Bound in Darkness (Bound #2)(9)

Cade grunted. Was that supposed to be a sympathy sound? He stared to pull away.

She grabbed his hand.

They both froze then. Suddenly, the air seemed very, very thick. And he seemed even…bigger than before.

“You want to let me go,” he said the words softly, but she heard the order in them.

She didn’t let him go. “You’re not the hard-ass you want me to believe you are.” Hard-ass killers didn’t comfort you when you had a nightmare. Hard-ass killers didn’t give you their beds. They didn’t—

One second. That was all it took. He had her flat on her back as his body crushed hers into the mattress. His lips were on hers, not soft and gentle—wild, hard, rough.

He didn’t kiss like a new lover. He kissed like a man taking what he wanted.

Me.

She couldn’t pull away. His hold was too strong. But—

But she didn’t want to pull away. Allison let her lips part even more, and she kissed him back, loving the hot surge that heated her veins. She’d been alone and afraid for so long and now—I want him.

His mouth jerked away from hers. “What the hell are you doing?”

She licked her lips. Tasted him. Wild. “Kissing you?” Sure, she might not be the most experienced chick in the world but she did have some skills.

“Why?”

Uh, shouldn’t that be—

“Do you like to play with fire? I want you…” His voice had roughened, deepened so that it sounded like the rumble from a beast, “and werewolves aren’t exactly known for their control.”

Her hand rose and traced one of the twisting scars that crossed his chest.

Cade’s muscles stiffened at her touch. “You don’t want to—” His words broke off as his head jerked to the right. She saw the slight flaring of his nostrils as he scented the air.

“Cade?”

He didn’t look at her. Just stared toward the dark window. “Company.”

Cade leapt out of the bed and raced for the door. Allison grabbed for her clothes and yanked them on as she stumbled after him.

Then she heard the growl of motors approaching. At least two. Oh, crap, this wasn’t good.

She grabbed Cade’s arm. “Wait!”

He spun to face her.

“You don’t know what’s out there—”

“Two trucks. Seven dumbass humans. I can smell ‘em.” He inhaled and offered a grim smile. “And those humans are about to get an ass beating.”

Okay, so he did know.

Cade stalked outside. He was still bare-chested, and the guy didn’t even look for a weapon to take with him. She didn’t know much about werewolves, but no way were they indestructible.

Allison rushed after him, yanking down her shirt. The trucks had just braked to a halt, and dirt danced in the air around them.

Cade stopped on the small porch, braced his legs apart and kept his arms loose at his sides. “Griggs!” He called out. “You dumb bastard, you don’t want to get in this battle.”

Griggs? The guy from Blood Bath? Like she’d be forgetting him anytime soon.

The truck door opened, and sure enough, Griggs poked his shaved head out. “For enough money, I’d gut my own mother.”

Lovely.

The men climbed out of the trucks. Cade had been right about their “company” after all.

“The money’s real good,” Griggs continued as he began to edge toward them. Oh, damn, was that a wooden stake in his hand? “Too good to pass up. Not my fault if you went all * weak.”

A quick glance showed her that Cade’s claws were coming out.

“What?” Griggs demanded. “Did you decide to spend some time screwing the target? I mean, she’s hot, but not worth the—”

Cade lunged forward, and when he moved, in that instant, Allison saw the flash of metal. A gun. The jerkoff sidling up behind Griggs had a gun that he was aiming at Cade.

Had Cade even seen the weapon?

She screamed a warning and leapt toward Cade. Leapt—and moved faster than she’d ever moved in her life. Faster than a human could ever move. Her body slammed into his, and she knocked Cade out of the way even as she felt a fierce burn lance her skin.

She hit the ground, stunned, and realized that her side was still burning. Allison glanced down and in the growing dawn light, she saw the blood seeping through her shirt.

“Fucking wrong move,” Cade snarled.

Her head lifted, and she saw him charge for the gunman. One twist, and he’d broken the man’s wrist. Cade grabbed the gun, and fired two quick shots at the two men coming from the second truck. They fell, screaming.

I know the feeling, *s. Allison pushed her hand against the wound as she tried to stop the flow of blood.

Griggs just kept standing there with the stake clutched in his fist.

“You’re a fool,” Cade snarled the words at Griggs. He tossed the shooter against a tree. The guy moaned and fell to the ground. “You come out here, and you think a bullet’s gonna stop me?”

Griggs backed up a few steps.

Cade stalked after him. “Because you know about the supernaturals, you think that makes you some kind of bad ass slaying machine?”

Allison managed to get to her feet. She only swayed a little, and the blood was slowing, wasn’t it?