Read Online Rage & Killian by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright - Free Book Online Page B

couldn’t do much damage. She was a Geek, not a Hunter. But in sheer surprise.
    Perhaps he was crazy, but he’d expected some gratitude that he’d come to save her.
    Just a smidgeon.
    “What was that for?” he demanded.
    She scowled right back at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
    “My mother would tell you nothing,” he assured her. “As far as she’s concerned, I’m perfect.”
    She rolled her eyes, not nearly as impressed as she should have been.
    “If you were perfect then you wouldn’t have been stupid enough to surrender to the enemy.”
    He shrugged. “You needed me.”
    “That’s not the point.” She gave him another punch, but Rage didn’t miss the hint of vulnerability that softened her features. She’d never had anyone who truly cared about her. She didn’t know how to deal with his concern. “It’s your duty to escape so you could stop the research from being sold.”
    He grabbed her face in his hands, staring down at her with a grim intensity.
    “I couldn’t risk you,” he growled. “Nothing is more important to me than your safety.” He tilted his head down until they were nose to nose. “I will sacrifice everything, including my duty, to protect you.”
    Their gazes locked, the weight of his words vibrating in the air.
    It was a pledge not even Lucie could dismiss as his usual flirtations.
    She licked her lips, a rapid pulse fluttering at the base of her throat. “You are…”
    “What?” he prompted as her words faded away.
    The emotions she usually kept so rigidly contained slowly darkened her eyes. Need, hope, and something that Rage desperately wanted to believe was love.
    “Impossible,” she at last muttered, reaching up to tangle her fingers in his hair as she planted a possessive kiss on his lips.
    Pleasure exploded through him.
    It was the first time she’d initiated a kiss. It made the caress all the more sweet.
    Stroking his fingers down the slender arch of her throat, he savored the feel of her lips as they demanded his response. Deep inside, his cat purred with contentment, even as it twitched with the need to get his female out of this cage and back to the safety of the Wildlands.
    Lifting his head, he gazed down at her with a faint smile. “Obviously you’re dangerously addicted to males who are impossible,” he teased.
    She rolled her eyes, but even as her lips parted to punish him for his smartass comment, she was sucking in a sharp breath.
    “Shit, what time is it?”
    Rage reached down to pull out the cell phone he’d hidden beneath his sweatshirt. The idiots hadn’t bothered to frisk him before throwing him in the cage.
     “Just after ten.”
    Scrambling off his lap, Lucie shakily rose to her feet to glance around the empty loft.
    “Where are the humans?”
    Rage shoved himself upright to stand next to his female. She was too stubborn to lean on him, but he’d make damned sure he was close enough to catch her if she fell.
    “The leader just stepped out of the room,” he told her, nodding toward the door across the room. “The other two are keeping watch on the lower floor. They seem to think there might be other Pantera on the way.”
    She arched her brows. “Are there?”
    He leaned down to speak directly in her ear. He couldn’t be sure they weren’t being monitored by a hidden camera.
    “They’re waiting for my signal.”
    Following his lead, she kept her voice soft enough that it wouldn’t carry. “Then why haven’t you signaled?”
    “I needed you awake so you can stop the auction.”
    She blinked, as if caught off guard that he’d managed to fight his natural instincts to ensure she was rescued as swiftly as possible. It spoke of his absolute faith in her. Not only as a computer whiz. But as a loyal Pantera who was willing to take risks to protect her pack.
    Reaching out, she placed a hand in the center of his chest, a soul-deep gratitude etched on her pale face.
    “Actually, I can do better than that,” she promised,