Seth inhaled and turned back to stare out along the private drive and the vehicles rolling to a stop. Another Breed heli-jet flew overhead. Hopefully a few additional security members, Seth thought. Damn, he didn’t like this. The threat, the intel that another attempt would come here, within his own private fortress. And he had pushed Dawn away.
Ten f**king years he had dreamed of her, dreamed of having her here, by his side. Letting it go was the hardest thing he had ever done.
“Seth.” Lawe stepped up to him, his expression somber, but his eyes gleaming. “Dawn’s just arrived to take command of the group. Good luck, man.”
CHAPTER 4
She was just entering the wide, sheltered portico of the mansion, her duffel slung over her shoulder, when she saw him.
The door jerked open and he stepped from the house, his expression livid, his gray eyes dark and firing with fury as he slammed the door closed.
Dawn smirked. It was completely unlike her; everything rolling through her senses and her emotions was completely un-Dawn-like since she had learned Seth had a lover. She stopped, cocked her hip and stared back at him as he stalked over to her, gripped her arm above the hem of the long-sleeved light jacket she wore and steered her to another entrance. Steered her nothing—he was dragging her. The heat of his palm raced through the thin material of the black jacket, fired against her flesh and sent erratic impulses rushing through her body. Past arousal was nothing compared to what she felt now. It wasn’t arousal—it was an imperative, all-consuming hunger and a need that she couldn’t survive without fulfilling. He was hers. He was a part of her soul. When had that happened? Other than those brief days ten years before, she hadn’t allowed herself to be alone with him, hadn’t allowed herself the hope that she could have more than the nightmares.
She didn’t want the pity. She didn’t want the knowledge in his eyes of what she had been, but she couldn’t bear to lose him either.
He pulled her into another door, slammed it closed, then swung her around to face him. Dawn smiled mockingly as she looked around the huge, deserted laundry room.
“Isn’t this just a little too clichéd, Seth?” She drawled. “And here I’m not wearing my little French maid
outfit. Should I change for you?”
My God. His eyes. For a second, the hunger, the lust that fired inside them wiped the thoughts from her head and the saliva from her mouth, and not in fear. She could smell the lust pouring from his body, his pores, filling the room with the subtle scent of male musk and heated flames. It was the most erotic scent she had ever known.
“Who the hell are you and what did you do with Dawn?” he snarled. “Better yet, why the f**k are you here?”
“What, didn’t want me to witness you going to your knees in surrender when you propose to your little bunny of the month?” she shot back, and watched as his nostrils flared, his head jerking back in surprise.
“Didn’t think Callan would tell me, Seth?” She wrinkled her nose as she had watched Cassie do a dozen times when slapping down one of the Breeds for impertinence. “Didn’t think poor little Dawn could handle the sight of it?”
His lips thinned as she watched the anger build inside him. Well, that was fine with her. Let him get mad. Let him get as mad as she was and let him burn inside.
“You’re right.” She lifted to her tiptoes and almost, just almost managed to get right in his face as she dropped the duffel bag, placed her hands against his chest and pushed furiously. “You have a problem on your hands, stud. See how you can fix it.”
He fell back a step, his expression frankly incredulous as she felt, scented, knew, the hunger that began to whip through his system.
The power of it slapped around her, tore through her like lightning and left her struggling to breathe as they glared at each other like combatants.
“You don’t want to be here,” he snarled. “God damn you, Dawn. I won’t let you f**k me up again, and I won’t let you f**k my body up again. Get your ass back on that heli-jet and get out of here. I don’t want you here.”
“Liar,” she growled furiously. “I can feel how much you want me here. I can smell it. I can feel it like flames burning over me, so don’t even try to tell me you don’t want me here.”
His hands clenched at his sides; anger pulsed off his body in waves and fired her own, just as the arousal did. She could feel the familiar dampness growing between her thighs, feel her ni**les hardening beneath her light summer-weight tank top and feel her hands and tongue itch. They itched like a rash. Worse than a rash. Or what she had heard a rash felt like. She wanted to touch. Touch his skin. She had to touch his skin, had to rub her tongue against it and infect him with the same insanity crawling through her.
“I don’t want you here,” he bit out again, furious, sincerity ringing in his voice as it sliced across her soul.
“I don’t want to look at you, day in and day out, and ache for something I can’t have, Dawn. You won’t rip through me like that again. I won’t allow it.”
He didn’t want her? Had he ever really wanted her or had it just been the mating heat?
Pride had her head lifting, her chin jutting in the air as she snarled back at him. “Then stay away from me,
Mr. Lawrence. Keep your ass safe, and let me and my team find your irksome little assassin and I’ll just be on my way again.”
“Why?” Frustration, fury, lust—they all filled his voice.
“Why? Because it would look excellent on my résumé, of course.” She shrugged, the sarcasm in her voice thick enough to slice through. “Just think of all the nifty little government assignments I’ll get after this. Commanding my own team? In the thick of the danger?” She drew in a hard, sensual breath through clenched teeth. “Mr. Lawrence, I could command my own price. All because I managed to save your very tight, very sexy ass.” She flicked her eyes over his body slowly and smiled. “Oh, and maybe your little mistress while I’m at it. Tell me, Seth, does she scratch and beg for more, or does she lay there like the little ice princess she portrays herself to be?”
Oh yeah, she had checked up on Miss Caroline Carrington herself. She had a nice thick file residing in her PDA and more information due at any time.