He did. She rolled swiftly upright, clambering off the sofa and padding to the door. The moonlight filtering in from the windows in the next room caressed her, making her skin gleam like priceless porcelain.
Desire stirred anew, but he ignored it and rose to stand behind her. Another heavy step echoed across the silence, then another. Cade frowned. Those weren't the steps of someone trying to sneak up on them. Quite the opposite, in fact.
"I think—"
"It's Ronan,” she said, at the same time, then added, “I'll go talk to him."
"Not na**d, you won't."
She turned around. The fury in her eyes should have been warning enough, but he was too busy watching the flicker of the moon's cold light in her glorious golden hair to actually watch what she was doing. He barely had time to register the fact that she'd raised her fist when the blow crashed into his chin with surprising force, snapping his head back and dropping him to the floor. He hit with a bone-crunching grunt and, for a moment, couldn't even breathe.
"Don't you ever use the moon's magic on me like that again.” She stood at his feet, her fists clenched, and her delicious body quivering with the force of her anger.
His own anger crashed through him, but desire came with it, so thick and fast it overrode his fury. God, she looked so beautiful standing there, with the heat of her rage warming the moon's porcelain glow on her skin. And though anger still burned, he wasn't exactly sure who he was angry at—her for punching him, or him for being decked so easily by a snippet of a wolf. “Or what?” he retorted. “You'll shoot me?"
"Shooting is too good for a bastard who abuses the moon gift.” Her gaze skated down his body and came to rest on his cock. “I think a well placed cut or two might be more advantageous."
"You'll never get that close with a knife, sweetheart, so drop the idea."
She bared her teeth. “Who needs a knife?"
He laughed, even though he knew her threat was very real. “Who'd have guessed the sweet wolf I'd promised myself to was such a hellion."
"Sweet?” She snorted softly. “I was many things, but I was never sweet. As you've already noted.” She glanced over her shoulder briefly and said, “Wait here."
Wait here, when she was out flaunting her worldly charms to another wolf? Not damn likely. He scrambled to his feet, but the sudden movement had pain shooting through his jaw and cheek. He winced and carefully touched the side of his face. Bruised for sure, and at least one loose tooth.
She sure could pack a punch. Physically and sexually. Which was why he wasn't about to let her go before this murder case was solved. As much as he knew it was stupid, as much as he understood the risk of getting involved with her again when a madmen hell bent on revenge was out there on the lose, he just couldn't help it. The moon had him in its grip, and there was no fighting it.
But that didn't exactly explain why he'd prolonged the situation by forcing her to agree to a longer term. Other than the fact that he wasn't about to let another wolf have what he wanted so badly. Not this time, when he could actually do something to stop it. The first time it would have endangered his mission. This time, there was no such restriction, and he'd be damned if he'd share her again.
He didn't care about the anger his demand had caused. She'd never denied her desire for him, and as long as that desire was still there, he was going to make full use of it. Besides, given the events that had unfolded after her actions ten years ago, his actions tonight barely scratched the surface of payback. At least she wouldn't come out of this bearing physical scars.
The murmur of conversation dragged him out of his thoughts and got him moving. He strode through the moonlit room and out into the corridor. The two of them were standing down the hall and far too close for his liking. They were talking so softly he couldn't make out what they were saying, but if body language was anything to go by, Ronan wasn't presenting Vannah with news she wanted to hear. As Cade approached the two of them, Ronan looked up, his gaze colliding with Cade's.
And what he saw in the other man's eyes didn't really surprise him. He'd expected anger and possessiveness, and they were both there, though not in the volumes he'd expected. What he didn't expect was what he found when he skimmed the ranger's thoughts. The reason for those emotions wasn't the fury of a wolf whose turf has been poached, but rather concern for Vannah herself. Beyond that, one clear and definite thought echoed—and it was a warning very evident in the clear gray depths of Ronan's eyes.
Hurt her, and you're a dead man.
Cade halted behind Vannah and crossed his arms. “What do you want, ranger?"
Ronan's gaze skimmed the bruised side of Cade's face, and amusement touched one corner of his mouth. “Trista and Anton are looking for you. Since neither of you are answering your phones, I thought I'd better come up here and warn you before someone else thought of doing so."
"If my team wanted me, they could have easily found me. I'm tagged with a locator."
"Then you wouldn't have minded them finding you like this?"
Ronan's tone suggested he minded very much. Cade resisted the impulse to bite back a comment on who actually had rights when it came to Savannah, but he simply growled, “What do they want?"
"How would I know? Your people play their cards very close.” He snorted softly. “Anyone would think we were in opposition, rather than on the same side in this investigation."
Cade ignored the barb. After all, Ripple Creek's rangers weren't exactly forthcoming with information, either. Given the tension emanating from the woman who stood so close to them both, he very much suspected the news about his team wasn't the only reason Ronan had come up here. “How did the name collecting go today?"
"A total of fifty-three people have checked in during the two weeks before the murders began. I believe Trista intends to run checks through your system."
Cade nodded. The IIS had access to a greater range of systems without having to go through the annoying “request for information” procedures the rangers had to go through.
"Any likely suspects at this stage?"