“Is he okay?” she whispered back. Her eyes widened as he dropped his gear and began stripping his jacket and shirt off over his head.
“He will be if you keep him distracted. When he gets here, do whatever it takes to keep him with you. If he comes in after me, he might die. Best case scenario, he just gets injured.” He inhaled deeply again and his eyes narrowed. “I can’t make promises, now. I’m not sure how much control I’m going to have when I get in there. I’m sure you’d like to avoid either of those possibilities, though.” His long fingers reached for his jeans and began unfastening them.
Diane turned away, embarrassed he was stripping beside her.
“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered quietly, drawing her gaze back to him as he stripped out of his jeans. “No matter what I seem, I would never hurt you.”
A hiss rocked the woods followed by a growl that had her searching frantically around them for her mate.
“Stay here. Don’t go to him. Let him come to you,” Angel ordered. “I’ll take as many of them as I can, but he’s already alerted them he’s here.”
A scream pierced the air, cutting off anything else Angel might have said to her. The look on his face was terrifying in that moment and a roar that almost rivaled Tah’s rocked the air. One moment Angel was there, and the next, a huge beast was rushing away from her. Holy shit! She’d never anticipated seeing one of them in the shifters she’d met. The tawny mane of a lion flowed around the golden striped flesh of the beast. Angel was a liger.
The scream sounded again and Diane recognized it this time. Kenzie. What were they doing to her? She prayed it wasn’t anything like the hell she knew both Amia and Clara had been subjected to. Chained to the wall, beaten and cut, unable to defend themselves.
She heard a rustling in the trees and pressed her back firmer against the bark. It wasn’t Zane. She didn’t know how she knew it, but she did. Then he was there, all six and half feet of pissed off mate. Not a panther. Still a man. He spared her a brief, angry glance before darting around her. She heard a grunt as flesh hit flesh, and she dared a peek around the tree. Zane had a man in his hands and, with an ease that shocked her to her toes, her mate bared his teeth, reached out and snapped the other man’s neck as if it were merely kindling.
Another roar rocked the air, and masculine screams sounded from the direction Angel had gone. Zane turned toward them, and she remembered Angel’s words. She had to keep her mate safe.
“Zane!” she cried out and stood up, moving around the tree.
He turned to her immediately. His nostrils flared, and he growled again as he stalked toward her.
“I’ll kill whoever it is,” he vowed then grabbed her and tugged her against him.
He took her mouth first, forcing his tongue deep and ravaging every nook and crevice. She gasped for air when he finally pulled free. He ran his lips and tongue over her neck and throat, following the path Angel had traced with is cheek and hair. Angel! He’d done this intentionally.
“Did he fuck you?” Zane demanded as he yanked her shirt to the side, the material ripping beneath his grip.
“No,” she answered, shaking her head frantically.
Zane growled again, lowering his head to the mark he’d revealed and licking over and over it.
“You are mine,” he grunted to her and his bright golden gaze met hers.
“Yes,” she agreed quickly. “I’m yours, all yours.”
He growled again, teeth flashing briefly before he bit her again. He slid one leg between hers and pressed her back against the tree as he bit and sucked at her flesh. Diane rubbed wantonly against the hard muscle of his thigh and came with a low moan.
Zane released her and licked over her skin again and again. “Did he touch you anywhere else?” he asked softly.
“No,” she said, doing her best to reassure him.
“Who do you belong to?” he demanded.
“You, only you.”
He pulled back from her, letting her feet touch the ground again.
“On your knees,” he commanded and reached for the button on his jeans.
Diane licked her lips and dropped, more than eager for what it appeared he wanted. Angel had told her to do whatever it took to keep Zane with her. She intended to. She just prayed he was keeping anyone who might be a threat occupied, as well. She watched Zane, knowing there’d be no stopping him, now. He made quick work of the zipper, jerking the material wide and shoving it down until his thick, black cock surged free, reaching toward his strong, taut belly. He gripped the hard stalk of flesh with one fist and pointed his cock toward her mouth.
“Lick it,” he ordered.