Waking the Beast(16)

She turned to meet his eyes. “You changed, Tah. You changed. I swear your eyes turned a deep golden yellow. Your back pulled away from the wall when you roared. And you were pissed. I’ve never seen you that angry.”

“I was chained to a fucking wall.”

She shook her head. “It was more than that. Harlan turned to me. Oh, my God, I just realized that. Harlan turned and yelled at me just before you snapped the first chain.”

“They must have been old.”

“I checked them when I took the cuffs off your wrists and ankles. They weren’t weak in any way, shape, or form. And you snapped them.”

Tah looked at her, flexed his shoulders, and then glanced down to look at his hands. He held them out, turned them over, then curled them into fists. He took a deep breath and shook them out again before glancing back toward her. “What happened then?”

“Whiney took off running. Harlan yelled at him to come back, but he was gone. He turned to me again, and the second chain started groaning as you pulled at it. Harlan took off then.” She looked up with excitement in her eyes. “He yelled at Southy to get me. I forgot that or was too much in shock to remember it before. That’s why Southy stayed. He wasn’t trying to help me. He was trying to take me.” Her eyes softened with emotion she couldn’t hide. “You saved me. You protected me.”

He walked over to her and pulled her firmly against his chest. “I’ll always protect you, Abby. No one will ever hurt you again. And if they do, they’ll pray they hadn’t.”

She could hear the ring of truth in his voice, the sincerity. He cared for her. He rubbed her back then stepped away again, twisting his head around on his neck as if trying to work the kinks out of it. His hand rubbed over the back of it before dropping as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Are you okay?”

“How did I kill him?” Utah ignored her question.

“He opened the cell. He was reaching for me when you leaped from the wall and landed in front of me in a crouch. You growled at him. My God, I almost peed myself when you did that. He screamed when you reached for him. You took him with one hand. One hand, Tah. And threw him across the room as if he were nothing, as if he weighed nothing. He muttered something about telling Harlan to torture me next time, and you went wild. I swear I saw—” She stopped and looked at him.

“What did you see?”

“I swear I saw claws come out of your fingers just before you grabbed his throat and ripped it out.”

They both glanced down at his hands. He flexed the fingers before curling them into fists.

“I know I sound crazy. I know none of this makes sense to you. But, Tah…I really believe that you are a paka watu. You are the alpha lion, the pride leader.”#p#分页标题#e#

“You think the beast is waking up?”

“I think the lion spirit you were gifted with is emerging.”

Tah looked at her, shook his head, rubbed the back of his neck again, and then flexed his shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” It finally dawned at her that he was uneasy physically, not just mentally. He was agitated, rubbing and shaking, standing then sitting then up and pacing again. He couldn’t stay still. “Tah?”

He looked at her, and for a second, just a brief moment in time, she saw the flare of yellow in his eyes before the warm brown took over.

“We need more information here, Abby, and we need it fast. I’m restless. It feels like something’s inside me, and it’s trying to take over. I’m fighting to stay sane here. Hell, I’m fighting just to stay here.”

“Oh God, Tah.” She went to him, but he held his hand up, warding her off.

“I’m hanging by a thread here. My senses are crazy. I didn’t stop at the bar, my house, or yours because I could smell they had been there, that it wasn’t safe. The reek of this Harlan guy was all over each location.” His gaze met hers, and she could see the desire he was feeling. “I’m barely keeping my hands off of you, when I can smell the heat of your lust wrapping around my cock and stroking it like I want your pussy to do. I can still taste your skin on my tongue, and my mouth is watering for more.” His eyes were anguished. “I’m fighting, but I’m afraid if we don’t figure out what’s happening soon, I’m going to lose it and whatever this is…some lion spirit or whatever…it’s going to win. And you may not be safe.” He shook his head. “This other part of me wants you, Abby. And I’m not sure how long I can control it.”

Every time the animal had emerged it had protected her, not hurt her. “I’m not afraid.”