“Whose brilliant idea was it to let you get dressed?” he snarled through fevered kisses. “Starting now, I only want to see you in my T-shirt or nothing at all.”
She smiled up at him. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
He kissed her again. “If you like that, just wait until you hear my other plans.”
“Maybe I should’ve picked up some energy drinks,” she said, sighing when he slipped his hands under her shirt and snapped the hooks on her bra. “Your Breed stamina’s going to kill me.”
“Are you complaining?”
“Not even close.” She yelped in surprise as he lifted her off the floor and set her atop the counter. Her hands caressed his back, then tangled in his hair as he palmed her knees and spread her legs wide. He moved into the V of her thighs and caught her possessively around the back of her neck, crushing her mouth in a bruising, heated joining of their lips and tongues.
He didn’t know how long they’d been kissing before his senses prickled with a niggling unease. He heard a sound outside—so faint he might have imagined it.
But he hadn’t; it was real. His Breed hearing was too acute to be mistaken.
Someone was outside the house, somewhere in the dark.
“What is it?” Naomi asked when he paused to listen closer, his hand still curved around her nape. “Asher?”
He put his index finger against her wet, parted lips. Her almond eyes went wide and anxious. Pulling her down off the counter, he set her on her feet and whispered into her ear. “Go to the bedroom and lock the door. Take Sam in with you.”
“Asher, what’s—”
“Do it, Naomi.” One of the horses whinnied in the paddock, a nervous sound that drew her attention toward the blackness on the other side of the back door. Asher gently caught her chin and brought her gaze back to him. “It’s probably nothing. The animals get spooked all the time. But I need to make sure, so do what I ask. Please.”
She gave him a faint nod, then left the kitchen.
Only after he heard the bedroom door close did Asher move. He stalked out of the house bare-handed, knowing if they had an intruder—especially the one he suspected—his best weapon was himself.
As he neared the horses’ paddock, a dark shape peeled away from the shadows.
“This certainly is a homey little spread you’ve got here, Asher.” Cain’s voice was devoid of emotion, impossible to read. “Never thought I’d find you playing house out here in buttfuck nowhere. Especially not with that thieving little female in there.” He chuckled low under his breath. “Apparently, you’re full of surprises lately.”
“If you’ve got any desire to keep breathing, Cain, you should get off my land.”
The former Hunter strode forward, his steps unrushed. “I didn’t come here to do battle with you, Asher. Not this time, anyway. After all, we both know each other well enough to realize that if it comes to that, neither one of us would give—or receive—an ounce of mercy from the other.”
Asher wasn’t about to deny it. “Then why are you here?”
“Curiosity,” he replied. “Not so much about you, but about her.”
“She’s none of your concern.” A growl worked its way up Asher’s throat before he could tamp it down. “If you touch her, make no mistake, Cain. I will kill you.”
The dark-haired assassin smirked and shook his head, silver eyes glinting. “I don’t have to touch her. She’s a dead woman already, considering she’s so hell-bent on screwing with Leo Slater.”
Asher leapt at him, his fangs punching out of his gums as he grabbed Cain by the throat. “Did he send you? That murdering motherfucker already sent three of his goons after her and I dealt with them. Tell me what you know, or you’re next.”
Cain grinned, but there was a note of uncertainty in his shrewd eyes. And dawning realization. “You care for her.” He chortled then. “Don’t tell me you’re attached to the little thief. I could understand why you had your hands all over her just now, but this is something more.”
Asher squeezed harder, then released his former comrade on a sharp curse.
Cain rubbed his throat absently. “What kind of game are you two playing here? What does a son of a bitch like you need with the kind of money she’s been stealing from Slater’s coffers for more than a year? Two-hundred grand doesn’t just get swept under the rug and forgiven. Particularly with a man like Slater.”
Holy hell.The steep figure shocked him, but he kept his expression schooled. And he hadn’t missed the fact that Cain was saying nothing about Michael’s win the other night.
“Slater’s got no room for holding grudges,” he replied. “If he takes a few hits on his coffers, he’s more than earned them.”
Cain shook his head. “What’s the matter, you weren’t lowlife enough before we escaped the program, now you’re a common thief too?”
