Author: Lora Leigh
Category: Paranormal
Go to read content：https://readnovelfree.com/p/23990_10
No one spoke. Dawn could feel the tension building in the room as all eyes settled on her and Seth.
“You will not—”
“Let you walk out of here into a firing squad,” she snapped.
“Dammit, Dawn, I know what I’m doing,” he snapped back.
“Oh, do you?” she drawled. “Well, Seth, why don’t you just instruct little ole me and my team while you’re doing it. Because you’re not doing it alone. And you’re not doing it with another team.”
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She wanted to be as far away from him as possible. Being in the same country with him was bad enough. Being stuck on an island, a sultry, heated island, was going to be hell. Dawn could feel the sweat beginning to crawl down her back, the fear that knotted her stomach and the arousal that throbbed deep inside her sex.
And she felt fear. Fear that someone, that something, would take him out of this world and then she really would be alone.
His lips tightened as his eyes swirled with anger, the gray darkening like a violent thundercloud.
“You heard me, Jonas,” he stated, his voice commanding.
“Callan, have you sent that enforcer after my travel bag yet?” she asked.
No one spoke, and she didn’t risk tearing her gaze from Seth’s long enough to see how far she had pissed her pride leader off.
“I’ll tell you what we will do.” Callan rose to his feet slowly. “We’ll leave you two alone to discuss this for a few moments before we return to finalize the mission.” His voice was carefully bland as the others rose to their feet and began to move toward the door.
Dawn could feel the amusement. Male amusement, of course, as she continued to face down Seth. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him, couldn’t make herself back down.
How long had it been since she had been close enough to really smell him? So close that his scent was almost a taste against her tongue.
So long. Too long. She had avoided him during the rare visits he made to Sanctuary. She had refused the occasional missions that would have placed her anywhere close to him. She had fought her need for him, her body’s need for him, and every demand that roiled inside her that she rub against him, stroke him and share the hunger that ate her alive.
She could have continued to avoid him, she told herself. This meant nothing. She was just concerned about him. He was her sister-in-law’s brother. That was it. She latched on to the excuse like a life preserver. Seth was family. She had to protect him. She would never forgive herself otherwise and neither would Roni ever forgive her.
Seth had to live. The thought of anything less terrified her.
As the door to the room closed, leaving her and Seth alone, she continued to stare back at him, refusing to break eye contact or the connection she could feel inside her. Even furious with her, he was connected to her. Why hadn’t she known that before? All the years she had watched him from afar, hoping to catch a glimpse of him even as she told herself she didn’t want or need him, why hadn’t she known what she was feeling when their eyes locked as they were now?
Instinct fought a battle with her conscious mind, the animal and the woman struggling to agree on their needs, what they could and couldn’t have. She couldn’t have him. But that instinctive part of herself, the animal, screamed out for the man it knew was her mate.
“You’ve grown more stubborn,” he said softly, breaking that contact, and she drew in a harsh breath at the loss of it.
He shoved his hands in the pockets of his trousers and regarded her solemnly. “You know this isn’t going to work, Dawn.” He shook his head, as though regretting that fact. “I would be too busy trying to protect you. Too busy worrying about you. I won’t be focused.”
“Then we’ll die together.” She shrugged as though it didn’t matter.
She could feel the waves of anger pouring off him, despite his calm. Yeah, Seth was controlled. Nearly as controlled as she was, perhaps more. He was steel, inside and out, hard and strong, and sometimes, she thought, invincible. But he was still human. Still flesh and blood. And he could still die.
“You say that so casually,” he drawled. “We’ll die together. Excuse me while I sneer, sweetheart, but I think you’ve been watching too much television.”
“I don’t watch television.” She shrugged. “I don’t listen to romantic music, and I don’t tell ghost stories around campfires. What I do, and what I do well, is protection. You’ll not be the first spoiled little rich boy I’ve had to babysit.”
She expected an explosion with that one.
“I won’t be the one to get you killed either,” he stated coldly. “I’ll inform Jonas the mission is off.”
She stared at him furiously as he turned and moved to the door, something inside her breaking at the knowledge that he was serious.
Heedless of the consequences, Dawn moved around the table quickly and reached for him. But before she could touch, before she could feel, the warmth of his flesh through his clothes, he turned on her.
Dawn stared back at his face in fascination. The anger that tightened his features, the pure fury that darkened his eyes.