Therian Prisoner(44)

Compassion warmed Lexxie’s gaze for a moment before she grinned. “Not by much.”

Heather reached for the radio. “If you’re just going to annoy me, I’ll pretend you’re not here.”

Lexxie caught her wrist. “Sorry. I know why you turned cold, but you can’t keep it up forever. Not if you want any kind of life.”

With a soft sigh, Heather lowered her arm. “When I find the right one, I’ll warm up. I know men aren’t all assholes.” She chuckled then shook her head. “I just haven’t found too many examples to help support the theory.”

“If it were me, I’d find someone dark and dangerous, someone so damn hot he was guaranteed to melt my ice-encrusted heart.”

Heather laughed, comforted by Lexxie’s outrageousness. “And we both know who you have in mind.”

All Lexxie said was, “Meow.”

* * * * *



Devon relaxed against Ian’s chest, content and sleepy. They reclined in a clawfoot bathtub that seemed out of place in his rustic cabin. She was nestled between his bent knees, her back pressed against his front and his hand covering one of her breasts. It was intimate, comfortable. In a word, perfect.

Round two in the meadow had been even better than round one. They’d taken their time, exploring with lazy fascination until they were both breathless and aching. Then he’d wrapped her legs around his waist as they sat facing each other and filled her by slow degrees. The memory made her shiver and his hand lightly squeezed her breast.

“I know what you’re thinking about,” he whispered in her ear.

“Round three?”

He slipped his hand beneath her and pinched her ass. She laughed and wiggled away. “You’re going to wear me out. Have you forgotten how old I am?”

“I’ll have a defibrillator standing by.” She turned around and knelt between his legs, framing his face as she slowly kissed him. A faint buzzing intruded on their pleasure and she sat back on her heels. “Is that your phone again? That’s the fourth time it’s gone off in the past ten minutes.”

“Fifth.” With obvious reluctance he climbed out of the tub, water streaming off his amazing body. He paused long enough to wrap a towel around his hips then fished his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. A swipe of his thumb brought the device to life and his expression grew stormy.

“What’s the matter?” She climbed out as well, borrowing his bathrobe off the hook by the door.

“Not sure.” He put the phone on speaker, but didn’t explain who he’d called.

“Took you long enough.” The rolling accent identified Payne. “Someone smashed through the window in the upstairs bedroom, grabbed the female doctor and flew away.”

“Flew away? How is that possible?”

“You tell me. Is another raptor interested in your territory?”

“There aren’t enough of us left to be territorial.”

“We need you here.” Payne sounded emphatic. “Mating rituals will have to wait.” Without giving Ian the opportunity to object, Payne ended the call.

“Where were they holding her?” Devon’s fists clenched as she thought of Carly Ides. The ambitious doctor had been the driving force behind many, if not most, of the indignities Devon had suffered. Was it too much to hope the raptor dropped her?

“Holt’s house.” Ian walked out into the main room and motioned for her to follow. “You need to bundle up. Flying after dark is always cold.”

“Why are we rushing to her rescue? Dr. Ides isn’t worth the effort.”

He crossed to the large wooden trunk that contained his clothing and casually dropped the towel. Knowing how her body reacted each time she saw him naked, she quickly averted her gaze. He seemed determined to oblige his friend, so round three would have to wait.

“The woman might not be worth saving, but we can’t risk what she knows falling into the wrong hands. At the very least, we need to figure out who took her and why.”

“And that can’t wait until morning?” She knew she sounded petulant but she didn’t care. All her life she’d been expected to remain calm and composed. Lashtons were leaders. The entire network looked to the Lashtons for guidance and reassurance, so Lashtons were not allowed to have problems of their own. She was tired of pretending nothing bothered her. She was disappointed and annoyed, and resentful of anything that benefited Carly Ides.

He stepped back into her line of vision and smiled. He pulled on a clean pair of jeans, but his chest was still bare. Gods how she wanted to touch him again, to lose herself in the pleasure and forget everything but Ian.