Lian/Roch (Bayou Heat) (5 page)

Ah yes, and then there was the time she’d accidentally set the classroom on fire.

After that little incident her mother had decided it was safer for her to be homeschooled and she’d retreated into her father’s library.

Even then she’d been harassed by her mother, who’d been convinced her ‘gifts’ could somehow be used to increase the family income.

“That’s easy to say when you’re not…”

“Different?” he helpfully offered when she hesitated. “Trust me, sweetheart, I know all about being different.”

Okay. That was true enough. Still, it wasn’t the same.

“But at least you know what you are, and you were raised with people who are just like you.”

A wicked smile touched his lips. “Oh, sweetheart, no one is like me.”

She rolled her eyes, even as her heart gave a leap of excitement.

He was just so…gorgeous. And charming. And sexy.

Sexy enough to melt a reclusive spinster into a warm puddle of aching need.

“You know what I mean,” she forced herself to accuse. “You didn’t have to worry that someone was going to think you were weird or—”

Her words were cut off as Lian unexpectedly pressed a finger to her lips.

“Shh.”

She watched in confusion as he moved with a blurring speed to press himself against the far wall, tilting his head to peer out the French doors.

Sage froze, speaking in a whisper. “Did you hear something?”

“An intruder outside the house.” He gestured toward Sage, waiting until she hesitantly moved to join him. “Do you recognize him?”

She glanced out the glass door, a sharp fear clenching her stomach at the sight of the large man with a shaved head and multiple piercings. Wearing a black motorcycle jacket and heavy leather boots, he looked so much like the typical ‘bad guy’ she couldn’t believe he was real.

“No.” She gave a shake of her head. “I’ve never seen him before.”

They watched as the stranger pulled a gun from beneath his coat, unaware he’d been spotted as he began to wrestle his way through the tangled overgrowth of her yard.

For once Sage was happy she didn’t have interest in keeping a neatly tended lawn. It would take him at least a few minutes to reach the house.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but time just ran out,” Lian said on a low growl.

Her brows lifted as he turned back to reveal his obstinate expression.

“What do you mean?”

“We have to go.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Go where?”

She knew the answer before he ever said the words.

“The Wildlands.”

“No.” She gave a violent shake of her head. “No way.”

He reached to grab her shoulders, his grip firm enough to warn he was barely resisting the urge to toss her over his shoulder and force her to leave with him.

“Do you want to stay and see if he’s in the mood to shoot you?”

Panic skittered down her spine at the mere thought.

“You could get rid of him.”

He held her gaze, allowing her to glimpse the predatory cat that lurked just below the surface.

“Yes, but I don’t think you’d like my methods.”

She glanced back toward the man creeping ever closer.

Shit. He was right. She didn’t want to force Lian to kill the intruder.

But the mere thought of leaving the security of her home and traveling across the state with a man who stirred her most primitive needs sent a flutter of nerves through the pit of her stomach.

“I can’t,” she breathed.

His hands lifted to cup her face, thumbs brushing her cheeks with a tender caress.

“I promise I’ll take care of you, sweetheart.” The heat of his hands scalded her skin, his musk wrapping around her to offer a drugging sense of comfort. “Nothing’s going to hurt you.”

Did she really have a choice?

There was no way in hell she was going to stand around and wait for the scary man dressed in leather to break into her home.

But that didn’t mean she had to like it.

“You’ve already put me in danger,” she accused, assuming the man had to have followed Lian to her house.

She hadn’t had a problem with gun-toting strangers before.

“Trust me.” He reached to grab her hand, tugging her until she was pressed against the solid strength of his chest. “Can you do that?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted with a stark honesty.

Without warning he swooped down to capture her lips in a kiss that jolted through her with blistering pleasure. Sage gasped, her mouth instinctively parting beneath the enticing demand of his tongue.

Good lord.

Who knew a mere kiss could feel like she was being struck by lightning?

She shivered, her fingers clutching his T-shirt as he spoke against her tingling lips.

“Come with me, sweetheart,” he urged.

“Fine,” she grudgingly agreed, allowing him to tug her out of the room and toward the side door in the kitchen. “But I don’t like this.”

Keeping her hand tightly clenched in his, Lian steered her toward a small opening he’d obviously cut into the hedge surrounding her house. Then, keeping in the shadows, he moved along the dirt path at a swift pace.

Sage remained silent, periodically glancing over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed.

There was something distinctly unnerving in the thought that there was a very real possibility of being shot in the back.

But after running for over a mile, her thoughts altered their focus from flying bullets to the growing ache in her side.

She was a researcher, not a marathon runner.

About to inform her companion she couldn’t jog all the way to the Wildlands, Sage was caught off guard when Lian tugged her around a thicket of trees where a car had been parked.

No. Not just a car.

This was a sleek work of art.

“What is it?” she breathed in awe.

Lian ran a hand over the streamlined roof, a strange smile curving his lips.

“A Lamborghini Gallardo.”

Sage didn’t know much about cars, but she sensed the white automobile with black accents was worth a rather large fortune.

“It’s yours?”

The sinful smile widened as Lian opened the passenger door so she could slide onto the butter-soft leather seat.

“Actually it belongs to Jean-Baptiste,” he explained as he took his place behind the steering wheel, revving the powerful motor to life. “He’s going to shit when he finds out that I borrowed it.”

Despite the fear that continued to pound through her, she couldn’t help but laugh.

The man was impossible, but he was so boyishly charismatic that she couldn’t be mad.

“Borrowing implies that there was mutual consent,” she informed him.

He stomped on the gas. “It was an emergency,” he countered, taking obvious pleasure in flying down the road at a speed that made her hair stand on end. “And it was just sitting in the garage, begging to be taken. How could I resist?”

She shook her head. She’d bet her rare Kish tablet that this man had never heard the word ‘no’ before.

“Are you an only child?” she abruptly demanded.

“Nope. I have three older sisters.”

“That explains it.”

He sent her a quick glance. “Explains what?”

“Your assumption you should always get your own way.”

He chuckled, his attention thankfully returning to the road. “What about you? Are you an only child?”

She turned her head to study the scenery that passed them in a dizzying blur.

“Yes, but I wasn’t spoiled.”

“Why not?”

She hunched a shoulder, her stomach cramping at the unpleasant memories of her childhood.

“My father was rarely home and my mother washed her hands of me when I refused to embrace my gifts,” she confessed.

“What about your extended family?” He was forced to slow as they hit the interstate. The morning traffic wasn’t heavy, but she was certain the last thing Lian wanted was to be stopped by a cop. “Your grandparents and aunts and uncles?”

“I never met them.”

She sensed his astonishment. Not surprising. From what she’d learned of the Pantera, they were a tightly knit community that put an emphasis on the pack.

“Never?”

“My father emigrated from England and my mother’s family disapproved of her choice to practice voodoo.” Her hand reached to unconsciously grab his hard thigh as they darted off the interstate and hit a side road with a sudden burst of speed.

She understood he was trying to determine if they were being followed, but…yikes.

“You must have been lonely,” he said, taking several more turns before they were back on the interstate.

It took a minute for her to catch her breath. “Yes.”

“I can’t even imagine,” he mused. “I was smothered to the point of near insanity. I love my family, but a male needs his space.”

Her lips twisted, hiding the envy that sliced through her heart.

How many nights had she dreamed that she was surrounded by a loud, loving family that actually cared whether she did her homework or ate her vegetables?

“Spoiled,” she said beneath her breath.

Naturally he heard her. It seemed they actually did possess the acute senses of a puma.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be anxious to smother you as well.”

Her head jerked around to meet his teasing glance. “Me?”

“Of course.”

“Why would they care about me?”

“Because they’re Nurturers and they’re morally compelled to fuss over people.”

She scowled, telling herself that he was being ridiculous.

And even if he wasn’t, she didn’t want complete strangers fussing over her.

Did she?

“I won’t be there long enough for anyone to notice me,” she protested.

A mysterious smile touched his lips. “We’ll see.”

Knowing it was pointless to argue with the stubborn man, Sage settled back in her seat and concentrated on the world that whizzed past her. Anything to keep herself from thinking of how far away she was from the safety of her tiny cottage.

She lost track of time as Lian concentrated on weaving through the increasing traffic, one eye on the rear view mirror to make sure they weren’t being followed.

Then, just as they reached the outskirts of Baton Rouge, she was jerked out of her inner thoughts as a black truck zoomed from a side ramp and slammed directly into their rear bumper.

“Lian,” Sage cried in fear, certain they were about to die in a fiery crash.

Lian, however, expertly turned into the spin, somehow managing to avoid the other cars as he whipped them around and then headed for the nearest exit.

“Hang on, sweetheart.”

* * *

Lian didn’t have the same skills as Jean-Baptiste behind the wheel, but he did have a car with a finely tuned engine that could hit two hundred miles an hour, and the lightning quick reflexes of a cat.

Within a few miles he’d managed to shake the black truck and disappear among the suburbs of Baton Rouge.

Still, he remained on full alert.

There was no way in hell the intruder could have followed them from his researcher’s house.

Which meant that the bad guy had enough cohorts to watch the roads for the very distinctive Lamborghini. Or he’d managed to tag the car with a tracking device.

Either way, Lian had to get off the streets.

Winding his way toward the older district that lined the banks of the Mississippi River, he at last turned onto a dead-end street that had seen better days.

Beside him Sage sucked in a deep breath, clearly suffering from shock.

“Why are you slowing?” she demanded in husky tones.

“We need to lie low for a few hours.”

She furrowed her brow, studying the dilapidated homes and air of aging decay that shrouded the entire neighborhood.

“Here?”

“Trust me.”

She brushed back a silvery curl that had come loose from her ponytail, her hand unsteady.

“As if I have a choice.”

Lian pulled into a narrow alleyway, regret stabbing through his heart.

When he’d gone to collect the mysterious Dr. Parker for Xavier, he hadn’t considered that he might put the man in danger. And even when he’d discovered that the researcher was a fragile young woman who was terrified to be forced from her home, he’d still insisted that she leave.

He’d been confident that he could protect her. That nothing could get past him to hurt her.

Now he realized that his arrogance had very nearly gotten both of them killed.

Shit. If something happened to this female he would never forgive himself.

Not only was she vital to the future of his people, but his cat was insisting that she belonged with him.

There was nothing more important in the world than keeping her safe.

Halting in front of a chain link fence that blocked the path, he reached beneath the seat to retrieve his gun. Then, rolling down the window, he used his acute sense of smell to ensure there was no one lurking in the shadows.

Once confident they were alone, he swiftly left the car to press his hand to the sensor hidden in a box on the brick wall that lined the alley.

Instantly the gate slid open.

The locks were rigged to sense the touch of a Pantera, which meant as soon as the gate closed behind them, nothing but another Pantera could open it again.

Returning to the car, he drove past the fence and through a garage door that lifted as they approached.

As the door slid down behind them, the lights flickered on to reveal a large, surprisingly well-maintained space that was attached to the two-story Colonial-style home next door.

Climbing out of the car, Sage glanced toward the steel storage cabinets that held the expected tools and auto parts expected in a garage, as well as several emergency firearms and ammo.

“What is this place?” she asked.

Joining her, Lian placed a hand on Sage’s lower back and urged her toward the door connecting the garage to the main house.

“A safe house.”

They walked down a short hall, then together they stepped into a large, airy kitchen that had been recently remodeled to include white cabinets, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and a white and black tiled floor.

Sage blinked, seemingly astonished to discover the inside didn’t match the dilapidated outside, but her attention was clearly more focused on what might be hidden just around the corner.