Desire Untamed (Feral Warriors #1)(33)

She nodded slowly. "That was supposed to happen?"

Hawke grinned. "That and more. At this rate, we're going to be able to ascend you early. Ready to try again?"

"No, I…" God, she didn't like this. Any of it. She was beginning to suspect the role of the Radiant was little more than electrical plug. Hook her up to the power source and watch her buzz.

Kara rubbed her upper arms, not having to pretend she was chilled. "I'm going to run back to the car and get my jacket, Hawke. Then I'll be ready to try it again." She stood and thrust out her hand, hoping Hawke didn't notice it was trembling. "Can I borrow the keys?"

To her dismay, he shook his head and rose. "Sit, Kara. You look a little pale. I'll get your jacket."

Damn, damn, damn. "No, I… feel like moving."

Hawke nodded. "HI go with you, then." Kara saw no hint of suspicion in his eyes. No clue she meant to use this chance to run. The man was simply being annoyingly chivalrous. Or protective.

Getting the car would have been ideal, but the important thing was to be left alone. She sank back down to sit on the rock.

"I think I'll wait for you, after all. That power surge hasn't quite left my body."

Hawke nodded. "I'll be right back."

As Kara watched him climb the rocky path, her pulse began to hammer. This was it. She was finally alone. Away from Feral House. Away from Lyon.

She hated leaving him this way, but she didn't have a choice. He wouldn't let her go, and she had to get out of here. Even the thought of returning to Feral House had the fear leaping all on its own. She wasn't going back there. Even if it meant she would never see Lyon again. The thought rolled through her, harsh and miserable, as her gaze followed Hawke.

The moment he reached the top of the rocks and was out of sight, she took off in the opposite direction of his car and Feral House, climbing along the rocks, staying below the level of the woods so Hawke couldn't look back and accidentally spot her. She felt a pang of guilt for leaving him, knowing Lyon would probably be furious with him.

Hawke was a nice man. But if this worked, she wouldn't see him again. She wouldn't see any of them again. As long as she managed to stay ahead of Lyon and his finder's skills until he finally gave up on her.

When the rock face curved around a mansion built on the edge of the cliffs, she used the house to shield her and raced into the thick woods on the other side. Not too far was the road they'd traversed to get here, a busy two-lane that ran parallel to the river. With Lyon's ability to track her, her only hope of escape was to get to the road and try to flag down a ride. Preferably a ride heading out of state. Way out of state. Maybe halfway around the world.

A soft, illogical part of her hoped Lyon would eventually find her anyway. That he wouldn't give up on her.

How had the man become so important to her in such a short space of time? Too important, she admitted. Was it the man, or merely the circumstances? Would she have felt this same intense need to be in his arms if she'd met him casually at a wedding or at a church social? She tried to imagine him taking her to Bill Barton's Steakhouse, chatting with her neighbors in Spearsville, and utterly failed. There was something too wild about him, too untamed. She almost found it easier to imagine him shifting into an honest-to-God African lion.

Yes, she thought. She would feel this same need to be in his arms no matter how she'd met him. Even when she'd thought he was there to hurt her, he'd stirred her senses. But it was his combination of strength and gentleness that had her aching at the thought of never seeing him again.

She ran through woods dotted with houses as sound carried to her from every direction. The rumble of the falls behind her, the wind in the trees, and the dull roar of traffic ahead. Far behind her, she thought she heard her name. Her breath caught, and she quickened her pace. Hawke knew she was missing. He'd be after her, now. And though she was pretty sure he didn't have Lyon's finder's senses, it wouldn't take much for him to see her if he headed in this direction. And, really, where else could she have gone?

A bead of sweat ran between her br**sts. Branches scraped her hands and cheeks and tangled in her hair, but she pressed on, desperation lending her speed she didn't usually have. Getting caught meant going back to that house of nightmares. And she wasn't doing that.

The sound of cars grew louder, nearly drowning out the thudding of her pulse. In the distance, a flash of light caught her eye, and another, the sun glinting off cars as they passed on the road. She was almost there. Just a little farther.

She felt something. A trembling beneath her feet. A light, pounding rhythm vibrating in her ears.

The sound of pursuit. Her pulse leaped.

I will not go back.

The chase excited Lyon's beast. Hawke had called to say he'd lost Kara, wanting to know which direction she'd gone, but Lyon told him to go back to the house. It was his fault she'd run. His mistake in thinking her attempt to leave last night was merely a result of a nightmare.

More importantly, no one was chasing Kara down but him. Because he knew what happened when predators gave chase. The blood pounded hot and wild through his veins as her scent coated his skin, a heady mixture of sweat and fear and woman.

As Lyon leaped over a fallen log, he caught sight of her through the trees, her green sweater catching the light, her blond ponytail swinging. His beast gave chase, tearing free of his control as he closed in on her, the wildness overtaking him.