"That's his pet phrase," Sunshine told her brother. "That and not exactly."
Rain sized him up, then offered him his hand. "Nice meeting you, Talon. I better get back to work. Sunny, yell if you need one of us."
The implied threat wasn't lost on Talon, who bit back a smile. If the man only knew how much power a Dark-Hunter wielded...
"Us?" Talon repeated.
Her brother indicated two men over Talon's shoulder who were also talking to the police. The older man was a Native American whose shamanic powers were easily discernible, and her other brother was almost a facial clone of Sunshine. "Our father and older brother, Storm, work in the club too."
Talon gave a tight-lipped smile as he turned back to face Rain. "Storm, Rain, and Sunshine, huh?"
She grimaced. "My mother's doing. I'm just glad she stopped at three. I was told the next one would have been named Cloudy Day."
He laughed at that. Gods, how he'd missed her. All he wanted to do right now was take her into his arms and run her up to her bed and inspect every inch of her to make sure she was unhurt.
Yeah, okay, so he had another, less pure, motive for that thought too. But still he felt an insane need to prove to himself that no one had touched her.
That she was completely whole and safe.
He darted his gaze all over her body, assuring himself that she was fine. His concern for her was so unlike anything he'd experienced in such a long time that he wasn't really sure how to cope with it.
Rain excused himself and drifted back into the club, leaving them alone.
An awkwardness fell between them as he tried to think of something to say to her.
Finally, she cleared her throat. "I didn't think I'd see you again."
He didn't know what to respond to that, especially since that had been his intention. "I... um..."
"Oh, you want Snoopy back."
"No," he said quickly. "I came back for you."
A slow, seductive smile spread over her face. "Really?" she asked.
"Yeah. I heard about the attack and was worried," he said before he could stop himself.
"Really?" she repeated.
He nodded.
Smiling wider, she walked herself into his arms. "That was very sweet of you."
Not really, Talon thought as he held her and inhaled her warm patchouli scent. But he had to admit she felt good in his arms. Her breasts were flattened against him and all he could think about was how delicious they had tasted, how soft and good they had felt in his hands.
He groaned inwardly at the thought.
Walk away from her...
I have to protect her.
He was sworn to protect humans. Especially those the Daimons would prey upon. It was his duty to keep her with him. To watch over her.
Hey, how stupid do you think I am, Talon? This is yourself you're talking to and all the lies in the world aren't going to convince me that you have a moral or noble reason for this. You want in her bed again. Admit it.
Oh, come on, I can control myself for a few days. She has to be protected and who else could do it?
Zarek was out of the question. He'd end up feeding off her and Talon would kill him if the psycho dared to touch her. Valerius would sooner die than watch over a "plebeian." Nick would make a move on her, and he'd have to kill the horny toad. Kyrian had a new baby and was too exhausted to think, and Acheron...