'I'm not going to satisfy your curiosity.' She lifted her cup. 'I've told you all I'm going to tell you about Lester. I didn't like your response last time.'
'What if we don't talk about the fact that I'm going to kill the bastard someday? It's other details that I want right now. Oh, I don't care anything about the way you met, the things you had in common. I want to know why you felt you had to go to bed with him. What did he do?' He added softly, 'How did he please you?'
Her chest was tightening, it was hard to breathe. She tore her eyes away from him. 'If Lincoln recommended Bridget, how are you sure that she's not working for him?'
He accepted the change of subject, thank God. 'I can't be sure about anything. I'm careful. I'm always very, very careful.'
'That's good.' Devon set down her cup and stood up. 'When will she be here?'
'A few hours. Where are you going?'
'Down to the barn to check on my animals.'
'Are you running away?'
'Yes,' she said bluntly. 'You're not paying attention to what I want you to pay attention to.'
'You're right, but there's a solution. Have sex with me so that I can concentrate on more serious things.'
'I believe you're concentrating on more serious things right now. You just don't want me to concentrate on them.'
'You're half-right. The other half is just a poor misguided half-breed who wants what he wants and can't help himself from trying to get it. You know savages are like that.'
'No, I don't. I don't know what you're like. Just when I think I do, you change on me.'
'Then you've changed opinions about me being a suitable custodian for the
'No, whatever else you are, I'd trust that side of you to hell and back. That wouldn't change.'
His smile faded. 'I believe I'm touched.'
'And I believe you're making fun of me.' She headed for the door. 'I'll come back when Bridget is here. I want to see her, too.'
'Devon.'
She stopped but didn't turn around.
'I'm not making fun of you,' he said quietly.
She didn't want to turn and see his expression. She had already been moved to a dozen different emotional highs. It had to stop.
She opened the door and ran down the porch steps. Slow down. No one was pursuing her. Yes, she was running away. She could still see Marrok lolling in that chair, his legs stretched before him; insolence, sensuality, and tension fighting for dominance. There was always a struggle going on within Marrok. Recklessness against wariness. Gentleness against violence. From the moment she had met him she had been aware of that battle. She should have run from him then. He was nothing she wanted in a man.
And everything she wanted in a lover.
Shock jolted through her at the thought that had come out of nowhere. She tried to push it away, dismiss it. A few chemical responses didn't mean anything. She had been so cool, so sure that she could handle anything when she had made the decision to throw all her efforts behind destroying Danner and saving the dogs. She'd been filled with a glowing sense of right.
That feeling was still there. Of course, it was. She just mustn't be distracted by these emotions that Marrok was stirring.
Easy to say. He had no intention of letting her ignore the way she felt. Heat tingled through her as she remembered the curve of his lips, his eyes dark and intent on her face. He wanted to make love to her, and he wasn't going to stop until it happened.
No, not make love. What was between them was erotic, sensual, but it had no basis in anything deeper. She had to remember that.
Going to bed with Marrok could be a mistake.
Thinking that there was anything between them but sex could be a tragedy.
CHAPTER 13
BRIDGET ARRIVED AT SUNSET, AND Marrok walked down to the helicopter to meet her.
'Where is she?' Bridget asked as she jumped out of the aircraft.
'Down at the barn.' His brows rose. 'You act as if you thought I was keeping her tied up in the basement. Where did you think she was?'
'I have no idea. I don't know why you let her stay. She shouldn't be here.'
'I'm aware of that, Bridget. I couldn't convince her to go.'
Bridget was studying him. 'And you're not sorry she's staying. What are you up to, Marrok?'
'The oldest game of all. You know what a self-indulgent bastard I am. Why not risk her neck if I can get a little plea sure out of the situation?'
'Don't give me that bull. I know you.'
'Then you don't know me well enough.' He turned to Walt, who was still in the helicopter. 'Tell her, Walt. He's been with me a hell of a lot longer than you have.'
'He's a real lowlife,' Walt said. 'Scum of the earth. Do you want me to stay here at the ranch or go back to the airport, scum of the earth?'
'Here,' he said curtly as he turned back to Bridget. 'You're welcome to try to talk her out of staying. But I'm done with it. Devon's so full of ivory-tower idealism, she thinks she can move the world single-handedly.'
'So what? So do you.' She strode toward the house. 'Don't give me that crap about how cynical and wicked you are. You're no kid any longer. All that may have been true at one time, but I've seen you change just in the last three years. If you want to have sex with her, do it. But don't tell me it's because you're such a 'bad boy.''
He chuckled. 'But I am, you know.'
'You have your moments. But you have other moments when I'd bet on you to be able to shift the earth to suit yourself.' She turned to face him as they reached the porch. 'If you're going to get Devon into bed, do it quick and send her to Sarah's. I don't know how much time she has.'
His smile vanished. 'What are you talking about?'
'I don't know. I never know, dammit. I just
His hand closed on her arm. 'Stop rambling. Tell me.'
'It's… I'm not sure. Something's going to happen to her… around her. I don't know which. But it's bad.'
'What the hell do you mean?' His hand tightened bruisingly. 'You can't just leave it like this. What-'
She tore her arm away. 'Let go of me. I told you all I know. Maybe I'm wrong.'
'You're damn right you're wrong. Nothing is going to happen to Devon.'
'Then ignore what I said,' she said fiercely. 'Only you won't do that. Because as often as you tell everyone how skeptical you were about Paco's powers, you believed in him. And you believe in my particular brand of weirdness, too.' She turned toward the barn. 'And that's the reason you're going to get Devon away from here, away from you.'
'She won't listen to me, dammit. You try.'
'That's what I intend to do,' she said over her shoulder. 'Just don't do anything that will stand in my way.'
Bridget could see Devon standing at the fence looking at Casper. Okay, get your thoughts in order and be ready to talk sense to her. But people like Devon might be sensible and go into battle anyway. It was a dicey situation. Even if Marrok didn't interfere intentionally, his very presence might blow her efforts. She had observed him with women before. There was no one more erotic or magnetic than Marrok when he was aroused, and she had never seen him like this. He was sending off signals as strong and basic as a forest animal. Most women would be fascinated, drawn irresistibly toward the challenge.
