"She wanted me to carry the name of her ancestor. One known for his merciless ven- geance decades before her birth. When his wife and child were taken by his enemies, he began spilling the blood of their abductors"
families, beginning with cousins and working his way up until they were returned to him.
They were dead, though. By the time he fin- ished, every member of three family lines was wiped off the face of the earth. My train- er believed she wanted that same vengeance, 211/862.
and she wanted me to be the instrument of it."
"And were you?"
Stygian shook his head at the question. "I don"t kill children or innocents no matter the provocation. And that"s what it would have entailed."
There had been more than once that he swore his mother had reached out from bey- ond the grave in anger at his choice.
"What about you?" he asked, pausing until she gave him a questioning look. "Who cre- ated Liza Johnson? A woman willing to face a team of Coyote soldiers with no more than a knife in her sneaker, three skin tags on her body and a communications link to G.o.d only knows who tucked in her pretty little ear?
What made you think you could face four men you believed were soldiers sent by the Genetics Council and survive without help?"
He hoped the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who had allowed her to do it had to made his peace with his 212/862.
maker. Because Stygian intended to kill him for daring to send his mate into such danger.
Not that she seemed inclined to answer him.
Oh h.e.l.l no, it couldn"t be that easy.
Her eyes narrowed. "Why don"t you tell me why a Breed"s kiss is so addictive? Or did you intend to wait until I couldn"t walk away before telling me the truth?"
Bingo.
His expression never changed, but Liza as- sured herself she wasn"t stupid. It had taken her a few minutes to figure it out-but once she had, she"d been certain of her conclusions.
"I asked first," Stygian growled.
His expression might not have changed, but his tone sure had.
She"d turned the tables on him, and he didn"t like it.
As a matter of fact, he seemed completely surprised by the fact that she had done so.
213/862.
A second later, she narrowed her eyes on the smug smile that tugged at his well-mol- ded, sensual lips.
"I"ll take it that the rumors of a Navajo- based Breed Underground Network that helps Breeds and humans running from the Genetics Council is true. I"ll also a.s.sume you"re part of that network."
A soft laugh left her lips. "You know what "a.s.sume" does," she reminded him. "It makes an a.s.s of you."
"Touche," he congratulated her. "But the statement stands."
Her arms crossed over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s defens- ively, but Stygian sensed her amus.e.m.e.nt.
d.a.m.n, she was enjoying every minute of the dangerous byplay.
Stygian knew well the consequences of al- lowing Liza more information on mating heat that could contradict the Breeds" stance that it was all rumor and false accusations.
214/862.
Breed Law-the Breed mandates rather than those President Andrews had signed in- to law-expressly forbid the sharing of the information before mating occurred.
If Liza were to betray the information-be- fore or after mating-then Breed Law could see them both dead. Unless Liza were preg- nant, then it would merely see them im- prisoned for life.
"We"re at a stalemate then?" she asked when he said nothing more.
"Not exactly." He grinned and considered her bravado. "You could always let me kiss you. That would settle the issue once and for all."
Only then would the risks of discovery, and the laws forbidding exposing it, be re- vealed to her. Perhaps then it would mean something to her as well.
"And the risk of being at your beck and call night and day because I"m so addicted to your kiss that I can"t walk away?" She 215/862.
snorted at the thought. "That"s okay, Mr.
Black."
So much for the subtle dare. Not that he had really expected her to fall for it.
"At least there"s a way to prove or disprove the theory." He shrugged. "What do you have to offer to disprove my suspicion that you"re part of the Navajo Breed Underground Net- work that relocates and rescues Breeds that the Council has targeted?"
"The same as you have." She shrugged as one little brow c.o.c.ked a little higher than the other and laughter gleamed in her eyes.
"Yep, sounds like a stalemate to me."
Oh, he could show her a stalemate.
Stygian stood slowly, straightening before moving toward her.
"Just because you"re not lying doesn"t mean I can"t smell the deception beneath your words."
He faced her as the primal hunger tearing through him fought for dominance. Keeping 216/862.
his hands off her was possibly the hardest battle of his life.
"Just because I"m human doesn"t mean I can"t sense your deception," she informed him defiantly as she stared back at him with narrowed eyes. "And don"t think you can in- timidate me so easily."
She straightened, anger flaring to meet the irritation she could see brewing inside him.
"It"s a d.a.m.ned dangerous game you and your friends are playing, Liza." Raking his fingers through his hair, Stygian clenched his jaw and fought to deny the animal instinct that he bind her to him immediately. That he turn her need to fight against the Genetics Council and their soldiers to a hunger so hot it would blister both their senses.
"Me and my friends?" She propped slender fingers over the curve of her hips, facing him with innate feminine defiance. "Excuse me, Mr. Black, but the Navajo did not come on your land demanding your most precious 217/862.
treasures, nor did we lie to you to search for ghosts that may or may not exist. You and yours came to us." Her stubborn chin lifted stubbornly. "You"ve all but taken over our capital. You attempt to force our president to bend to your will and you take advantage of an agreement the Navajo made in good faith to aid the Breeds in their battle for freedom.
You"-one delicate finger was suddenly pushed with feminine arrogance into the center of his chest-"have done all that and more. If a foreign country attempted this with the U.S. president, then war would have been declared."
Her finger retreated.
The delicate hand returned to her hip, fin- gers spread, legs braced slightly apart in an unconscious fighting stance.
"And you think withholding information to punish Jonas is somehow justified because we didn"t come to you begging?" he bit out between clenched teeth.
218/862.
"And you believe because we do not know where three tortured victims of the Genetics Council are hiding that you can attempt to poke and prod and demand access to every part of our lives?" she questioned incredu- lously. "We owe you nothing, Mr. Black. But for more than a century, each time a Breed has come to the Navajo for help, we"ve given it. If we could help that poor little baby, then have no doubt every Breed in the Navajo Nation would be on Jonas Wyatt"s doorstep at- tempting to do just that."
"Until now, the Navajo have always exten- ded the information Breeds have needed."
Until the information they needed possibly imposed on a promise to another.
"Listen to you," she snapped. "What prom- ise was made and to whom? Do you think I lied to Jonas when he all but kidnapped me to question me about people I"ve never seen in my entire life?"
219/862.
"You came into that hotel with a live link, possibly to an enemy, and didn"t even at- tempt to inform us," he growled back at her.
"You and your underground organization de- liberately deceived us for your own agenda."
Disbelief filled her expression and turned the soft scent of summer to one infused with flashes of heat as she glared back at him.
"I am an undercover agent for the Navajo Law Enforcement Agency," she gritted out.
"The op I was a part of to draw in the Coyote Breeds watching me for the past weeks had nothing to do with the Bureau of Breed Af- fairs, Jonas Wyatt or any Breed outside those currently stalking me. That was none of your business, nor was it any of Wyatt"s or anyone else"s, thank you very much."
It wasn"t a lie. She was an agent for the covert division of the Navajo Law Enforce- ment Office. The operation was conducted by several of the agents of that office, and the 220/862.
Breeds would have been turned over to the proper authorities if caught, Liza knew.
If Stygian, Jonas or anyone from the Breed communities did as she and Cullen expected them to do and hacked the Law Enforcement Offices computers, then they would find that same information.
Stygian stared back at her, his lips pressed tightly together as he held back the curse that would have slipped past his lips.
An undercover agent? His mate was an in- vestigator attempting to draw out Coyote sol- diers so merciless that even their own Breed refused to claim them?
"There is no record of you working with the Law Enforcement Agency." One more second, one more confrontational remark and he was going to kiss her.
The need was pounding through him. It was racing through his blood veins and pounding hard and heavy through his d.i.c.k.
221/862.
"Well, now, if that information was so easy to find, then the undercover part would be rather useless, wouldn"t it?" The question was heavily laced with sarcasm. "What was I supposed to do, Stygian? Take out an ad in the paper first, just for you?"
If she didn"t stop, the tenuous grip he had on his control would be shot. The defiance and sheer stubborn will was awakening a part of him he had no idea how to force back.
Before Stygian realized he was moving, be- fore he could stop himself, he had his hands on her.
Gripping a hip with one hand, he pulled her to him. The fingers of the other thread- ing through her hair, he drew her head back for his kiss as his lowered.
"Mate me, bind me to you without my knowledge of what you"re doing or how it will affect my life, and I promise you, I"ll make your life a h.e.l.l you will never forget."
His lips were almost on hers.
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The glands beneath his tongue were swollen and throbbing, aching for the heat of her kiss.
She knew, d.a.m.n her. She knew what she was doing to him. She knew the agonizing need tearing through him and still, she was defying him, attempting to force from him what she had to know he had vowed not to give up.
"This time," he growled furiously, his hips pressing into her, his c.o.c.k pounding at her lower stomach. "This time you win. But be prepared." His lips were all but touching hers. "Be prepared, Liza, because you are mine. Mine. And I promise you, I will claim you soon."
And it would be a claiming he swore she would never escape.
Her lips parted, he could see that mocking, sarcastic little tongue of hers getting ready to push him further, to shred the final threads 223/862.
holding back the animal inside him that was snarling for release.
And he could feel fate getting ready to completely kick his a.s.s, because he knew, knew he was going to kiss her. It was just such an accepted, forgone conclusion that the explosion of splinters suddenly tearing from the wood post behind her took nearly a heartbeat to register.
A heartbeat that could have cost his mate her life.
CHAPTER 7.
Liza knew the instant splinters of wood began raining around them exactly what had happened.
The report of a weapon couldn"t be heard, but with the cover a sniper would have in the woods surrounding them, a silencer would have been sufficient.
"Down!"
The word exploded from both of them as they went to the side, rolling over the small incline that led to the bank and the water lapping below as another projectile slammed into the picnic table.
225/862.
"Oh yeah, the safest ride I"d ever take."
Liza snorted as she threw the Breed a hard glare. "Tell me you at least have a radio on you."