time to grab her shoes or a coat, but at least it wasn’t too cold outside. “They’re coming down the street. We’ll have to go this way.”
She bent at the waist, pulling back, trying to free her arm. “What are you talking about? I didn’t hear anything.”
Neither had he. Panic tried to grab him, and he pushed it away. Promise’s safety was all that mattered. “I sense them,” he muttered.
The doorbell rang, and they both froze. Her eyes widened. “The killer is ringing my doorbell?” she whispered, incredulity tilting her mouth.
So they didn’t know he was there. They’d sense him any second. He needed to find safety for her and now. “Guess so.” Without waiting for an answer, he tugged her into the storm, all but forcing her across the fenced backyard toward the cliff, where the ocean crashed far below. Rain poured down, sliding into his eyes. Wet grass covered his boots. The wind battered them as if trying to force them back inside. He shook his head, reaching the edge and pressing his lips toward her ear to whisper, “Is there a way down?”
She elbowed him in the ribs and yanked wet hair out of her eyes. “No, you crazy bastard.” The rain soaked her pink blouse, molding the material perfectly to high breasts. Full breasts in perfect proportion to her curvy hips.
He tore his gaze away from her and searched wildly around. They couldn’t go out the front door, and no doubt the Kurjans had the street covered. He leaned closer to the edge and peered down into the darkness. Way down. The tide was high, and waves pummeled over rocks to the shore. “There has to be a way to the beach.”
She pointed her wet hand to the west. “About a mile that way, there’s a trail. You go that way, and I’ll answer my door.”
They couldn’t go that way. The Kurjans were too close. The storm blanketed their signatures, but even so, he’d spent lifetimes hunting and fleeing predators too unimaginable for this world. Even when he had nothing else, he was a survivor. But the female next to him, the one fighting his hold again, was all human. Fragile and breakable.
Giving her a jerk toward him, he freed his phone from his front pocket and pressed speed dial.
“Ronan,” his brother answered easily, munching on something.
“I’m at Promise’s home, and the Kurjans are out front,” he said quickly. “Get to the beach below her house as soon as you can.” He clicked off.
She slapped at his hand. “You really are crazy. I should’ve trusted my instincts, but no. I had to believe the guys in suits just because they had money to grant the university.”
He dragged her to the nearest side fence and looked over to see a Kurjan jumping the fence at the other side of a wide yard. “Shit.”
She bent over and bit his hand, trying to dislodge his grip.
Without pausing, he pulled her back toward the edge of the cliff again, ignoring the pain.
She stopped fighting him, gasping, her chest rising rapidly. “What in the world are you doing?” she hissed, her voice clear through the pounding rain.
Oh, she wasn’t going to like this. Not at all. “Do you trust me, Missy?” he asked, seeing her easily in the dark.
“No.” She kicked him in the shin with her bare foot and then winced, setting it back down in the wet grass. “Let me go, you lunatic.”
It hurt a little that she didn’t trust him. It shouldn’t, and usually nothing hurt him, but they’d almost had sex. “You probably shouldn’t sleep with people you don’t trust,” he said, angling his head to see better. Even with his preternatural eyesight, the bottom of the cliff was dark. Way too dark.
“I didn’t sleep with you.” She kicked him again, this time in the knee. “Let me go. I won’t call the cops. Just go away.”
A flash of white caught his eye from the corner of the house. “Sorry about this.” He picked her up, holding her against his chest.
She froze for a second and then sucked in air to scream. “No!” Her nails scraped down his damaged neck.
He jumped, rolling in the air and wrapping himself around her as much as possible. Then he let gravity win.
Chapter Ten
Cold air rushed her, even while raw male heat surrounded her. The storm stole her screams. She shut her eyes, frantically fighting Ivar, until a spray of ocean caught her. They hit the beach hard, his back taking