"And isn"t that so unusual as to be unbe- lievable." Chelsea snorted. "Breeds are the ultimate bad boys, and we all know the ulti- mate bad boys really can"t be tamed."
Arching his brow, Stygian turned back to Liza. "Are you ready?"
"Where exactly are you taking her?"
Chelsea demanded then. "That way, I know where to send the search party to find her dead body when she doesn"t return home."
184/862.
Scratching at the side of his jaw, he mo- mentarily debated a.s.suring her that Liza was in zero danger. Chelsea though, was in defin- ite danger of being gagged.
"Come on, Chelsea," Liza chastised her gently. "I don"t think Mr. Black"s going to allow anything to happen to me." Smiling back at him, he almost winced at the look in her eyes. "After all, his boss is far too interested in all that lovely information he refuses to accept that I don"t have."
Yep, he knew it was coming, he just wasn"t certain which form the smart-a.s.s remark would be in.
Now he knew.
"Exactly." Shooting Liza, then Chelsea, a tight smile, he agreed with her mockingly. "If it wasn"t for that, I"d have nothing but murderous intentions."
His intentions might not be pure, but the last thing she had to worry about was coming to harm in his bed.
185/862.
"I"d like to know where we"re going, though," Liza informed him as she shoved a few bills and her ID in the back pocket of her jeans.
He could have sworn they were snug enough that even a breath of air wouldn"t have fit.
"I thought we"d take a ride out by the lake," he told her. "I go out there every few days to feed the ducks." That, and to invest- igate the area several miles to the west where Liza and Claire had gone over a barren cliff and nearly died in the resulting accident.
Even twelve years later, Stygian had found evidence of the accident, but he"d also found evidence that something more had gone on during that time.
A sweat lodge had been set up not far from the wreck in the canyon below, though great effort had gone into ensuring all evidence of it was wiped away.
186/862.
Certain things couldn"t be wiped away, though.
The large rocks used in the fire pit had been scattered about the canyon, but even more than a decade later the scars and dis- coloration of certain herbs used in ritual sweats held to the rock.
Those particular herbs and medicinal roots were such an odd combination, their scent so powerful, even after such time had pa.s.sed, it had sent a chill racing down Stygi- an"s spine. Confused by it, he"d had Braden bring his empath Megan to the canyon, to help sort it out. The moment she"d picked up the first stone she"d dropped it as though it still held the heat of the fire and refused to advance any farther into the canyon.
"Fine then, you know where we"ll be," Liza stated as she turned back to Chelsea.
"Yeah, thankfully, the lake isn"t really that hard to drag. When old man Dunkirk fell out of his boat and drowned himself last 187/862.
summer, they even found that bag of bones secured to the bottom. Remember that?" she asked Liza.
And Liza did remember it. The discovery of that bag of bones had literally preceded the nightmares and odd flashes of someone else"s memories.
A year"s worth of tortured dreams, of wak- ing, screaming, certain she was dying in the flames of the crash, only to have the dream twist, to morph into something far more sin- ister. It hadn"t been a crash she was burning within. She had been burning from the in- side out, restrained to a metal table, scream- ing for mercy- "If you"re ready, we can leave then," he offered, those blue-black eyes seeming to see straight into her soul as he met her gaze.
The urge to wipe her palms along the sides of her jeans was nearly overwhelming.
"Be careful, for G.o.d"s sake," Chelsea called out as Liza stepped from the house. "The last 188/862.
thing I need to do, Liza, is watch you die again."
Liza flinched, the reaction nearly strong enough to steal her breath at the memory.
The overwhelming darkness, the sound of voices, singing-or was it chanting?-and then the feeling of her soul being ripped from the security of her body.
"Liza." Stygian was there, one hand grip- ping her arm, the other going around her waist as she felt her knees threatening to buckle.
Concern filled his voice as she realized she was gripping the door frame desperately, dragging in hard breaths, her chest tighten- ing in something akin to panic.
"I"m fine." Giving her head a hard shake, she forced herself to ignore the fact that he was the only reason she was still on her feet, despite her hold on the heavy wood encasing the door.
189/862.
Releasing it, she took each step with delib- erate caution, forcing herself to move to the cycle.
"Are you sure?" Dark, dangerous, his ex- pression appeared more savage than ever be- fore, the planes and angles tightened into sharp relief.
"Bad memories." Yet she still couldn"t seem to drag in enough oxygen. "Sorry."
"What was she talking about?" The growl in his voice should have been more frighten- ing than sensual.
Yet, sensual was exactly the reaction it caused.
"She meant I died for a few minutes," she admitted. "Claire and I were in a wreck when we were fifteen. The EMTs lost me several times before we reached the hospital."
"Chelsea was in the wreck with you, too?"
he asked as he led her to the Harley.
"No, she wasn"t with us," she said, swal- lowing tightly. "She was with her father when 190/862.
he received word that we were in the bottom of the canyon. She arrived with him, from what I understand."
Chelsea never seemed to remember much of it except the three times she swore she had felt a part of Liza fighting to die.
She allowed Stygian to hold on to her as he swung a powerful leg over the cycle"s seat be- fore bracing herself on the foot rest and swinging on behind him.
She had never been on a motorcycle-had she?
"Helmet." Lifting one of the two helmets from the handlebars, he handed it to her.
Fitting it over her head, she then sat si- lently as he secured the strap before strap- ping his own in place.
"We"re linked through com sets in the hel- mets." His voice came through the padded helmet, roughened, a male rasp of concern and dangerous interest.
191/862.
"Just ignore the screams of terror." She tried to laugh off her racing heart as she placed her hands tentatively at his hard waist.
"Here." Gripping her wrists, he pulled her forward.
Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressed against his back in less than a second, the heat of his body sink- ing through her clothes straight to her nipples and sensitizing them instantly.
"Hold on tight, sweetheart," he growled through the link. "Losing you off the back of this bike wouldn"t be the highlight of my day."
"It"s not exactly penciled into my bucket list either," she a.s.sured him ruefully as the terror from minutes before began to ease away.
"We"re in agreement then."
As his words trailed off, the beast of a ma- chine turned over and began throbbing with leashed power between her thighs.
192/862.
The heavy vibration was shockingly sensual.
With her arms wrapped tight around Sty- gian"s waist, her knees pressing against his thighs, Liza found herself growing more aroused by the second.
G.o.d, what he did to her.
Mating heat.
The gossip rags had listed the signs of it over and over again, and the overwhelming need, almost impossible to control, headed the list.
But number one was the kiss.
They all agreed, the kiss came first-somewhere.
To the lips, the neck-her heart beat heav- ier at the thought-the nipples or the c.l.i.toris.
The thought of his lips touching her in any of those areas was enough to cause her thighs to clench in an involuntary reaction.
A reaction she couldn"t control, and one she was beginning to fear was more her 193/862.
hunger, and even less some animalistic phe- nomenon impossible to control.
But she didn"t have to admit that to Stygian.
CHAPTER 6.
Window Lake shimmered iridescent blue and green beneath the cloudless sky, its calming waters lapping gently at the bank beneath the pristine cottonwood and pinon trees that shaded the picnic shelter Stygian had pulled the Harley up to.
He quickly dismounted before placing his hand at the small of her back and urging her up the slight incline. The six-table shelter had been built to catch the soft breeze that rippled out over the lake.
The water was fed by a vast, previously un- known lake far beneath the ground. It had 195/862.
been tapped into when the oil company had received permission to drill in the area.
The oil had camouflaged the lake below, but once the drill had burrowed past the oil it was seeking and broke through the thin layer of bedrock separating them, all h.e.l.l had broken loose and Window Lake had been born.
Stepping up to the tabletop, Liza sat down slowly, elbows braced on her knees, facing the water. Stygian sat likewise on the table in front of her, facing her, watching her intently.
"Now, why was it so imperative that I take this ride with you?" Tilting her head, she watched him curiously. "You"ve been de- termined to get me alone since the meeting with Jonas."
"I can"t simply want to spend time with a beautiful woman?" he asked, his expression thoughtful now.
"You"re intelligent, 196/862.
beautiful, interesting. What other reason could I have?"
"Information?" She was certain it was far more than simple male interest. Breeds nev- er did anything for such a paltry reason.
"According to you, you have no information."
No man should be able to pull off such mockery and confidence with such a simple statement.
Pursing her lips and staring back at him ruefully, she admitted she was biting off far more than she could chew with this man.
"So we"re just here to get to know each other better?" Crossing one leg over the oth- er, she propped her elbow on her knee and rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she contemplated him.
"Is that so wrong?" Amus.e.m.e.nt filled the black and navy gaze.
"It depends on why you"re so interested."
And why she was so interested, when the 197/862.
thought of a lover had never been high on her list of priorities?
Men tended to believe their women had to be protected, controlled.
Liza had no intention of being controlled.
"You sound as though you"ve come to your own conclusions as to my interest." Bracing his palms on the table behind him, he leaned back and watched her with wicked male amus.e.m.e.nt.
Shrugging, Liza arched her brows at his comment. "There are a lot of rumors where a Breed"s interest in a woman is concerned.
Rumors of addictive kisses, a Breed"s ability to control their lovers through some hor- monal reaction to those kisses. All those stories could make a girl nervous."