Rapture Untamed (Feral Warriors #4)(11)

But she and Niall had known one another for more than three hundred years and had been intimate on and off during most of that time. And while that wasn't unusual, she knew Niall wanted more from her. A relationship. Commitment. Neither of which she would ever give him.

To his credit, he didn't push. She'd have him reassigned if he did, and he knew it.

She didn't hear Jag enter, but knew the instant he did. The Feral, even in his human form, walked as silently as his animal counterpart. Jag wore a black T-shirt over a different pair of army green cargo pants. As Niall and Ewan took the seats on either side of her, Jag claimed the chair directly across from her. Naturally.

She braced for more carnal remarks, longing to ignore him, but if she'd learned anything by now, it was that he'd only take her feigned indifference as more of a challenge. As if she hadn't presented him with enough of one already.

She met his gaze with a simple nod, but the flash of devilish fire that lit his eyes had her groaning silently.

Here we go again.

Jag served himself from the platter piled high with thick slices of rare roast beef, a smile playing at his mouth as he considered the best way to force Olivia's hand, to make her partner with him instead of tossing him one of her men, as she wanted to.

And he had no doubt she wanted to.

His sex talk in the war room yesterday had clearly riled her pair of bodyguards, though they'd been good little soldiers and stood down when Olivia's slender hand shot out to stop them. What would it take to push them too far?

Ah, wouldn't it be fun to find out.

His gaze skimmed over Olivia's pretty face, dipping to her shoulders and lower, before returning to her eyes. "Did you dream about me, Sugar?"

Pamela Palmer Rapture Untamed

"And why would I dream about you, Jag? You'd have to cross my mind first."

He smiled with true enjoyment. Matching wits with this one was the most fun he'd had in...he couldn't remember how long. "Why, Sugar, I dreamed about you. The feel of you beneath my hands, your sexy little cries as you rose toward release."

Niall's mouth tightened, but he made no other indication he'd heard. Ewan didn't seem to care at all, but really, why should they? The two men probably just assumed he'd coaxed Olivia into his bed.

Pity that wasn't the truth.

To hell with the truth. He needed something more.

Mouth twisting unpleasantly, he leaned forward. "In my dream it wasn't my fingers I shoved inside your wet heat when I trapped you in the media room early this morning, Red, it was my cock."

Deep inside him, his animal growled with disapproval, the damned beast. Everyone was a critic.

Olivia jerked, staring at him in shock at the blatant lie.

Niall and Ewan lunged to their feet as one, their hunting knives in their hands.

And looky here. His little ploy had worked like a charm.

"He's lying," Olivia snapped.

Jag just grinned at her. "My fingers are still throbbing from the squeeze of your tight, wet little sheath, Red."

Niall started around the table as if he intended to defend her honor. But the daggers in Olivia's eyes had Jag wondering if she wouldn't slice him and dice him herself.

Olivia shot to her feet. "Niall, stand down!"

Lies or not, Jag's words reeked of disrespect, and her men weren't having it. Olivia fisted her hands on the table. She appreciated their loyalty, she really did. But dammit!

A fight could only end in disaster. Instigator or not, Jag belonged here, and they didn't.

If there was trouble, she had no doubt who'd be out on their asses.

The Therians.

And she was not ready to lose this one chance to work with the Ferals.

Damn Jag!

He rose lazily to his feet, the muscles rippling beneath his T-shirt.

Olivia glared at him. "You are one messed-up f**k."

The jackass winked at her. Winked! But there was nothing lazy about his stance, or his eyes, as he followed Niall's progress around the table. Every line of his body said he was itching for this fight.

"Niall,stand down. " When he didn't respond, she slammed her fists onto the table, sending the china hopping."Now!"

The last of Olivia's hopes of escaping Jag sank like a rowboat in a storm.

A deep, rumbling growl came from the doorway, and Olivia turned to find Lyon and Kara walking in, Tighe and Delaney close behind. Lyon's gaze slid from Niall, now standing stock-still three feet from Jag, his knife gripped tight in his hand, to Jag.

Lyon's face turned dark as a draden cloud.

Niall sheathed his knife and quickly retreated to his seat, as if that warning had been directed at him. Olivia felt certain it hadn't been. Lyon had no illusions about the troublemaking nature of his jaguar Feral.

The frustration and resignation clouding Lyon's eyes as his gaze met Jag's confirmed it. She commiserated with the Feral leader. How did you manage a man like Jag? A man so adept at antagonizing others. A man you were forced to keep on your team through circumstances far beyond your control. Only eight Feral Warriors currently existed in the world. Eight with the strength and power needed to fight the Mage, who sought to free Satanan and his horde. And if one of those eight happened to be a trouble-causing ass**le, what choice had you but to deal with it?

Just as she had no choice but to partner the jackass. Sending either of her men with him would only end in disaster. Niall might be the more even-tempered of the two, but not when it came to her. As he'd gone after Jag, his feelings for her had shone from his face as clearly as a beacon on a clear night. And Jag had seen them. She was sure of it.