Chapter 8
Abigail woke up to the sensation of someone cradling her against an impressively hard chest, as if she were unspeakably cherished. She honestly couldn't remember the last time a man had held her like this.
If ever.
He was wrapped completely around her. Warm. Seductive. Inviting. Protective. It was the kind of sweet, loving embrace people dreamed of finding themselves in, but seldom did. For a full minute, she lay there in complete satiation.
Until she remembered who he was.
Sundown Brady.
Outlaw. Dark-Hunter. Killer.
Enemy.
She jerked involuntarily, which immediately caused him to awaken and push himself up on his arms to look around, as if expecting more coyotes to leap out of the walls and devour them.
When he didn't see an immediate threat, he scowled down at her. "Everything okay?"
Yes ... He was so incredibly sexy in that pose. His hips were pressed intimately against hers, and his arms bulged with his raw strength. It made her ache for the very thing she would die before she gave him.
"No, you're on top of me." She pushed at his chest.
He rolled off her and onto his back with a taunting grin as he wiggled his hips to settle into his new position. "Now, that's not normally the way a woman reacts when I'm on top of her. I usually get a little more enthusiasm and welcome than that."
She gave him a withering stare to mask how incredibly yummy she thought he was right then. No need in feeding that ego. "Well, that's what happens when you pay women for sex."
To her surprise, he laughed good-naturedly. Damn, he was devastating when he did that, and he made it hard to remember she was supposed to hate his guts.
Stretching like a languid cat, he yawned. "Sorry about crushing you all morning. I think we fell asleep in the middle of a conversation."
They had. One she could barely recall now. What she did recall was how comforting he'd been while she'd cried, and that was the last thing she needed to think about. "Yeah, but I'm not sure which of us fell asleep first."
"I'm pretty sure it was you."
She had a suspicion he was right, and this was getting a little too familiar for her tastes. She wanted to keep a gap between them. A nice safe chasm that protected her from caring about anyone, especially him. So she changed the subject. "Your gun's still on the floor."
He scratched at the manly shadow on his cheek in a way that was boyish and somehow endearing. He was so nonchalant with her and she should be aggravated by that, not charmed. "Glad I didn't need it, since it's all the way over there."
No kidding. That could have been a bloody disaster. "So what time do you think it is?"
"Feels like it's still daylight. Not sure of the exact time, though."
"What do you mean it feels like daylight?"
He yawned before he answered. "Wicked power we have. We can sense when the sun's up. Which it still is."
No doubt they'd been given that to help keep them alive, since Apollo would kill any Dark-Hunter or Apollite he found in his domain. The Greek god was a real bastard that way.
And you killed two of Jess's brethren by trapping them in daylight. She didn't even want to think about how the others died.
Please, please don't let me have killed a protector....
Trying not to think about that either, she got up and went to the bathroom.
Jess didn't speak as he watched her plod across the room. She had the most seductive walk he'd ever seen on any woman. Slow and sensual and full of sass. It was the kind of walk that made men turn and stare. Most of all, it made him ache to take a bite out of that hot little body of hers, especially that well-shaped ass.
Man, to have that naked and wrapped around him ...
Uh, hello, cowboy? You're not supposed to have those thoughts about a human who's been offering your friends up as sacrifice to the dark gods.
Maybe not, but he was a man, and his body wasn't about to listen to his brain, especially since all the blood was now gathered into the part of him that craved her most. It wanted what it saw, and she was definitely worth an ass-whipping or two dozen.
Pushing that out of his mind before it got him into some serious trouble, he closed his eyes and used his powers to sense Ren. He knew the moment he made contact. Ren pushed back with his own telepathy.
"What, cowboy?"
He shook his head at Ren's surly tone in his head. He didn't like anyone near his thoughts-not the Jess blamed him. Mind readers weren't his favorite thing either. "Wanted to see if you were awake yet."
"I've been awake and meditating. And to answer your next question, it's almost four, so you have plenty of time to grab ass if you want."
Jess quickly blocked the image in his mind that those words conjured. Grabbing Abigail's ass was a lot more appealing to him than it should be. "Stay out of my thoughts."
"Believe me, I'm trying to. I don't want to throw up right after I brushed my teeth."
Bastard.
"By the way," Ren continued, ignoring the insult that questioned his parentage, "I'm about as weak as I've ever been. Other than the telepathy, which I obviously know is working, how are your powers doing?"
Jess winced as he realized his were down, too. "Probably drained as much as yours are."
"Guess we're going to pretend we're human for a bit."
Jess snorted. There were many folks, including Abigail, who would say that he'd never been human. "Can you shape-shift at all?"
"Never a problem."
Now, that was interesting. "Care to tell me why that one isn't malfunctioning?"
"It likes me best."