and angelic voice, but the pain that shot through him held him immobile. He jerked, panic causing his face to tighten even worse as his body started to convulse.
“Please, you need to get up. I’ll help you, but please... Talon, get up.” Why was she so angry? he thought brokenly, desperation tinting his expression. What had he done to make her so furious with him? He flinched away from her mentally, fearful that she would strike him. He wished he could see her face... why couldn’t he?
His hands fisted, fury replacing the panic that held him so obsessed with him. He could not even see her. Was he not good enough to be graced the view of an angel? He roared, wrapping his hands around his neck. “Let me go,” he shouted, no longer possessed with thoughts of her innocence. If she wished to hide from him, then so be it. But it would not be without a fight — he would find the angel, and she would be his.
His roar had Jamie jerking back. The man’s muscles...they bulged. Her eyes widened as his body surged in her direction, territorial rage covering her face even though his eyes were closed. The pain that he expressed killed her, yet the fear that she felt as his hand came closer to her erased any sympathy that she might have felt — or at least most of it.
She retreated somewhat. His face was contorted, rough growls slipping past his tense lips. His hand, clawed and reached, came dangerously close to her thigh. She swallowed, trying to put aside her fear. He had only tried to kill her, she thought, staring at him. Just a minute ago he had been ready to tear her apart, but that didn’t mean anything...did it? Jamie shuddered, then slowly reached out her hand, placing it over his.
At the delicate, fearful touch, Talon froze. She stared at him hard as his face changed, became impossibly soft. Jamie started to frown, inching closer to him, relaxing only minimally. She almost peed herself when his other hand came down on top of hers. Slowly, oh-so slowly, it trailed up her arm until it got to the inside of her elbow. Her heart pounded in her chest, mind reeling.
The fear seemed to have left her. Something about his touch... Her heart went out to him. Whatever had been happening earlier had alarmed her, but surely there was another reason other than his hate for her to have caused it...
His fingers, as light as feathers and as worshipping as a priest, slid up to her shoulder and then...farther. Jamie was helpless to lean into his touch as his hand came to her hair. He threaded his large hand into the thick mass and something came from his chest. She was shocked when she realized it was a....purr. A smile lifted her lips, a blush tinting her cheeks as he continued to touch her hair, moving his hand and rubbing her hair between his fingers. The soft tug was lulling, almost as good as it would have been had he been talking with that deep, tantalizing voice of his.
Her body shuddered as she brought herself closer to him, so distracted by his touch that she didn’t notice the man getting unsteadily to his feet behind her. Her mind was calm, guard down. She didn’t see Talon’s eyes flip open, nor did she see Lyne raise his claw-tipped fingers, murder in his furious eyes as he stood above her.
Everything happened so fast, Jamie didn’t realize that Talon had stopped touching her and was now on his feet. hands around Lyne’s neck. A pained roar shot through the room, and she realized it was the collar. Reality snapped back into place quickly, horrifyingly. Jamie jumped to her feet and went to the collar, not worried about Lyne, but the collar itself. It was bringing Talon pain, and as she realized this was their chance to escape, her mind snapped to only one train of thought:
Help Talon. Take the collar. Kill Lyne.
Pain engulfed her, hands almost sizzling as they latched onto the collar. Talon cried out, his hold loosening on Lyne. Jamie whimpered with him, watching as Lyne’s hand came around to grab onto her hair. At that moment, her hands grasped the collar and she yanked.
Lyne screamed with fury. Talon snarled with triumph. Jamie screamed as pain flashed through her. The collar burned her hands, now detached from Talon’s throat. If it had been so easy,