assessed the situation. Saw two figures next to Kelly’s car, apparently pulling her out of the driver’s seat.

“Kelly!” he shouted, sprinting back down the block.

It was an automatic response. He hadn’t thought it through and then decided on the best option. He’d just seen danger and reverted into an instinctive crisis mode.

He ran toward her at full speed. Didn’t think. Felt the adrenaline begin coursing through his body as his feet pounded on the sidewalk.

She was struggling with one of the men now, clearly trying to free herself from the attackers.

Caleb shouted again as he approached them, knowing that something as harmless as noise could sometimes scare muggers off. He was close enough now that he was able to see distinct movements, and he saw her clobber one of the men on the jaw. She pulled away and kneed the second man in the groin as he reached out to seize her again.

But she hadn’t gotten far enough away when the first one made another grab for her. Caleb watched as the man brutally slammed Kelly into the side of the car.

And Caleb was washed with waves of rage. White-hot, blinding rage. He had no idea where the violent emotion had come from, except that it was one of his primal instincts that he’d done his best to stamp out.

But he’d never been able to completely erase the raw, primitive side of himself, and it took him over at that moment, as he watched Kelly slump limply to the pavement. He didn’t know her. Didn’t owe her anything.

Yet he was fiercely enraged by seeing her attacked.

As he reached the two men, they were trying to pull her up, and Caleb grabbed one of them and slammed his fist into the man’s face.

The impact from the blow shook him, and Caleb felt a jolt of pain shoot all the way up his arm. The second man knocked Caleb aside before he could turn toward him. Caleb felt the man’s elbow hard on the side of his mouth.

But by this point there were other voices from down the street, as other people saw what was happening. The two men ran away, and Caleb had no choice but to let them, since Kelly somehow—as she was trying to rise—had ended up slumped on his feet.

Giving up on catching the attackers for now, Caleb knelt down beside Kelly, waving away the couple who had started over to help. As he did, his hand moved to his mouth, and he realized that he was bleeding from a cut on his lip.

Kelly was blinking up at him, clearly dazed and in pain, one of her hands blindly groping at his knee.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly, holding her by the shoulder.

“Yeah.” Her voice was choked, and she groaned helplessly as she tried to sit up. One of her hands moved to her head and the other to her stomach as she plainly tried to fight both dizziness and nausea.

“You need a doctor,” Caleb said, his mind working quickly now that the crisis was over.

“No,” she objected weakly. “I’m fine. Just help me up.” She made a few attempts to stand, but wasn’t able to do so yet.

“You are not fine. I’ll take you to the emergency room, and then we’ll have to report the attack. Could you tell what they were trying to do? Mug you? A carjacking?” It hadn’t really looked like either of those, but he wanted to know if she would take the offered suggestions.

“They weren’t muggers or carjackers,” Kelly muttered. Her face was pale, and her eyes were still dazed, but she grabbed for his shoulder in an attempt to rise. “I know who they were.”

“Kelly,” Caleb began urgently, feeling the dull anger return at the knowledge that she was hiding this from him, along with a renewed feeling of powerlessness. “What is going on?”