Rule Breaker(19)

            That was just uncalled for.

            No Breed should be able to do this to her.

            No man, period, should be able to do it.

            No other Breed had ever accomplished it.

            This Breed should not be able to do it.

            What had been mere interest as she avoided him over the past weeks at the clubs and bars where she made her weekly rounds was now turning into full-fledged sexual want. And sexual want was a mighty big no-no in her life.

            That did not ensure that she put as much distance as possible between herself and the Lion Breed as he moved in beside her, though. He turned his big body to watch her profile as she stared out over the dance floor, that strange warmth she always felt from him reaching out to her.

            “Courageous little thing, aren’t you?” His gaze invited her to laugh, to share the amusement that threatened to warm parts of her that had been cold far longer than he could ever guess.

            “Courage?” she questioned him with a hint of disbelief after taking another sip of the beer. God, what was she letting him do to her? She knew better than this. “That’s not courage, it’s disinterest, Rule. I told you before, I don’t like the trouble that follows Breeds like a crazy ex-girlfriend.”

            But this Breed made her long to break her exile from the sensual, hungry nature that had risen inside her as she had matured.

            “There are times I believe I would prefer the crazy ex-girlfriend,” he assured her wryly, his lips quirking with a hint of bitterness as she felt the rasp of a single callused finger caressing across her bare shoulder. “As for trouble following us, it’s not as though we ask for it.” His declaration pulled her gaze back to him.

            His eyes gleaming between thick, black lashes, he watched her, his gaze rich and warm, making her want to press herself against him, to still the ache for his touch that tingled across her flesh.

            “No, you don’t,” she agreed with a sigh as the caress disappeared. “That doesn’t mean I don’t have a choice in dealing with the issues that come with you. Because I choose not to become part of that battle.”

            Just as she chose the life she led. And that life did not include joining Rule in some fly-by-night affair that would be over as quickly as it began.

            “Interesting that you believe you have a choice in who you ache for,” he stated, his voice rasping, his gaze intent now. “I’ll have to remember to believe that one.”

            Sapphire eyes gazed down at her, filled with amusement and mystery. The look in them invited her to play, to put aside whatever hurt her, whatever she feared, and just play with him for a minute.

            But Gypsy knew better than most the dangers of playing with Breeds. It was a lesson she’d learned one blood-filled night that she would never forget.

            “Such pretty eyes should never appear so somber and unhappy,” he observed then, bending his head to her ear to be overheard above the music. “They should be filled with passion and a love of living.”

            Gypsy flinched, jerking back from him as she realized how close he’d come to her without her being aware of it.

            She was getting too used to him invading her space every chance he had. Her body was damned sure getting too used to Rule doing so.

            That was going to have to stop. It was going to have to stop right now.

            “Is there a reason, Commander Breaker, that you have taken such an interest in me over the past months?” she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes on him. “Because it’s starting to irritate me and I’m certain you have better things to do.”