Megan's Mark by Lora Leigh

A major accomplishment.
    “You might want to look into stocking up on plenty of proteins for yourself too.” He kept his voice controlled, no sign of amusement or hidden meanings. “You’ll need your strength.”
    She turned back to him, a retort on her lips until she met the deliberately innocent expression he kept on his face.
    She narrowed her eyes as she propped her hands on her hips, drawing attention to the ripe curves that had the blood pounding furiously between his thighs.
    “You’re not fooling me, Arness.” She arched that perfect little brow as she pursed her lips thoughtfully. “You think you are. You want to.” Then she did smile. A sexy slow curve of her lips that had him gritting his teeth to hold back his groan. “Maybe you’re the one who’s going to need all that energy. I could be too much for you to handle, you know.”
    She turned then, and with a twitch of her pretty ass she stepped over the ledge to the first foothold that would lead her back to the floor of the gully.
    Too much for him to handle? Doubtful. Not impossible.
    But very, very doubtful.

Chapter Six
    Megan doubted it as well. As they searched through the remaining caverns, she fought to keep her senses alert, using her ability to draw from Braden’s shield to hold back the less desired effects of the Empathy and to use her talents to search for answers instead.
    She wasn’t adept at it. She had never had the opportunity to work in such a way, but she found herself intrigued by the opportunity now. And by the warmth and the subtle information she drew on the man as well. There were dark places inside him, but he kept them hidden; he didn’t let them affect him. There was violence, yes. But it was tempered, softened with compassion.
    There was also dominance, a dominance that edged at the shields she was borrowing-shields he was controlling.
    She probed at it, feeling the amusement, the lust, a hunger that was only growing.
    She tried to ignore that, focusing instead on the remnants of emotions and actions that still lingered within the caverns. Not that there was much to latch on to. The Coyotes had come here to kill. They had followed the Breed couple from Broken Butte, but how had they known to start there?
    They were there to kill the couple, then to wait on Megan. She sensed that; it had been uppermost in their minds. A clean sweep, but of what? What were they attempting to hide?
    “There’s nothing here.” Braden finally sighed as they went through the last cavern, standing at the ledge and staring below with narrowed eyes. He gave his head a brief, firm shake. “Let’s get back to the Raider and head out. I’ll see if Jonas has come up with anything further in his interrogation of the Coyote he took back with him.”
    He swung from the ledge to the narrow path that led back into the gully as Megan followed.
    Megan pushed back the stray strands of hair that had escaped from her braid as she began trudging toward the Raider. She was ready to get the hell out of the desert, to head into town for dinner then home to her soft, comfortable bed.
    Bruises from the past week throbbed painfully, as did some new ones collected climbing the cliff faces. Her ear burned and her pussy had developed an erotic, sensual ache that tormented her with the knowledge that she was fighting something she knew Braden wanted just as much as she did. Well, she wanted it pretty damned bad; she could be in worse shape than he was.
    “What did you really expect to find here, Braden?” She watched him curiously, still not certain what he was after.
    “Anything. Everything. Nothing.” She could hear the shrug in his lazy tone and gritted her teeth in irritation.
    “Two out of three ain’t bad.” She mocked their dubious success with a roll of her eyes. “We found everything this gorge could have contained and nothing we needed to answer our question. You’re on a roll, Braden.” She jerked the driver’s-side door open, sliding into the