Rapture Untamed (Feral Warriors #4)(44)

As he spoke, the fear in her eyes eased, the tension leaching from her body, softening her in a way that had his hands longing to pull her against him.

"Goddess, Olivia," Niall hissed. The Therian's gaze dropped to Olivia's shoulder, to the rips in her jacket, his eyes wide and horrified. "I didn't know you were the one attacked." A blanch paled his face, one far too emotional for a soldier's concern over his captain's near demise, especially when said captain sat before him, clearly fine. No, the look in Niall's eyes radiated pure fear. For a woman he felt deeply about.

The man wasn't just protective of her. He was f**king in love with her.

Something ugly and jealous slid up Jag's throat. Without making the conscious decision to do so, he reached for Olivia, cupping his hand around the nape of her neck, claiming her with a low, feral growl. Marking her in front of them all, like a mated male.

He wasn't sure who was more surprised - his brothers or himself.

Hawke's eyebrow shot up. Tighe cocked his head with warning, suspecting Jag of doing it just to annoy.

Was he?

Beneath his hand, Olivia stiffened.

The tension in the room jacked up two hundred percent, and it occurred to him they were all waiting for her to elbow him in the throat. Or the balls.

"Jag," she said instead, clearly displeased. But she didn't push him away.

He didn't release her. "Olivia had a little run-in with a Daemon last night, didn't you, Sugar?" he drawled, kneading her neck, running his thumb slowly up and down the satin length of skin. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Niall tense like a bowstring.

Deep satisfaction warmed him from the inside out as he continued. "The venom slowed her down a little, but not so much that we couldn't have a little fun."

The look she shot him over her shoulder was sharp and frustrated. "Stop it."

Instead, he curled a lock of her hair gently around his finger, meeting Niall's furious gaze with lazy challenge.

To his surprise, the animal inside him rumbled with approval. For once, he and the annoying beast were in complete accord. Olivia belonged tohim .

Tighe shot him a warning look but said nothing as he launched back into fearless-leader mode.

"Our original mission was to capture and destroy the Daemons before they take any more lives and before they give away the whole immortal game."

Jag played with Olivia's hair, stroking the side of her silken neck with the backs of his knuckles. A small shiver stole through her, and he smiled.His .

"But the game's changed now that we know the Mage are involved." Tighe threw him an annoyed flick of his gaze. "Stopping them from freeing Satanan is first priority. As soon as we eat, we'll head out to the Mage stronghold and attack. If we find any humans still alive in there, we'll do what we can for them, then when the battle's over, we'll clear their minds and send them on their way."

Hawke looked up. "What are we going to do with the captured Mage?"

"We're capturing sorcerers, only. Sentinels die."

"Mother Nature's not going to be happy," Hawke muttered. The killing of more than a couple Mage always resulted in wild weather or earthquakes, nature's fury unleashed.

While the Ferals tapped into the Earth's energy through their Radiant, the Mage had always been part of nature itself. Long ago, before the defeat of the Daemons and the mortgaging of their power, the Mage had been able to affect and control many of nature's functions - the weather, the growth of plants and trees, the reproduction of many of the Earth's species. They'd thought of themselves as gods. He suspected they still did even though they'd jumped ship to the evil side.

Tighe shrugged. "Then nature's just going to have to be pissed. We'll never win this battle if we can't dispatch the enemy. Besides, the lives we take will be nothing compared to what Satanan does if he's freed. Once he and his horde rule the Earth again, no one will be safe."

Olivia started to rise, to escape his touch, he was sure. Jag's gaze met Niall's, saw the angry triumph in the other man's eyes, and Jag curled his fingers around Olivia's arm, tight enough that she'd have to make a scene to get free. And that's when he felt it.

Beneath his touch, Olivia's breathing had turned shallow and quick.

She shot him a sharp look, part warning, part fear.

Holy shit, she was rising. And he hadn't even pressed heat into her. Just the brush of his knuckles had turned her on. She was in danger of coming. In front of everyone.

"Jag," Olivia whispered through clenched teeth. "Let me go.Please ."

Ah, crap.He might be a jerk, but he wouldn't embarrass her like that.

He kept his grip on her and pressed her with his cool, calming flow. Beneath his palm, the tension in her began to ease, her body softening. She shot him a look that at once thanked him and demanded he release her before it happened again.

He did, even though letting go of her was the last thing he wanted to do.

When he finally turned his gaze back to the front of the room, Tighe gave him a sharp look but said nothing. Stripes was no dummy. He recognized a little claim-staking when he saw it. Every man and woman in the room must know by now that he and Olivia had been intimate.

He'd made that more than clear.

What they didn't know, and were probably having a hard time figuring out, was why Olivia allowed it when she'd made it just as clear she had no use for him.