fear that someone might believe them now? And was that someone the person who had plotted Juliana’s escape from the Wasteland?
Or were they being deliberately steered off course? Was it some unknown enemy hiring the assassins, with some unknown grievance against her family?
Ashe didn’t know the answers, and the questions were running his brain ragged. Not to mention the sexual hunger ripping through his insides that wouldn’t ease up. He supposed there was more truth to the old saying “no good deed goes unpunished” than he’d ever actually realized. In trying to help the little vampire, he was putting himself through hell. Even Knox had noticed how much strain he was under, the shifter’s crude teasing throughout the day his way of showing concern.
In the early hours of the morning, Ashe had left Juliana upstairs in the room Knox had given them, telling her to get some rest while she could. Knowing he needed to get things moving as quickly as possible, he’d put off sleep and spent the day working with Knox. They’d both met with various informants, setting up feelers across the underground networks that Knox moved in, hoping information would soon start trickling in.
There were still a lot of calls he needed to make, which meant he needed to concentrate, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the female cuddling up in that bed upstairs by herself. Christ, where was his blasted control when he needed it?
For what must be the hundredth time, he wondered if it was possible that she felt the same need that he did. That same inexorable pull. Throughout the night, he’d caught the way she constantly watched him from the corner of her eye when she thought he wasn’t paying attention. And then there was the way she’d reacted to him back in London. She’d been so hot she’d practically singed him. So responsive he’d just wanted to keep pushing her over that sweet, melting edge, feeling her come for him again and again, until he’d laid claim to every part of her.
He wished he knew what was going on in that stubborn head of hers. Hell, he wished he knew everything about her. And he wasn’t above snooping to learn what he could. While she’d taken a quick shower after he’d walked her up to their room, Ashe had looked through the pack she carried with her. He knew money had been left for her in the pack, and that she’d used it to buy some things after her escape from the Wasteland. His mouth curved with a grim smile as he recalled the things he’d found. There’d been none of the frivolous cosmetics that so many women would have seen as a necessity. Instead, Juliana had purchased a couple of romance novels and several self-help books. The romance novels had been a surprise, simply because he hadn’t expected her to be a romantic. He wondered if she read them back at the Sabin compound, and if so, why? Was it because she needed to escape into another world…or did she simply get lonely, even when surrounded by her relatives?
And don’t forget the men who work for them.
He scowled, hating the thought of the brawny males, who had basically served under Juliana’s command, servicing her in more intimate ways. And hating that he hated it.
Throwing off the irritating emotion, he focused his thoughts on the self-help books that he’d found, the titles suggesting they were about grief and guilt. He wished he knew exactly what she felt so guilty about. Did it have to do with her family’s banishment? Despite how intensely he’d searched, he’d never been able to find anyone who could give him so much as a hint as to why the Sabin family was living in exile. There were no records of their punishment in the official Council documents, and no one in the Court had even been willing to discuss the case with him. Not even the old friends of his parents and grandparents, who had always been willing to help him and Gideon in their investigations when they needed it.
A sultry, feminine laugh suddenly drew him out of
Or were they being deliberately steered off course? Was it some unknown enemy hiring the assassins, with some unknown grievance against her family?
Ashe didn’t know the answers, and the questions were running his brain ragged. Not to mention the sexual hunger ripping through his insides that wouldn’t ease up. He supposed there was more truth to the old saying “no good deed goes unpunished” than he’d ever actually realized. In trying to help the little vampire, he was putting himself through hell. Even Knox had noticed how much strain he was under, the shifter’s crude teasing throughout the day his way of showing concern.
In the early hours of the morning, Ashe had left Juliana upstairs in the room Knox had given them, telling her to get some rest while she could. Knowing he needed to get things moving as quickly as possible, he’d put off sleep and spent the day working with Knox. They’d both met with various informants, setting up feelers across the underground networks that Knox moved in, hoping information would soon start trickling in.
There were still a lot of calls he needed to make, which meant he needed to concentrate, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the female cuddling up in that bed upstairs by herself. Christ, where was his blasted control when he needed it?
For what must be the hundredth time, he wondered if it was possible that she felt the same need that he did. That same inexorable pull. Throughout the night, he’d caught the way she constantly watched him from the corner of her eye when she thought he wasn’t paying attention. And then there was the way she’d reacted to him back in London. She’d been so hot she’d practically singed him. So responsive he’d just wanted to keep pushing her over that sweet, melting edge, feeling her come for him again and again, until he’d laid claim to every part of her.
He wished he knew what was going on in that stubborn head of hers. Hell, he wished he knew everything about her. And he wasn’t above snooping to learn what he could. While she’d taken a quick shower after he’d walked her up to their room, Ashe had looked through the pack she carried with her. He knew money had been left for her in the pack, and that she’d used it to buy some things after her escape from the Wasteland. His mouth curved with a grim smile as he recalled the things he’d found. There’d been none of the frivolous cosmetics that so many women would have seen as a necessity. Instead, Juliana had purchased a couple of romance novels and several self-help books. The romance novels had been a surprise, simply because he hadn’t expected her to be a romantic. He wondered if she read them back at the Sabin compound, and if so, why? Was it because she needed to escape into another world…or did she simply get lonely, even when surrounded by her relatives?
And don’t forget the men who work for them.
He scowled, hating the thought of the brawny males, who had basically served under Juliana’s command, servicing her in more intimate ways. And hating that he hated it.
Throwing off the irritating emotion, he focused his thoughts on the self-help books that he’d found, the titles suggesting they were about grief and guilt. He wished he knew exactly what she felt so guilty about. Did it have to do with her family’s banishment? Despite how intensely he’d searched, he’d never been able to find anyone who could give him so much as a hint as to why the Sabin family was living in exile. There were no records of their punishment in the official Council documents, and no one in the Court had even been willing to discuss the case with him. Not even the old friends of his parents and grandparents, who had always been willing to help him and Gideon in their investigations when they needed it.
A sultry, feminine laugh suddenly drew him out of
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