“I believe I’ve shown remarkable restraint, despite how you resist. Remove the laces from those shoes and hand them to me.” he said, pointing at the red sneakers. “Then you can put them on.”
“And what if I say no?”
He stepped in front of the sofa and took a seat, spreading his arms over the wide back and crossing his legs. “Well then, I look forward to meeting your Ghuardian. What time does he arrive?” A threat weaved itself into his words.
There was no choice to consider, as I would never put my Ghuardian’s life at risk. I removed the laces from the sneakers, slipped them on, and spun around with a squeak.
A rich, potent aroma filled the air and I pinched my nose. I never smelled anything quite like it. It was dark and heady, filling every pore in my body, and I wanted to yield to it. It was an aromatic aphrodisiac weakening me—relaxing me.
Logan stretched his long back against the red sofa chair I slept on. I couldn’t look him in the eye because his gaze was too intimate, but I could feel him watching me. Whatever he was doing felt like a private act, something I shouldn’t see. He twisted once more, and the cushion hissed beneath his body.
I had never heard of a Chitah, but I knew one simple, undeniable fact: Logan was marking his territory.
Chapter 10
My wrists were bound behind my back with slender shoelaces.
I had to give him points for hostage creativity. We moved down the outside hall until we reached the metal ladder. A fine mist coated my face as I glanced through the open hatch at the black, abysmal sky. Did he expect me to climb up with my hands tied?
For a tall man, he drove a cheap little car. Someone keyed the silver door on the passenger side, leaving a deep scratch. I don’t know why that one little thing stood out, but it did. Justus babied his cars; men like him didn’t put up with imperfection.
Once inside, he pulled out a cell phone and slid the key in the ignition.
“I have the female. Where do you want her delivered and… There’s no need, she’s not going anywhere.”
“Tell him he’ll never have me,” I said.
Logan stared straight ahead, but his eyes shifted just a fraction in my direction.
“I’m a Chitah, are you saying my word is no good?” He gripped the stick shift and squeezed.
Silence.
“No, I did not agree to this and I don’t like that you’re changing the rules. Tell me why you’re backing out of the agreement?” He focused outside the window and lowered his voice. “Let’s get one thing clear: I am
not
a delivery service.”
I wondered how fast I could whip my foot around and break the key in the ignition.
“Be that as it may…”
His fingers curled around the wheel and he sighed. “I will accept that offer. Where?”
The engine roared to life.
Several minutes crept by. Over the silent hum of the tires spinning along the asphalt, Logan’s throaty voice broke the silence. “He said you have something that belongs to him.”
“I bet he did. Does he come with a name?”
“We never got to the introductions.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“I expect nothing, except an answer to my question. What do you possess that’s his?”
“I have something he wants, but it doesn’t
belong
to him.”
Logan squeezed the ends of his wet hair and turned the wheel with a sharp yank. A terrified squirrel dashed through the headlights and scurried into the brush.
“Maybe you should give it to him.”
My nature would have been to lash out at him, but I sat quietly in my seat. Power and age should have brought wisdom—but in this world, all it brought was greed.
“What he wants is my light.”
“A juicer?” he asked in disbelief.
“Call it whatever you want.”
“Maybe I’ll call it… bullshit. I can’t blame you for trying,” he sang.
“To be honest, I don’t care what you think, Mr. Cross. You’re the least of my concerns.” I held my tongue and focused on leveling down the energy that was beginning to surface. The low decibel hum was a symptom, as thirst is to one who is dehydrated. I needed to be alert, and seek an opportunity to lay it on him.
And
boy
, did I want to lay it on him.
“There was a change of plans. I’ll be trading you off up ahead.”
“Why not take me directly to him?”
“We negotiated over the phone to meet, but he changed his mind at the last minute. I suspect as a Mage, he fears me.”
“How do you trust a man you’ve never met?”
“Who said I trusted him? We will be square after tonight.”
“Ah, that explains a lot,” I said. “So you are the fool that owes him.”
“I pay my debts.”
“You should quit getting yourself in a position where you owe people. It makes you look inept.”
His eyes flashed at mine. “You sure are a noisy little bird,” he snapped.
“Bite me.”
Plan A: I somehow manage to open the door with my hands tied behind my back and roll across the highway, losing skin and breaking bones.
Plan B: I knock him out. What’s the worst that could happen? The car flips over, crushing my body between the door and asphalt. Then, a fire sparks from the gas leak, and I slowly burn to death.
Neither was an option. I wiggled in my seat, trying to loosen his impossible knot. I looked out the window and saw we were heading deeper into the woods. A low fog covered the ground like a soft breath.
“We’re nearly there,” he said.
I was running out of options—and out of time. “Will you take a bribe?” I asked reluctantly. That piqued his interest.
“What do you offer?”
“I have no money on me. What will you take?”
His lower incisors rose as if they were hands volunteering.
When the car pulled off the road, we got out. My stomach twisted into a tight knot as he gripped my upper arm.
What Pandora’s box did I just open
?
The rain tapered off to a fine mist, leaving a thin film of moisture on my face. An earthy fragrance lifted from the forest like a familiar memory. I stepped on a large twig that rolled, causing me to slip. Logan’s other arm swung around and caught me before I fell. We moved down a steep slope until he backed me up against a wide tree.
His eyes memorized every angle of my face before falling to my mouth. Logan’s heated gaze was like a pulse against my skin. Frosty wind cooled my cheeks, and the bark of the tree was rough against my back. I felt everything around me: the delicate breeze, a small insect crawling on my wrist, the sound of my heart stammering in my chest, and Logan’s rhythmic breathing.
“
Typical
.” I dropped my eyes to the muddy ground.
“You shouldn’t jump to conclusions. I am not an animal.”
“Then why do you have me cornered against a tree?”
“I despise your kind,” he bit out.
Yet, he inched forward and curled his fingers around the ends of my hair. “I might consider letting you go, for a kiss.”
“Consider? A bribe means payment guaranteed.”
“It’s all I can offer. Take it, or leave it.”
“Do you normally play with your food before you eat it?”
He soaked me in, top to bottom. His piercing gaze was like a blade running across my delicate skin.
“Then we can go,” he said, hooking a hand around my upper arm. I yanked my shoulder back and flattened against the tree. He might be lying—in which case all I would be out was a kiss. But if he spoke the truth and kept to his word, then it meant my freedom. It seemed like such a small pawn to sacrifice.
“I’ll agree to this one request, but if you start putting stipulations on it, then I’m telling you up front the answer is no. Go on and take your kiss, Mr. Cross.”
“Give me your lips,” he growled. It was insistent, and there was no desire coating his words. This meant nothing to him; I might as well have been a tetanus shot in his ass.
“Why do you want this?”
His lip twitched. “A Mage is my enemy, and I should know everything about my enemy. I’ve never been close to a female of your kind,” he said inching closer, “and I find you… puzzling.”
Puzzling wasn’t a word a man had ever called me before.
His gaze was detached, as if he were studying the inner workings of a pocket watch.
Logan abruptly planted his warm lips on mine. I stood very still, waiting for those sharp teeth to slice me up, but they remained retracted.
Something changed while his lips explored mine, softening with every stroke.
Bark from the tree snapped above my head, showering small chips of wood in my hair. His fingers clawed against it, and I sensed a shift in his energy.
There was nothing demanding or rough about Logan’s kiss. His fleshy lips touched mine with soft pecks on the corners before returning front and center. They diligently tried to coax mine to respond, but I did not reciprocate. Up close, his body carried a masculine smell, one that made it very tempting to capture a breath and hold it in. His lips tasted of peppermint, and his chin was shaved so close it was baby smooth.
Logan didn’t kiss me as a man who wanted more—he kissed me adoringly, reverently. I didn’t even know this man and he kissed me with more passion than any man I’d ever known. My knees wobbled and I tried to steady myself.
“
Kiss me back
,” he breathed.
When he rubbed his face against my cheek in one long stroke, I grew alarmed. Not because I was afraid of him, but I was afraid of what I was feeling. He was inciting a desire to participate, and I had an urge to nuzzle against his neck.
“I don’t like games. I told you—”
My words cut off when a vibration rumbled from his chest.
His brow arched. “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” he chuckled, brushing those soft lips over mine… again and again.
My lips wanted to obey, and I knew it was wrong. An internal battle was ensuing—instinct vs. common sense—two dominant forces at the root of all decisions.
His breath over my mouth whispered, “
Kiss me, little raven.”
Common sense got its ass kicked.
I kissed back—just a small movement of my trembling lips. Logan groaned, and in a split second, his incisors punched out. I sucked in a sharp breath, and my eyes flew wide open.
He pushed away with a ferocious glare.
“What the fuck do we have here?” a voice shouted from the road.
Two men walked in front of a spray of headlights. The energy flared out and washed over me like an electric current.
The second Mage hunched over laughing.
Logan turned to confront them.
“I would not advise provoking me, Mage,” he warned. “It appears I’m not the only one who has difficulty following orders.”
“Oh we’re following orders, pussycat. Bring the girl,” he said, curling his fingers. When he struck a match and lit the end of his cigarette, I caught a glimpse of a thick mustache. A cloud of smoke swirled around him in the humid air, and he flicked the match on the wet pavement. “You’ve had your fun with her. Our boss doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“I don’t take orders, and the agreement is to deliver her to the appointed location. This is
not
that location. Leave us,” Logan demanded. “I will entertain nothing you have to say. When I am ready, she will be all yours.”
All yours
.
Kiss or not, he wasn’t letting me go. I struggled to loosen the knot behind my back when a bold, heavy scent covered me like thick molasses. I became dizzy with it, resting my head against Logan’s back. I inhaled, and the fibers of his shirt were rich with the smell. Its effect was like a drug, and when I realized what I was doing, I snapped my head up and stepped away.
The man flicked his cigarette on the asphalt and crushed it beneath his heel.
“We don’t have time for this bullshit,” he muttered. “Go get her, Nate.”
Nate, a very unassuming Mage with scrawny features and a short goatee, made his way down the slope, sliding on the wet grass. Logan stood motionless with his arms passively hung at his side. When Nate was about twenty feet away, he stopped unexpectedly and grimaced.