Lian/Roch (Bayou Heat) by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright Read Free Book Online

from the freezer along with sliced cheese.
    He’d just laid the buttered bread in the hot skillet when Sage returned to the kitchen, her face pale but her expression calm.
    “Are you hungry?” he asked, keeping himself busy as she settled on a stool that was pulled up to the breakfast bar.
    The urge to touch and hold her was nearly overwhelming, but he compelled himself to be patient.
    Not his finest talent.
    Hell, it didn’t even make the top hundred.
    “Yes,” she admitted. Not that she had much choice when her stomach gave a loud growl.
    “How about a grilled cheese, and tomato soup?”
    “You cook?”
    He sent her a startled glance, the agonizing pressure in his chest faintly easing. Her teasing might be forced, but it proved she hadn’t completely decided to hate him.
    “Only the basics,” he warned, spooning the soup into bowls as he finished browning the sandwiches and slid them onto paper plates. They were far from perfect. One side was too dark and the other barely toasted. But he couldn’t deny a strange surge of pure joy as he watched her sip the soup and take a large bite of the grilled cheese. Ignoring his own food, he leaned his elbows on the counter and studied her with blatant pleasure. “To be honest, I rarely get the chance. Now I’m starting to understand why it makes my mother so happy.”
    She glanced up in confusion. “You are?”
    “I like taking care of you,” he told her in soft tones.
    Her gaze dropped, a blush touching her cheeks. “I’m not a child.”
    His lips twisted as the violent awareness he was desperately trying to keep leashed blasted through him.
    “Believe me, Dr. Parker, I’m painfully aware you’re all woman.”
    Her blush deepened, the pulse at the base of her neck fluttering.
    Not fear.
    Arousal.
    She cleared her throat. “How long are we going to stay here?”
    Unable to resist temptation, Lian reached out to touch his fingertips to that pulse, his cat purring at the blatant assurance she was far from indifferent to him.
    “Until Raphael can send someone to escort us to the Wildlands.” His fingers drifted down to the loose neckline of her sweatshirt. Her warm, citrus smell filled the kitchen, making him instantly hard. “I’m not going to risk trying to move you without backup.”
    She polished off her sandwich, trying to pretend her heart wasn’t racing as his finger slipped beneath her sweatshirt to trace the line of her collarbone.
    “Why do you think they followed us?”
    That was the question, wasn’t it? Their enemies had one purpose, and that was to return Shakpi fully to this world. So far they’d infiltrated the Wildlands, lured a handful of Pantera into becoming traitors, and tried to turn the humans against them. So attempting to predict their next move was enough to give any poor Hunter a headache.
    He gave a frustrated shake of his head. “Maybe they hope to kidnap me to use as leverage in getting ahold of Shakpi. Or—”
    “Or?” she prompted.
    He hesitated before finishing his sentence. Sage was too intelligent not to reason out what was bothering him.
    “It could be they’ve learned you hold the potential to translate the scrolls.”
    “What if I can’t?” She bit her lip, the stunning gray eyes shadowed with fear.
    Not for herself. But at the thought of failing his people.
    With a smooth leap he was over the breakfast bar and pressing a finger to her lips.
    “You will.”
    “You can’t be sure,” she protested. “My skill with languages isn’t magic.”
    His thoughts fragmented as his finger traced the full temptation of her lips.
    There were a thousand reasons his thundering need to claim this female was a bad idea.
    A demented goddess who might wake at any moment. Enemies who were even now searching for them. Sage’s potential position as Shaman.
    Not to mention the fact that the female was still feeling vulnerable.
    But nothing could convince his cat that she didn’t belong in his arms…oh hell, who was he