“You’re not going in there, are you? Eva!”
As I got closer to the noise, the ground dipped beneath my body to an opening about two feet wide. “Derek, hold on to my legs. It’s coming from this hole in the ground, and I don’t want to fall in.”
“Fuck this,” he growled, yanking me back by the ankles.
But I kicked out of his grip and crawled forward again. “Don’t you fucking dare! I’m doing this with or without your help.”
Another growl echoed from the shallow tunnel behind me. “You’re an exasperating woman, you know that? What if you get hurt? Ever heard of tetanus?”
I couldn’t help smiling at the fact he cared so much. It didthingsto me… warm, delicious things to very particular parts of my anatomy.
“Derek, just hold me—please.”
Should I have felt guilty over the sultry way I begged? Probably. But I didn’t. It had gotten the job done, affected him as he said nothing, yet tentatively put a hand over each of my calves, albeit tighter than necessary.
And my skin burned where he touched.
You and I would be so damn good together.
Those words had replayed in my thoughts an obscene number of times. Needless to say, I had reached for my battery-powered boyfriend more than once last night.
“When you pull out a rabid raccoon, don’t say I didn’t try to warn you.”
“Noted,” I said dryly, rolling my eyes. Talk about a mood killer.
I lowered myself into the hole and felt around, hoping Derek’s raccoon joke wouldn’t actually manifest.Soft fur feathered beneath my palm, and I stifled a scream, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of being right.
Not a baby.
I squeezed my eyes closed and felt around, my nerves on edge, when I latched on to its nape and sent a prayer up for a cat or puppy, not a giant rat.
“Oh my God, it’s a kitten.”
Derek scoffed. “A goddamn cat?”
He yanked me back until I was completely out, the cat cradled against my chest. “You risked stitches and painful shots over a fucking stray cat?” He pulled me into his lap.
Since my hands were occupied with a gray tabby cat, Derek surprised me by tenderly moving hair out of my face. I was pressed against his chest, his mouth close to my ear.
“I thought I told you not to be reckless, angel.”
I turned my face, our lips inches apart. God, I wanted to close the distance between us and bite on that fleshy fucking mouth. How would it feel on other parts of my body?
On every part.
“So you would have been the overprotective, big brother type, then?” My voice was low, and calm, waiting for him to take the bait. Neither of us would be stupid enough to deny the chemistry igniting between us. There was nothing brotherly about the hungry way he was staring at my mouth.
“Get up,” he demanded, voice tight.
“You’re so damn uptight,” I replied, letting him pull me to my feet. “I’m fine. Belov’s men are gone, and…”
The blood in my veins ran cold when my eyes landed on a lifeless Cody. Derek followed my line of sight and hesitated before turning back to me.
“Looks like Belov’s men wanted to keep him quiet.”
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
EVANGELINA
