Andre’s hand, still holding Teagan’s, dropped beneath the table to rest on her thigh. He rubbed the back of his hand there. Up high. She was instantly aware of him. Acutely so. Every single cell in her body was aware of him, especially her sex. Damp. Hot. Inviting. How could he do that?
He was looking at her, but she was in his mind and he was searching the room for information. Still, he was all too aware of her, just as she was of him. He didn’t miss anything about her, not from the nervous hand that came up to push her hair behind her ear to the fidgeting in her chair because—well—if she didn’t fidget, she might just spontaneously combust. Or have an orgasm. Could a woman actually get an orgasm just from a man rubbing the back of his hand along her thigh while his fingers were tight around hers? If so, that was definitely going to happen. So who could concentrate on trying to hear information in the packed room?
“Teagan.”
She did a full body shiver. There it was. Silk and velvet. But low and rough at the same time. Somewhere between a purr and a growl. She loved the way he said her name. Loved it.
She risked looking up at him, and it was a risk because he was gorgeous and he had those eyes she couldn’t resist. She didn’t try to answer him because nothing coherent was going to come out of her mouth. “Um . . .” That was it. That was the best she could manage. Um. What was that? She cleared her throat and tried again. “Let’s just go. I mean, what do we really need to find out that we don’t already know? If we left now, we could get back to the cave and . . .” She trailed off, blushing. The color swept right up her body, probably starting in the vicinity of her toes and ending at her face. A full body blush.
“Sivamet, we will get back to our base soon, I promise.”
She swallowed hard and looked at the waitress as she plopped drinks on the table. Automatically Teagan reached for the money clip she kept inside her jacket pocket. Instantly, Andre’s hand covered hers. Gently. Firmly. When she looked up at him, his eyes had gone totally glacier. He slid money across the table.
“Keep the rest.”
The waitress stared at him with her mouth parted like she might gobble him up at any moment. Yeah, Andre was hot. He said not to draw attention, but every female eye in the place had noticed the moment he entered. She was certain the men recognized danger when they saw it. The crowd had parted for them as he’d led the way to the table he wanted. She had also noted that the table hadn’t been empty until Andre looked at it and directed her there. The occupants got up and left abruptly when they were halfway to it.
The waitress smiled and slipped back into the crowd, expertly keeping her round tray from hitting anyone in the head as she made her way back to the bar.
“I pay, Teagan. Not you.”
Of course. Macho man from another century. She rolled her eyes, but she wasn’t going to argue with him over drinks they weren’t going to drink. “I didn’t even know if you had money, Andre. There are a lot of things I don’t know about you.”
“When you live centuries, Teagan, it is easy enough to acquire wealth. We will not be hurting for money.”
“I’ve got money put away as well. Not that much, but it will help.”
“The triplets and I own oil reserves. And a couple of gold mines. We have the rights to other minerals as well. Our companies make millions.” He paused. “Actually billions. I do not pay much attention. A couple of the others handle that kind of thing for us now. If we decided to move on, we would leave our shares to other Carpathians.”
Her eyelashes fluttered. He sat there so casually telling her he was a billionaire. Who did that? She could see he didn’t care in the least about the money.
“I do not need it. Or I have not needed it until now. I have never touched a penny beyond money I use when I go to a human village, which is exceedingly rare.”
He was talking to her, giving her details of his life, yet all the while, he was listening to the conversations swirling around them. There it is, csitri. The table in the corner. They are talking about Jashari and his father. The body was found by his friends and brought down the mountain. His father wants to organize a hunting party and wipe out the wolf pack.
She gasped at the matter-of-fact way he announced the potential slaughter of wild, beautiful animals. It’s not that I want to get eaten by wolves . . . She couldn’t help the little shudder that ran through her body. That would be a really bad way to go. I don’t want anyone else eaten by them either, but really, Armend was a serial killer. Maybe if we locate the bodies of the women he killed, they’ll leave the wolves alone.
Andre smiled at her. Do you have any idea how amazing you are?
Because I don’t want the father of a killer to destroy wolves? Anyone would feel the same way.
That is not so. People hunt for sport. It makes them feel powerful to take lives.
She bit her lip. She knew he’d spent centuries taking lives. “It must be hard for you, Andre,” she whispered aloud.
He shook his head. “We do not feel, Teagan. Nothing at all. There is no compassion, mercy or remorse. I hunt evil. That is all. It is simple and it must be done.”
“You said sometimes they were people you knew. Like your uncle. I know you didn’t hunt him, the other Carpathian killed him, but you might have had to.” She couldn’t help herself, she cupped the side of his face in her palm and daringly stroked his jaw with her thumb.
He nodded slowly. “Yes, but without our lifemates, we do not feel anything at all. I could recognize that I should feel sadness, but the actual emotion escaped me.”
“Until me.”
He nodded again and sent her one of his heart-stopping smiles. “Overwhelming floodgates opened. Mostly though, I feel for you—everything there is possible to feel just for you.”
She swallowed hard. He looked at her with such a hungry, possessive look, such a look of utter love that it hurt to see it. He didn’t care about appearing vulnerable to her or to anyone else. It was there, stark on his face for the world to see—love. Adoration even. And she so didn’t deserve it.
“Andre.” She murmured his name. It came out husky. All wrong. She wasn’t coming on to him, she was trying to tell him she had his back. She would find a way to embrace her new life with him and live in his world. She just needed time. She tried to pour all that into his name and failed miserably. She was the one who always chattered about anything and everything, but this one moment, when she needed the right words, when she wanted to give him something back, she couldn’t think just how to put it. Embarrassed, she looked down at the table.
He covered her hand with his, holding her palm tight against the rough shadow on his jaw, his blue eyes burning intensely into hers.
“Dance with me, sivamet. I have the sudden desire to hold you in my arms.”
She wanted that more than anything . . . but . . . She bit her lip. “I want to dance with you, but that could be risking everything we have.”
His eyebrow shot up. “I cannot wait to hear this.”
“Seriously. You have to take this very seriously, Andre.” He was not of the modern world and he didn’t understand everything. “There have been copious amounts of articles written on this subject and none of it bodes well for us. If we dance together, you’re going to really see the problem.”
He pulled her hand from his jaw, turned it over and pressed a kiss into the center of her palm. “I have no idea what you are talking about, Teagan.”
She’d been afraid of that. “The difference in our heights. I’m short, and you’re nearly a foot taller.”
“I am a foot taller.”
She glared at him and tugged at his hand. “There’s no need to be arrogant. Nearly is a good enough description.”
“But not accurate.”
She blew out her breath in a sign of pure exasperation. “Sometimes, Andre, strict honesty is not always the best policy, especially when our future together is hanging in the balance.”
His face darkened, his eyes going intense. Bluer than she’d ever seen. Ice-cold. Scary. “Tell me of these articles.”
“Well, apparently people with real height differences don’t have a chance of staying together for the long haul. The man has to hurt his back in order to kiss her or hold her, and the disparity really comes up when they dance together.”
He leaned toward her, nibbling at the pads of her fingers. His teeth scraped gently back and forth over her skin and his gaze never left her face. “I am trying to follow the strange illogical and irrational path of your mind. You believe if we dance together I will have to break up with my lifemate, the only woman that can complete me, the one woman I looked for throughout the centuries of utter loneliness?”
She frowned. “Put like that it doesn’t sound too logical, but really, Andre, there are several articles written on the subject and all of them say men don’t like the height difference, especially while dancing, and I just thought, seeing as how when I morphed, I didn’t get the breasts I wanted or a few inches more in the height department, that there might be a problem.” There was the tiniest bit of accusation in her tone.
His lips twitched. He blinked. That did not amuse her in the least.
“I am not going to hide the fact that had I woken up with bigger breasts and was maybe at least five foot four or five that would have made up for a lot. Seriously, Andre, don’t you dare laugh at me. Had I morphed into beauty queen or model status, that might have gone a long way to keeping me happy in my present weird state. Instead, I’m still me and now you’re asking me to dance and you’ll hurt your back and that will be a disaster.” There. She warned him.
Andre smiled. Slow. Burning hot. Gorgeous. Holy cow. She was going to have an orgasm just sitting in the chair next to him. She really should be annoyed that he didn’t take her warning seriously, but how could she be when just looking at him turned her into a melting puddle of absolute goo? He was forever going to get around her just by giving her his slow, sexy smile.
“I need to hold you in my arms, Teagan. Right now. Right here. I want to feel your body move against mine. Dancing is the only safe way to do this, so we shall try out your theory. If I suddenly get a backache, I will be certain to tell you.”
She opened her mouth to protest because, really, he was totally mocking her when this was serious business, but he successfully stopped anything she had to say by leaning down and taking possession of her mouth. There was a fleeting thought—just one—and it really did fly away, but hadn’t he said not to bring attention to them? And wasn’t kissing in public bound to draw attention? Then it was gone and there was only Andre in her world.
Andre. His glorious, perfect mouth that poured golden fire down her throat and into her body so that it spread through her like a firestorm. A single sound escaped her throat that sounded mysteriously like a purr, but she didn’t care. She slipped her arms around his neck and gave herself up to his kisses. Breathtaking. Earth-shattering.
Sivamet. Dance with me.
He didn’t stop kissing her, but it was a clear command. That voice inside her mind, so intimate. Stroking her. Caressing her. Every bit as sensual as his mouth. She found herself moving up out of her chair, still kissing him, her arms sliding from his neck down his chest to circle his waist.
He lifted his head, his eyes moving possessively over her face. “I love the way you look at me with that expression you have right now.”
She managed a laugh. “You mean dazed and confused.”
His arm slipped around her. “Beautiful. Looking at me with that look is worth all the gold in the world. You are a gift, Teagan.”
She didn’t know about that, but she thought he was. She let him guide her through the crowd to the part of the bar where there was dancing. He was a force to be reckoned with. Tall. Muscular. His face as dangerously male as a face could get. The crowd parted without hesitation. She kept her hand in his back pocket, staying close to his body with every step.
He turned and drew her into his arms. Her arms slid around his waist and she rested her head in the niche between his rib cage. Perfect. She fit. His body pressed tight against hers. After two steps she felt the heat of his cock pressed tight against her. Growing. Hardening. Delicious. She loved that she was short enough to have his body rubbing against hers as they floated with the music, or it felt like floating. Like being in the clouds.
Her lashes drifted as she savored the heat of his body. The hardness. The hunger rising between them. She’d never had this in her life. A man holding her like she was his world. It really didn’t matter that she was short and he was tall. He didn’t bend down to her. He held her tight against his front, enjoying her body brushing against his. She suddenly didn’t mind in the least that she was short or that her breasts were small. He fit. Perfectly. The feeling of him snuggled tight against her, so close to her mouth was exquisite.
Is this human enough for you, sivamet? I have never danced with a woman in my life.
The caress in his voice curled her toes. She loved that he’d never danced with another woman.
Or held her in my arms. I have never kissed another woman. You have to get over feeling as if you do not belong. There is one place you will always belong, csitri, and that is in my arms.
Oh God. Did he just say that? He made her weak, so much so that she was afraid her legs were going to give out. They needed to leave. Right now. This minute.
Andre. Let’s go. She knew even in her mind, her voice was breathless with need.
His arms tightened. I will take you back to the table. I have to speak to a couple of men. Then we will leave.
She was a little disappointed. She was so aroused she could have stripped his clothes off right there if she could hide them from prying eyes.
It is possible. I could take you into the corner and make it so no one would see us, but I prefer to have you stretched out under me for a long time, showing you how I feel.
It was possible? Yikes. Um. I think that was a “be careful for what you wish for” moment. I like the idea of being stretched out under you and lots of time. Just the thought sent a very pleasant pulse through her sex.
The music stopped and then started again into a fast number. Andre immediately moved her through the crowd back toward the table. This time, he kept her in front of him, one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, locking her to him. Once again, something in his eyes and the set of his jaw had the crowd parting. He did it smoothly, yet he didn’t use his ability to “push” anyone to move—they just did.
He held her chair for her, but his gaze swept the room while he did it. Teagan sank into the seat and picked up her water glass. Both of the glasses holding alcohol were empty, as if they had already drank them. She knew Andre had done that, a slow lowering of the liquid, but she wasn’t certain how.
“I will be back shortly,” he murmured.
She blinked and he was already gone. Instantly she was uneasy. He moved with fluid grace through the crush of people and tables. She sat back and observed him. He was beautiful, and she wasn’t the only woman in the room to think so. He walked right up to an older man who was sporting a full beard and wore rough clothes. He looked like he lived on the mountain and had for most of his life.
Andre clapped him on the back as if they were old friends. The bearded man turned to him and smiled, and they began an animated conversation. After a few minutes, Andre left the mountain man with a new drink and wandered over to a well-dressed man sitting at a table with a dark-haired woman—a woman whose eyes devoured Andre.
Teagan studied the woman. Curvy. Of course. As in lots of curves. She bit her lip. The woman looked confident and she was definitely trying to draw Andre’s attention as he talked with her man. She leaned close, fiddled with her hair and showed cleavage. There weren’t that many women in the room showing cleavage. It wasn’t that kind of a bar. She had gone from looking seriously bored to animated the moment Andre approached their table.
She knew Andre was aware of the way the woman flirted, but he didn’t pay attention. He spoke only to the man, looking friendly, acting like they were good friends. Again he bought drinks for the table and wandered away. The dark-haired woman looked miffed, and Teagan took a sip of water to hide her smile.
Andre’s head turned and he looked right at her and smiled that slow, sexy smile that sent fire racing through her veins. She loved her man. He made her feel like the only woman in the room.
Are you all right?
Absolutely. Do your thing.
She loved that she could talk to him telepathically. She could get used to some of the perks of being Carpathian. It was really, really nice that he took the time to check on her. She sent him a smile and gave a little wave of her fingers indicating he should get on with whatever he was doing.
Planting information in their heads. The missing women, how they were all last seen with Jashari and his boys. Possible locations of bodies. They will not be able to stop thinking about it and they will find those bodies.
Her heart stuttered and she pulled out of his mind abruptly. She drew in her breath and looked down at the table, pretending interest in the pattern of the wood. Andre knew where the bodies were, she was absolutely certain of it. She caught that information in his mind. He was giving that to those men. How could he know where the bodies were? How? She didn’t know. Only Armend and his friends knew.
Oh God. What had she been thinking? How could he possibly know that? There was no way, not if he found Armend dead. He would have to know him. Know his friends. Dread filled her. Fear. She wanted to jump up and run out of the bar, but she didn’t know where she would go or who she would trust. She could make her way to the ladies room and hope there was cell phone service. She could call her grandmother again and alert her to the fact that she was in danger. She hadn’t told Grandma Trixie that Armend had sick friends.
Teagan. What is it?
Andre’s voice slipped inside, right under her skin. Usually that silk and velvet, rough and sensual and so beautiful voice could calm her churning stomach and keep fear at bay, but the knots tightened and a sense of dread filled her.
How could you know where the bodies are? Stupid. She’d tipped him off that she knew. Her fingers clenched the edge of the table until her knuckles turned white. You knew him. How else could you know?
I did not know him. He was alive when I got to him. We can discuss this when we are alone. I have one more person to talk to.
You lied to me. You said wolves killed him.
Wolves did kill him.
So go talk to your man so we can get out of here.
Are you good?
Yes. And that was a lie. She wanted to go home. To the comfort of her grandmother and sisters. The familiar. She didn’t want to be Carpathian, flying through the sky in the form of an owl, no matter how cool it was. She just wanted to feel safe again, and she didn’t feel that way.
She didn’t know what to think. She bit down on her lip, trying to figure out why she felt so scared inside. She had deliberately touched Andre’s mind again while he talked to her and he believed what he was saying. He sounded honest. He felt honest. He was always gentle and sweet with her—but—he had taken away her choices. Still, he could have killed her anytime he wanted. She really didn’t believe he was a straight up killer. Maybe he’d had to defend himself against Armend. Maybe he’d really stumbled on the aftermath of the attack by wolves and tried to help him. She’d just panicked as usual. Still. That horrible feeling in her stomach persisted.
She sensed movement and glanced up, steeling herself, expecting Andre. Her beautiful Andre who had lied to her. Instead there were two men she’d never seen before. One carried two drinks, the other one held his own. They must have slipped into the bar while she was dancing with Andre, because she’d really looked around when they first entered and would have noticed both men. Really good-looking.
She hadn’t spotted either of them before. She could tell by their clothes and the flashy watch one of them wore that they either weren’t from around there, or they were one of the few families with money. She knew instantly why she’d jumped to such stupid conclusions about Andre. She’d been feeling them. These two men. The dark dread in her stomach and moving through her body was all about them.
“A beautiful woman shouldn’t be sitting alone,” the one with two drinks announced with a smile. “I’m Giles, Giles Barabash. This is my brother Gerard.” He set the drinks on the table, one in front of her, and both men pulled out chairs and sat down.
“I’m here with someone,” Teagan blurted out, using English just as he had. She could tell by his heavy accent that English wasn’t his first language, but he clearly could speak it easily.
Giles exchanged a glance with his brother. The look that passed between them made her uneasy. Giles shrugged. “He’s not here at this moment. His loss.”
“Seriously, he isn’t going to be happy with you sitting here.”
Giles pushed the drink toward her with two fingers, still smiling. His eyes were hard. “Drink it.”
She smelled the drug with her heightened senses. “No, thank you.”
Giles leaned close to her. “I wasn’t asking, Teagan.”
Two more men slid in on either side of her, trapping her between them. Her stomach did a steep pitch. She didn’t doubt for one moment these men were Armend’s friends. They knew who she was.
She refused to be intimidated. They were in a packed bar, and after all, Andre was there. She just needed to reach out to him. She didn’t. Instead she looked from one newcomer to the other. “And you are? You look like brothers as well.”
Giles snarled, lifting his lip and actually making a snarling sound, drawing her attention back to him. “Cousins,” Giles snapped. “Keith and Kirt.”
“So you’re all related. Wow. You believe in keeping it in the family.”
“Drink your fucking drink,” Giles commanded.
Without warning, the bar went quiet. The air actually vibrated with a heavy sense of danger impossible not to feel. She sucked in her breath and lifted her chin so she could look over Giles’s head. Her gaze collided with Andre’s. Cold fingers crept down her spine. He was angry. Seriously angry. The walls of the bar couldn’t possibly contain the wealth of anger pouring from him. His eyes were glacier blue and burned like a blue flame. She touched her tongue to her lips, unable to look away from him.
Andre looked like an ancient warrior out of a movie. His face was beautiful, carved of stone, totally masculine. His long hair flowed down his back. Her heart did some kind of melty thing and her stomach did a somersault. Hers. That man was hers. He certainly wasn’t friends with Giles, his brother or cousins. And he really, really didn’t like them sitting at her table.
“Teagan.” Andre held out his hand to her. His eyes, total blue flames, totally hot, burned over Giles.
Teagan rose instantly, pushing back her chair and moving around Keith to take Andre’s hand. He pulled her into his side. Close. Under the protection of his shoulder, and it was a broad shoulder. She slid her arm around his waist.
Andre didn’t say a word to the four men, he simply turned and made his way through the silent crowd toward the door. A woman pushed close, touched Teagan’s hand.
“Be careful of them,” she whispered. “They won’t let this go.” Her fingers slipped away and she melted into the crowd, clearly afraid of Giles and the others.
She delivered the warning in her native language, but Teagan caught the gist of it. She knew by the way Andre nodded at her. The nod was barely perceptible, but she saw the way the woman’s face glowed, just for a moment.
That’s nice, she whispered into his mind. She caught that, and you’re so gorgeous she can totally keep that going for months.
Do not be adorable right now. Or funny. I am seriously angry with you.
Gulp. She had been trying hard to pretend he hadn’t directed that anger at her, but there it was. No getting around it.
She lifted her chin and snuck a glance at his set jaw as they emerged into the night. The mist was once again thick, but this time, more of a dense, gray vapor that set her heart pounding—not as much as Andre’s dark, angry features, but still, who knew what that fog held?
It isn’t as if I invited those men to sit down with me, she told him in a snippy little voice. Sheesh. That totally was not my fault. At all. And, just because, for only one teensy second, I entertained the idea that you might be a . . . Yikes. Calling him a wacked-out killer wasn’t going to get her out of trouble. In my defense, you do know where the dead bodies are and I had no idea Armend was alive when you found him.
Armend put bruises on you. He tried to rape you. He punched you. Did you think he would share the same air with you after that?
Oh. My. God. Her heart stopped and then began pounding. Hard. Hurting hard. Andre, what are saying? You told me wolves killed him.
His arm wrapped her up, locking her tightly against him. Behind them the door to the bar opened and then closed. She knew, without looking, that Giles and his crew were following them. They had convinced themselves it was four to one, clearly not counting her as a threat.
I told you the truth. I did not say I had not spoken with him. His mind was rotten and he enjoyed what he had done to those women, thinking of it often. He kept mementos in his home, the third drawer down in his private, locked desk. He takes them out at night and jerks off with the women’s underwear surrounding him.
She stumbled. Armend had touched her. Sat with her for three years while she tutored him. They’d laughed together. She’d counted him as a friend. Bile rose and she pushed the back of her hand against her mouth. Her vision actually narrowed, threatened to turn black. She felt dizzy and weak. She stumbled again.
Andre swept her up into his arms. I apologize, sivamet. I should not have shared that with you. Breathe. Take a deep breath.
He didn’t increase his speed. In fact, he went from walking in silence, to making noise, allowing the soles of his boots to hit the surface much harder than normal. Teagan took in great gulps of air, her hands clutching at his shoulders. He was luring them to him. Giles and the others. Andre deliberately was baiting them. Tempting them to come after him.
Don’t, Andre. There’s four of them. You might kill vampires, but you can’t take on four killers. And you know they kill. Not all four at once.
They pry on helpless women. They beat up drunks. I am Carpathian. You are Carpathian. You have more strength in your little finger than all of them put together.
She blinked rapidly, trying to process that. I do? Wow. Now that was definitely on the pro side of the list for becoming Carpathian. She could be a real badass and kick butt if she had to. She liked that idea a lot.
Of course.
Still. Why are you getting them to follow you? Why don’t we just leave?
I do not leave behind men who rape and murder women. They will follow us into the lower hills. I can dispatch them there.
Dispatch? She licked her lips. I’m just guessing here, but I don’t think you’re using that word to mean a message, or post or something of that nature.
As in mete out justice to them.
Um. Andre. You can’t do that. It’s against the law.
I am not human. Human laws do not apply to me. I am Carpathian and I am the wielder of justice in my world.
Yikes all over again. He wasn’t kidding. He was planning on killing all four men. Maybe. “Can’t . . .”
Sound carries. Stay quiet. Let them follow my footsteps.
They’re human. Can’t you leave them to the human law?
Humans haven’t dealt with them. I will not allow them to torture and kill another woman. They have a taste for it, and Giles has declared himself the leader now. He gets off on hurting others. You should have known they were approaching and you should have read their intent.
Okay. Now they were getting to the anger part. He wasn’t angry because she’d been idiot enough to think he might be Armend’s friend. No, he was angry with her because she hadn’t used her new very acute senses as a warning system.
And you did not reach out to me, Teagan. Immediately, when you knew you were in trouble, you did not call to me.
She hadn’t. She didn’t know why. But she hadn’t, and he had every right to be angry over that.
I didn’t, did I? That confused her. She felt safe with Andre. She hadn’t panicked. She was afraid, but fear lived and breathed in her all the time. She felt the coiling in his gut relax.
No, csitri, you did not alert me. Had I not been monitoring you at all times I would not have known you were in trouble.
He was monitoring her at all times? She liked that. She shouldn’t. She was an independent modern woman who could handle herself in tough situations and had, many times. She didn’t rely on others to fix her problems, especially when she was traveling. She relied on herself, which was probably why she hadn’t thought to reach out to him.
From now on, you rely on me just as I will be relying on you. Always, always stay alert and scan your surrounding area, he counseled. Read the minds of those around you.
That is totally invading people’s privacy.
The world you live in now, sivamet, is dangerous. Humans wish to kill us. Even your own grandmother would put a stake through our hearts if she knew what we are. You know that is true. You have to learn to be vigilant and you have to learn to rely on me. The moment you sense trouble, real or not, you reach out to me.
She bit her lip. He was right about her grandmother, with her Internet vampire-hunting kit. There was a special device that shot wooden stakes out of it, which was very cool by the way. She’d seen Grandma Trixie practicing on targets in her backyard. Teagan hadn’t told her sisters, fearing they would lock her grandmother up before she could cure her mental illness.
She sighed. Now she had another problem. Her grandmother wasn’t as crazy as they all thought, but she might have to convince her that she was.
Tell me you understand.
Teagan hesitated. She was beginning to realize the idea that she had of Andre being a sweet, gentle man was maybe just a tad off. He preferred to eliminate threats by dispatching them. As in killing them.
Teagan.
That was silk and velvet and rough, but it was a warning. He wasn’t fooling around and being all sensual and sweet.
Um. Tell me whenever I am threatened you will not dispatch people. Promise me. She needed to at least bring him into the present century. You are not a wild man, living in the caveman era.
I cannot give such a promise. I am a Carpathian male. A hunter. And you are my lifemate. As your lifemate it is my duty and privilege to keep you from harm at all times.
She huffed out her breath. Taming you is not going to be quite as easy as I envisioned. You are stubborn and maybe just a little too old. You know the old adage about teaching old dogs new tricks.
There was a moment of silence. She glanced up at him. His blue eyes glittered down at her. She wasn’t certain of his mood. One moment he’d been furious. Scary. Next he was luring not so innocent prey to him—and they were prey. He had targeted Giles and his crew and meant to dispatch them. Now he was looking at her as if he was torn between laughing or throwing her on the ground and having wild sex with her. If she had a choice, she’d take the wild sex and his laughter. Once in a while he smiled. He didn’t laugh except that one time.
Teagan.
Her sex clenched at the sound of his voice sliding into her skin. They were out of the village. She could see the trees every once in a while as the fog swirled, opening a view and then closing it. He took her right into the forest and began to work his way to higher ground, using long, ground-eating strides. Still making noise. Breaking twigs on purpose. Not taking to the air. Still throwing out his lure. From the sounds behind them, the four men were taking the bait.
Are you calling me an old dog?
I would answer that, but anything I say could get me into trouble.
You have no idea.
His voice was that sound that took her breath and her bones. It was a promise, and she didn’t know whether to try to run or to cling to him. Either way, her body was thrilled.