A Love Untamed (Feral Warriors #7)(25)

Did she really think he’d abandon Jag? “A tempting offer, pretty one.”

Phylicia beamed at him.

“But my duty is here. Kara comes first.”

She smiled, the heat never leaving her eyes. “I’m here whenever you have time, warrior.”

“Speaking of Kara,” Melisande said coolly. “Go check on the other team, Phylicia. I want to know if they’ve found anything.”

Phylicia rolled her eyes and, a moment later, disappeared.

Fox eyed Melisande wryly. “Jealous, pet?”

She huffed. “Hardly. She’s distracting you. And Kara doesn’t deserve that.”

They needn’t worry. He’d miss nothing. But he leaned toward her, his voice a whisper. “You distract me far more. You distract me just by breathing.”

With fascination, he watched her cheeks pinken. No, she wasn’t immune to him, not at all, no matter how much she tried to pretend otherwise.

“Then I’ll go.”

He grabbed her arm. “Don’t.” At the feel of her soft skin beneath his fingertips, attraction spiked, slamming him with need.

Melisande gasped, her eyes leaping with heat and dismay, and dashed through with wisps of fear.

Fox snatched his hand back. “I’m sorry.”

She glared at him, her eyes once more cool, her jaw hard. But, to his relief, she didn’t stalk . . . or mist . . . away. Her expression turned to one of long suffering. “I can’t leave even if I wanted to. Not with Phylicia gone.”

Wisely, he didn’t comment, pleased that she deigned to walk beside him. It was the first time they’d walked together, the first time he’d gotten close to her for more than a moment or two. It surprised him how natural it felt. The scent of wild heather wrapped around him, her scent, enveloping him in a sensuous fog of want that had his hands clenching at his sides from the desire to touch her again.

Deep inside, his fox snarled as if he disagreed, as if he didn’t like her so close. As if he didn’t like her at all, contrary animal.

She was so small compared to him, stirring his protective instincts even as he laughed silently, knowing what her reaction would be if he told her so. Pound for pound, she just might be the fiercest person he knew. But, goddess, she was all female, her stride confident and graceful, her features beautifully delicate. He loved the curve of her jaw and the slender beauty of her throat, the skin satin smooth. How he would love to press his mouth against the hollow at its base, to taste the warmth of her flesh and feel her beating heart beneath his lips.

Unfortunately, not only her body language, but that sense he had that he needed to be careful with her precluded any overt action on his part. Even though he was certain that she felt the sensuous energy that leaped between them as strongly as he did.

There’s a truck down there, Jag exclaimed suddenly. Fuck! It’s Castin’s.

They all joined him to stare down the steep hill.

“That’s impossible,” Olivia said incredulously. “We’re right back where we started.”

Anger clawed at Fox’s insides, his equanimity blowing apart in the nonexistent wind. No fecking way. He turned, scanning the forested foothills all around them. Until that moment, nothing had looked familiar. And now everything did. It was plain as day that this was the very spot where they first arrived in West Virginia.

He shook his head. “How could we have circled back without realizing it? My sense of direction is excellent, and we should have been traveling straight.” It didn’t make any sense.

Jag shifted back to human form in a spray of colored lights and whirled toward them. “I smelled him. I know I did. I was on his f**king trail. He must have circled the lake.” He turned on Melisande, an accusatory glint in his eyes. “Did you know we were circling back?”

Melisande shook her head, looking around with as much disbelief as the rest of them, the frown on her face for once having nothing to do with anger and everything to do with confusion. “No. This shouldn’t have happened.”

“Damned Mage warding.” Jag’s gaze met Fox’s. “Did I screw this up?”

“No. But . . .” Fox hesitated.

Jag’s gaze narrowed. “But what, pretty boy? If you’ve got an idea, spit it out.”

Fox wasn’t even sure why he’d said “but.” He didn’t have any ideas. He didn’t have anything at all, except . . . “Back at the creek . . . I wanted to leap down into it. And I have no idea why.”

Jag studied him. “Your intuition?”

Fox started to shake his head, then hesitated. “I didn’t think so. But maybe it was. Or maybe my fox just felt like a dip in the water.”

Jag let out a noisy sigh. “Yeah.” He looked at his wife. “What do you think, Red?”

Olivia frowned. “Clearly the warding is screwing with us. I say we follow Fox.” Olivia crossed her arms, her gaze worried and frustrated. “We have to find a way through this.”

“We’ll find Kara,” Fox assured her, though how, when they couldn’t even find their way across the mountain, was anyone’s guess.

“You take the lead this time, Foxy.” Jag grunted. “Let’s hope you have better luck than I did.”

Fox nodded, his heart rate jumping. It was up to him, now. He sure as hell hoped he didn’t get them completely lost.