Angel sucked in a sharp breath. “Willa’s…?”
“Not her biological child,” Tarin swiftly denied. “But Indy has some sort of savior complex that drives her to risk her idiotic neck over and over when she knows someone is in danger.”
An odd combination of pride and gut-clenching fear raced through Angel at the thought of the female’s daring rescue missions.
“She helped you escape?” he demanded.
“Yes.” Tarin nodded. “I was a cavy in the Benson horror show.”
With an effort Angel squashed the thought of Indy deliberately putting herself in danger. It was too…disturbing. Instead he concentrated on the young male who had firsthand knowledge of Locke’s lab.
“What did they do to you?”
Tarin stiffened, his face tight with remembered pain. “I was given transfusions.”
“With Pantera blood?”
“Yeah.”
Angel frowned. Because of Lydia they knew that the Haymore Center had been used to impregnate human women with Pantera sperm. But they hadn’t realized there’d been secret experimentations with injecting humans with blood, bone marrow, and the Goddess knew what else.
“Did your captors say why?”
For a long, tense moment Angel thought the younger male might refuse to answer. Then, with a restless shrug, he paced across the floor.
“They would injure me and then give me the blood to see if it would help me heal.”
“Shit,” Angel breathed, comprehension slamming into him with the force of a freight train.
Their enemies had been experimenting with Pantera blood to determine if they could use it for their own gain. Why hadn’t the Pantera suspected that from the start?
“Did it accelerate your healing?”
Tarin continued to pace, his face averted as if he was ashamed of what the humans had done to him.
“It cured the diseases they infected me with and most of the physical wounds they inflicted.”
A fiery hatred scorched through Angel. What sort of twisted sicko would kidnap vulnerable children and abuse them as if they were no more than caged rodents?
“Those bastards,” he snarled, the human part of him as anxious as his cat to spill blood. Locke and his followers were evil. Pure and simple. “I’ll kill them.”
Tarin halted, turning to meet Angel’s burning gaze.
“Indy already did,” the younger male informed him. “Or at least the two guards who got their jollies by slicing me open and seeing how long they could make me suffer before giving me the blood.” Tarin shuddered, his eyes glowing gold. “I knew one day they’d go too far. That I’d die before they could heal me.” He held up his hand as Angel’s lips parted to interrupt. “And then Indy came,” he said, his devotion to the courageous female etched on his face. “She took two bullets before she got me out of there, but she didn’t complain once.”
Angel’s mouth went dry, his cat roaring in fury. Indy had been shot. She might have died before he ever met her.
Unacceptable.
Clearly she needed someone to protect her.
“You don’t have to worry,” he assured his captor. “My family is going to track them down and destroy each and every one of them.”
Tarin didn’t look particularly impressed by the promise.
“That’s fine, but don’t forget it wasn’t your family who got us out of the labs or captured a full-grown Pantera just because she was worried about Willa,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “That was all Indy.”
CHAPTER 4
Indy prided herself on her courage.
Her mother had broken her heart. Her captors had broken her body. But by god, no one was going to break her spirit.
Or at least that’s what she’d always told herself.
She couldn’t, however, deny that it was pure cowardice that’d kept her away from the Pantera currently residing in the locker room.
It wasn’t that she feared for her safety. He was, after all, safely locked in a cage. He couldn’t physically hurt her. But he disturbed her in a way that was downright embarrassing.
He was her prisoner. A tool to help Willa.
She wasn’t supposed to be lusting over him like an overly hormonal teenager.
Unfortunately, her body didn’t agree. Even after she’d left him in the locker room she could catch the enticing scent of his musk clinging to her body, as if he’d managed to mark her on some primitive level. And worse, when she’d stretched out on her narrow cot to try and get an hour of much needed sleep, her dreams had been consumed by X-rated fantasies of the gorgeous male.
Which was why she’d sent the breakfast tray with Tarin instead of facing the prisoner who was forcing her to confront needs she’d managed to keep buried for years.
Now entering the locker room to see Tarin’s eyes glowing with suppressed emotions, she felt a stab of guilt. Dammit, she should never have exposed the young man to the full-blooded Pantera.
“Caleb’s looking for you, Tarin,” she said in gentle tones. “I think he had a bad morning.”
Tarin instantly turned to send her a worried glance. “He can feel the Pantera.”
Angel made a sound of shock. “What did you say?”
Tarin turned to meet Angel’s disbelieving gaze. “Caleb said it’s like being near a tuning fork that keeps vibrating deep inside him.”
“Take him to Nadia,” Indy commanded. The young woman could soothe most aches and pains. “Maybe she can help.”
Tarin’s expression hardened. “Indy, you shouldn’t be alone with—”
“I’m not going to do anything to hurt her,” Angel abruptly intruded into the younger male’s protest. “I swear.”
“Go on, Tarin,” Indy urged, glaring at her prisoner. She didn’t need him making worthless promises. “I can take care of myself.”
With a grudging nod Tarin headed out of the locker room, the sound of his footsteps echoing through the heavy silence.
Indy’s attention never wavered from the large, painfully beautiful male who was watching her with a small, disturbingly smug smile.
“So you think you can take care of yourself?”
Indy jutted her chin. Okay, he was edible. And her body was tingling with a treacherous heat. But she didn’t let anyone treat her like she was some helpless bimbo.
“Yes.”
His smile widened. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
Stepping forward he grasped the bars of the cage and shoved the door open.
Indy blinked. Then blinked again. That shouldn’t be possible. The cages were specifically built to hold Pantera.
Had the fire somehow altered the malachite in the bars? Or had she simply gotten ahold of a defective cage?
The inane thoughts were shattered as she belatedly realized that she had a full-grown Pantera male stalking toward her with grim intent.
Oh…shit.
With a muffled cry, Indy turned and darted toward the door. She was too late. A step from escape she felt herself being scooped off the ground and tossed over Angel’s broad shoulder.
Furious with her stupidity in letting down her guard, Indy beat her fists against his back. It didn’t even occur to her to scream. There was no way she was putting any of the others in danger.
She’d already done quite enough…thank you very fucking much.
Intent on thumping her hands against his rock-hard muscles, she didn’t pay attention to where they were headed. Not until she heard a door slam and lock before he was lowering her to her feet.
A hasty glance revealed they were in a small office that had remarkably avoided the worst of the hurricane damage. The windows were intact, along with a heavy desk and two chairs and a row of file cabinets. The walls were peeling, but the linoleum floor had only small cracks.
Most importantly, it had only one exit.
And a very large, very dangerous Pantera was blocking it.
Indy scrambled backward. Screw her pride. Right now all that mattered was ge
tting some distance between her and the male she’d kidnapped and held prisoner.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
Angel leaned against the closed door, folding his arms over his chest. Then, lifting his hands, he slowly peeled off the thin surgical gloves that the bastard had no doubt stolen from the nurse’s office.
Shit.
That’s how he managed to endure touching the malachite.
“We’re going to talk.”
“Okay.”
She forced a smile to her lips even as her hand crept behind her. She’d stuffed her phone in the back pocket of her jeans. If she could get it pulled out far enough she could call 911…
There was a muttered curse before Angel was moving toward her with a blinding speed. Indy barely had time to process the fact he was standing directly in front of her before she felt the phone being snatched out of her hand and tossed against the wall with enough force to shatter it into a hundred pieces.
“Don’t be an idiot,” Angel growled.
Indy snapped her head up, her fear forgotten as a burst of fury raced through her.
“You’re pissing me off,” she snapped.
“Welcome to the club, honey.” He glared down at her, his sculpted features tight as he battled back an intense emotion.
Anger? Frustration? Hunger?
She licked her suddenly dry lips. “I was only trying to help Willa.”
“I know.” His brooding gaze lowered to her lips as he lifted his hand to brush the back of his fingers over her cheek and down the curve of her throat. Almost as if he was fascinated by the feel of her skin. “It’s the only reason I didn’t take off the second the malachite was burned from my system.”
She shivered, his light touch making her stomach clench with excitement.
“The gloves…”
Her words trailed away as his fingers brushed over the sensitive skin at her nape before plunging into her hair. Giving a light tug, he angled her head back, forcing her to meet the smoldering heat in his dark eyes.
“Yeah, you really should pay more attention to your prisoner,” he murmured, his tone distracted.
“Fine. I’m an idiot.” She tried to hold on to her anger. It was that or melt into a puddle of aching need at his feet. “Why don’t you leave?”
“Because you and your people have information we need.”
Her treacherous desire was momentarily forgotten as she realized what her impetuous decision to kidnap a Pantera had truly accomplished.
“Dammit,” she breathed. “Karen was right.”
His fingers stroked through her hair, his gaze still locked on her lips.
“Right about what?”
She tried to think, but suddenly the room felt way too small. Or maybe it was just Angel who was way too close. Either way, the force of his presence was making it impossible to clear her mind.
“I put everyone in danger,” she at last managed to mutter.
His brows snapped together, as if he was annoyed by her stumbled words.
“Stop that,” he growled. “No one’s in danger,” he denied. “And you saved Willa.”
Had she? She desperately wanted to cling to his words. It was unbearable to think that the little girl couldn’t be cured.
“What are you going to do?”
“Take her to the Wildlands,” he answered without hesitation. “The magic there is the only thing that will heal her.”
“You swear?”
“I swear.”
She studied the male face, struggling to resist the temptation to trace each perfect feature. Sometimes she wasn’t sure he could be real.
Her hand was actually lifting when she abruptly came to her senses. With a small shake of her head, she met his gaze that glowed with the power of his cat in the morning light.
She needed to get away from this male. He made her feel weak and vulnerable and dangerously needy.
Emotions she couldn’t afford if she was to continue her crusade.
“I want to say goodbye to her,” she muttered.
“There’s no need.”
She stiffed. “But—”
“You’re going with her.”
She stared at him in disbelief. Go to the Wildlands? Become a captive of the mysterious shifters?
Be with this male every day and night…
Oh no. Hell, no.
“Thanks, but I’ll take a hard pass on that,” she said in dry tones.
His fingers slid through her hair and down her nape, at last circling her throat.
“I’m not asking you, honey,” he murmured softly. “I’m telling you.”
She should have been terrified. This large male could break her neck and hide her body in the rubble in the blink of an eye. But it wasn’t fear that was making her heart pound and her breath rasp past her parted lips. Instead, it was the heated musk that was stroking over her skin like a caress.
“It’s not your call,” she tried to bluff.
He studied her pale features. “I think you’ll find that it is.”
“Angel.”
A low rumble vibrated in his chest. “I like my name on your lips.” His gaze lowered to her mouth, his eyes smoldering with a golden hunger. “Of course, I think there’re a lot of things I’m going to like on your lips.”
Stark, ruthless need blazed through her at the mere suggestion of kissing a path over his bare chest and down to the thick cock that was pressed against her lower stomach.
She’d needed to taste him. To feel his heat searing away the chill that’d haunted her since her mother had sold her like a piece of unwanted property.
She’d never ached for anyone or anything so badly in her entire life.
Which only reinforced her need to get as far away from this male as possible.
“Have you lost your mind?” she forced herself to mutter.
“Yes.”
***
Indy blinked at his blunt honesty. “Well…I…” She licked her lips. “That would explain several things.”
Angel grinned at her unexpected hint of bewilderment. He was a Pantera alpha. Her reckless courage was like an aphrodisiac. What other woman would have battled their enemy so boldly?
But there was something very sexy in that brief glimpse of vulnerability.
Rubbing his thumb up and down the side of her throat, he surveyed her pale, perfect features. Even wearing the oversized leather jacket and her face smudged with dust, she was still the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
“Do you ever give an inch, Indy?” he said softly.
She held his searching gaze. “Do you?”
“Never.” He smiled with slow anticipation. “It should make our relationship interesting.”
“Relationship?” Her eyes widened, but before she could speak, he had his arms wrapped around her waist and was jerking her against his chest.
With the patience of a Hunter, Angel waited until her lips parted in protest before he lowered his head to claim them in a rough kiss.
She made a strangled sound of shock. He didn’t blame her. He was a shitload of dazed and confused himself. How many females had been eager to crawl into his bed over the past century? Dozens. Hundreds. But no matter how flagrantly they’d tried to attract his attention, he’d never made a habit of grabbing and kissing them like he truly was an animal.
So why did Indy provoke him to a near violent urge to possess her?
A part of him feared the answer.
Okay, he desired her. He craved her with a force that was rapidly becoming an obsession, despite the fact they’d known each other only a few hours. But it was more than that. He was fascinated by her.
She was a unique challenge his cat couldn’t resist.
Tracing her full mouth with the tip of his tongue he slipped between her lips and tasted her decadent sweetness. The breath was ripped from his body. She tasted of summer lilacs with the tart edge of lemon.
A tantalizing combination that was as enticing as the fe
male who trembled in his arms.
His kiss deepened and Indy lifted her hands to press them against his chest. Shit. Was she about to pull away? A growl rumbled in Angel’s chest.
She was as aroused as he was. He could smell her desire. She might want to kick him in the nuts, but she still wanted him.
Then, without warning, she was melting into his arms.
Holy. Crap.
Pleasure blistered through him. It was a kiss. Just a kiss. He’d enjoyed thousands of them. But never had his entire body clenched with a hunger that nearly sent him to his knees. And certainly, his cat had never responded with such a fierce desire to claim a female.
“You’re not the only one who’s lost their mind,” she muttered.
“Good.” He caught her lower lip between his teeth. “Sanity is highly overrated.”
Her fingers grasped the soft folds of his sweater as Angel slid his hands beneath her jacket and up the curve of her spine. She was so delicate. So astonishingly tiny in his hands. It was easy to forget her fragility when she was in full battle-mode.
Now he reminded himself to use gentle care as he smoothed his hands down to her hips. With a muttered curse he skimmed light kisses over her cheek before he stroked the shell of her ear with his tongue.
She shivered beneath his touch and he felt that strange searing heat blast through him. A heat that was echoed in the beast prowling just below his skin.
He wanted to press her against the wall and wrap her legs around his waist. Or toss her on the floor and spread her beneath him. To part her thighs and lick the cream that was already gathering. To thrust himself into her until they were both exhausted and sated.
Instead he stiffened as he caught an unmistakable scent of Pantera swiftly approaching.
No, not now, he silently pleaded, well aware that he’d blown his opportunity to warn Indy that his brothers were on their way.
And now it was too late.
There was the sound of pounding footsteps before the door was smashed open and Bayon stepped into the room, one golden brow flicking upward as a devilish smile curved his lips.
At the same time Indy yanked out of his arms, her face flushed with fury. And worse, her eyes dark with a sense of utter betrayal.
“You bastard,” she husked.