Page 4 (1/2)

"I didn’t do anything! I swear All I did was push his arm away and he fell over"

Zach’s heavy brorinkled for a second; then those pale green eyes of his ide as if he’d just figured out what had gone wrong "Co her down to the floor until her hand was pressed flat against Drake’s stomach--his bare, hard, warm stomach that should have been co had worked it up over his ribs and she could see half of a large tattoo running up over his left side It was a tree, inked in lifelike colors and perfect detail Every swirled knothole, every twist of the tree’s roots were so realistic she was sure she could alertips Fine tendrils of roots spread down over his stomach and disappeared beneath the belt on his jeans She refused to think about where they led

Her fingers touched his skin, and it didn’t take two full seconds for Drake to relax Bothso on, and at this point she wasn’t sure she wanted to know All she wanted was to take Miss Mabel back home and crawl into a deep, hot bath for about a week She was fairly certain she couldn’t burn alive in a bathtub, and it was the only ti with us," said the big guy His bright blue eyes scanned Drake’s body, concern pulling at his brows

"No, I’o of Helen’s wrist and stood up She should have pulled away and headed for the door, but so beneath her hand Drake’s skin heated and she was flooded with that odd rush of energy she’d felt before It filled her up inside, like a war all the cold, dark little cracks and holes inside her There was a faint buzzing sensation and the taste of honey in her ht Buoyant

This wasn’t right It felt incredibly good, but it wasn’t right This wasn’t supposed to happen Couldn’t be real

She started to pull her fingers away, but Drake’s hand caught hers before she finished lifting theers wrapped around her wrist and she could feel that disturbing huersalert and coherent, and she felt the soft knit of his shirt pool against her wrist He held her hand in place and leaned forward until there was barely two inches between theure out what this thing between us is"

It was a vow She could feel the power of it settle around the two of the out the rest of the world

This wasn’t real This wasn’t happening A lot of strange things had happened to her throughout her life, but this ay off the weird chart "There is no thing between us"

He gave her that half smile from her vision "There is now"

Behind him, just inside thethat led to the diner’s kitchen, orange flaeyser

Fire The s skin

Helen’s world collapsed down to a pinpoint of panic she couldn’t escape It sucked her in and robbed her of oxygen She couldn’t even remember how to breathe

Chapter 2

Zach liked a little spice in his women, but this was ridiculous He’d seen the sexy little waitress sneak around the counter with that knife After the stunt she’d pulled with that damn skewer, Zach didn’t doubt for a second that she’d use it He knew she would The trickle of blood running down his arirl?" Zach asked her, stalking closer She was so da brown eyes were dark, like bittersweet chocolate, which he guessed fit her personality well She’d been all sugar and sht theht her friends were in danger, all that sugar had bloay, leaving the real woman behind Ferocious Lovely That dainty pointed chin of hers wasn’t fooling him She was all spirit and backbone and he loved it

Lexi wasn’t very big, but that wasn’t her fault She was built with quality in irl hair and the brief flash of the tattoo she had spiraling down fro for hie was--he just had an impression of sinuous curves--but it didn’t h to take the pain, that she illing toshe found beautiful This vicious streak she was showing noas just an added bonus

Now, if he could get her to put down the knife, they could have a nice, long talk, and maybe after his as done, she’d let him see just how far below her low-rise jeans that tattoo went

From the corner of his eye, Zach saw the little old lady had recovered her walker and was headed for the telephone The last thing they needed was for her to call in a bunch of hu Drake had done was enough fun for one night

Drake was sitting up nohich was a good sign, but sunset was in less than a ly to fucking ugly in a heartbeat Those deet out of their dank hidey-holes and start hunting The scent of blood running down Zach’s ar to ensure that this was one of the first places they stopped

Lexi was circling to his left, toward the old woman--likely to protect her As if any of the Sentinels would ever hurt some old lady Of course, she couldn’t know that

"Put down the knife, honey There’s been enough bloodshed for tonight"

"I’ll tell you when I’ve shed enough blood," she spat

Zach wanted to kiss that violent ht she was pretty before when she’d been Lexi the Waitress, but now that she was Lexi the Avenger, she was glorious Stunning

He athered up sy from the air The added power hurt like hell, but he needed it tosure he had a way to keep tabs on her One little touch and he’d leave behind a tag that he’d be able to follohere All he had to do was get close enough to touch her without getting sliced open Logan wouldn’t appreciate having to patch hiht had really even started