Lexia (The Deadwood Hunter Series) (15 page)

“Now play nice, kitty,” she whispered into his ear.

He let out a deep, deadly growl that vibrated down his body before trying to move, but Lexia was ready and she sliced the knife across his throat, just enough to break the skin. The panther froze and then pure golden light exploded between her fingers. They were no longer holding fur, it was like water slipping through her fingers. With a gasp she leapt back into a crouch, knife in her hand ready to fight at whatever emerged.

The light faded and what was left behind was the most exquisite man she had ever seen, completely naked! He had lovely golden skin that covered hard as steel muscles with a light sprinkle of dark hair; he was tall, maybe 6’4”, broad muscular shoulders and his face… Oh his face was heaven. His dark wavy hair framed golden-brown cat eyes, high cheekbones, a straight nose, and his angular jaw was covered in stubble. His mouth was so sensual and beautifully sculptured.
Oh the things he could do with that mouth!
she thought.

But she’d met this man before. Lexia froze. In that moment, as emotions crashed through her mind, Lexia thought her world had finally ended. Nothing was as it seemed and her heart clenched in pain as she looked into the face of a man she’d come to trust, a man that had comforted her, protected her and now was trying to kill her. The wolves had nothing on him because this game the panther was playing was the cruelest of them all.

“Lincoln?” she whispered, pouncing on him, anger like fire in her veins.

She would make him pay. How dare he think he could mess with her head and then kill her when he’d grown bored? She would show him what happened when you played sick games. But god was he quick; he kicked out, sending her over the top of him. She let the momentum carry her forward, tucking her body into a ball before springing back to her feet. Turning to face him again they started to circle each other, waiting for the other to make a move. He shot out at her but she was ready this time and quickly turned to her left, swinging her knife around and into his back. He gave a grunt, faltering slightly but kept on moving. Turning with feline grace he hit her with his elbow, the force of the blow snapped her head forward causing Lexia to stumble. Stars burst in her eyes and she recovered too late and he had her pinned to the floor before she could move out of the way. He pinned her hands above her head, slamming them into the ground until the knife fell from her grip. She struggled under him but he had her pinned with his legs and she couldn’t get him to budge and all her head could think about was the fact that she had Lincoln on top of her naked.

“Now that’s better, Wildcat!” he spat.

“Go on, kill me!” Lexia screamed at him, feeling suffocated by fear.

“Kill you? But I’ve not finished playing yet, Lex.” he taunted before hitting her head.

Lexia’s vision blurred and she fought to stay conscious but she couldn’t keep a grip on the scene before her and her mind faded into blackness.

Lincoln had no idea what he was doing, he looked down now at her unconscious body slumped on the floor and his stomach twisted with guilt. His panther snarled and paced in his mind, it wanted to hunt and kill but at the same time it wanted to mark and claim.

She was the enemy, that much both man and cat was sure of. Those beautiful eyes had flashed pure gold when she’d seen him shift. Then for just a second hurt and pain had flashed across their surface as she realized who he was. The charming guy, who had cut through her defenses and made her laugh, made her smile. He’d protected her, he’d cared for her, and now he’d attacked her; no wonder she’d looked at him like that.

That one look had caused him to pause, made him wish they could go back to being just Lexia and Lincoln. His heart twisted in pain. But they couldn’t go back. Those gold eyes marked her as a hunter and he was a shifter; she was born to hunt him and him to hunt her. But still that voice in his head whispered to both cat and man, does she even know what she was born to do?
Oh god what have I done?

He felt so confused. His panther scratched its claws on the inside of his skin; it wanted out, couldn’t handle all these feelings. The cat hated to feel lost but he couldn’t let the cat take over because the man may regret what it would do.

“Come now, Wildcat,” he murmured, picking up her limp form. “Let’s do something with you before you wake and want to kill me.”

Lincoln tied her up in an old aerie that had been abandoned. It wasn’t as far into the forest as his lair but he was certain no one would hear her. He studied her, now chained up. She was beautiful with her long, chocolate brown hair that hung to her waist, it turned into loose ringlets at the ends. He wanted to run his fingers through them, feel them bounce at his touch. The panther growled in his mind reminding him she was a hunter.

But she looked so innocent now; a few loose strands of hair had fallen forward framing her soft, feminine face. She had skin the color of cream and he knew deep down that his panther wanted to lick, taste, and bite those soft plump lips until she moaned for more.

His gazed traveled down her body to her perfect plump breasts, small waist, and the curve of her sensually female hips. She was maybe 5’ 9
” just the right height for me
. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. A rumble threatened to escape his throat. The panther wasn’t happy, didn’t know what to make of her; was she really the enemy or could he claim her as his?

As she started to stir Lincoln stepped back into the shadows to watch his prey.

Lexia’s head and shoulders throbbed. Something was digging into her back and as she opened her eyes, it all came flooding back. She gasped, snapping her head upright and her vision blurred for a second before focusing on the golden cat eyes watching her from the shadows. Lexia pulled at the chains around her wrists feeling the bite of the metal on her skin; she pulled again but it was no use, they wouldn’t budge. She slumped back in defeat.

“What do you want?” she whispered.

Those cat eyes came out of the shadows but it wasn’t the panther who stepped forward, it was Lincoln wearing cat eyes. When he tilted his head to the side, studying her just like she’d seen the panther do so many times, she wondered how she could have never seen them as being the same person before.

Lincoln moved with feline grace and she could see now as his eyes turned back to human that they had hints of gold through them, the same color as the panther’s eyes. Everything about him screamed predator.
How did I not see? Maybe he held it back because I never felt this kind of power around him before or maybe I didn’t want to?

He said nothing, just watched her and the more he stared the more she panicked. Her heart started to thunder in her chest.
What is he going to do with me?
She closed her eyes; she wouldn’t let him see how scared she was. Slowly her breathing slowed and her heartbeat calmed. Taking another deep breath, Lexia opened her eyes.

“I should have seen before, what you were. I was blinded by my feelings for you.” She forced her voice to be strong.

Lincoln took another step forward but said nothing. Lexia let her gaze wander over him; he wore a pair of low-cut faded jeans and his chest was bare. The moon cast shadows across his hard, flat stomach; dragging her eyes away from his stunning body she looked up into his eyes. He knelt before her and she looked away, unable to bare the feelings he stirred being so close. He grasped her face and turned her so she had to look straight into his eyes. Frozen, she couldn’t look away; heat burned from his fingers flooding down into places he shouldn’t have been able to reach.

“They glow when you fight,” he said

“What?” she whispered, confused.

“It’s still there now, just below the surface; a gold ring marking you as a Hunter.”

“Okay Lincoln, stop talking crazy! Why did you do this to me? What was the point to it all?” She could feel the rage bubbling to the surface, slowly coursing through her blood, begging to take control of her. She dragged her gaze from his face.

“Look at me, Little Wildcat.”

“My name’s Lexia, not Wildcat,” she spat.

A low, cat-like chuckle left his throat. Dropping her face he walked away. “You look more like a Wildcat to me. So then, Lexia, let’s get down to business, shall we?” All the humour had left his voice, Lexia shuddered. “So who’s the Hunter? You’re Mom? Dad? You must be half-human, I’ve never heard of a Hunter being able to conceal their eyes before but your eyes give you away when you fight.”

Staring at this deadly man, her mind struggled to understand what he was saying. Yes, her eyes had changed; they had that ring of gold through them and she’d seen them go completely gold when she lost control. It happened that night when those vampires attacked her. So many monsters had tracked her down in the weeks following that night and she’d managed to get out alive each time. But a Hunter, what was that?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never heard of a Hunter.”

“I’m guessing it was your mother. I’ve watched your father and he’s definitely human, but your mother—now she is nowhere in sight! What happened? Did some monsters finally get to her?”

Lexia’s rage broke the surface with that. “Leave my dad alone, you bastard! And as for my mother she walked out when I was a baby! I’ve told you this before, please Lincoln let me go.”

“That’s it Little Wildcat, let it all out. Ahh, there they go glowing gold again; you must be real mad, huh?”

Breathing heavy Lexia noticed how a golden glow lit the darkness, with a gasp she shut her eyes.
Don’t panic, Lexia, it’s just your imagination, just breathe, breathe.

Lincoln stood there watching her panic. She stank of fear; it seeped out of her pores, clouding his judgment. Did she really have no clue at all what she was
? What am I to do with you?
he thought.

“You really have no clue, do you?” he asked, a softness filling his voice.

“No,” she whispered, leaning forward, resting her head on her knees, accepting her fate; she’d lost this battle.

“The Hunters were once just human until the government experimented on soldiers, altering their DNA. The results of the experiment were stronger, faster soldiers, nearly impossible to kill. At first the Hunters kept the world safe but with time they wanted to rule humans instead of being their protectors. They went rogue, killing anything in their path. In the end the government issued an order for all Hunters to be terminated. I’ve not seen one until you. It’s your eyes, Lexia; all hunters had bright gold eyes. I’m guessing yours only go gold sometimes because you’re half-Hunter.”

He watched her but she just sat there, head in her knees. Lincoln wanted to go to her and pull her into his lap, hold her until everything was okay; that feeling had the panther prowling his mind again. She was the enemy whether she knew it or not, could she be trusted? This could be all an act. But he had to do something, the guilt twisted at his insides.

“You’re a Hunter, Lexia,” he said softly.

“It’s not doing me much good now, is it?” she said in a low whisper but his heightened hearing picked it up easily.

Lincoln laughed. “Come on now, Wildcat, where has all your fury gone?”

Taking calm breaths Lexia answered trying to keep a level voice; she would not let him provoke her. “So how am I supposed to be a Hunter if they’re all dead? If they’re as bad as you say then why have you never seen one? What makes you so certain I’m one of them; that I want to rule; that I like to kill?”

He smiled at her sending chills down her spine. “Because I’ve seen you kill, Lex, you’d almost fooled me; I almost let myself feel for you but seeing you smile as you took that wolf’s life squashed any feelings I’d had.”

A single tear slipped down her face as she remembered the wolf. “Is that what you think, Lincoln? That I want this? That I enjoyed killing her? Do you think she would have enjoyed killing me? Because with every punch that she gave me, I felt her joy; I saw how much she wanted to kill me. I asked her to leave me alone, I told her I didn’t want to hurt her but she wouldn’t listen, Lincoln, she wouldn’t. I had no choice but to let my other side take control, I couldn’t just die.”

“You didn’t have a problem with dying when my panther attacked.”

“My pretty panther,” she whispered, smiling. “I never saw what I saw in the wolf’s eyes when the panther attacked—when you attacked—I could always see good in you. Or maybe I just wanted to because right now I can’t see it. Why did I ever want you?”

“God, you confuse me, Lexia. I want to believe you but how can I when you might go and stab me in the back? One minute you’re just an innocent girl the next you’re killing my kind. I saw what you did to the wolf; saw how you had a smile on your face as you attacked her. You may feel guilty now but that doesn’t mean that half of you isn’t dark, isn’t a killer. I think I’ll just keep you up here for a while then we’ll see if your Hunter mother comes to rescue you and we’ll see who you truly are.”

“How easy it would be if everyone was simply good or evil. Are you telling me your panther is all good and that you have no darkness beneath the surface? I don’t understand what happened to me or what I am but I know part of me is good and that part fights to stay that way; isn’t that what matters Lincoln? That I don’t simply give up and let the darkness consume me?”

Lexia looked at him now thinking over her words and it was almost too easy to imagine he was the Lincoln she knew but he would never had done this to her. She hated him for what he had done to her. Even now when he had her chained up, a small part of her still believed he liked her, still wanted her. He’d messed with her mind somehow.

“I know what I saw... you confuse me, Lex,” he whispered.

“Confused! Are you for real? You’re confused! What about me? What the hell are you? First you stalk me as a panther, toying with me, chasing me, attacking me! Then it was almost like you were telling me to touch you, I could feel it, the pull between us making me never want to hurt the panther. But no, that’s not enough for you, you have to follow me as a man, too, get me to like you! You kissed me! God, how stupid am I? I should have always seen you as the sick twisted freak you are!” She didn’t even try to stay calm this time; she hoped her screaming hurt his ears.