Obsession Untamed (Feral Warriors #2)(15)

Tighe snorted. “Yeah. And bloody useless. I’m still no closer to clouding her mind.”

“Did you try to seize control during her orgasm?”

Tighe stilled. “No. Damn.” At the moment of sexual release, the body and mind were most open. Open to bonding with a partner. And open to being captured by a mind capable of control. “It took me by surprise.” Hell, he’d been fighting his own release so hard he hadn’t given a single thought to taking advantage of hers. Not in that way. “I’ll try it again.”

If Jag had been there, he’d have demanded to watch, the ass**le. Hawke just nodded.

“You should have killed her.” Kougar stood in the doorway of one of the bedrooms, watching them, his arms crossed over his chest, his pale eyes emotionless.

Tighe’s grip on the woman tightened. No one ever really knew what went on in that Feral’s head. For as long as Tighe had lived at Feral House, rumors and speculation had swirled around Kougar. Of all of them, his past was the most deeply cloaked in mystery. They knew he was the oldest among them, but if anyone knew how old, he hadn’t shared it.

Centuries ago, rumors had swirled that Kougar was half-Mage, that he’d been responsible for the deaths of the seventeen—seventeen Ferals killed in a mysterious cave, seventeen whose animals had never again risen to mark another. But Lyon trusted him. And that was enough for Tighe. In the six centuries Tighe himself had been a Feral, Kougar had never proven himself anything but loyal.

But he rarely spoke. Instead, he watched silently, waiting, until the time came to fight. Then he fought with a skill and ferocity worthy of any berserker.

He was a good man to have on your team as long as you weren’t looking for anything approaching warmth or friendliness. Kougar didn’t possess an ounce of either.

Tighe might trust him at his back, but he was a long way from trusting him not to eliminate the human woman the moment he got a chance. Particularly since they all thought Tighe was slowly losing his mind.

A warning growl rumbled deep in his throat as he met Kougar’s pale gaze.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“Killing her might be a mistake,” Hawke said.

“Why?” Not that Tighe didn’t agree, but he was half-afraid his own reasons had more to do with fearless dark warrior’s eyes than anything remotely logical.

Hawke shrugged. “There’s no guarantee you’ll get the full visions back if she’s gone. Right now you’re still getting snippets, right?”

“Sometimes. Hell, I don’t know if I am or not. It’s not consistent. At first I was seeing her as she got the visions, along with glimpses of the killing. Then just the glimpses. But I haven’t seen anything in hours.”

“What if she dies, and the visions die with her? We’ll have lost a powerful weapon.”

Tighe silently thanked his friend, his grip on his captive easing. Hawke was right. Maybe somewhere in the mess that was currently acting as his brain, he’d had the same thought.

“The next time she has a vision, buddy, try to get into her head. Even if you can’t steal it back, maybe you can share it. Enough, at least, to figure out where the attack is taking place.”

He met Hawke’s gaze. “I’ll work on her. Both on clouding her mind and on accessing her next vision. But we don’t need an audience. You’re leaving.” His gaze shifted to Kougar. “Both of you.”

Kougar’s expression didn’t change, it never did, yet he sensed the warrior’s disapproval.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Tighe.” Hawke’s brows drew down. “If you lose control, you could kill her.”

Tighe’s gaze swung to Kougar’s. “Then problem solved.” He looked back at Hawke. “It’s a risk we’re going to take, Wings. This woman may be human, but she’s a fighter through and through. And FBI. She’s already seen my face. She doesn’t need to see yours, too. Not until I’m sure I can clean her memory. Besides, I’ve got to get her sexually aroused again, and I’m not having an audience for that.”

An odd protectiveness had him tightening his grip on the woman in his arms. The thought of anyone else listening to her cries of passion, to her scream of release, filled him with a strange and jealous anger.

Calm, Tighe. Calm.

He took a deep breath and met Hawke’s gaze. “Unless you want to see my claws, this discussion is over.”

“Understood. We’ll grab our things and take off, but we won’t be far, buddy. We’ll keep an eye on the house.”

Five minutes later, as the two Ferals closed the door behind them, Tighe stood in the middle of the living room, looking down at Delaney Randall. His mind told him to lay her down, but his arms refused to let her go. Why? What was this strange need in him to hold her? A need that went beyond merely keeping her from escaping. It was a need that went against every ounce of logic in his head.

Was it merely the unruly attraction he had for her getting out of hand? Or was it the madness that was slowly disintegrating his ability to act logically? To act sanely.

A madness that could ultimately destroy them both.

Delaney eased out of sleep, a purr in her throat at the feel of warmth at her back. Warmth. Man.

The killer.

A cold wash of adrenaline cramped her stomach, sending her pulse careening into her ears as her mind snapped fully awake.