The panther appeared from the bathroom—no doubt relieving himself like I said he could—before padding toward the caterwauling device. He picked it up with his sharp teeth, brought it to us, and dropped it onto the bed like a dead mouse.
Lucien still didn’t let go of me. “I tried using that back in Cinderkeep when I went through your things. It didn’t work.”
“I know.” I pushed against his chest, avoiding the metal disc and his stitches the best I could. “There wasn’t reception there. But here there is.”
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say to me?”
I wrinkled my nose. “If you want an in-depth explanation of how the mobile network operates, I’m afraid you’re going to be sorely disappointed.”
“No.” He frowned. “About the fact that I just admitted I went through your belongings.” Letting me sit upright, but not letting me get off him, he kept his hands planted on my hips as I turned the volume off just in time for yetanothercall to illuminate the screen. “Don’t you care?”
The way he watched me made guilt flare.
Which was crazy because I had nothing to be guilty about.
Unlike him, I had a life out here.
People.
People who’d panicked when I’d vanished without a trace.
People who deserved an explanation.
“No, I don’t care,” I held his eyes, marvelling at the slight scarlet hue around his pupils. “It’s just stuff. I’m not attached.”
He studied me for a moment as if I perplexed him, but then shutters came down and he asked, “Can you make calls as well as receive them?” He sat upright, keeping me trapped on his lap with a possessive arm.
“Of course.”
“In that case, I need to use it.”
“Wait.” My eyes widened. “You do?”
Who the hell would he know to call?
How did he even know what a cellphone was after being locked up for so long?
But I didn’t get a chance to ask as his gaze locked onto the screen as yetanothercall buzzed.
The screen flashed obnoxiously with one name:Dillon, Dillon, Dillon.
Lucien growled under his breath, sounding eerily panther-like.
I lowered my head and groaned.
Crap. This was going to be bad. Very,verybad.
Not because Lucien seemed to have a minor problem of possession, but because he’d had me all to himself for weeks. He’d revealed enough of his prickly personality that if he knew I was close to another man...
Yep, he’s going to kill me.
My bodyguard was supposed toprotectmy life, not be the cause of ending it.
The screen illuminated Dillon’s name even brighter, announcing I’d missed over two hundred calls from him since I’d gone missing.
Lucien went very, very still and very, very hot.
His gorgeous face turned to blackened stone as he snarled very, very quietly. “And just who the fuck is Dillon?”
