Where Darkness Lives (Guardians of Eternity #7.75)(9)

“A pure-blooded Were doesn’t hire a bodyguard just because she’s being harassed.”

The realization had struck him as he watched her flounce away from him in the stairwell. He’d started to halt her retreat then and there to demand an answer, but the rigid line of her spine had warned she wasn’t in the mood to cooperate.

And in truth, he’d still been so cranked at being led around like a dunce by the mystery gunman that he knew he was bound to make matters worse if he tried to pry the truth from her.

Now he wasn’t going to leave until he knew exactly what the hell was going on.

“My son-in-law made me promise I wouldn’t kill any of my neighbors the day I moved in.” She tried to hold her ground. “He didn’t say I couldn’t hire someone else to kill for me.”

“Dammit, Sophia, I can’t help you if you’re not honest with me,” he snapped. “Tell me.”

They glared at one another, the air filled with a sizzling heat as they both fought a silent battle for dominance.

At last Sophia muttered a curse, sensing his grim determination.

“The harassment has been annoying, but I would have ignored it if I hadn’t started feeling like I was being hunted,” she grudgingly confessed.

“Hunted.” He latched on to the revealing word. “Not followed?”

A shadow darkened her beautiful eyes. “It’s been more than some pervert lurking in the bushes and peering in my window.”

“Explain.”

“I can’t.” Her sharp tone didn’t entirely disguise her unease. “I just know that there’s been someone shadowing my movements for the past week. And there have been”—she turned her head to glance out the window, as if hoping to hide her expression—“incidents.”

“What incidents?”

“One day I was crossing the street and I was nearly run over by a car. The next day I was jogging through the park and I was attacked by a rabid pit bull. Then, two days ago, I was nearly brained by a stone urn that fell from the top of a building I was walking past.”

Luc’s fingers tightened on the granite counter, his wolf enraged by the mere thought of someone terrorizing this female.

His female.

When he finally got his hands on the stalker, he was going to make the coward very, very sorry.

“Why didn’t you tell me this from the beginning?” he demanded, his voice thick.

She turned back to stab him with a glare. “In case you missed the memo, I’ve been trying to get rid of you, not give you a reason to stay.”

No, he’d gotten the memo.

His brooding gaze slid down to the sensuous curve of her mouth before returning to the emerald fire burning in her eyes.

“And you thought if I discovered someone’s been trying to kill you instead of just harassing you that I would be more likely to stay?”

“Of course,” she said, regarding him as if he were being particularly dense. “You’re an alpha.”

“True.”

“Which means you turn into a caveman when you think there’s a damsel in distress that might need your protection.” Her gaze warned him not to even try to deny the truth of her words. “I don’t blame you. It’s all that testosterone rotting your brain.”

As if being drawn by a magnet, his gaze returned to her lips, all too easily imagining the havoc they could wreak as they moved down his body.

“It does more than rot my brain. Do you want me to demonstrate?”

CHAPTER 3

Hell, yeah.

She wanted him to demonstrate so badly she could barely breathe.

Which was exactly why she needed him gone.

Becoming involved with an alpha male was insanity under the best of circumstances.

Add in an unknown maniac trying to kill her, and her wolf’s bizarre need to mark him so that every other female would know he was off-limits, and it became a recipe for disaster.

“See?” she accused as he stroked his lips over her cheek. “Caveman.”

He shifted to nip the lobe of her ear. “There are benefits.”

Oh ... Christ.

She could already feel the benefits. They were melting through her body, making her knees weak and her hips press with restless need against the hard thrust of his growing erection.

In a minute she was going to rip off his clothes and push him onto the ceramic tiles.

Or maybe onto the breakfast table.

She wasn’t particular so long as it was hot and sweaty and lasted until she was too sated to move.

Vivid images of straddling that bronzed, perfect body had her abruptly shoving him away so she could head for the door.

“It’s late, go away,” she muttered, ignoring her wolf, which snarled in frustration.

She didn’t truly expect him to obey her order. Luc was a Were who would do what he wanted, when he wanted. But she hadn’t expected him to actually sweep her off her feet, cradling her against his magnificent chest as he headed toward the nearby stairs.

“What the hell?” she rasped.

“You’re right. It’s late.” He smiled down at her furious expression. “You should be in bed.”

A jolt of white-hot excitement speared through her.

Dammit.

She narrowed her eyes. “Do you think I won’t hurt you?”