Animal Instincts (Entangled Ignite)

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Animal Instincts (Entangled Ignite) Page 23

by Patricia Rosemoor

Boomer whined and barked once at something behind me.

  My pulse thudded and my mouth went dry when I sensed Luc’s presence. I wiped my hand across my eyes to dry them, then turned to see him standing in the bay window, staring at me.

  “Am I too late?” he asked.

  Somehow, I found my voice. “Shade already moved on, and Nuala blinked out.” I hated that I sounded breathless. Vulnerable. My anger put me on the defensive. “You should have gotten here faster if you wanted to see the show.”

  His brow furrowed into a puzzled frown. “I got here as soon as I could. Pop wanted to talk to me about Connelly.”

  The manner of the man’s death would always haunt me. “Did Cezar have some regrets?”

  “None. He simply wanted to make sure no one was blamed for Connelly’s disappearance.”

  Of course not. Heaven forbid that Cezar Lazare be blamed for any of his actions. “So he what? Cast a spell on the police so they’ll forget Connelly even existed?”

  “That’s a little beyond what even Pop can manage. He suggested that Connelly’s wallet should wash up on the beach north of The Ark, and that a witness will claim he stole a motorboat to make his getaway. The boat will be found near one of the water cribs.”

  The water cribs providing drinking water for the city were two miles out in the lake. “So the authorities will assume Connelly drowned.”

  Luc nodded. “Since no body will ever be found, they’ll assume he’s resting at the bottom of the lake.”

  So Luc had intruded on my grief just to tell me about his father’s clever plan.

  I snapped at him. “I’ll let Ethan know in the morning. Now if you don’t mind, you can do one of your vanishing acts. I’m exhausted.”

  My spine so straight I felt stiff, I started down the hallway toward the kitchen door and whistled for Boomer, who trotted after me.

  Luc’s words stopped me in my tracks. “When I asked if I was too late, I meant for us.”

  What was this? Another of his word games? I wasn’t playing anymore.

  Turning, I found him directly behind me. Too close. I licked my lips. “I don’t get it. What exactly are you saying?”

  “That I love you and want a future with you.”

  I nearly reeled with shock. “Why are you doing this?”

  My pulse thrummed and my head went light, but I couldn’t open myself up to more heartbreak.

  So when Luc came closer, hand reaching for me, I cried, “Don’t touch me.”

  He didn’t stop and I reacted on instinct. Furious, I hit him in the chest with the flat of both hands to make him stop. What felt like an electrical charge jolted up my arms to my shoulders, but Luc lit up like a Christmas tree, then flew back down the hallway and landed on his butt square in the middle of the dining room.

  He looked as shocked as I was feeling. I hadn’t thought to do him any harm, but apparently my anger had gone out of control even more than it had with Doyle’s wild dog. I could thank my ancestors and The Book of Powers for protecting me.

  “Are you going to do that to me every time I touch you?” Luc asked.

  “Which will be never.”

  He got to his feet. Despite his getting tossed, his lips quivered as if he were trying not to smile. “Remember how much you like me touching you?”

  He was putting out that seductive beacon again. As much as I tried to shut it out, a wave of familiar, knee-weakening sensation washed through me.

  “Luc, don’t.”

  Panic made me back up. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I didn’t want to be hurt again, either.

  So when he reached for me a second time, I batted away his arm. The mutual shock jarred me but sent him spinning into a wall, face first.

  He righted himself and his smile widened into a grin. “You’re angry with me.”

  “What was your first clue?”

  He was doing it again, making me feel things I didn’t want to feel. He stood so close that I had trouble breathing. He wasn’t even touching me this time, yet sensations I couldn’t banish spread throughout my body. I wanted to back up. To run from him. I couldn’t move. Instead, I imagined his touching me, his taking me, my giving over to him.

  “Luc, don’t make me feel things for you when you don’t mean it.”

  “What makes you think I don’t mean it?”

  “You walked away from me twice tonight. Okay, vanished once, walked the second time.”

  “Afraid for you once. Had to talk to Pop the second time.”

  “We’ve already been through that.”

  “Not all of it. Not the part when I told him I was coming for you.”

  “You told him?”

  “More like warned him. I told him I didn’t want any repercussions. That I was going to make sure you were safe no matter what.”

  “And he agreed?”

  “He didn’t disagree.”

  “What changed in a matter of hours?” I asked.

  “Nuala’s love for your brother made me rethink everything. She would have done anything to be with Shade, and she reminded me that she never abandoned me and that some people are worth fighting for.”

  My voice went up in pitch. “Now you think I’m worth fighting for?”

  “I think you’re worth everything to me, Skye Cross. I especially love you for your courage, which has nothing to do with your birthright. It’s who you are. An extraordinary woman.”

  He was so close, his breath whispered over my face as he spoke. I wanted to sway straight into his arms and stay there forever. Instead, I glared at him.

  “Um, I do I hold The Book of Powers, remember. You realize that I’m going to work to save humanity from Kindred corruption.”

  “That’ll be a challenging task, and I won’t try to stop you. I’ll even be there for you when you need me.” He grinned. “Besides, even if we’re not together, you’re bound to get into trouble anyway.”

  “And you won’t try to stop me?”

  “I have no reason to. I may continue to work for my father, but know that I will never pledge my soul to the Kindred.”

  I gasped. Could I believe him? “When did that happen?”

  “When I realized that’s who I was. No matter what you decide, I stand by you, because I love you. And when Pop gets to know you, he’ll give you his respect.” His expression intent on my face, he asked, “So what do you say? Can you see a future with me?”

  His voice was as mesmerizing as his touch. As he had on the first night we’d met, he made my insides tremble and my breasts feel full and tight. Every fiber in my being longed to say yes, but I couldn’t speak.

  Instead, I slipped my hands up his chest. Little sparks followed the trail made by my fingers, making me think any heightened emotion could transform me. Which would make the future even more interesting for us.

  I wound my arms around Luc’s neck and felt the current pass through us and bind us together. I kissed him until we were both breathless.

  “Let’s go upstairs…um, the human way, so Boomer can come with us. If you’re serious about us, I have some cats who need to put their paws of approval on you.”

  “No problem.”

  Grinning, he kissed me again, picked me up, and carried me upstairs and into our supercharged future.

  About the Author

  With 90 novels and more than seven million books in print, Patricia Rosemoor is fascinated with “dangerous love” – combining romance with danger. She has written various forms of romantic and paranormal romantic thrillers, even romantic horror, bringing a different mix of thrills and chills to her stories. Patricia has won a Golden Heart from Romance Writers of America and two Reviewers Choice and two Career Achievement Awards from RT BOOKreviews, and in her other life, she teaches Popular Fiction and Suspense-Thriller Writing, credit courses at Columbia College Chicago.

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