Iris Johansen - Dark Summer

"Then I'll throw one of my own. I'll go back to Denver and make sure I generate enough publicity to draw Danner. You did say he'd want to-"

"Dammit." His gaze searched her face. "You'd do it."

"Of course I would. Bait is bait. As a matter of fact, I'd rather not involve the dogs. I don't want to spend the rest of my life worrying about this mess. I want to know that the dogs are safe and we have a chance of finding a way of to-"

"You're not important enough to Danner to bring him down full force. He'd send someone to pick you up, then he'd torture you until you told everything you know."

"You really don't want that to happen. It would be very inconvenient to have me blabbing away, wouldn't it?"

"Inconvenient? Yes, you're damn right it would be inconvenient."

"So then you'd have to go after me and probably ruin all your plans. And you would go after me. Bridget once told me that she felt like a warrior protecting Camelot. But I think you have a little of that in you, too, Marrok." She stared him in the eye. "So why not avoid the entire problem and let me stay with you here at the ranch."

He started cursing again. "I don't like being put in-" He stopped and then started to laugh. "Damn you."

"I don't mind fighting alone. I've done it all my life. But it's more logical that if we combined efforts, we'd have a better chance."

"Heaven forbid I argue with logic. Though God knows how I'm going to-" His cell phone rang, and he glanced at the ID. "Bridget." He punched the button and listened. "Yes, I know Devon Brady wasn't on the helicopter. She decided that she'd be of more use to us here." He glanced at Devon. "She's very hardheaded." He listened again. "I had no choice. Why are you upset about it?" He was silent, frowning. "Do what you like. You will anyway." He hung up. "Bridget said she's coming here as soon as I send Larry Farland to replace her. She wants to see you. She's a little on edge about you not going to Sarah's."

"Why?"

"She said you should be somewhere safe. I agree."

"But her coming here isn't going to change my mind. You should tell her to stay where she is."

"You call and tell her."

"You have no authority over her?"

"Like a good soldier, she obeys me in emergency situations. She recognizes that there can be only one commander in those cases. Otherwise, she definitely puts in her two cents' worth."

"And you respect her opinion." Devon stared at him thoughtfully. "Bridget is… unusual. She seems to combine the talents of a dog whisperer with the training of a soldier. Where did you say you found her?"

"I didn't say. Ireland. A village outside Dublin. Lincoln gave me the tip I might find her useful, and I went to see her. She was training horses for a local politician. I spent two weeks there and in the end I persuaded her to come home with me. She was everything I needed. She'd been trained by MI6 and proved herself on several missions. She was magic with animals." He shrugged. "And I felt she was a woman to trust. Nothing she's done since has convinced me that I was wrong."

"She's wonderful with animals," Devon said slowly. "It's almost eerie. Is it some psychic ability?"

He was silent a moment. "Probably. Though it took a long time for me to admit it to myself. I don't want to believe all that weird stuff. I thought at first it might be just a strong instinctive bonding. But Bridget sometimes senses other things."

"What?"

"Bad events coming. The presence of enemies. I don't know what else. Bridget doesn't talk much about it. It was over a year before she opened up to me at all. She's not happy about it."

"I can see why she wouldn't be. Does she have any family?"

"Her parents are dead. She was in an orphanage from the time she was ten until she went to work at sixteen. She said that we had that in common. But she never had a Paco." He smiled. "But he would have liked her. He didn't care for many women, but Bridget is special."

"Special to you, too?"

His gaze narrowed on her face. "Do you mean have I slept with her?"

"No, that's none of my business."

"But you're curious." He leaned back in his chair. "That's encouraging. No, I look on Bridget as a guardian. Lincoln may think I have no code, but I don't go to bed with guardians. It would interfere with the relationship and might impact their work. Did I want to?" He tilted his head. "For some reason I never even considered it. She was always my friend, not a potential lover. Which is strange because I'm definitely not a celibate man."

"That doesn't surprise me." She moistened her lips. "But it doesn't interest me."

"Yes, it does. Just as I'm curious about your marriage."

"I'm not going to satisfy your curiosity." She lifted her cup. "I've told you all I'm going to tell you about Lester. I didn't like your response last time."

"What if we don't talk about the fact that I'm going to kill the bastard someday? It's other details that I want right now. Oh, I don't care anything about the way you met, the things you had in common. I want to know why you felt you had to go to bed with him. What did he do?" He added softly, "How did he please you?"

Her chest was tightening, it was hard to breathe. She tore her eyes away from him. "If Lincoln recommended Bridget, how are you sure that she's not working for him?"

He accepted the change of subject, thank God. "I can't be sure about anything. I'm careful. I'm always very, very careful."

"That's good." Devon set down her cup and stood up. "When will she be here?"

"A few hours. Where are you going?"

"Down to the barn to check on my animals."

"Are you running away?"

"Yes," she said bluntly. "You're not paying attention to what I want you to pay attention to."

"You're right, but there's a solution. Have sex with me so that I can concentrate on more serious things."

"I believe you're concentrating on more serious things right now. You just don't want me to concentrate on them."

"You're half-right. The other half is just a poor misguided half-breed who wants what he wants and can't help himself from trying to get it. You know savages are like that."

"No, I don't. I don't know what you're like. Just when I think I do, you change on me."

"Then you've changed opinions about me being a suitable custodian for the shi'i'go ?" he asked mockingly.

"No, whatever else you are, I'd trust that side of you to hell and back. That wouldn't change."

His smile faded. "I believe I'm touched."

"And I believe you're making fun of me." She headed for the door. "I'll come back when Bridget is here. I want to see her, too."

"Devon."

She stopped but didn't turn around.

"I'm not making fun of you," he said quietly.

She didn't want to turn and see his expression. She had already been moved to a dozen different emotional highs. It had to stop.

She opened the door and ran down the porch steps. Slow down. No one was pursuing her. Yes, she was running away. She could still see Marrok lolling in that chair, his legs stretched before him; insolence, sensuality, and tension fighting for dominance. There was always a struggle going on within Marrok. Recklessness against wariness. Gentleness against violence. From the moment she had met him she had been aware of that battle. She should have run from him then. He was nothing she wanted in a man.

And everything she wanted in a lover.

Shock jolted through her at the thought that had come out of nowhere. She tried to push it away, dismiss it. A few chemical responses didn't mean anything. She had been so cool, so sure that she could handle anything when she had made the decision to throw all her efforts behind destroying Danner and saving the dogs. She'd been filled with a glowing sense of right.

That feeling was still there. Of course, it was. She just mustn't be distracted by these emotions that Marrok was stirring.