Rage & Killian by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright Read Free Book Online Page B

like they were old friends.
    Leaning over her shoulder, Rage surrounded her in his warm, male musk. “You found the bastard?”
    “I located the computer that is running the auction,” she cautioned. “Whether or not the person who’s ultimately responsible for setting it up is physically there…” She shrugged. “That’s impossible to say.”
    He nodded. “Where is the computer?”
    “Bossier City.”
    “Damn.” Rage abruptly straightened, pacing from one end to the other of the long, narrow room. “That’s where Locke was setting up the military lab.”
    Lucie grimaced, easily understanding his frustration. Stanton Locke had been the human who’d been experimenting with Pantera blood and intending to share it with a military contractor. If the computer was in the same spot, it couldn’t be a coincidence.
    “So the mystery man might actually have the research notes.” She spoke his fears out loud.
    “Yep,” he growled.
    Lucie hit a button on the keypad, then reached to the side as the printer spit out a paper with the information she’d located. Rising to her feet, she handed the printout to Rage.
    “Here’s the address.”
    Folding the paper, he shoved it in the back pocket of his jeans, moving to stand directly in front of her.
    “The Pantera is in your debt,” he assured her, his fingers lightly tracing her jaw.
    A tiny shiver raced through her. God. She loved the heat of his touch. It felt as if she’d been branded. Claimed.
    So dangerous …
    “I’ll come up with a payment plan,” she muttered.
    Without warning, he leaned to press a light kiss to her lips. “I have to deal with this, but I swear I’ll be back.”
    Lucie stepped back, her brows lifting in surprise at his words.
    Did he think that she was just going to sit home like a good little girl while he had all the fun?
    “I’m coming with you.”
    Rage stiffened, his eyes narrowing. “No way.”
    She folded her arms over her chest, not for the first time wishing she wasn’t so tiny. It was hard to be intimidating when she was a foot shorter than everyone.
    “I wasn’t asking permission,” she informed him.
    “You’re a Geek, not a Hunter,” he growled.
    She rolled her eyes. “I’m aware of that.”
    He leaned down until they were nose to nose, the power of his cat pulsing through the air.
    “You’ve done your job. Now it’s my turn.”
    Her animal prowled beneath her skin, instinctively wanting to back down beneath the stronger male, but Lucie refused to be intimidated. Not just because she was stubborn and overly independent, but because there was no way in hell she was going to let this male walk into danger alone.
    That was unacceptable.
    “You need me,” she told him, meeting him glare for glare.
    Taking advantage of their proximity, he swiped his rough tongue over her bottom lip. Such a cat.
    “That’s true,” he agreed in husky tones. “But first I have to put an end to this threat.”
    She pulled back, resisting the urge to do a little licking of her own.
    Later…
    “I mean, you need to me to stop the auction,” she insisted. “Unless you’ve become a computer expert?”
    His brooding gaze lingered on her lips. “With enough encouragement, I can force the bastard to end it.”
    She didn’t doubt that. For all of Rage’s easy charm, he was a ruthless predator who would do whatever was necessary to get the information the Pantera needed.
    A knowledge that she intended to use to force him to take her along.
    “And if he won’t? Or if he manages to escape?” she demanded. “Or you accidentally kill him?” She held up her hand as his lips parted to assure her that he could take care of the enemy. “The auction is set on a timer. It’s going to happen unless I can gain physical access to his computer and stop it.”
    His lips snapped together at her indisputable logic.
    They both knew that right now, nothing mattered but halting the sell of the technology that would use Pantera blood as some sort