Page 48 of Marked By Moonlight

“You’ll what, Cooper? Slap her on the wrist. So what if she did the world a favor and took out two lycans? Big deal.”

Cooper? Her gaze darted back to her room, remembering the inscription in the book tucked away in the drawer.

“You know the rules, Gid. We don’t let women in.”

Interesting. Werewolf hunters were sexist. Guess they didn’t have to worry about the ACLU filing suit. Not when the world was ignorant of their existence.

“And she’s not,” Gideon returned. His voice sounded closer. The soft fall of footsteps signaled their advance into the living room. Her heart jumped and she cautiously rose to her feet, hands pressing flat against the wall on either side of her. If Cooper departed through the front door he would pass the stairs. One glance up and he would see her.

“I knowyouunderstand, Gideon. Just make sure your sister does, too.”

The step groaned beneath her shifting foot. Panicked, she dropped back down—and the step creaked in protest a second time. Her heart froze.

“What was that?” Cooper asked.

She bit the knuckles of one fist, welcoming the pain, deserving it.

“What?” Gideon asked, voice calm, even a touch bored.

“Do you have someone upstairs?” Cooper asked, his tone disapproving.

Claire jammed her eyes shut.

Gideon laughed dryly. “Would I be down here talking shop with you if I had someone upstairs?”

“Ah, hell. Suppose not.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid.Dropping her face into her hands, she shook all over.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Cooper announced.

Their footsteps faded back into the kitchen.

She waited and listened to their muffled good-byes, too afraid to move, to breathe, until she knew Cooper was out of the house.

Suddenly, Gideon stood at the foot of the stairs, glaring up at her with blood in his eyes. One hand gripped the railing. Her eyespenetrated the dark, noting the whitening of his knuckles the moment before he swung himself up the steps toward her.

With a hiss of alarm, she spun around on the balls of her feet. His hand closed around her ankle just as she reached the landing. He dragged her back down into the stairwell and flipped her on her back. A deep throbbing started in her abdomen, spreading outward, turning her limbs to mush.

Hands digging into her shoulders, he demanded, “What didn’t you understand about staying put and keeping quiet?”

“I only wanted to know what was going on.”

“So you eavesdropped?” he growled, his mouth so close their breaths mingled, fusing into one shared gust of air.

“You know a better way for me to find out what’s going on? You only tell me half-truths.”

His legs slid between her bare ones, the rough denim scratching the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. Her breathing hitched and she forgot about the stairs digging into her back. Forgot about everything except the wonderful weight of him bearing down on her.Damn primitive urges.

“Do you know what would happen if he found you?” He grabbed her face in both hands and his voice sounded strange to her ears—hoarse and uneven. “Nothing in the world could help you, then.” His eyes searched hers, glittering with an emotion she could not name. “He’d kill you.”

Her belly tightened at the feel of his broad, callused palms against her face. “Would you have stopped him, Gideon?”

He inhaled a ragged breath that shot through her like a bolt of high-powered voltage. His voice fell to a hush. “Don’t make me choose.”

She let the tips of her breasts brush against his chest, keenly aware that only the thin cotton of her T-shirt separated them. “Haven’t you already?”

He groaned, his look tormented, making her heart clench inside her chest.

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