Page 47 of The Hunted
He quickly lost his cocksure attitude.
I’d hit a nerve. Giddiness made me smirk until he ambled up to the bed and leaned over so his mouth ghosted over mine. My pulse shot off the charts. My breathing increased, and I wanted nothing more than to have his lips on mine, his tongue in my mouth, and to taste his blood once again.
Oh my word. My brain cells are fried. What is wrong with me?
His eyes flickered from green to silver then back to green.
I shuddered under his scrutiny. He was unnerving, yet there was no place I would rather be than this close to him. I was losing my humanity. That was the only reason I could think of for feeling the way I did.
He licked his top lip, and I swallowed a moan.
“Asshole,” I squeaked. “What did you do to me?”
His nostrils flared. “Why do you keep insisting I’ve done something to you?”
I pushed out an exasperated sigh. “Look, just take these restraints off. Please. I would like to see Rianne and then leave.”
My plan was to run as far away as possible. If I stayed, I couldn’t promise myself I would not crawl into his bed. Then again, I didn’t know where Sam lived, and I needed to keep it that way.
He finally straightened to his full height, shoving a hand through his thick black strands and pulling the leather strap out of his hair.
I’d never been that girl who drooled over men with hair below their ears or longer. Jordyn had a thing for men with that particular style. Rianne loved the military cut. My tastes fell somewhere in between, but I couldn’t deny the way the waves of black framing his face only enhanced his beauty—strong jaw, thick lips, long lashes, and dimples that softened his hard exterior.
He snapped his fingers. “Did you hear me?”
I oriented my vision with a blink and shook my head. “You said something snarky, I imagine.”
He ignored me and removed the restraints.
Once my wrists were free, I rubbed one then the other. “Thank you. How long was I out?”
“A few hours,” he said.
Again, it felt like days.Time to blow this joint.I was about to swing my legs over the bed, but Sam had other plans.
“Not so fast.” Gone was the cocky tone, and in its place was something far scarier than I’d heard before from Sam Mason. “Here’s what’s going to happen next, Layla. I’ll take care of Rianne, then you can spend a few minutes with her. After that, you’re all mine. You will come clean on why you’re here.”
“I told you why I was here. Your father wants my help with Dowell, but I really don’t have anything else to say about him.” I tried to stand. “Now get out of my way. It’s time you bring Rianne back.”I hope she kicks the shit out of him.
He placed a finger under my chin. The lightest of his touches sent an electrical current straight to my clit. “Like I said, you will come clean on why you’re really here. If you don’t, I will tie you up in a prison cell then tell your uncle Jack that you left the city. Your family will never see you again.”
I reared back. “Come again? My uncle?” As quick as the shock hit, it vanished. Steven knew my family. “Did your father call him?” I prayed not. A fight between my family and the Masons would not be pretty. My uncles, cousins, and whoever else they had recruited would not stand a chance against the Masons or the vampire SEAL team.
“You’re afraid of your uncles.”
I pushed him, but he didn’t budge. “You should be too.”
“Interesting,” he said. “I detect some animosity within your family.”
“It’s none of your business. Now, I suggest you take me to Rianne.” My sisters and I hadn’t had contact with Uncle Jack in over a year, but if I needed his help, I wanted to believe he would come running. The last conversation I’d had with my uncle had ended in a big fight.
“I’m in charge. It’s my job to protect you now that your father is dead,” Uncle Jack had said. “So you will do as I say. You will not be hunting anymore.” The bottom line was that Uncle Jack wanted to control us like he did everyone else in the family. I hated to be told how to live my life, as did my sisters. So we’d packed up one night and hadn’t looked back.
My family wasn’t the issue, though; not even Sam or his father or Dowell was, either. Roman and the shifter were the elephants weighing me down. I envisioned Vera, torturing Jordyn.
Maybe I should tell Sam about Roman. The SEALs stood a better chance in helping me rescue Jordyn.
Sam’s hot breath tickled my ear. “You spaced on me.”
