“Woman.” He brought their linked hands toward his mouth and then was unable to prevent himself from brushing a kiss over the back of her hand. “Stop. You didn’t give anything away. I had a weird, compulsive need to keep looking at you. I used my scope, not just enhanced vision. I could have given my position away if the sun had caught it.”
“You had a weird compulsion to look at me?” Once again, she turned the power of her large eyes on him. “That’s what it felt like? A compulsion?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t have stopped myself if I wanted to.” What difference did it make if he was honest with her? He had the feeling she would see inside him, no matter what he said or did, and he was adept at hiding in plain sight.
“Me either.” Her voice was so low he barely caught her admission, even with his acute hearing. “I didn’t hear any difference in the warning call from the bird. The notes were exact.”
“Almost,” he corrected. “Not sure anyone produces perfect birdcalls, but it’s as close as I can make them, practicing all the time. I started when I was a kid.” He pressed the back of her hand to his jaw. He needed a shave, and the stubble on his jaw scraped against her skin. She didn’t pull away from him.
“Diego?” She tilted her head back and then rested it against his shoulder. “I honestly think I would know where you were if you were within a mile of me. I think I could pinpoint your exact location. I have gifts, strong ones, but never anything like the awareness I have of you. It’s very strong.” She hesitated.
“Tell me. I’m choosing to be honest with you. This is all new for me, just like I suspect it is for you. New is alarming.”
“It’s more than the attraction being new for me. It’s the intensity of it. The quickness of it. I’m a loner. I wasn’t trained to be part of a unit. I was always sent out on my own, and I had no desire to be around the other soldiers. We were all training. My training was very specific, and I was always monitored, or I would have gotten away to look for my sister a lot sooner.”
“How did you find her? We track Whitney, and by the time we acquire his location, he moves, taking the women with him.”
Again, that little frown appeared. “I don’t know how I track people. Gut instinct? I just have some kind of built-in radar. If I follow it, I get results.”
“A gift, then. You’ve been enhanced.” He made it a statement.
“Physically. Genetically enhanced, but not psychically. The gifts I have are extremely strong, but the lab where they experiment on the volunteer soldiers doesn’t do the kinds of experiments Whitney does.”
“Were you ever around Whitney, even as a child?”
“No. They took Bridget to him. I heard them talking. I was combative and exhibited the ability to act independently, even as a young child. When they tested us, I tested high in the protective area. The lab wanted me and gave Bridget to Whitney. She was always much easier than I ever was. I questioned everything and had problems with authority. Bridget was sweet and loving.”
There was a note in her voice that told Diego that Leila had regrets. He understood what that was like. Children did and saidthings they shouldn’t, or didn’t do what they were told. Once they lost parents or siblings, there was no way to take back whatever was said or done.
Diego pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, needing to comfort her. He found it interesting that the compulsion was aneed, not a want. She didn’t show her distress, but every instinct he had told him that little betraying note in her voice gave away her true feelings. It was odd that they had the same issues, both feeling it was their duty to protect their sibling.
He didn’t want Leila to ever feel that Bridget was more important than she was—but he knew she did. He felt that way about Rubin. His brother was the better man. There was nothing Luther could say to make him feel differently because he had grown up with Rubin. He knew the man was sensitive and compassionate. It wasn’t that Rubin never lost his temper—and when he did, he could annihilate everyone around him—it was just that it didn’t happen often and it was always justified. Diego thought of himself as cold as ice. Leila was anything but cold.
“Asking questions is a good trait to have. The more information, the better. I was a big proponent of asking questions until it was beaten out of me.” He said it matter-of-factly, using a casual tone. It was history. He didn’t dwell on it. But if he spoke it out loud, that door to his childhood creaked open and he felt the lash of the belt or the switch across his back, buttocks and legs.
He felt Leila’s instant, visceral response. Every muscle in her body tensed, and her breath exploded from her lungs. “Your parents beat you because you asked questions?”
His warrior woman had a hot temper. He’d have to remember that. “Yep.”
“Someone should have beat them so they could see how it felt,” she snapped.
He burst out laughing. It was the first time he could ever remember laughing over a dark memory. Her eyes widened.
“Diego.”
The softness in her voice created an intimacy between them. Without thinking, and he was a deliberate man, he caught her chin and brushed his lips over hers. He couldn’t have stopped himself if someone put a gun to his head. The compulsion—the need—was too strong. The touch of her soft mouth was electric. Hot sparks of desire flashed down his spine. Leapt through his bloodstream. He lifted his head, shocked at his reaction to that brief touch. He’d kissed before, too many times, but nothing could have prepared him for the heady reality of simply brushing his lips against hers. She tasted like wild strawberries. She tasted like his.
She lifted her long lashes, and once again, he was falling into those emerald pools. “What was that?”
“I figured if you didn’t want me kissing you, if you didn’t like it, you’d use that knife that’s right there next to your hand.”
A faint smile curved her lips. “Guess I liked it. You’re still alive.”
5
A low, growling bark sounding the alarm came from a great horned owl, instantly alerting Diego. He came awake, every sense flaring out to read the forest outside their sanctuary. The female owl was a particular favorite of his. She was very familiar with him and his touch, allowing him to communicate with her easily.
The raptor was a ferocious hunter. She defended her territory relentlessly, without fear. She could be a deadly killing machine when her ire was aroused. She would drop silently out of the darkness with no warning, coming in low and fast, her talons and beak lethal weapons. He was fond of her. More than once, she’d protected him. In fact, she had saved his life.
