Grace Goodwin - The Virgins - Complete Boxed Set

Cassie’s effect on me was even more dangerous than I’d first feared. My desire was now obsession, especially now that I could still taste her on my tongue. I’d kept her garment because her heated scent lingered. How foolish and impulsive, but I had to balance my voracious need with her lack of knowledge about her mark. If she didn’t know about the mark, then she didn’t know about Everis.

Sighing, I knew it would be a struggle for her to grasp her new reality—her mate was from another planet. Hell, she had to grasp what a mate was and that she had one. I knew I asked much of an Earth woman with zero knowledge of the vastness or diversity of life in the universe.

I allowed her to get far enough ahead that she would not hear my whispered communication with Thorn, but close enough where I could see her unbound hair and the color of her dress in the distance. I tapped the O-C behind my right ear and waited for Thorn’s deep voice to rumble through my head.

“Thorn.”

“I found her.”

“Does she carry a mark?”

“Yes. On her palm, just like an Everian female.”

“I assume you have acquired her and are on your way to the ship.”

“No. There are—” How could I say this? “—complications.”

“Uncomplicate them.” For him, it was simple. Toss my mate over my shoulder and carry her back to the ship. He’d not been affected with the awakening of his mark, of seeing his mate, of touching her. He did not understand the complications of being mated to an Earth woman.

“She doesn’t know what she is. She’s an orphan and knows nothing of our world or our ways.”

“Where is she now?”

“Running from me. I am simply reporting in to tell you I might need a few more days to… persuade her to come back to Everis with me.”

He had the audacity to laugh. “Divine luck to you, Mad. You’re going to need it.”

“Fuck you.”

His laughter cut off abruptly as he disconnected and I shook my head, grinning despite the fact that I chased my mate over long stretches of rolling hills. I’d explored the area upon approach, and was confident I knew her destination.

A few minutes later, I knew I’d been right. Quietly, I walked toward her where she sat surrounded by trees. From my research, the stately giants were called cottonwoods and often lined creeks and rivers, their roots drinking water from beneath the ground. Cassie sat on a large gray rock, her shoes rested a few steps away on the shore and her bare feet dangled in the ice-cold water. The swiftly moving water was no deeper than her ankles, the water’s edge lined with the tall cottonwoods obscuring my view of what might be on her other side.

She’d opened the top of her dress, the top third of the buttons undone, and her skin glistened under the first rays of Earth’s rising sun where she’d splashed the cold water on her chest and neck. My cock pressed painfully against my simple Earth pants. I was eager to lick every one of the drops of liquid that beaded and slid down over her smooth flesh.

She seemed content, relaxed, her head thrown back and her eyes closed. The rising sun kissed her skin with a soft pink glow and I struggled just to stand and admire her. Not wanting to disturb her peace, I was content to come upon her slowly. She jerked with a start, as if startled by something I could not see. She turned her head to her right, away from me, toward the trees lining the water’s edge.

I was not close, but my hunter’s ears heard her voice clearly. I used every hunter’s sense I possessed and activated the heat scanner and bio-electric monitor implanted in my right eye. If anyone or anything were near, I would know; their heat signature or the bio-electric impulses of a beating heart would appear on my retinal monitor.

I saw nothing, and yet she spoke to someone.

“Who are you?” She held the top of her dress closed with one hand.

The reply was masculine, a low deep rumble I could not make out, even with my hunter’s skill and I increased my pace, moving steadily toward her. This was impossible. My scanners picked up nothing, and yet I heard a man’s voice with my own ears. Cassie answered him.

“But, I don’t know who you are.”

Another rumble as her visitor replied as I edged around to the side, trying to position myself between my mate and the voice, where I could protect her, but unable to do so because of the giant trees.

Cassie shook her head and pulled her feet out of the water, reaching for her shoes, her discomfort obvious. “I don’t think so. I have to get back.”

She leaned over, her delicate hand straining to reach her shoes. Shaking. She was shaking.

All pretense of stealth forgotten, I raced toward her. “Cassie, come here at once.”

Her face lifted in my direction and a startled squeak left her before she grabbed her shoes and hopped off the rock. “Just a minute.”

“Now!”

She rolled her eyes and walked toward me. I rushed to meet her, moving swiftly to place her behind me. Pulling my ionic pistol from my pocket, I approached the rock so I might see who had frightened her.

Scanning the area, I found the wooded area appeared to be empty, but in the mud lining the shore I saw the imprint of a man’s boots. Very large boots.

Cassie’s hands settled on my back as I completed my scan of the area. Nothing, unless you counted the two stalwart fish hugging the edge of the water, a small, furry creature burrowed inside the nearest tree, and birds, most still sleeping in their nests. So who had frightened her so? And why hadn’t my scanners picked him up?

“Who were you talking to?”

“I don’t know who he was. I’ve never seen him before.” Her hands tightened into fists in my shirt and I turned, pulling her shivering body close, tucking her safely against my heart as I hid my pistol away. My anger began to simmer, knowing that someone had frightened her.

“What did he say? What did he want? Did he threaten you?” I’d hunt him down and kill him.

She shook her head, the strands long and wild down her back, and I relaxed a bit until her next words registered. “No. He gave me a message.”

“A message?”

“Yes. It was for you.”

Maddox

I rubbed her back with my hands, my gaze scanning the surrounding land for any sign of my prey, but I knew it was too late. I knew now who had approached her and my hands fisted. Neron. He’d be long gone by now. He was born and raised a Hunter of Everis, just as I was. The fact that he’d gotten so close to my mate before I could reach her made my heart rise into my throat until I felt as if I would choke on the damn thing. I’d never felt this sensation before, and was not happy to feel it now.

Fear. I’d not tasted it since Maddie had gone missing, and the bitter tang did not sit well on my tongue.

What technology had Neron acquired that blocked my retinal scanner? Had he somehow acquired a Hunter’s Cloak after his escape from prison? The suits were very valuable and extremely rare, as they made whoever wore them invisible to the eye and undetectable on most scanners. They were reserved for elite Hunters, those who worked for the Sevens. Anyone else caught in possession of one was fined and placed on probation, or worse, sent to the mines.

Was this how he’d escaped Incar’s prison mine? How he’d escaped me these last few days? And if he were in possession of such an advanced technology, how and where had he discovered it? Did the other criminals have this as well? If so, Thorn, Jace and Flynn could be in grave danger.