Chapter 6

Jonas had known the only weakness in the Brandenmore and Engalls families was Kita, Horace Engalls’s daughter. He also knew other groups would be aware of that as well. Creed had been sent in to ensure she was safe, and to ensure that when the time was right, the Breeds would have possession of her.

Simply kidnapping her wouldn’t convince her to transfer her loyalty from her father to them, though. Creed had been waiting, waiting, determined to take advantage of the slightest weakness where she was concerned.

If the Breeds had Kita on their side, then they would have Horace.

And Creed now had an ace.

Mating heat.

That twinge of guilt was only growing, though, tightening his chest and pricking at his soul. Because now, he knew her. And he knew, if she ever learned he had deceived her, she might end up being the only woman capable of turning her back on the phenomena.

Now wouldn’t that just suck!

SHE WAS HOME.

Kita stepped into the small house, closed and carefully locked the door behind her, then let out a weary breath. The drive from New York wasn’t overly long, but this time it had seemed to take forever.

Of course, if she had refrained from watching the rearview mirror, it might not have taken near as long, nor seemed so tiring. But she kept expecting to see Creed and that wicked black motorcycle of his riding behind her.

She felt stalked. Like prey. Like a hare running from the wolf and unable to find a hole deep enough to hide within.

She was safe now. She had to be. This hole had to be deep enough, because it was the only place she had left to escape to, the only place no one knew of.

Deep in the mountains of Tennessee, hidden outside a tiny little community of only a few hundred. The house wasn’t in her name; it wasn’t tied to anyone or anything she was associated with.

Her eyes closed, she ignored the sense that she had left something behind, or perhaps that something had followed her. She had been careful, and she had learned how to be careful.

Creed had taught her that over the past year.

She had watched him, she had listened and taken notes, and when she ran, she had remembered everything he’d told her about how to escape a possible enemy.

He wasn’t the enemy, but he might as well be at the moment.

“Did you have a nice drive?”

A screech erupted from her throat as her eyes flew open, her hands jerking, scrambling for the doorknob and managing to do no more than turn before he was suddenly there.

Kita cried out in shock as his hand flattened against the door, pushing it closed and pressing her against it.

Full body contact.

In the year he had been in her father’s employ, she had never felt the full effect of his hard, muscular body, or the heated warmth it generated.

Her head jerked back, pressing against the wood, her gaze connecting with his as she breathed in a shocked gasp. Against her stomach, hard and engorged, his cock pressed into her.

“Did you really think I’d let you get away so easily?”

Dark, rough, so sexy she swore her knees weakened.

Kita swallowed tightly. “How did you find me?”

“Maybe I’m just smarter than your average hired gun,” he drawled.

Kita felt her lips. She hated it when that happened around him. That need to be kissed. It was so intense, an ache that quickly struck to other, much more sensitive areas.

“I’m sure you are,” she retorted, but her tone wasn’t snappish or shrewish as she would have wished. It was soft. It was a come-on and she knew it even if it was involuntary. She only wished she could sound like that on demand. “Now, tell me how you managed it.”

The smile that quirked the corner of his lips suddenly had her heart racing, the blood pounding furiously through her veins. It was such a wicked look. Such an extreme bad-boy look.

Her thighs clenched, her clit became hot, swollen, and achy as she pulled her lower lip between her teeth and pressed.

“I could do that better. Every time I see that pretty lip clenched between your teeth, you make me want to take a bite too.”

She felt herself melt. Her juices eased from her pussy, saturating the folds between her thighs as she barely, only barely managed to hold back a whimper.

“You haven’t even nibbled,” she whispered. “And I offered.”

“Did you now?” His hand slid from where it was braced over her head, touched her shoulder, caressed to her elbow, then slid over the thin material of the sweater sleeve and gripped her wrist.

Before Kita could grasp the meaning of what he was doing, he’d gripped both her wrists, pulled them quickly over her head, and secured them in one large hand.

“Creed.” It was a protest. She was certain it was.

It had to be a protest, she told herself. Dominance games really didn’t turn her on. She liked slow, easy touches. Foreplay that lasted forever. Or at least longer than three minutes.

But she couldn’t help but realize her cunt was suddenly so sensitive that even the feel of her moisture easing from it was a caress.

“Are you wet, Kita?” The dark male growl in his voice sent a shiver chasing up her spine.

She realized then why she loved his voice. It was strong, fierce. A dark, heavy sound, like a great jungle cat prowling around her.

Except Creed had a way of making her feel a hell of a lot more than that edge of fear she felt around the big cats. And so much more than the wariness she had felt around several of the Breeds she had come in contact with over the past years.

He made her feel alive. He made her realize she was more sensual, and more alone, than she had ever realized before.

“You’re not answering me.” His head lowered, his lips brushing against her cheek. “Are you wet?”

She shook her head as she fought the mesmerizing cadence of his voice.

“No?” The edge of amusement in his voice had her heart skipping a beat. “So, if I can manage to get my hand inside those snug jeans of yours, I won’t find you slick and hot for me?”

His free hand moved to her waist, then to her hips before his fingers found the snap of her jeans and played with it teasingly.

The backs of his fingers brushed against the bare flesh of her stomach beneath the short hem of her light sweater. The warm caress, as delicate as it was, had her nipples tightening, throbbing as she felt her lashes becoming heavy, a sensual drowsiness stealing over her.

“Why are you doing this?” She needed to think right now. She had decisions to make, a life to build. “Why did you follow me?”

“Why did you run from me?” His head lowered until his cheek was beside hers, his lips at her ear, the warmth of his breath caressing the delicate shell. “Didn’t I warn you not to run from me, Kita?”

He had, she remembered it.

“You’re dangerous to me,” she whimpered. “We both know it, Creed. I can’t handle you.”

He would break her heart. She wasn’t the casual sex type; she’d learned that in college. She needed the commitment, the monogamy. She needed to feel as though she belonged, and she hadn’t found that yet. Or at least, she hadn’t felt it until Creed. From the moment she’d met him, something inside her had clicked, had opened a part of her sensuality that she hadn’t known existed.

“How do you know you can’t handle me?” A gentle, heated nip at her ear caused her to jerk against him, a breathy little moan leaving her lips as she stared at the wall across from them and fought to steal back just a few of her senses.

But it wasn’t happening. He wasn’t going to let it happen. In the next instant, the snap of her jeans parted.