that were almost an exact match to Caleb’s.
Oh dear lord…
Her knees collapsed as the world went black. With a soft groan, Karen tumbled onto the hard floor.
***
Ice tried to concentrate on keeping the Jeep on increasingly narrow roads as Cammy directed him through the darkness.
A task that was much more difficult than it should have been.
Dammit. He should have used their rest stop at the cabin to talk to her. It’s what he’d intended to do. After all, he was well aware that she’d spent the afternoon dreaming of him.
He’d caught the unmistakable scent of her arousal even as she’d softly whispered his name.
But he hadn’t missed her wary glances, or the way she’d kept a physical distance between them. She might be slowly accepting that she was sexually attracted to him, but she still battled against the deeper awareness that was forming.
His cat urged him to pounce, but his human heart warned that pressing her too far, too fast might ruin any hope of earning her as his mate.
Besides, they were on a mission to track down their enemies and retrieve one of their kidnapped packmates.
Not precisely the time or place to reveal his innermost feelings.
But as they neared their destination, Ice felt a knot of regret in the pit of his stomach.
He’d wasted years. First, by trying ignore his feelings for her. And then by being too cowardly to make his claim.
Was he really willing to walk into danger without telling Cammy how he felt, and what he wanted from her?
“Turn left on the next road,” Cammy said, interrupting his inner thoughts. “She should be just ahead.”
His decision made, Ice forced himself to concentrate on their surroundings.
For the past hour they’d been driving through empty farmland, but as Ice turned the Jeep down the road that had been recently graveled, his night-gaze caught sight of the outline of distant buildings.
Pulling to a halt, he leaned forward, studying the high chain-link fence that framed the industrial compound. He could make out a three-storied central building made of concrete blocks, with several smaller structures that looked like barracks. At the far end there was a runway with a metal hangar.
“It looks like an abandoned military facility,” he murmured.
“Not entirely abandoned,” Cammy said, nodding toward the prop plane sitting near the hangar. “Someone’s here.”
Ice glanced toward the fence. Even at a distance he could make out the cameras tucked into the barbed wire at the top. He could also see tiny sensors that he assumed were motion detectors. It wouldn’t be easy to approach without being noticed.
“We need to do a sweep to check the security before we try to enter,” he warned.
Cammy leaned down, pulling her handgun from the backpack at her feet.
“I’ll head to the south and meet you on the other side,” she said, instantly in warrior mode.
His body tingled with male appreciation. Was there anything sexier than a strong, beautiful female?
He reached out as she shoved open her door, grasping her upper arm. “Wait.”
She glanced back in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
He allowed his fingers to stroke upward, tracing the line of her shoulder. “I want to say something before we do this.”
Her eyes dilated with arousal at his light caress, but her expression was wary. “Ice—”
He interrupted her protest. “Please.” He wasn’t going to be stopped. Not this time.
She licked her lips, making him instantly hard. He’d spent more than a few hours fantasizing about having that lush mouth wrapped around his cock.
“What?”
His fingers traced the vulnerable curve of her throat, resting over the rapid beat of her pulse.
“When Parish requested that I return to the Wildlands, I resisted,” he admitted, the musk of his puma scenting the air. The animal inside him didn’t understand why he wasn’t pouncing on this female to physically prove he was stronger and more cunning than any other potential mate. It didn’t want to talk. It wanted to lick and bite and taste every luscious inch of Cammy before pinning her beneath him so he could take her with a wild hunger. “My parents often traveled to dangerous locations around the world and I felt it was my duty to protect them.”
She stilled, as if captivated by his soft words. “What made you change your mind?”
“You.”
Her eyes widened. “Me?”
His lips twitched at her blatant disbelief. He’d clearly done a better job than he thought at hiding his obsession with her.
“Trust me, I tried to fight it,” he said in wry tones. “But from the first time I caught sight of you I