Rhyannon Byrd - Dark Wolf Rising

He shrugged those impossibly broad shoulders, and her eyes snagged on the intricate design of the tattoo swirling over his right biceps, just visible beneath the tight stretch of his sleeve. It made her heart beat even faster.

“In a way, yes. This is private property.”

A sick feeling swept through her stomach. “Your boy soldiers over there claimed the same thing, but I don’t see how you can own an entire mountain. And I was on a public highway,” she argued.

“Which you then turned off of,” he explained, his voice a low, mesmerizing rumble, “and onto a private road.” He arched one dark brow as he added, “I assume you missed the clearly marked signs when you exited the main highway a few miles back?”

“Must have,” she said tightly, wondering what the hell she was going to do. “So what now? Are you going to waste your night trying to kick me out of here, or go back to wherever you came from and leave me alone?”

“I’m not going to try anything,” he murmured, while something that almost looked like regret flickered through those beautiful gray eyes. “I am kicking you out of here.”

With a tired sigh, Chelsea shook her head again. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but you aren’t leaving me much choice. In fact, you’re acting like a complete and total ass.”

Then she lifted the pistol from her lap…and pointed the barrel right at him.

Though there wasn’t anything particularly funny about having a gun pointed straight at your heart, Eric had to fight the surprising urge to laugh at the human’s audacity. A bullet wouldn’t kill him, but it would still hurt like a bitch. He should have been furious that she was threatening him, but that wasn’t the source of his anger. Instead, he was uncomfortably aware that the more she stood up to him, the harder it was for him not to pull her out of that goofy-looking bus and show her just how much danger she was courting here.

Running his tongue over the edge of his teeth, he said, “I’m thinking you probably hear this a lot, but you’re too gutsy for your own good, lady.”

She smirked, but didn’t bother to lower the weapon. “Maybe I’ll be more understanding if you just tell me what the big secret is. Why all the urgency for me to leave? Afraid I’ll stumble across something I shouldn’t? Are you guys part of some religious cult?” Her brows lifted with curiosity. “Do you like to run around naked and worship the moon?”

“Something like that,” he offered drily, still struggling against the driving urge to drag her out of the bus and take her to the ground, where he could press her into the soft, damp grass. Without doubt, she was a shock to the system. Instead of sharp angles to match that sharp tongue, the woman possessed a glowing, fresh-faced softness that made her look entirely adorable—and he had to fight back another grin as he imagined what her reaction would be if he expressed that opinion out loud.

Hell, knowing her, she’d probably shoot him the finger again. Either that, or just plain shoot him.

As if reading his mind, she said, “I’ll put a bullet in you if I have to, though I’d rather not. Can’t stand the sight of blood.” She slowly lowered the weapon back to her lap, but kept her finger close to the trigger. “So don’t tempt me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” His tone was even drier than before. “But you still need to get lost.”

“You know, even if you succeed in making me leave—” her breasts swayed with a delicious jiggle beneath the tight green T-shirt as she shifted in her seat to face him “—I’ll only come back.”

She drew in a shaky little breath after making that rather forceful announcement, and for the first time since this bizarre confrontation got started, Eric managed to see past his frustration and lust, down to the exhaustion and worry haunting her gaze. And he didn’t like it. What the hell had this woman gotten herself into? And why the fuck was he getting uptight about it? He damn well knew better!

“Do you have any idea how unsafe it is, what you’re doing, coming to the mountains by yourself?”

She gave a negligent roll of her shoulders, then lifted her free hand to push that thick fall of hair behind her ear. “I came armed. I’m not stupid.”

He flicked a dismissive glance at the gun in her lap, and a rude sound rumbled in the back of his throat. “It’s a nice weapon, but isn’t going to do you much good up here.”

She arched one slim brown brow again. “And why is that?”

“Just trust me on it,” he muttered, wondering if lightning was going to come down and fry him on the spot for the things he was thinking about doing to her. It was one thing for the Runners to take human lovers, seeing as how they were half human themselves—but Eric was in an entirely different situation.

“You can’t stay out here in your car,” he growled, the sudden pronouncement making her jump. “It isn’t safe.”

Carefully recovering her composure, she jerked her chin toward Hendricks and Franks. “Why? I won’t go snooping where I don’t belong. And no one was bothering me before those two showed up.”

The headstrong woman had no idea how lucky that made her, and Eric wanted to keep it that way. “Save your breath and stop arguing, sweetheart. I’m not trying to jerk you around. You really can’t stay here.”

“First of all, I’m not your sweetheart,” she snapped, obviously irritated by his choice of words. “And secondly, if you won’t let me stay in my car, isn’t there someplace in your town where I can get an…inexpensive room for the night?”

It was the hesitant way she’d said inexpensive that finally clued him in, making him wonder if she was sleeping in her car not because she was careless with her safety, but because she simply couldn’t afford to sleep anywhere else. “I’m afraid not,” he rasped, while something painful twisted in his chest. She was clearly in need of rescuing, and it bothered him that he couldn’t be the one to do it. That he was more harm to her than help.

“Hmm,” she murmured, and he could see the wheels spinning again in her head.

“Trust me,” he said gruffly, “the best thing for you to do is to stay down in Wesley. It’s only about an hour from here.”

“Yeah, I know where it is.” She looked away for a moment, chewing on that lush bottom lip, her gaze even more troubled than before when she finally brought it back to his. “You really think I can just go? That I can just give up and leave my sister to the wolves?”

Suspicion narrowed his eyes. “What the hell does that mean?” he demanded, watching her closely. Did she know what he was? What they all were?

“It’s just an expression.” Her voice was sharp, a slight frown settling between her brows. “I know she’s in trouble, and I refuse to let it go and just sit at home wringing my hands, hoping a miracle will happen and some big burly man will step in to rescue her.”

She her cut her gaze away again, but not before he caught the luminous wash of tears glistening in her eyes. Aw, hell . Knowing he wouldn’t be able to take it if she broke down—that he’d rather have her angry than sad—Eric curled his lips and said something guaranteed to piss her off and get her back up. “Some big burly man, huh? I get it now. You’re one of those women who has guy issues, aren’t you?”

She snorted, shooting him a withering look from the corner of her eye. “Not any more than you have women issues.”

“The hell I do,” he drawled, aware that he was taking some kind of perverse pleasure in verbally sparring with her. “I happen to like women just fine.”