Lora Leigh: Navarro's Promise

She could feel the cold metal of the automatic submachine gun holstered at his side by a leather harness. An automatic handgun was holstered at his lean hips, while he carried one of the lightweight, powerful laser-powered defense weapons holstered at his left side.

A knife was strapped to each thigh, and God only knew what else he was armed with.

“Cougar, do you have visual?” she heard him murmur, no doubt speaking into one of the small, secured ear sets the Breeds used for communication.

“I have him. Just what the hell we needed, Farce’s little brother, Loki, on our asses,” he grunted a second later.

Farce, a Coyote that had been working for the remaining members of the Genetics Council, had ended up dead weeks before, when he had gone against another Wolf Breed. His little brother, Loki, who carried the mythical name with pride and did his best to live up to it, was rumored to have sworn vengeance for his brother’s death.

“Coyote’s night out,” she said, trying for weak humor as a shudder raced through her.

She could often trap the emotions inside, but that didn’t mean they didn’t still affect her.

“You have no clue, baby,” Navarro sighed as she felt his hand stroke up her back.

That motion, such a small, almost insignificant caress, had Mica dropping her head fully against his chest and breathing in roughly as he continued to talk quietly to whatever Cougar was on the other end of the comm link.

Several times lights passed by the entrance to the narrow lane they were hidden in. They stopped long enough to have Navarro lowering his hand from her, shifting her just enough to the side that he could get to the laser-powered sub-shot burst, a laser version of the compact submachine gun, strapped to his side. Finally, after tense moments, the vehicle eased forward once again, moving slowly, obviously searching intently for something.

For them.

“They’ve stopped a few feet from the entrance,” he whispered in her ear as thunder crashed overhead and the rain seemed to fall faster, harder. “Cougar’s watching them from his point outside. He has a vehicle and he’s ready to roll as soon as they’re out of line of sight.”

She nodded against his chest, her fingers curling into the shirt she was pressed against as she breathed in his scent and concentrated on keeping her emotions locked away.

“Cassie said you were good at holding back your scent.” His hand stroked down her hair. A large, warm hand that spread a sensation of warmth along her neck. “I can barely smell you at all, sweetheart. You’ve been around nosy Breeds too long, huh?” There was an edge of amusement in his whispered observation.

“You learn,” she breathed out with an edge. “Especially around Cassie.”

Cassie could make her crazy. Self-defense had created whatever gift Mica had adopted to keep her emotions so carefully contained that even animal senses couldn’t pick them up.

“Cassie could make a saint curse,” he agreed, then his hand stroked to her hip and tightened there. “Get ready. The SUV has pulled out. Cougar will be easing in within seconds.”

“I am so ready to get out of the rain.” She held back the hard shivers that threatened to shake through her as she turned her head and watched the entrance.

There were no lights. She wouldn’t have known a vehicle had pulled up if she hadn’t been watching carefully and seen the dim lights in the alley glittering on the black sheen of paint.

“Move.” He was right there, his arm going around her waist and pulling her against him as he began to race for the vehicle.

The passenger door was thrown open as they neared, a dim flare of light revealing the hard, scarred face of the Breed in the driver’s seat.

She had to bite her lip to cut off an agonized cry as Navarro lifted her and all but threw her into the backseat before following behind her. The vehicle was moving before the door slammed behind them, Navarro coming over her as the SUV began moving through the alley.

“Stay down,” he warned her when she would have tried to push against him and straighten. “They obviously suspected we were in the lane; they could be watching the alley in case you tried to run at some point.”

She couldn’t breathe.

The pain in her ribs was like fire, biting at her senses with jagged teeth as she fought to hold back the weakness.

It was habit. She’d been practically raised among the Breeds after Cassie and her family had come into their lives. She’d learned early never to show a weakness, to never let them suspect she wasn’t as tough as she pretended to be. And she could pretend to be damned tough.

But with Navarro lying over her, the heat of him seeping through her cold flesh, she couldn’t contain the pain building in her ribs.

“Please,” she finally gasped, unable to lie against her side much longer, or to bear the pressure on her tender ribs.

He stiffened, easing back just a moment as a growl sounded from the front seat.

“They’re behind us, man. Sensors are showing heat-seeking radar. If you so much as shift the wrong way, they’re going to get a lock on body heat. Stay put.”

She tried to breathe.

Each indrawn breath was agony, tearing at her chest, sending waves of pain surging through her system.

She didn’t know if she could bear it. Her ribs weren’t broken, she doubted they were cracked, but the bruising would be extensive. She could feel it, spreading across her side, around her back, into her chest.

“Get a safe distance from them,” Navarro snarled. “She’s in pain. She won’t be able to hold this position for long.”

“Look, the bastards are damned suspicious,” the other Breed argued. “They’ve been on my ass since we pulled out. We need to troll nice and easy to the hotel. We’ll take the underground parking garage. Without a pass, they can’t follow us.”

“Navarro, just a little bit.” She couldn’t hold back the plea any longer. “Please, it hurts.”

“Move so much as an inch and they’re going to have us before we’re close enough to the hotel to be safe,” the driver bit out furiously. “Just a few more blocks, Navarro. You don’t have a fucking inch to spare. You’re already all but crawling into the front seat here.”

Navarro could feel the impulses raging inside him, tearing at his senses as he fought to hold his place. Another part, a more primal, intent part of his mind demanded he move, that he ease the pain he could more than feel. He could smell it. A thick, rich scent of heat, like wood burning. In Mica, it was stronger than that of an ember, but not yet a blaze.

Scents were odd; different emotions, different levels of sensation or feelings could inspire the body to radiate far different scents.

With Mica, a woman he knew could bear, and hide, a certain amount of discomfort, the fact that he could scent the heat of the pain so clearly was telling. She was hurting, and the longer he lay there, the pressure of his body against hers, the more the pain increased.

He could sense it. The knowledge of it had his muscles tensing, had him fighting to keep his weight from her as much as possible.

“We’re almost there,” he assured her as he turned his head to catch a glimpse of the buildings they were passing. From between the front seats he could glimpse the towers, watching as each passed by and counting off the streets left to go. “There’s a nice warm room awaiting us, Mica. A hot meal, a hot shower, then I’ll check your ribs and see the damage those bastards managed to do. I’ll care for you. Haven’t I always cared for you whenever you needed?”

“Yes.” The tightly worded response destroyed him.

He’d never wanted anyone’s trust, especially a woman’s, but he wanted hers.