Rhyannon Byrd - Primal Instinct 04 (25 page)

Iowa

Late Sunday
afternoon

IT’D BEEN A BITCH OF A DAY, the traveling taking its
toll on each and every one of them. Not to mention the stress. Aiden had wanted
to say to hell with the tedious way of traveling—the constant backtracking to
throw off any Casus who might be on their trail—and make a fast, straight run
for Colorado. But Kierland had cautioned him against it, claiming that the
safest place for them right now might very well be out in the middle of
nowhere. At least until they had a better understanding of what they were up
against. When he’d talked to Kierland that morning, he’d learned that another
Watchman had been killed, this one in South Africa. Compounds were going on
high alert all around the world, and Quinn was keeping a close eye on things
back at Ravenswing. They had the most high-tech security available at the
Colorado compound, but there was no way of telling how it would hold up against
this strange new threat that was targeting the shifters.

Determined to offer Liv and Jamie as much protection
as possible, Aiden had called in one of their colleagues, Morgan Cantrell, from
the Watchmen compound in Reno. Morgan had been on the road for hours, after
flying in to Des Moines, and was set to catch up with them any time now. They’d
pulled into a populated rest stop about ten minutes ago to wait for her, giving
everyone a chance to get out and stretch their legs for a bit.

While Kellan and Noah were grabbing sodas from the
small shop set up at the far end of the parking strip, Aiden stood beside the
truck and smoked a cigarette, the late-afternoon breeze whipping at the
shoulder-length strands of his hair. Liv was still sitting in the truck with
Jamie, who hadn’t woken up from her nap yet, the engine left on so that they
could have the heater running on low.

Leaning back against the driver’s door, Aiden tilted
his head back and stared up at the dark blue of the sky, trying to find a
moment of stillness…of peace. But his head just kept spinning around and
around.

Something had changed between him and Olivia during
those minutes they’d spent in his hotel room the night before, the stakes even
higher now than he’d imagined they’d be. The rational part of his brain knew he
should cut his losses while he still could, but being with her just felt too
good.

Better than good. Damn it, being with her felt right.

He’d been sucked in, and now he just wanted to wallow
for as long as he could, soaking in the warmth and sweetness before he found
himself shoved back out into the bitter, biting cold. And he had no doubt that
the cold front would hit, leaving him right back where he’d started, fucking
his way through an endless stream of women who didn’t mean jack to him. Who
never reached beneath his skin. Never made him think about impossible things he
knew he had no business thinking about. Especially with a human.

It had been dangerous enough getting involved with her
when the only thing drawing him to her was that lush, evocative scent. That
brutal, intense physical pull. Then he’d had to go and get to know her,
discovering that he actually liked her. A lot. Enough to make every moment he
spent with her a monumental kind of mistake, for the simple fact that Olivia
Harcourt was not the kind of woman he could keep.

Hell, even if he ignored his messed-up past and the
fact that he would never truly trust her not to betray him, there was still the
fact that she wanted that nice little slice of normal for her life. And God
only knew that he was anything but. Even in the bizarre world of the clans,
Aiden was something screwed up and different.

And yet, despite the fact that he couldn’t have been
further from what she wanted for a serious relationship, there was no denying
that she was attracted to him sexually. They had lust, and Aiden was desperate
enough to use it. He just had to figure out a way to touch her without almost
losing it, as he had last night.

And if you can’t? What then?

Before he could start another internal debate over his
pathetic lack of control, the door opened on the opposite side of the truck,
her scent hitting him like a physical punch as the wind whipped it around his
head, making his mouth water. Gritting his teeth, he waited for the verbal
lashing he expected she’d been itching to deliver, considering he’d been acting
like a prick for most of the day.

From the corner of his eye he watched as she came
around the back of the truck then leaned against its side, leaving a few feet
between them, as if they needed the buffer zone. “Are you okay?” she asked.

A low, gritty laugh rumbled up from his chest, and Aiden
shook his head, still staring up at the fiery blue of the sky, thinking that
this woman would never cease to surprise him. Here he’d been expecting her to
lay into him like a shrew, and instead her soft voice held only the tender,
resonating notes of concern.

Taking a deep drag on the cigarette, he slowly
exhaled, watching the billowing thread of smoke fade to blue. “I’m fine, Liv.”

“You look as if you’re a million miles away.”

“I’ve just got a lot on my mind. Molly called a few
minutes ago.”

“Did she hear from Monica again?”

“Yeah.” He took another deep drag on the cigarette,
letting the smoke burn his lungs. Exhaled with a hard breath that revealed his
frustration. “But I don’t know what to believe.”

“Why? What did Monica say?”

“Not much.” Lifting his free hand, he worried two
fingers against the hard set of his jaw. “She can’t give us anything solid
about that bastard that attacked us, or the other Watchmen murders. But it
sounds as if she agrees with Kierland.”

“You mean about us staying on the road right now?” she
asked with a soft note of surprise.

He responded with a sharp nod, took another drag, then
flicked the cigarette onto the asphalt and ground it out with the bottom of his
boot. “But it doesn’t make any sense. I can surround you with protection at
Ravenswing. But the longer we wander around out here, their chances of getting
to us are only gonna get better.”

She was quiet for a moment, the heat of her gaze
burning against his profile, and then she asked, “Did Monica have any information
about Chloe?”

Aiden shook his head again, shoving his hands into the
pockets of his jeans. “No, but Mols told me that a teenager’s been reported
missing back in Lennox. The girl lived next door to your friend’s house.”
Turning his head, he met the wide-eyed surprise of her stare. “We don’t have
any proof, but I’d be willing to bet my ass that more Casus must have arrived
after we left on Friday night.”

“Oh, God,” she gasped, her face completely draining of
color as she pressed one slender hand to her mouth.

Knowing damn well what she was thinking, he said,
“It’s not your fault, Liv.”

“You…you said that she’s missing,” she whispered
unsteadily. “So…they haven’t found a body. Couldn’t…couldn’t she have maybe run
away?”

“I doubt it.” He cut his gaze toward the tall woods
that edged the rest stop, hating that shattered look on her face. The watery
sheen of tears in her violet eyes. “We wouldn’t have expected there to be a
body. They probably took her somewhere and charred it.”

“Ch-charred it?”

A muscle ticked in the side of his jaw, his hands
itching with the need to reach out and grab her, pulling her against his chest,
where he could just hold on to her. Do his best to offer what comfort he could,
though he didn’t have a clue how to do it.

Clearing his throat, he answered her question. “For
the most part, the Collective have been using a chemical compound to cover the
evidence of any Casus kills. It’s one that they bioengineered to burn a body
down without any flames, making it impossible to determine how the kill was
made.”

“But Monica’s body wasn’t burned.”

“There have been a few cases where the compound wasn’t
used. Monica was one of them. We think they were probably scared off and her
body discovered before they were able to come back and destroy it.”

Though she didn’t say anything, Aiden could feel the
force of her anguish blasting against him as she thought about her sister and
the teenage girl. He was usually clueless at reading a woman’s emotions, unless
she happened to be pissed off at him. But for some reason, he felt completely
attuned to Liv, sensing her pain as if it were his own, which just set him even
further on edge, cranking up his tension.

Silence settled between them, as heavy as the clouds
that were rolling in from the east. He was about to suggest they wake Jamie up,
so that she could get out and run around for a bit, when Liv finally spoke up.
“Are you sure there isn’t something else that’s bothering you?” she asked, the
change in subject not one Aiden would have chosen. But he figured he might as
well go ahead and get it over with.

“I can tell you’re hankering to bitch about
something.” He slid her a wary look, knowing that he sounded like a jackass.
“So why don’t you go ahead and just spit it out?”

For a moment she looked as if he’d slapped her, but
then she shook it off, saying, “You could have just stopped.”

Aiden arched his right brow. “Stopped what?”

“Last night.”

“Yeah.” Another low, gritty bark of laughter scratched
his throat, and he rolled his eyes. “Like that would have ever happened. You
really don’t understand much about guys and sex, do you?”

She blanched, spinning around with the obvious intent
of getting away from him. Quietly cursing himself for acting like such a jerk,
Aiden reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her before she could walk away.
“Liv,” he said softly, “look at me.”

She took a deep breath, cast a cautious look over her
shoulder.

“I’m in a shitty mood today,” he told her, reaching
out with his free hand to catch loose strands of her hair, tucking the fiery
curls behind her ear. “But that doesn’t mean I regret what happened between
us.”

She narrowed her eyes, obviously trying to decide
whether or not she ought to believe him. “If that’s true, then what’s your
problem? You’ve been acting pissy all day.”

“First of all, guys don’t act pissy,” he snorted, his
mouth twisting with a wry grin. “And secondly, I’m in a shitty mood because I’m
a selfish son of a bitch who wishes the goddamn day would go ahead and be over
with so that we can find a hotel and finally finish what we started.”

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, her eyes
darkening to a smoky violet as she studied his expression. Quietly she said,
“There’s more to it than that.”

“Yeah? What, then?”

Turning back around, she pulled out of his hold, and
Aiden forced himself to drop his hand back to his side, when all he really
wanted to do was pull her closer. She crossed her arms, her head tilted at a
thoughtful angle as she held his stare. “You don’t like wanting me.”

“Oh, Christ.” Aiden pulled his hand down his face,
then propped his shoulder against the side of the truck. “Don’t start on your
looks again,” he groaned, raising his voice so that he could be heard over the
roaring engine of a passing semi out on the highway, “because you’re only going
to piss me off.”

“I don’t mean that. Though it still doesn’t make any
sense—the you-wanting-me part. But it’s not sitting well with you, and to be
honest, I’m not even sure anymore that it’s just because I’m a human. I think
there’s something more. Something you’re not telling me. But whatever the
reason, you don’t want to want me, Aiden.”

He knew he should argue, but damn it, she was right.
He didn’t want to feel this way about her. He didn’t want to feel anything
about her. She was human. One who, because of “the Eve effect,” could turn his
life into a living nightmare. One slip of that teeth-grinding hold he had on
his body and his emotions, and he’d make that bite—the one that could never be
undone. The one that would forever bind him to a woman who would sooner or
later decide he wasn’t worth her contempt, much less her faith and trust and
love.

No, to feel anything at all for her was a mistake, and
for a moment he actually considered just saying to hell with it and coming
clean. Tell her the truth. Open his veins and confess the ugliness of his past.
Admit that part of the reason he was in such a foul mood was that he’d almost
lost control with her last night. Almost allowed too much of his beast to break
free. But he held his tongue, knowing that any talk about the animal side of
his nature could very well lead into territory he didn’t plan on touching with
a ten-foot pole.

While he stood there lost in thought, she simply
watched him, her solemn, smoke-colored gaze making him feel as if she was
seeing past the aggressive, smart-ass attitude he’d always used to shield
himself. To keep people away. As if she could see right inside him, down to all
the black, toxic grime that coated his soul.

Finally she took a deep breath and slowly shook her
head. “I know you’ll probably think I sound like a fool. And I’m not saying that
everyone in the world should be in love before going to bed together.
But…lovers should at least be comfortable with their attraction. They should at
least like each other.” Soft, husky words that slipped down his spine, melting
beneath his skin. “Even if it is nothing more than an affair.”