Christine Feehan: Predatory Game

He knew part of the reason she relaxed with him was because he was in a wheelchair and she didn’t perceive him as a threat. It wasn’t that she didn’t see-or recognize-the predator in him; she simply didn’t believe the threat existed any longer.

“Are you going to swim all night?”

“I’m thinking about it,” she conceded. “It’s this or the hot tub.”

“I feel compelled to point out the hot tub is much warmer and that you’re turning blue. The color looks good on you though, it goes with your eyes.”

She laughed, the way he knew she would. He loved that he could make her laugh- really laugh. Genuine and happy. It had taken months of patience, but she had finally let him in, just a little bit. She trusted him. But maybe she shouldn’t. She had a false impression of who and what he was, but he wasn’t about to scare her off by showing her the real Jess Calhoun. She could believe this life, the radio station, the songwriting. The man who treated her gently.

Saber climbed the ladder, shivered, and hurried to the hot tub, taking a seat opposite him. “I didn’t realize I was so cold.”

That was another thing he’d noticed about Saber-she ignored her comfort level, even pain, as if she could block sensation for long periods of time.

“Where’d you meet Larry?” Because he was going to have a few words with the man. “What’s his last name and where does he work?”

She made a face. “He’s a bartender, and believe me, Jesse, he’s not worth the trouble, so back it on down and forget the whole thing. It was my own fault anyway.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “I don’t know why I do half the things I do. Going out with Larry was a bad idea and entirely my fault.”

“Why did you go out with him?”

She looked relaxed, something Saber rarely did. She was in constant motion, like a hummingbird. Her hands were always restless. She skipped or danced across a room rather than walked. Sometimes she’d leap over the furniture-she’d even cleared the couch one day, and it was longer and wider than most. She was a puzzle he couldn’t quite figure out.

Saber opened her eyes to look at him through the rising steam.

Because of you. She went out with utterly rotten cads because she didn’t dare fall in love with Jesse. That was so lame-so stupid. She couldn’t have someone decent, so she went out with men knowing she couldn’t hurt them-ever. She would never hurt an innocent.

She didn’t have time to censor her thoughts. Not even to herself had she ever admitted that she couldn’t look at him anymore without wanting him. She wanted to trace every line in his face, memorize the shape and texture of his mouth, slide her fingers through that wealth of beautiful hair that fell haphazardly in all directions. She couldn’t close her eyes and not have him in her mind. She smelled him in every room. When she inhaled, he was there, drawn so deeply into her lungs that she felt possessed by him.

Afraid he might read too much on her face, she looked away from him, studying the tiled mural. “Who knows why I do anything I do, Jesse.”

He didn’t have the ability to read minds. She had spoken telepathically to him . Every cell in his body went on alert. Her words were clear, absolutely clear in his mind. Because of you. She was capable of projecting her thoughts into his head. Not only had she been clear, she had done it easily, with no energy spills at all, no surge of power to give her away. Never once in ten months of living with him had she slipped up. Not one time. And that spoke of specialized training-not merely specialized; it took rigid discipline to be good enough to go undercover and never make a mistake. He wasn’t going to buy it that she just happened to find his home, find him, and be trained in telepathic communication. God. Jesus. He couldn’t bear it if she was undercover playing him for a fool.

He sat in silence, stunned at the revelation, furious with himself for not seeing it coming. Maybe all along he’d suspected, but he hadn’t wanted to know. She was so beautiful. So right for him. Who sent her? Who put those shadows in her eyes? The wariness on her face? Because of you. What exactly did that mean?

He kept his features expressionless while he studied the situation from every angle. If she’d been sent there to kill him, she would have done it already. If she was spying, she would have tried to get into his office and he would have known. He didn’t believe in coincidence, so just how much danger was he in? And how much should he tell the others? He’d kept everyone away from Saber, purely for selfish reasons, although maybe he’d known the truth all along.

“What? No comment? You’ve gone awfully quiet, Jesse, and you always have some little lecture to pull out of your long list of them. I guess the truth is, I wanted to feel something for someone. He seemed like fun in the bar. Good looking. Somewhat intelligent.”

He’d been a creep. She’d purposely gone out with a sleaze, just as she always did, because she didn’t want to hurt a really nice man. Wherever she was currently calling home, she knew she could never stay. She wanted to do all the normal things a woman would do when she pretended she was living life like everyone else, but she never wanted anyone hurt on her account. She’d already caused enough hurt for a lifetime.

She sighed and punched her fist into the bubbles. “It was stupid. I won’t be doing it again.”

“It was stupid,” he agreed. “And no, you won’t be doing it again.”

She glanced up at his face. It looked as if it were chiseled from stone. That was Jesse on the outside. Jesse on the inside was…mush. A slow grin spread over her face and amusement slowly lit her eyes. “You’re so bossy. How does anyone stand you?”

“Not very well, which is why I’ve lived alone until you came along. Even my parents avoid me.” He flashed her an answering grin and, using the bars, pulled himself from the hot tub to the platform he used for drying off.

For a moment all she could do was stare in awe at the power in his arms as he lifted his body. Realizing she was ogling him again, she hastily jumped out, turning away from him to shut everything down.

“So what’s with the T-shirt, angel face?” Jess idly toweled his hair.

“I always wear a T-shirt swimming.” Saber shivered as the cold air hit her wet body. She strove for the ideal tone. Nonchalant. Breezy. She could do breezy-she’d honed that to perfection. “You know I do, it isn’t anything new.”

“I know, but you can’t exactly get sunburned indoors,” he pointed out, and reached for his thick, terry cloth robe. “I’ve explained that before, but you didn’t take much notice.” He paused in the act of putting on his robe. “Where are your sweats?”

“I forgot them.” Saber was drying herself off as fast as possible.

“Come here,” Jess ordered softly in exasperation.

“I’m all right,” she assured him, looking anxious.

“It’s a hell of a lot easier for you to come over here than it is for me to go over there, but if you insist.” Jess shifted his weight, reached behind him for his racing chair.

“All right already,” Saber was beside him in an instant. “Do you always have to have everything your way?”

He grinned mockingly, and without preamble caught the bottom of her T-shirt and pulled it right over her head. Saber froze in place, her heart thundering in her ears, but Jess was already enfolding her in his warm robe.

“You already know the answer to that one, baby.” With the ease of long practice and the help of strategically placed bars, Jess lifted himself into his chair.

Saber pulled the robe close, tightened the belt around her small waist. “Someone spoiled you, Jess. Patsy?” She named his older sister.