Read Online Pursuing Paige by Anya Bast - Free Book Online Page B

pressed his mouth to
hers, parting her lips and snaking his tongue deep within.
    The sound of footsteps
behind them made her jerk away. It was Jarek. She couldn’t help but
feel a twinge of guilt, which was stupid. They’d put her in
this situation and was encouraging every mind blowing second of
it.
    “How is Alisa?” asked
Kaiden.
    Jarek rubbed a hand
over his tried looking face. “She’s fine. I showed her the bathroom
and extra bedroom upstairs. She’ll take a shower and get some
sleep. She wanted sleep more than food, even though she needs that
too. Tomorrow morning we’ll find her some clothes and settle her
into the guest apartment.”
    “Guest apartment?”
    He nodded and pointed
at the barn at the edge of the property. “We keep it for Torrent.
He lives there part of the time, to be closer to the edge of Lycaon
territory.”
    “We need to find her
people,” said Kaiden.
    “If she has any.” He
paused. “Did she tell you her story, Kaiden?”
    “Yes, it’s rough. Her
Lycaon parents were probably spies. They died without being
discovered, leaving her to be adopted by Magica parents. Her
adoptive parents eventually found out she was Lycaon, but they
protected her secret. At least, up until she was revealed.”
    Paige jumped into the
conversation. “So her parents were some kind of Lycaon sleeper
agents?”
    “Sleeper agents?” asked
Jarek.
    “Were they living among
the Magica, pretending to be Magica, with the intention of popping
up one day, exposing their true genetic origins, and hurting the
Magica in some way.”
    “No,” answered Jarek,
“They weren’t ever supposed to hurt them. They were there to
spy on the Magica for our benefit, to warn us of upcoming
attacks.”
    “Why did the Magica
have Alisa in the woods?” Paige asked.
    “They were trying to
force her to tell them where the Lycaon villages are,” answered
Kaiden, “but, of course, she doesn’t know.”
    “Let’s let Kaiden rest.
I’ll dress his wound, he can have a shower and get dressed.” Paige
arched an eyebrow. “Not that I’m not enjoying the view, but he
looks dead on his feet. I’ll fix him something to eat and he can
tell us the rest over a meal.”
    “Sounds good to me,”
answered Kaiden.
    They all went in and an
hour later, Kaiden was down in the kitchen enjoying a bowl of the
stew Jarek had made the previous day. “It’s not good out there,
Jarek,” said Kaiden between mouthfuls. “There are more Magica
Hunters than I’ve ever seen before. Something is going on.”
    Jarek rubbed his chin.
“Maybe Alisa can shed some light on it when she’s better
rested.”
    “We were hunting the
Hunters, taking them out day and night, still more came.”
    “It sounds like they
suspect they know the general area of the territory,” Paige
added.
    “They’ve known the
general area for many decades,” Jarek answered. “They can’t
pinpoint the villages because of the magickal shields in place, but
it sounds like they’re feeling pretty lucky they might one of these
days. That tells me the shields might be failing.”
    Jarek met Kaiden’s eyes
and they seemed to communicate something between only the two of
them. Kaiden tore his gaze away from Jarek’s and stared down at his
dish. Then he dropped the spoon into his bowl with a clatter and
pushed it away.
    “What’s wrong?” asked
Paige.
    Kaiden pushed away from
the table. “I’m exhausted. I need to go to bed.” Leaning over, he
gave her slow, lingering kiss on the lips, then rose and walked
away.
    “It’s late. We all
should get some sleep,” said Jarek as they watched him retreat
upstairs.
    “Okay, seriously, what
was that about?”
    Jarek pulled her into
his arms and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “We’re
concerned about you.”
    She wrapped her arms
around his waist and laid her head to his chest. “I can take care
of myself.”
    They stayed twined in
each other’s arms for a long time before he answered her. “We know
you can,