Tempting the Enemy (12 page)

“No,
yours
. Loyal to you.” That loyalty wouldn’t be split by something so slight as a female. She searched his color, felt its life around her, but saw no trace of the other men’s shades. She stared up, shocked. “You’re their Alpha.”

Rysen’s scowl snapped downward at her and he gave a sharp shake of his head. “They’re my
brothers
.” The words brooked no argument, though she was tempted to give him one. At the very least, she conceded, thinking of the men watching with interest, this wasn’t the time.

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“If you say so.” Alpha law and all that, she mentally added, trying not to smile. He wouldn’t appreciate it. She pressed her face to his side, breathing in the cool scent of leather and man. “But would your brothers mind if we went inside? My legs are freezing out here.”

She felt him make a gesture of some sort, but it didn’t matter. She was safe. Safe and exactly where she needed to be. That is, until Rysen reached down and swept her up into his hold. Cradled in his arms, she opened her mouth to protest, but the hard command in his eyes kept her silent. Something…Wolf was going on and he needed her not to fight it.

She thought of her books back in the enclave. While the writers didn’t know much about Wolf politics or social cues, they did know that unspoken rules existed in the packs and dominance needed to be established and recognized at all times. If she was right and Rysen was the Alpha of this particular group, undermining his authority would be about as healthy for her as slashing her own wrists.

Besides, his arms around her felt good.

Still. “You know I’m allowing this, right?”

His mild grunt was matched with a slight squeeze around her thighs. “If you say so.”

So he knew when he was being pandered to. She shrugged and slid her arms around his neck, breathing him in and letting him have his way. She pulled a touch of moonlight, just enough to make her point, and let her palm heat against his neck as they passed the two other men. Not to sizzle, just to tease. She smiled into his shoulder when she felt his breath hitch. She brought her lips to Rysen’s ear. “Just so you don’t forget.”

Dee Tenorio

101

Watching the two men converge in the snow, stopping to watch them from a safe distance while Rysen carried her into the cabin, she allowed herself a small second to indulge in the sense of rightness. It was only the hormones, she knew, but it didn’t hurt anything. A moment’s respite from fighting what her body seemed determined to do. The feeling glowed around her, a shade of yellow the men were no doubt trying to explain to themselves.

He pushed open the cabin door, stepping into a warm room scented with pine and the faint smoke of a strong fire. He lowered her almost immediately, barely letting her feet touch the ground before finding her mouth with his, taking what she’d offered earlier. Jade gripped his shoulders, nearly bowed over his restraining arm, thought of any kind evaporating from her brain.

He filled her senses, from the taste of him in her mouth and the feel of his beard tickling her face to the unyielding strength of his body and the surge of unmitigated want clouding around her. More than that, erotic visions formed in her head, images pushed her way on purpose. Scenes of the two of them entwined, somewhere soft and warm, nothing but sweat between their heated skin, in some places not even that. His body, driving deep into hers, the sounds of their pleasure blending and echoing in her mind along with emotions that rolled through her. Possession. Demand.
Perfection
.

Body and mind, Jade erupted into flames.

Rysen broke the kiss as abruptly as he started it, leaving her blinking, nearly boneless and ready to kill him. He inclined his head to the side, to someone behind her, his gaze never leaving hers. “So
you
don’t forget.”

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Fingers tightening on his coat, she smiled, already rising on her toes for another taste.

He squeezed her arms lightly. “This is my other brother, Aaron Favian.” A wicked glitter twinkled in his eyes when she made no motion to look at the man he’d indicated. “I have to go with Ty and Tate. He’ll protect you. If anything happens and I’m not here—”

“I’ll find you.” The honest words escaped without permission.

His gaze bored into hers, as if he wanted her to understand something he couldn’t say. “If I’m not here to protect you, it’s only because I’m dead.”

She found some of her balance again at his bald pronouncement. He was as serious as blood and the raw promise started her thinking. There were no other officers around. No one except for shifters. And, apparently, a body somewhere in the vicinity. The obvious finally clicked. “This isn’t an official crime scene, is it?”

Rysen shook his head.

“You said there was another victim. Why aren’t we there?”

“The kill is fresh. We’re not sure the forest is safe yet.” Meaning he didn’t know if the killer was still near, waiting.

“I could help.” The black trail would be impossible to miss.

He didn’t even bother with shaking his head. “You will. When it’s safe.”

Jade scowled. As long as he got his way, he’d probably consider deep breathing a safety issue. “This deal of yours gets worse with every minute.”

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103

“Only from your end. Aaron, guard her with your life.” It was only when he turned and pulled open the door that Jade was able to release the breath of frustration. He either didn’t hear it over the rushing icy wind or he ignored it as he closed the door solidly behind himself.

“Jerk.”

“That’s one of the more mild names I’ve heard him called.”

Jade spun, having almost forgotten about the other person in the room. She had to blink at the golden brilliance of his signature—most definitely not a Wolf, but shifter of some kind—forcing her psychic eye closed before he started to hurt her.

Normal eyes found a ruggedly handsome man with thick dark hair and eyes a light shade of brown, leaning against the wall beside a flight of stairs leading downward. She looked around, finally taking in that the shabby exterior of the cabin from the outside was just a façade. The wood floor led to the relatively small confines of the four walls. The only way to go was down the stairs this Aaron person was blocking with lean but virile strength.

Like with the others, she could appreciate his looks but no mind-stealing waves of lust flowed through her. He could be another plain wall for all her hormones reacted.

She frowned, wondering what precisely that meant, unsure she wanted the answer.

He stared at her curiously, head tilted. His hair looked lustrous, combed backward in short lengths that didn’t seem able to lie down all the way. A strong face, definitely, sharp featured. His skin was burnished, his face cragged, as if he spent all day, every day, in the sun.

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“You’re not at all what I expected,” he said into the silence.

“Neither are you,” she replied honestly. She’d have thought Rysen would only trust a Wolf so completely.

“What are you?”

“Not as complicated as you, I’d bet.”

Oh, fun. Someone with a sense of humor. Jade just kept from snarling at him.

He smiled, making it official that shifters were the most confusing species on the planet. They only seemed to like her when she was ready to attack them.

“Come down to the fire.” Aaron backed down the stairs, matching her progression step for step until they reached the underground floor.

Jade looked around, eyes wide. This was no one-room shack. The large, open space was broken into areas.

A fireplace large enough to heat the entire level was surrounded by a U-shaped green couch, utilitarian but expansive. A large table dominated the center and an open-access kitchen lined the walls next to the stairs.

Three doors took up the wall next to the dining table, all closed. The curious part of her wondered where they led, but the smart part silenced it. This place was already a surprise. She didn’t need to know its secrets.

“Couch all right?” Something told her sitting at a table with Aaron Favian was an invitation to another interrogation.

“Sure.” He followed, hovering a reasonable distance away, but her sensitivities prickled anyway. She already had a shadow, not to mention an overprotective Wolf deciding what she could and couldn’t do. She didn’t need a…whatever he was, waiting for her to attack the cabin.

Dee Tenorio

105

She almost said as much, until she saw the form sitting on the couch already, covered in blankets, his little feet making little lumps in the covering. He didn’t even seem to be blinking, his dark eyes staring forward without seeing.

Jade’s defensiveness faded. She knew this boy. She’d seen him smiling at her earlier…at the bus stop. With a young woman. Wolves, both of them, a fact she’d accepted and deemed unimportant at the time. Less than three hours ago, they’d just been strangers at a stop.

Now…

She stopped the thought, unwilling to think it.

Now that sweet little face was cold and colorless.

Completely devoid of life. She moved toward him before she even realized she meant to do it. Sitting carefully beside him, she leaned in, but there was no response.

“What happened to him?”

“We don’t know,” Aaron replied, his deep voice lacking the reserved amusement from a few moments ago.

“We found him with the girl.”

“Girl?” Jade turned to look over her shoulder at him.

“What girl?”

“The latest victim.” Aaron’s gaze flickered, taking in her question with a decided frown.

“He was with a woman. In a hat.” Or was he? She hadn’t paid much attention to the female. Just the boy, his avid curiosity impossible to ignore.

Aaron shook his head. “Girl. Maybe seventeen.

When we got there, she was already murdered and he was like this. A ghost.”

Jade reached out to touch the little cheek. He was cold, despite the blankets and the roaring fire. “Must be shock.”

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“That’s what we figured. Until we brought him into the cabin. It was dark at first. He went crazy as a feral mountain lion. Damn near burst my eardrum screaming.

When we turned on the lights, he went back to this.”

“Poor baby.” Jade tucked the blankets tighter around the small form. Smaller than she’d first thought. Either he was very young or very hungry. Maybe both. The blankets alone would never be enough to warm him. “You have to bring him out of this.”

“I’ve been trying. It’s like he doesn’t know I’m here.

Hell, I don’t think he knows
he’s
here.” Real worry stained Aaron’s voice.

“Can you give me a few minutes with him?” The words, however unwise, were out. “I won’t hurt him, I promise.”

“What will you do?”

Something Aaron probably wouldn’t like. Rysen either, come to think of it, but since he’d left her alone, he didn’t get to complain. One by one, she slid off her gloves. “I’ll help.”

It took long seconds, but he finally nodded. He didn’t go anywhere, though, so she figured that was as good as it would get.

Taking a deep breath, Jade closed her eyes and focused. Unlike the times when her emotions built power, drawing on it by will was always difficult. Other Sibile did so mentally, drawing on their abilities with cool logic and years of repetitive practice. By the time they were ranked as scarlets, most could access their power without thinking about it or even stopping what they were doing.

Not Jade.

Dee Tenorio

107

She could think all she wanted about her gift, but nothing would happen. For her, it wasn’t a mental process at all. Most of the time, her power
happened
to her. Jalla was the one who helped her to realize that using her gifts required empathy. Once she’d stopped using her mind and started reaching with her heart, she’d been able to pass the scarlet trials, but only by the skin of her teeth. Something always seemed to get in the way, a blockage that hindered her from true control. She did her best with the trickle and now, putting her hands on the legs of the small boy, she felt it grow for him.

Warmth in her chest, in her heart, blossomed and spread down to her palms. Concentrating on that sensation, she focused on white light, pure and soft. Like a morning mist. She felt it billow around them, a cloud filling the room, healing and soothing.

Too soon, the power faltered, then slipped away.

Jade blinked, disappointed. The boy’s expression remained unchanged. She’d hoped to give him more, but when she looked at his face, at least the scratches on his cheek were healed and his color seemed to have returned from the slightly bluish tinge. A touch to his cheek revealed warmth, which was really all she could ask. She couldn’t have been sure that it would have helped his mind anyway. No one at the enclave had ever needed her for that.

She turned to Aaron, who stared at her as if she’d done something unbelievable. Which she probably had, if he were as allergic to the Sibile as Rysen was.

Pale
. The name whispered through her at the mere thought of him, tripping her heartbeat. It almost formed on her lips, possessively, as if she had a right to use it. As if it were hers to say.

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She jolted, trying to understand the inclination as well as the surge of fire in her blood when he wasn’t even nearby. All from just the thought of him? It was a question she couldn’t risk answering. She ignored it and concentrated on the boy. “Do you have a small glass?”

The man’s reaction time was considerably slower than before. “A what?”

“A container?” Surely a glass was a glass, even off the enclave. “Something that won’t melt.”

“A container.” His frown almost seemed as if he’d never heard of that either.

Leaving him to his disbelief while he searched for something appropriate, she turned back to the boy, who didn’t seem to notice they’d not been paying attention.

The physical healing didn’t help, but maybe she could reach him another way. Lifting the child onto her lap, she’d just gotten him settled when Aaron returned, flexing his hand over and over. He gave her a small orb-shaped glass, something to hold a small candle, she realized.