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Any irritation Toni had felt sifted away, only to be replaced by a twinge of fear She reached behind her back to hook her bra "How serious is this?"

"Verra serious If he co other Malcontents with hi you, will be attacked"

A chill prickled her skin with gooseflesh "They know about this townhouse? I thought it was a secret" Daht she was safe from them

"Roman’s home is a secret, but this place has always been known in the Va, Roman hosts a conference at Romatech, and coven masters come frous’s company provides security Are ye decent now?"

She could be attacked again? God, no Meain

A forasped

Ian’s eyes widened "Toni"

Her hands fluttered around her panties and bra Dalanced at his face and saw his expression go from shock to horror

"Go away!" She turned her back to hi a guy’s horrified reaction to it?

"Toni, ye’re covered with bite marks"

"I knoas there when it happened" She rushed to the closet and yanked a pair of jeans off a hanger

"And yer hip It’s bruised so atlot"

"At the Shady Oaks Psychiatric Hospital?"

She gasped, and the jeans slid down to her knees "How--" She noticed his gaze drifting south, and she jerked the jeans back up "How did you know?"

"I’ator"

Da on me?"

He strode toward her "Is that yer suitcase there?"

She jumped aside to keep so?"

He opened the suitcase on her dresser and started filling it with her clothes "Finish getting dressed now"

She didn’t care for his authoritarian tone Or that he’d been spying on her She jerked a T-shirt off a hanger and pulled it on "Fine I’ll get dressed Then you won’t have to look so horrified at the sight of my body"

He paused with a handful of her panties in his fist "I was angry when I sa those bastards punctured you with holes I wasna horrified Yer body is beautiful"

How could she stay angry when he said that?

He dropped the panties in her suitcase "Please hurry We need to go"

"Where are we going?" She ran into the bathroo, and contacts, then tossed them into the suitcase

"I’ll take you to Rohter there Then the lads and I can return here to fight the bastards if they co safe, and she really hated the idea of seeing the Malcontents again, but so about Ian’s plan annoyed her She didn’t like being a weak damsel in distress She sat on the bed to pull on her socks "I’uys I was hired to fight"

Ian srabbed clothes from her closet and dumped them in her suitcase "Ye’re a brave lass, and I coht"

Norree Why risk her life over a vaht the Malcontents attacked her, it becaain, she had to do it She jerked on her boots "This is ht I won’t cower in fear I’ll do what I was hired to do"

Ian zipped her suitcase shut "Sweetheart, ye were hired as a day guard That ht daytiht for a reason Ye canna survive against a vaht"

"A lucky break"

"Look, sweetheart" She ood Do you need a demonstration?"

"Perhaps ye do" He vanished, and a second later he was behind her, pulling her against his chest She reacted quickly, ra a brick wall

His hands ainst her ear "The next sound ye would hear is the snapping of yer neck"

Rage swept through her Daainst them? The me her in horror She shook her head, trying to dislodge theback every excruciating detail A shudder alht," Ian whispered

"No!" She fought back the tears, but the led, the ered back "I--I hate your kind!"

His face paled She pressed a hand to her mouth, startled by the intensity of her outburst

His linted in his eyes "At least ye’re being honest now"

She splayed her hands across her scarred rib cage "They chewed on me like I was food Like I wasn’t human I was just a piece of meat" Tears rolled down her face, and she wiped her cheeks "I couldn’t fight them They took over my mind, and it was like my soul was squashed"

He pulled her into his arht "Lass, I would never har breath, and let it out "I know" She burrowed her face in his thick sweater and let his scent fill her nostrils He smelled clean, but earthy Sweet, but manly

He rubbed a hand up and down her back "I hope I do see those bastards tonight I’d love to skewer theainst his shoulder He still didn’t quite understand She appreciated his desire to protect her, but she didn’t really want a protector against evil vaiven their superior abilities, she didn’t think such a way existed And that’s what bothered her the most--the inequality and injustice of it all

"I wish I could whip your ass," she whispered

Ian chuckled "That’s irl"

She nestled her cheek deeper into his thick sweater He was surprisingly warm and wonderfully solid When he released her and stepped back, she wanted to throw herself back into his ared her suitcase off the dresser

She pulled on her coat and grabbed her handbag "Are you driving?"