Serengeti Sunrise - By Vivi Andrews Page 0,18

off.”

Chairs creaked at the end of the bar as the other patrons took a sudden interest in their conversation. Zoe’s face flamed as she leaned toward Tyler, hissing the next words just above a whisper.

“I. Don’t. Belong. To. You.”

Something dark and possessive sparked in Tyler’s eyes. He loomed closer, his body crowding hers aggressively. “Yes. You. Do.”

Zoe wanted to be indignant, but her insides liquefied in a girly rush, heat pooling at her core.

“Not forever. No commitment. But as long as you are with me, you are mine, Zoe King. And I protect what’s mine.”

No one had ever said anything like that to her before, especially not with the fire of angry possession leaping in his eyes. Wow. Words abandoned her. Tyler bent over her, pressing his mouth against her ear, and delicious shivers chased one another down her spine.

“That’s the deal you get when you take me on. So make up your mind. Do you want me or not?”

That wasn’t much of a question. Right now a hard thought would tip her over into a climax. “I want you,” she whispered.

“Then let’s get out of here.”

“Reconnaissance…” Her protest was halfhearted at best.

“Maybe Caleb and Shana found something.” He guided her off the barstool with a hand on the small of her back. “And we’ve already found out they aren’t going to lynch us on sight. That’s something.”

Zoe scanned the bar one last time. Now that they weren’t arguing loud enough to draw an audience, the heavy drinkers at the back had stopped paying them any attention. Again, she was struck by the oddness of that. No one was even glancing in their direction. No curiosity. It was almost like the town residents thought they already knew everything there was to know about the Three Rocks Ranch.

The thought was disconcerting to say the least.

“Come on.” Tyler slipped his arm around her waist, tucking her against his side. Zoe tried not to bristle when she realized he was shielding her with his body. It wasn’t going to be easy, taking him on his terms, letting him protect her. But his arm felt good, so she leaned into him.

She could use the comfort. Something was very wrong here.

Chapter Six

“They’re onto us.”

Zoe had only stepped across the threshold of Landon and Ava’s place for the debriefing when Shana’s words stopped her in her tracks. The redhead had been sullenly silent the entire drive back to the ranch, but now her opening words caused a sudden uproar in the small crowd. Kane and Michael Minor were there with Ava and Landon. Shana had been the first into the room, alongside Caleb. Behind Zoe in the doorway, Tyler nudged her on the back to get her moving again, then stepped across the threshold and shut the door behind him.

“Calm down.” Landon’s voice cut across the hubbub. He waved them all toward the table, but there weren’t enough chairs, so Zoe leaned against the wall, Tyler taking a position at her side, though he didn’t touch her. “Shana, what did you see?”

Caleb folded his massive arms on the table. “She didn’t see anything.”

“Shut up, Caleb. He didn’t ask you.” Shana sent an icy glare at her mate, but considering it was her usual expression, Zoe couldn’t be sure whether she was angry with him or if this was their warped idea of foreplay.

“Did anyone say anything suspicious to you?” Landon asked, interrupting the mated pair’s staring contest.

“No,” Shana admitted.

“Were you followed? Was someone watching you?”

“No.” The redhead shook her head sharply. “Nothing like that. It wasn’t that they were suspicious of us, it was that there wasn’t even a single odd glance tossed our way. They didn’t even seem curious. After Michael wigs out in the bar and then the entire pride stops leaving the ranch for any reason for a month, any normal person would at least be curious enough to look, but they all looked at me like they already knew my secrets.”

Zoe hated to agree with Shana on anything, but in this case she had to. “That’s exactly it. They were too comfortable with us. We weren’t even interesting.” Except when she was shouting about blowjobs.

“That’s what we want, isn’t it?” Tyler pointed out. “To be below the radar?”

“We aren’t below the radar,” Shana insisted. “We’re on it. They just think they’ve already identified our dot.”

Landon looked to Zoe and arched a brow. “Zo?”

“Yeah. I agree. Someone told them something, cleared things up with some story.”

“But no one’s been off the ranch,” Kane