Page 19 of The Huntress

When Darius darted for her, ending her internal pity party, the man lunged for Darius. She dived behind the crates—her previous sanctuary—making sure she didn’t bang her head this time. Nothing she did could help the other man.Coward.

What could she do? She had no weapons and no way of surviving this.

“Damn it, Gabriel, I followed her down here. I had to trespass to get her,” Darius whined, trying to negotiate with his attacker.

That they knew each other didn’t surprise her.

Despite her regret, she smiled, loving his name.Gabriel. It suited him. Avenging angel? She snorted at her thoughts, blaming them for the stressful situation.

As she peered over the top of the boxes, the altercation continued to play out. Gabriel wrapped his forearm around her hunter’s neck. Judging by the whine in Darius’s voice, his usual confidence had fled.

A suckblood feared by other suckbloods? A slimy feeling curled in her stomach. They fought over her like a meal. Shit, she was in a heap of trouble now. Had she swapped one hunter for a more lethal one?

“You know better.” Gabriel’s voice was deep gravel, calling forth a shiver of pleasure from her.

All her senses came alive, as if he had run a hand along her skin. Her panties saturated again. Damn, this was embarrassing. She clenched her thighs tight, praying for help. For the first time, she understood why they were considered sex gods among human women.

“Smell her. She’s mouthwatering.” Darius tried to break the chokehold.

With a flick of his wrist, Gabriel broke his neck. “Mine.”

She thought she heard him growl, but she couldn’t be certain. The sound he made was animalistic. He let the body slump to the floor before turning to where she peeped over the crate.

“Is he…dead?” she asked, unable to keep the curiosity or hope from her voice. She’d been shit scared and usually, nothing phased her. She studied the twisted body and released a drawn-out breath to calm her erratic heartbeat.

“Nope, just incapacitated.”

Dismay slumped her shoulders. Well, duh. She should’ve doubted Darius had died since bullets weren’t a known weapon to kill suckbloods. Experience had taught her a broken neck meant he had a few minutes before he’d heal himself, and then he’d be angry and arrogant again. She’d prefer not to be around when that happened.

“It’ll be a while before he heals.” Gabriel offered his hand—long-fingered with a squarish palm. It conveyed safety.

She reviewed her current predicament, wondering what her choices were? Hehadsaved her, but she would be stupid to accept his assistance without giving it serious consideration. She chewed on her lip, weighing up her options. Something told her he wouldn’t let her climb out of here. Then again, he’d done nothing to alarm her. Her annoyingly vocal instincts weren’t screaming to save herself, either.

After sliding out from behind the boxes, she accepted his hand, and the warm calloused fingers wrapped around her small ones.

A bright burst of blood on his T-shirt snagged her attention. He was bleeding from his right side. “Shit, did he hurt you?”

An uncommon emotion rose to cloud her thoughts, one she didn’t often experience, not since Val’s diagnosis—panic. This had been a panicky sort of day. She searched for a cloth to stem the flow, her braid whipping around as her head did. Ripping off his torn shirt might give him ideas as if he was in a condition to follow through on her eager thoughts. Heat stained her cheeks. She yanked her shirt off, crunching it into a ball to press to his wound. He layered a gentle hand over hers, trapping it against the heated velvet of his skin.

“I can smell your injury.” His hoarse voice sent a shiver through her.

Dipping her head to hide her reaction to him, she shrugged off his observation and focused on his wound.

“I’m not as hurt as you. How can you stand? That’s a lot of blood.” She glanced up at his intense gaze, and as she drowned in ghost gray eyes, her breath hitched. “Lean on me if you need to,” she said, grateful her tongue worked under her dazed circumstances, despite the strangled quality of her voice.

He slipped his right arm around her and tugged her to his side. He gave off so much heat she shivered, making her aware of the cold, dark room they were in.

“Where can we go?” She grunted, carrying a little of his weight. He was a heavy bastard. “Are you trapped down here? We need to find help.”

“No help.” His words were an octave above a growl, causing her to shiver again, with heat of another sort coiling in her core. “There’s a door at the back.” He gestured to the dark shadows, where the light didn’t reach.

She stared at him and smiled like she’d seen medics do.If he didn’t want help, she couldn’t force the issue. He was too big to drag up the ladder, anyway. Anyone trapped underground had to be hiding from the law. Unfortunately for him, the law had found him.

“No help. Okay.” She hobbled to the back of the room with his fingers at her waist, strong and scorching.

His scent surrounded her, and she breathed it in, deep enough to expand her lungs. It was spicy, with hints of forest and grass. Delicious.

Was he using pheromones on her? Damn suckbloods and their supernatural gifts. She needed to get him to safety then leave.

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