Page 35 of Blade's Battle
“Make an example of her so the WSSO knows they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.”
Anna held her tongue as Liam ushered Ravirez out with nothing more than a glare. Everyone thought she worked for the WSSO, including Liam now.
How did everything get so screwed up? All she’d wanted to do was identify and fix the gene that made some shifters weak. She’d compared the genomes of strong shifters to those of weak shifters and after months of research had identified a series of damaged genes in the weak shifters. These were why those shifters endured horrendous pain when shifting between human and wolf form, why their hearing, smell, eyesight, strength, and ability to heal all paled in comparison to their healthy counterparts.
“I’m not part of the WSSO,” she said to Liam the moment Ravirez left. “Never have been, never will be. You need to understand that because if you treat me as if I’m one of them, hoping to get information on them, it will get you nowhere.”
“Is that why Drake had you?”
“I don’t know what Drake wanted from me. He wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say because it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.” For the second time today, Anna lifted her blouse for a male that wasn’t her husband. She closed her eyes as she turned slowly, letting Liam see what Drake had done to her.
Before she opened her eyes, she recalled Blade’s growl, how distressed he’d been to see the bruises and the scars Drake had left on her. And then his large hands had glided over her back with the gentlest touch. Blade hadn’t been trying to seduce her, though he’d given a teasing touch here and there. His touch had been loving, tender, meant to soothe her at a time when she needed it. Even now, as mad as she was at him, she longed to be with him.
Anna opened her eyes. It wasn’t Blade but Liam who stood before her. As she quickly tucked her blouse into her skirt, Liam circled her. Then he moved in real close, trying to intimidate her with his size.
Willing herself to keep her ground wasn’t easy, especially when his hand ran down her arm in a very sensuous manner.
“Offer me your throat again, Anna.” His voice was rich and compelling, and she wished it was Blade asking that of her. She had no choice but to do as Liam asked. Her life was in his hands now.
Anna brushed her hair to the back and tilted her head, her heart beating so fast she could hear her pulse in her ears. Her curls chose that moment to bounce back, snaking forward to cover her neck, almost like a defense mechanism against this shifter whom she didn’t want touching her.
Liam eased her hair back, but kept his hand in her hair, twisting her locks around his fingers, tight enough to send her a message about who was in control here.
“What do you want?” she asked, her voice starting to shake.
“Not what Drake wanted,” Liam said as he leaned in and kissed behind her ear, and slowly left a trail down her neck.
“Please stop,” Anna cried out. To her surprise, he let go.
“You’ll give it up for a scout but not an alpha? Did he promise you something? Because I can play that game too.”
“You’re no different than Drake.”
“Oh, but I am.” He put a hand lightly over her bruised side. “Unlike Drake, I don’t damage my playthings.”
“I’m no one’s plaything!”
“Then what are you, Anna? You arrive here, a human who seems all too comfortable around shifters, you have a near-feral shifter ready to kill for you even though you don’t smell of him, and Drake sees you as a prize. Ramirez didn’t come here with the cure out of the goodness of Drake’s heart, he came here for you. You were part of the payment he demanded for handing over the cure.”
She shuddered. She wouldn’t go back to Drake. “And you believe everything Drake says because he’s a shifter?”
Liam’s lips thinned. She didn’t know how to read him. “You think I won’t believe you because you’re human? I don’t hate humans, but I don’t trust them, not without good reason. I have a history with Drake. I know him, how he thinks, how he operates. I don’t know you. You’ll have to be very compelling for me to believe anything you say.”
“And if I’m not?”
“You’re very beautiful, Anna, and unlike many shifters, I could get you out of the mess you’re in, for a price.”
“I’m not for sale.”
Liam chuckled as he backed her against a wall. “I’d think hard about your circumstances first,” he said before he licked the side of her throat. “I wonder if the rest of you is as tasty. We’re going to spend some time together, Anna, and you’re going to tell me everything you know about this virus and the WSSO.”
“And then?”
“And then I’ll decide if you live or die.”
* * *
BLADE
