Page 28 of Stripped

“Not that I know of,” I said. “I'll talk to them.”

I hesitated a moment before I got out of the car, because Zane looked fierce and hot as hot fudge. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that clung to every muscle, but that was usual attire for him. What made the real difference was the anger tightening every line of his face, the flashing anticipation in his eyes. I probably should have been scared, but all I could think about was him focusing that anger on me and it turning to something decidedly more delicious. I pulled in a deep breath and tried to get a hold of myself.

Who knew being kidnapped and locked up by a vampire could awake such a raging libido? Or maybe it was that I had a pretty good guess the anger on Zane's face was for the vamp who'd taken me and that the army of trucks was a rescue mission for little old me. It was possibly the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me.

I hopped out of the car, my eyes on Zane. As soon as he saw me, the anger drained from his face and was replaced by something like relief. But he didn't smile, in fact his frown deepened.

He tossed his rifle in the bed of the truck and stalked toward me. He met me at the front of the Camry and grabbed me. He wrapped his big arms around me and squeezed. “Zane,” I said. “Can't. Breathe.”

He loosened his grip, but he didn't let me go. He nuzzled my neck and rubbed the tip of his nose over my skin, lighting me up in ways that shouldn't be possible from such a simple touch.

“Are you smelling me?” I asked.

He leaned away from me, his gaze moving over every inch of my face. “Are you okay? Did he…?”

“He didn't touch me. He locked me in a dog kennel for the night, the first step in his plan to break me and bend me to his will. Compulsion was too good for me.”

Zane let out a long breath. “Thank god. I—”

I rose onto my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. I don't know what exactly came over me, I just needed to kiss him, to feel his lips on mine, more than I needed anything else.

Zane froze for just a minute, and then he grabbed the nape of my neck and kissed me back. I'd kissed him because I was grateful to him, because him worrying about me was hot as hell, but when he kissed me back I forgot everything but him and the way his kiss lit up every nerve ending in my entire body. His other hand slid down and gave my booty a very firm squeeze and I shuddered with pleasure. What the heck was this guy doing to me? And how could I convince him to never stop?

Someone cleared his throat, probably Axel, and I broke the kiss. I tried to back out of Zane's arms, but he held me tightly in place. He pressed a tender kiss to my forehead and stared into my eyes for a long moment, like he was making me some wordless promise I didn't understand.

It was weird and a bit scary, the intensity in his gaze. When I pushed out of his arms again, he let me go, but he kept one arm around my shoulders and tucked me tight against his side as we faced Axel.

I looked back over my shoulder for Jeremy and Melanie, but the red Camry was already bouncing out of sight, their job done. “They apologized for not staying longer,” Axel said. “But they have to work tonight.”

How long had I been kissing Zane? “They aren't really police officers,” I said, somewhat lamely. Now that I was with the pack and away from Leopold, I had no idea what the next step was. I looked up at Zane. “Is everyone okay?”

“Alice and Carly are still under Leopold's compulsion,” he said. “We had to restrain them to keep them from running back to him. Everyone else is as good as can be expected.”

“What about you?” Axel asked. “How certain are you that Leopold didn't place you under any compulsion?”

“She said he didn't,” Zane said, his arm tightening around my shoulders.

“I heard what she said.” Axel looked to me, his expression softening. “It's not that I don't believe you, but vampires are skilled at messing with human minds. He could have put you under a compulsion to… I don't know… Get information or hurt—”

“Axel, back the fuck off,” Zane said, a growl in his voice.

“It's okay,” I said, patting Zane's back. “He's not wrong to worry. I don't know if he could have put me under compulsion and then made me forget what he'd done, but everything I remember is that he didn't even look directly into my eyes. He told me he wanted me to bow to him of my own will. He wanted to break me. I think he's just the sort of narcissist who wouldn't think it possible I'd escape him or make it back here to you guys. It wouldn't have occurred to him to compel me to cause you any trouble.”

“See,” Zane said, already turning me away from Axel. “She's clean. She's probably also exhausted and starving. I'm taking her back to my place.”

Axel didn't look convinced, but he let us go without further argument.

Zane walked us to the last truck in the line. Behind the wheel was a woman with short dark hair and, next to her, was a short man who was thick with muscle. “Hey, can you two give us a ride back to town? Abby shouldn't have to walk.”

“I'm fine,” I said.

“You found her already?” the woman asked, but she didn't look happy at all. “I thought we were going to get to kick some vampire ass.”

“Not this time,” Zane said, grinning. “I'm sure there'll be more opportunities.”

“Nice to see ya, Abby,” the stocky man said. “Hop in and we'll get you to Zane's place.”

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