Obsession Untamed (Feral Warriors #2)(41)

The beauty set down the magazine and walked back to the EMPLOYEES ONLY door a few yards away and disappeared.

“You ready, B.P.?” Foxx’s voice called to him from the front of the store.

Slowly, Paenther turned to his companion, feeling as off-balance as a youth with his first crush. Damn. It was too bad he didn’t have time to hang around there for a couple of hours. Or days.

He scowled at the foolish thought and grabbed a Coke from the cooler. The last thing he needed just then was his head turned by a woman. A human woman, no less.

The good news was, he knew he’d forget her as soon as they drove away. No woman held his interest for long these days.

Chapter Fifteen

Tighe paced the small bedroom in the basement apartment of the house in Dupont Circle as he waited for Delaney to wake. He hadn’t dared take her back to Capitol Hill. Not when she’d probably been thoroughly debriefed by the FBI.

He crossed to the big bed, where she lay sleeping from Hawke’s capture, once more clothed in that navy blue suit and white shirt that cried Federal Agent. Her dark hair was partially knotted at the nape of her neck, but tendrils had come loose to splay across the white satin pillowcase, framing her flawless olive-toned skin. Even in sleep, her expression was tense. Guarded. The shadows that darkened her soul refused to release her, even in sleep.

His body warmed at the sight of her, something easing deep inside him. He hadn’t been able to take a full breath, for worrying about her, until he had her back, safe in his keeping. Which he’d accomplished with relative ease. He’d known she’d set him up. From the moment he’d told her to meet him by the Tidal Basin, he’d planned for Hawke to grab her.

Tighe had ensnared the mind of a human male of his own approximate size and hair color and told him to drive the green Camry into the parking lot, stop the car, and fall asleep. Which he’d done. The FBI had been thoroughly put out, but the man hadn’t been harmed.

And Delaney was back with him again.

No, this woman didn’t trust. He knew that from what she’d told him of her past. And when he’d delved into her mind to pull her free of the darkness, he’d seen the scars of betrayal. Scars he himself had lived with for way too long.

While he’d been in her mind, he’d also seen the dark Daemon threads that formed her connection to the clone. The threads weren’t strong ones, but they were tangled. He was going to have to find a way back into her head, then take some time to free her. Time he hadn’t had at that moment.

The one thing he might have succeeded in doing was closing the door in her mind that had been dropping her into the darkness every time she got a vision. As he’d pulled her out, he’d tried to close it behind him, but he wouldn’t know if he’d been successful until she had another vision. Even then, he couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t open and drag her down again.

A light rap on the door had Tighe crossing the comfortable, expensively appointed room. Unlike the house on Capitol Hill, this one was lived in by a high-ranking Therian council member and his mate, Therians more than willing to accommodate the Ferals’ request for the house. The town house had a setup far more conducive to their current needs, with a full apartment on the lowest level at the base of an open stair. Jag, Hawke, and Kougar would remain upstairs, taking turns keeping tabs on Tighe, while the others searched for the clone. With the separate levels, and a bit of luck, Delaney would never see them.

Tighe opened the door to Hawke, who handed him a tray laden with cold meat, hot stew, and a pitcher of cold water.

“Knock on the wall if you need anything.” Hawke motioned toward Delaney with his head. “She should be coming out of it soon. I didn’t press that hard.”

Tighe nodded, then turned at a sound from the bed. Delaney was beginning to stir. Hawke closed the door as Tighe set the tray down on the dresser, then stood rooted, watching as the woman who consumed his thoughts slowly opened her eyes.

Her head turned, and she froze as her gaze zeroed in on him. She stared at him, a strong, enigmatic tide rising inside her, and he was suddenly glad he’d taken the time to take her weapons from her as she slept. Though that move might wind up saving his life, he’d done it to save hers. He’d have hated for one of those guns to have accidentally gone off as she slept. He’d never have forgiven himself if she’d died.

A fist clutched at his heart, possessiveness powering through him with a sudden, fierce anger. He paced in a tight, harsh path. It was all he could do not to lunge for her, to grab her by the shoulders and shake her.

“What would have happened if you’d had another of those visions, D? What if you got lost in there again?”

As he railed, she swung her long legs over the side of the bed and firmly closed the distance between them. He braced himself for her attack.

Until her lashes swept up, revealing eyes awash in tears.

“D?”

Her arms flew around his neck as her mouth reached for his kiss.

All thought flew from Tighe’s head as he hauled her against him and kissed her, thrusting his tongue inside her warm and waiting mouth. Passion flared, a fire beyond anything he’d ever known. Sweet nature, but he needed her. He needed to touch her, hold her, bury himself deep inside her.

Delaney clung to him as her soft, warm body pressed against him, and her fingers slid into his hair. She kissed him as if she were starving, and he was the finest feast, filling his chest with a wondrous, powerful pressure. He drank of her kisses, sweeping his tongue across her own, over her teeth and lips, unable to get enough.