Page 28 of Marked By Moonlight

His groan reverberated on the air and she winced, wondering if shooting him would not have perhaps been more merciful.

Gideon downed the last of the tepid 7-Eleven coffee and wadded the paper cup into a ball. With a curse, he tossed it to the passenger floorboard.

Where the hell was she?

When he got his hands on her…

It was his own damn fault, he reminded himself. He let his guard down, forgot what she was. Her sexuality overwhelmed him. Made him forget everything save burying himself in her body. Her lycan instincts were no less at her disposal just because she was unaware of their existence. Her bolting-fast reflexes and powerful kick could attest to that—as did four packs of ice and half a bottle of extra-strength Tylenol.

It had taken him a good while to pick himself off her bedroom floor. Good thing NODEAL agents weren’t the settle-down-start-a-family types because he seriously doubted his future ability to father children.

It had been one week since he had picked himself up off Claire’s bedroom floor. Panic threatened to swallow him whole at the prospect of not finding her again. That he might have set a lycan loose on the population made him slightly ill. Clearly, this was a lesson. And physically painful as far as lessons went. He should have destroyed her that first night. He should have said something when Cooper placed him on call—five days wasted on cleanup duty when he could have been tracking the lycan who had infected Lenny.

But he hadn’t expected her to run, had assumed to find her still in denial, going about her life in blissful ignorance.

He thumped the steering wheel with his fist. That first night had been ideal. Quick. Neat. Painless. Why didn’t he pull the trigger then instead of reholstering his gun and going against everything he believed in, everything he had been taught? In one simple act, he had turned his back on the very code that had been drilled into him. The code that he lived and killed by.

Destroy them at any cost.

Sitting outside her apartment, he told himself this wasn’t a useless venture. Someone would have to see to the cat she had left behind. She hadn’t left out enough food, and he knew enoughabout Claire to know that she was too responsible to forget about her cat.

Gideon had no idea if her parents lived in the area. It would take him the better part of a year to contact every Morgan in the greater Houston area. And time was the thing he needed most. Aside from Claire Morgan.

In minutes Gideon could have her complete file in his hands. But at what cost?

Typing her name into NODEAL’s database would wave a red flag for Cooper. If Gideon ran a search on her name, she would automatically be listed on the end-of-day activity report Cooper reviewed. Then he’d have some explaining to do. He wasn’t ready to admit that his own stupidity had cost him a lycan. Nor was he about to sic Cooper on her. If she had to die, he would take care of it. It was only right. She was his responsibility.

“Shit,” he swore under his breath. The new moon had come and gone. Time was running out. If he didn’t find her soon, he’d have no choice but to access the database.

From day one, everything had gone wrong. He could see that now. His first mistake had been identifying with the target, connecting with her. He had let her become more than a nameless animal. He had gotten a glimpse into Claire Morgan’s life. A life, for whatever reason, that provoked memories of his parents and disturbingwhat ifquestions. She wasn’t like the others. That much he accepted. Otherwise, she would already be dead.

And now she had bolted like a rabbit into the brush. Too late now, but he wished he had taken more aggressive measures to convince her. If he got a second chance he wouldn’t screw it up, he would—

He sat up alert in his seat as a woman parked in front of Claire’s apartment and stepped out of her Ford Ranger. She rifled through her purse as she shut the door with her hip. She was small, likeClaire, and carried herself with a quiet timidity. He caught a glimpse of her profile and instantly recognized her from the photos on Claire’s walls. The mother.

He hopped out of the Jeep and followed her to the door of the apartment, where she sorted through a ring of keys.

“Hello there,” he greeted, making his presence known.

With a squeak, she jumped and dropped the keys. He bent and picked them up, pasting on his most charming smile. He knew women appreciated his looks, never having a problem gaining female companionship when the need arose. But those were only temporary diversions. An agent’s life didn’t allow for commitments. Still, he thought it appropriate to exercise some of that charm right now.

“Sorry, ma’am. Didn’t mean to startle you.” He looked beyond her to the door, striving for a guileless expression. “Are you a friend of Claire’s?”

“I’m her mother.”

“Really?” Faking a look of shock, he went for the kill. “I thought maybe you worked together. You don’t look old enough to be her mother.”

Mrs. Morgan blushed, her hands fluttering self-consciously to her frosted hair.

He continued in a smooth voice. “I dropped by to see if Claire wanted to go to lunch. I’m Gideon.” He smiled and shrugged, a gesture meant to illustrate both his disappointment and his understanding if this was to be a day reserved for the two of them.

Mrs. Morgan’s gaze roamed his face and body appreciatively. “You and Claire are dating?” she asked with undisguised shock.

Had she seen her daughter lately? Yet he couldn’t help wondering how much of that magnetism was truly Claire and how much belonged to her lycan blood. The way her gaze devoured him, the way her body moved—if he didn’t get to her quick she’d probablyend up pregnant. The lycan instinct to seek a mate and procreate demanded it. She wouldn’t even know what drove her. But he did. He did, and he needed to stop her before her trouble multiplied. Literally.

“Well, yes, ma’am. You could say that.”

“Claire never mentioned—” Mrs. Morgan stopped abruptly, her gaze lowering. “But she wouldn’t. My daughter’s very private. Mike would just pester her to bring you home for dinner.”

---