He caught her wrists, held them tight in one hand, then he twisted and his right hand shot down to the bottom of her jeans. Oh, shit, no, he knew.
It only took about two seconds for his fingers to find the ankle sheath. His eyes glittered down at her.
Fear dried her mouth. “L-Lucas . . .” I can explain stuck in her throat.
He pulled out her knife. The light glinted off its sharpened edge. “I’m guessing the blade is made out of silver.” He turned the knife a bit, inspecting it. Then he stretched over her again. The strong hand that held her wrists jerked high, forcing her hands over her head.
And he brought the knife in close. “It is silver, right?” Not the handle, or his flesh would be burning, but . . . “Yes, the blade is silver.” The knife was way too close to her throat for comfort.
What do you know about him? The voice of doubt she’d heard all during that long drive to LA.
What did she know?
That he was a killer.
That he led the most vicious wolf pack on the West Coast. That he’d fought a band of vampires to free his brother. Loyal. He might be a walking nightmare to some, but Lucas had protected Jordan. She’d heard that story about him, managed to steal that tale from the minds of the wolves. Lucas had attacked a Born Master Vampire—and Born Masters were the strongest of those blood-sucking vamps—for his brother. He’d risked his life to save Jordan’s.
A guy who did that couldn’t be all bad. Right?
But that blade was so close to her throat.
“Have you ever used this knife on anyone?”
He already knew the answer. He’d known that she had the knife, so that meant the coyotes had told him about her and Rafe. “Yes.”
“On your lover?” He shook his head. “Tell me, did Rafe put the bounty on your head before or after you tried to take his heart?”
This wasn’t looking good. She sucked in a breath, tried to exhale, and realized her br**sts were crushed against his chest.
“Before . . . or after, Sarah?” Harder now, angrier.
“After.” Dammit.
His gaze seemed to bore into hers. “So you come here, you tell me that a rival wolf is out to kill me, that he’s put a bounty on your head, but you neglect to mention that you drove a silver knife into the guy’s chest?” He rose above her and his fingers tightened around the knife. “Is this some damn setup? Do you get off on pitting two wolves against each other?”
Oh, hell. “Lucas!”
He threw the knife. It flew, end-over-end, and embedded hilt-deep in the far wall.
“Why did you attack him, Sarah?”
“Because he was trying to kill me,” she snarled because she was afraid and she was tired and she was angry. Why? Why’d this hell happen to her? “When a six-foot-four ass**le comes at me with claws and fangs, I’m going to fight back.”
“And you just happened to have a silver knife? Handy, having that.”
“John gave me the knife.”
“He told you to use it on Rafe?”
And on you, if it comes to that. She nodded.
“The coyotes just swore they had my back,” he told her. “The alpha killed the two men who attacked you—he wanted to make amends for their actions.”
Death was the way to make amends? A shiver worked over her flesh.
“Rafe has never come at me,” Lucas said, “Never attacked. I haven’t even heard a whisper that he’s eyeing my territory.”
She couldn’t see anything but him. He was all around her. Hard muscles. Angry eyes. Dark, rumbling voice.
The faint lines around his eyes deepened. “But you come here, and you sneak in a silver knife. What were you planning to do? Wait for a moment when I’m weak? Maybe try to stab me when I sleep so you can take me out?”
No.
His head lowered and his mouth feathered over hers in the lightest of kisses. She hadn’t expected the sensual touch and heat flooded through her. Even now . . . want him.
The adrenaline in her blood was spiking. The anger and fear mixed with the need the man could stir too easily. His mouth . . .
Sarah tried to pull back.
His tongue licked her lip. “Tell me . . . did you think you’d f**k me and slip past my guard?”
Her head lifted. She caught his lower lip with her teeth. Nipped him. Hard. Time for him to see that she could bite, too. “No, dammit.” The driving need trembled in her voice.
His tongue swiped over his lip, as if tasting her mark. “Then tell me what the f**k is really happening.”
“I have! Rafe is coming after you. He’s coming after me. He won’t stop until we’re both dead.” The hard length of his aroused flesh pressed against her sex, and Sarah couldn’t control the small arch she made against him.
His gaze searched hers, probably saw too much. Then he nodded, the move quick and grim.
Oh, great, now what—
“I guess we’ll just have to make sure we kill him first,” Lucas said, and then he gave her what she’d wanted—he pressed his mouth to hers. A hard, hot kiss.
Chapter 5
It wouldn’t be the first time that a woman had set him up to die. Pretty women were used as bait by all sorts of paranormals and even by humans.
So maybe Sarah was screwing him over. Maybe he’d be a fool to trust her, but right then, one thing was clear to Lucas.
He f**king wanted her.
Her scent filled his head. Drove him crazy. She was all curves and silken flesh beneath him. Her hands were on him, holding tight to his shoulders as she urged him closer.
Sarah wasn’t shoving him away because she was afraid of the beast he carried. She knew just how deadly he could be, and the woman still wanted him.
He could smell her arousal in the air.
She twisted beneath him, her hips pushing against his aroused flesh.
Fuck.
Was this the kind of response she’d given to that bastard Rafe? His hands flew away from her. He grabbed the bedcovers, and his claws sliced right through the fabric.
But he kept kissing her because he couldn’t let her mouth go. The woman’s taste was addictive.
She moaned low in her throat and the sound vibrated in his mouth. Her br**sts stabbed at his chest, the ni**les tight and tempting.
Sarah turned her head, tearing her lips from his. “I shouldn’t . . . want you.” The words were gasped out.
And they really pissed him off. “Because of what I am?” Maybe it was there, after all. Hiding beneath her surface. Fuck a monster, but fear him.
But she shook her head, sending those thick locks of hair sliding back over her cheeks. “Because this isn’t me.” Whispered now. “I don’t . . . I don’t respond this way normally.”