Savage Hunger(10)

From the driver’s seat, Larson laughed, then smothered it with a cough.

Sienna narrowed her eyes at the other man and tried to lean forward, but Warrick kept his arm around her rib cage, not letting her move too far. He didn’t think she’d do anything crazy like jump from a moving van, but why take that chance?

“Please, you look like a reasonable guy. Can’t you just drop me off somewhere?” she pleaded to the commander of the op.

Larson turned his gaze away from the road and stared at Sienna, his gaze calculating, cold. “She say anything yet?”

Still on his lap, Sienna’s body went rigid, and Warrick could almost smell the fear rippling through her blood.

“Not yet,” he murmured and touched a strand of hair that he’d pulled loose earlier from the twist atop her head. Yeah. Sienna was hiding something. “But she will.”

She inhaled sharply and her breast brushed the curve of his arm. The muscles of Warrick’s stomach clenched as his gaze unconsciously lowered to the pale curve of her cleavage above the dress.

Shit. It took everything in his power not to slide his hand up to touch her. Get some control, buddy. She’s off limits. Just as much now as she was six years ago.

Sienna didn’t back down from questioning Larson. “Don’t you realize what you’re doing right now is kidnapping?”

“We’d never be charged.” Larson’s confidence was merited. “Tonight you were somewhere you obviously shouldn’t have been, lady. You’ve got some explaining to do. Questions to answer.”

“Is that why you’re forcing me along for this little joyride across the state? I already told Warrick that I don’t know anything.”

Larson gave a sharp laugh. “Right. And I’m the fucking president of the United States.”

Sienna made a noise of frustration and twisted her body in Warrick’s lap to face away from Larson. Her ass brushed against his dick and he exhaled on a hiss.

“Dammit, Sienna, can you try and sit still?”

She blinked in surprise, her gaze flickering with hurt, before she pressed her lips together and looked through the passenger-side window.

Shit. Warrick flexed his jaw and bit back a sigh. Could he have come across as more of an asshole? But with Sienna this close to him, it was like having his hand in the candy jar then being told no.

Larson cleared his throat. “We’ll be arriving at the safe house in a few minutes.”

Warrick nodded. “The shifters will probably be out for at least another few hours. Have we thought of where we’ll put them?”

“The safe house is on a ranch and we’ll have access to a barn. We’ll keep them in there until we can, shit, I don’t know, figure out what the hell is wrong with them.”

Warrick grunted in agreement. The shifters had been given something potent, something unlike anything any of them was familiar with. Something they couldn’t even begin to fight until they figured out what it was. They’d gotten them away from whatever was being put in their system, but who knew how lasting the effects would be?

The van turned off the main road, and the only light came from their headlights bouncing on the dirt road and the full moon above.

Sienna folded her arms across her chest and shivered. “So where are we? The middle of nowhere?”

Warrick smiled grimly and murmured an uninformative, “Basically.”

The van slowed down and a few minutes later came to a stop in front of a large, old-fashioned-looking farmhouse. Warrick unbuckled them, and then reached around Sienna and pulled the handle on the door, pushing it open. A rush of cold air chilled him through his clothing.

“About time.” Sienna slid off his lap and onto the ground. She shivered in her party dress and rubbed her bare arms as she walked quickly toward the front door.

Warrick’s lips quirked with relief to see some of her spirit returning. He followed her out of the van and was met by a choir of crickets singing. The smell of an earlier rain filled the air, along with cow manure and hay. The general smell of the country. The stars and moon cast shadows around the ranch, but Warrick still got a pretty good idea of the layout.

In the beam of the headlights, Warrick watched Sienna walk toward the house and raise her arms above her head and stretch. With her hair tousled and her fancy dress wrinkled, she looked surreal in the moonlight. Dangerously beautiful and almost mystical. His throat closed at the sensual image she made.

Larson handed Warrick a bag and the keys to the house. “Take the girl inside. Me and the other guys will start dealing with the shifters, and you come out and join us when you’re done.”

“All right. What’s the floor plan? Is it possible… I would like to talk to Sienna somewhere with a little bit of privacy.”