Taken at Dusk (11 page)

A frown pulled at his brows. “I wouldn’t let anything hurt you.”

“I know, but I’d feel better if we went that way.” She nodded back to the clearing.

“Fine.” He began walking in that direction. “But start talking. Why are you afraid? Is it still the elderly couple?”

“No.” She wished she could see the clearing of the woods ahead, but the night seemed to close in on her.

Suddenly, something dark
whoosh
ed down from a tree. She lurched back and pulled him with her. Her heart shot up in her throat. She tightened her hand in his, and with everything she had, she started to run. He ran with her, two people moving in one solid, fluid motion, his palm clutched tightly in hers.

*   *   *

Once they reached the clearing, Kylie stopped, bent over, and hungrily sucked oxygen into her lungs.

Finally rising, she looked at him. Out from under the thicket of the trees, night hadn’t completely fallen and she could make out his features.

He stood there, watching her. He didn’t gasp for air or hold his stomach the way she did. Damn it! He didn’t even look winded.

Curiosity filled his eyes. “It was just an eagle.”

“It was?” She looked up at the sky, which was painted with only a few lingering colors of sunset, and prayed the bird hadn’t followed. Thankfully, only the first few stars of the night twinkled back at her. No eagle. At least she didn’t see it.

“Did it follow us?” she asked, remembering he could see better than she could.

“No.” He studied her. “Something happened, didn’t it.”

“Yes. Maybe. Just weird stuff.” She realized she still held his hand, and while it was balmy outside, his hand felt nice. It warmed her palm in a good way, like a cup of hot chocolate, a comforting feeling. While his touch didn’t hold the magic of the fae to calm one’s fear, it did calm her.

“Come on.” He went back to running. Fast. Then faster.

Every time she’d push herself to meet his speed, he’d increase it. Then he’d glance at her as if to make sure she wasn’t having to work too hard. She got the feeling he was testing her, wanting to see just how fast she could run.

“Where are we going?” she asked, barely able to speak.

“To the creek.” His voice sounded even.

His pace kept getting faster. Wanting to impress him, forgetting all about the eagle, she pushed herself to keep going. Finally, he stopped. Not prepared for the halt, she continued forward. She felt the tug on her arm where she still held his hand, and then suddenly his arm swooped around her waist.

Out of energy and off balance, she fell into him and they both went down. Not hard, or at least not for her, because she landed on top of him.

“You okay?” Her heart still pumped, her chest moving up and down as she gasped for air. As her lungs expanded again, she became aware of the intimate way her body rested against his.

He laughed. “Me okay? You’re the one who can’t breathe.” He wrapped his arms around her. His hands rested on the small of her back.

“I can … breathe.” She laughed. Warm contentment filled her, and she realized she liked being with him. Liked being this close. Maybe too much.

She could feel every inch of his body under hers, and it made her even more breathless. She rolled off of him. The earth and grass beneath her back felt cool, especially considering how warm he had been. The sounds of the night, crickets and a few birds, sang around them. She stared through a curtain of her hair at the midnight blue sky and focused on a star flickering its brightness down from the heavens.

“I’m impressed. I didn’t know you could run like that.” He rolled to his side, propped up on his elbow, and brushed her hair from her face.

“Yeah.” One word was all she could manage. She blinked and stared up at his face. Even in the night, she could see and appreciate the angles and lines of his features. He was so masculine. Always had been, even when he’d been seven. But now, with the light shadow of a beard, he was downright stunning.

The temptation to touch his cheek, to run the tips of her fingers over the stubble, tiptoed through her mind.

She inhaled, her lungs still thirsty for oxygen. Suddenly the sound of water trickling nearby filled her senses. “Are we…?” She raised her head and realized they’d arrived at the creek, the spot she’d brought her mother the day she’d asked about Daniel.

Sadness whispered through her when she remembered she might not see her dad again. She pushed that back and tried not to let the happiness of this moment melt away.

“We made good time.” She realized how far they had run.

“How long have you known you could run like that?” he asked.

“Only since I’ve been here. But I’m getting faster.”

He picked up a thick lock of her hair and watched it slide off his palm. His face was only a few inches from hers. She saw him tighten his brows to check out her pattern.

“It’s still a mystery,” she said.

He met her eyes. “You don’t even suspect what you are?”

She frowned. “I wish.”

He pulled a long blade of grass from the ground and twirled it in his fingers. Then he looked over his shoulder at the moon, only half-full. “When I was a kid and lived next door to you, when I’d shift, I’d jump the fence into your backyard and watch you through your bedroom window, waiting and hoping I’d see you turn.”

“You peeped into my window?”

He smiled. “It’s not like you were naked or anything. You mostly wore that Little Mermaid nightshirt.” A laugh spilled out of his throat. “You looked like an angel. Sometimes I would stay there half the night thinking you still might turn.”

She studied his eyes. “Did you think I was a werewolf?”

“I hoped.” He touched the tip of her nose with the grass. Then he slid it over her lips. It tickled and yet somehow felt seductive.

He continued staring as if remembering. “I wanted to run in the woods with you. To show you how fast I could go. To take you to my favorite watering hole so we could chase each other in the spring and play in the moonlight.”

“Do you still hope I’m a werewolf?”

He hesitated. “Yeah. I probably shouldn’t tell you that, but yeah, I do. It would make everything easier.”

“Make what easier?” She thought about what Fredericka had said.

“Everything.” He brought the blade of grass back over her lips. “I wouldn’t have to be away from you when I shift. We could hunt together. You would be with me when I’m leading the pack.”

The thought of hunting and killing wild animals didn’t sit well with her, even being with the group of weres that included Fredericka didn’t hold a lot of appeal, but she tried not to let it show.

“We’d make a great team.”

“And what if I’m not a werewolf?”

He smiled, but for just a second she thought she saw disappointment in his eyes.

“We still make a good team,” he said.

“Does everyone feel that way?” she asked, not wanting to mention Fredericka.

“What do you mean?”

“The last couple of times we’ve been together, someone from the pack sent for you as if they didn’t want you with me.”

“It’s nothing,” he said.

“You sure?”

He tickled her cheek with the grass. “Trust me.”

“I do trust you.”

“You haven’t told me what you’re afraid of.”

She bit down on her lip. He swiped the blade of grass over her mouth.

“Start talking.”

She told him about the eagle and the snake and then about the huge buck and the lightning.

He frowned. “Do you think Derek is doing this? He communicates with animals.”

“No. Derek wouldn’t do that.”

“You say that like you trust him.” Lucas’s tone deepened.

“I do. Please don’t take it the wrong way. It’s over with us, but I know he wouldn’t try to hurt or even scare me. He cares about me.”

“And you him?” His eyes went from blue to almost orange.

“Yes. But it’s still over.” She could tell he didn’t like hearing her say that, but he seemed to understand. For a flicker of a second, she wondered how long it would be before she could understand it herself.

He stared back up at the moon. “If it’s not him, then who?”

“I think Holiday and Burnett believe Mario and Red are behind it. And they sent the impostors posing as my grandparents. But then Della said that they’re vampires, not shape-shifters, so they couldn’t be doing it themselves.”

“Maybe Mario has a shifter working for him. Though it’s uncommon that two species work together like that.” He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I won’t let that creep lay another finger on you.”

She knew he really didn’t have the ability to keep that promise, but she liked hearing it.

Then, because it felt good talking about it, she told him about the ghost and the bird falling from the tree.

He looked concerned. “Do you think she’s a death angel?” He was obviously more disturbed by the ghost than the fact that Kylie had brought a dead bird back to life.

“No, but I think she’s a supernatural.”

“Did you check her pattern?”

“That’s part of the problem. She doesn’t have one.”

“Everyone has a pattern,” he said.

“But she doesn’t. Before she disappeared, she told me the others were out there.”

“What others? Like more ghosts?” Lucas looked around.

“I don’t think she meant ghosts. She made it sound like they were evil.”

“And ghosts aren’t evil?” he asked in disbelief.

“Not really. At least none of them that I’ve met.”

He shook his head. “I can’t imagine dealing with them.”

She hesitated before answering. “It was hard in the beginning. It’s still freaky, but not as bad.” She met his eyes. “Besides, I can’t imagine shifting into a wolf.”

He smiled. “It’s a piece of cake. I hope you figure that out for yourself, too.”

She chewed on the fact that he really wanted her to be werewolf. No disrespect intended, but she wasn’t so sure she shared his hope.

“I heard you experienced some of the mood swings last month.” His gaze lowered to her breasts. “You also underwent some hormonal changes like female weres do.”

Yeah, she’d grown an inch, a cup, and a shoe size—not so strange until you realized it happened overnight. Not that she really liked being reminded of it. Her face heated.

She pushed back the embarrassment. “True, but there’s just as much evidence that I’m not a were. According to Holiday, weres are seldom ghost whisperers. They start turning when they’re very young and they don’t have the ability to dreamscape.”

A light smile appeared in his eyes and, blast it, she knew exactly what he was thinking about, too. The dream. The one of them swimming, practically naked and …

“Guess we’ll have to see in a couple of weeks when the moon is full.”

He ran the blade of grass over her lips again and then down past her chin.

Her breath almost caught when it glided across the swell of her breasts above the cut of the tank top. It was just a piece of grass, but it could have been his finger for the sweet sensation pouring into her chest.

He leaned down, his lips inches from hers. “I have a request.”

“What’s … that?” She was barely able to think, much less speak.

He swept the blade of grass up and swirled it around her forehead. “When you close your eyes and get images flashing in your mind…”

His words reminded her of what he’d heard her say to Della about the porn movie. Her face grew hot again.

“I want that movie playing in your mind to be of us. Only us.”

She felt the warmth of his mouth, then in a flash he pounced over her. He landed in a crouch, then slowly rose, a low growl rumbling from his throat as he stared out at the line of trees.

She scrambled to her feet. “What is it?”

He looked back at her. His eyes glowed that bright burnt orange color. “Someone’s coming.”

Chapter Ten

Kylie’s heart started to pound. “Should we run?”

“No.” Lucas’s defensive posture relaxed. “It’s just—”

“Me,” another deep male voice said.

Kylie recognized the voice before she saw Burnett standing behind her. Even in the darkness, she was close enough to recognize the look of discontent on his face. His eyes weren’t glowing, so it wasn’t about danger, but everything in his expression said he wasn’t happy. And he was looking right at her.

What could he be so upset about?

He stepped closer, his presence larger than life. “Holiday is—”

All it took was his two words and Kylie had her answer. “Crap! Holiday was supposed to come by my cabin. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” he said. “And she really got worried when we couldn’t find Della, who was supposed to be your shadow.” He turned his focus on Lucas, and his grimace deepened.

“Where’s Della?” Kylie asked. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. She and Miranda had gone for a swim. But none of this would have happened if someone hadn’t insisted she be relieved of her shadow duties.”

“That’s my fault,” Kylie insisted.

“It’s not anyone’s fault.” Lucas stiffened his shoulders. “I wouldn’t have let anything happen to Kylie.”

“That’s not the point,” Burnett growled into the night. “Considering your affiliation with the FRU, you of all people should understand the importance of following protocol. I assigned Della as Kylie’s shadow, and it’s not your place to change my orders. And by changing them, you caused this situation.”

“I wouldn’t have had to change it if you’d assigned her to me in the beginning as I asked. And considering my affiliation, you should trust me to protect her.”

Kylie looked from Burnett to Lucas and then back again. “I’m the one who forgot about Holiday. If anyone is to blame—”

“I came looking for you,” Lucas snapped, as if refusing to let her take any blame. He stared back at Burnett. Lucas’s eyes started to change colors.

An owl called out in the woods. The half-moon seemed to grow brighter as the two of them, vampire and werewolf, stood staring at each other.

Burnett was the first to blink, not that it came off as weakness, but rather a sign of reasoning. “Trust is earned. Your overconfidence will not serve you well in the FRU.”

“My overconfidence only comes second to yours,” Lucas said. “And I think it’s part of the reason the FRU is interested in me.”