Savage Craving - Cecilia Lane Page 0,28
on his tongue. Not even the second, third, fourth. Each one surprised her a little less, but the shock was still there. The noise wasn’t a human sound and Seth still clung to his designation as a human.
Regret flashed in Seth’s eyes before he shut them. They stayed closed for two slow breaths, then opened on her again with an intensity that made her shiver.
“You motherfucker!” Dash shouted.
Spell broken, Lilah whirled to face the front of the barn. Seth stepped in front of her, but danger didn’t appear. Not any to her person, anyway. The closest it ever came was being put on the spot to pick between better insults or placing a bet on who’d piss off Trent first. When she’d quietly voiced that Dash seemed the safe answer to both, the pride had responded with a raucous round of jeers and laughter.
One last truck pulled to a stop before Dash and Lindley came to blows. Seth relaxed when Trent and Hailey stepped out. After a brief exchange of words, the alpha’s mate made her way toward them while the alpha went to work cursing the others into backing down from whatever new irritation they conjured together.
Hailey held up a thermos. “You didn’t make it down for breakfast, so I brought coffee!”
Seth’s phone rang before Lilah could answer. He took one last look around before excusing himself. Lilah watched him retreat into the tack room on the other side of her door.
His door, she corrected herself. His pride. As kind as they’d been, the sooner she could get back to her own life, the better.
“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know that was required.” Lilah smiled politely. “Do you do breakfasts together every morning?”
“Don’t apologize. Nothing’s required,” Hailey insisted. “Besides, trying to require anything around here is like trying to herd a bunch of cats!”
The last part she shouted toward the others with a wide grin that grew even bigger at the chorus of groans she received.
Lilah smiled at her feet. They weren’t what she’d expected. Loud, sure. Violent, yes. But not deadly or threatening. She found herself relaxing a little more around their antics with every hour that passed.
Hailey reigned over the others, but there weren’t any hard feelings or objections to her human status. Trent still stepped in and threw around his authority as needed, but he was utterly devoted to the woman.
Then there was Colette and Dash, who thrived on giving each other shit. Lilah was certain neither knew what ‘too far’ meant.
Kyla and Lindley acted as caregivers, dousing fires before they flamed up too hot. When they weren’t adding fuel to the fire, anyway.
The only ones she wasn't sure about were Rhys and Sage. At first, she thought they were a couple who didn't like the soft PDA of lingering touches and quick kisses of the others. The more she watched, though, the more it became clear they worked hard to keep their distance. Exes, maybe. Or maybe courting and desperate to keep it under wraps with Sage's older brother so near. Lilah found it hard to believe anyone missed the furtive glances they shot when they thought no one—including each other—looked their way.
And then there was Seth.
She still couldn't quite pin him down. He'd remained as tight-lipped and evasive as ever, even if he kept a close watch on her. Quieter than the others, too, they included him in the trash talk but he rarely took the bait. He was a recent addition to the team, from what she understood, but that was where the trail ran cold. Where he came from and why he chose to settle in Bearden were her biggest questions concerning the not-shifter man.
Even with Seth’s less than forthcoming information, they weren’t Jasper or the dangerous shifters from the prison. They weren’t the monsters from her past. The Crowley lion pride were rough and wild, but extremely protective of each other. And since she’d arrived with Seth, they counted her as one of their own.
Insane. Absolutely bonkers. Never would she have guessed the sudden changing of the winds would blow her into the middle of a shifter-run ranch in Montana.
Seth stepped out of the tack room. “That was Jaime,” he said, flicking a glance to Hailey, then turning his attention to Lilah. Hailey, giving them a light smile, found something interesting at the other end of the barn and left them alone. “She’s in town and wants to meet this morning.”
“Here? Today?”
“Here, today,” he repeated. “I was thinking we could head out