Rhyannon Byrd - Primal Instinct 05 by Touch of Surrender Page A

the maps helped her to “zone in” on a specific area.
    “Okay,” she finally whispered, slipping the photograph
back into the small leather backpack that she carried like a purse. “I think
I’ve got him, but he’s not as near as I’d hoped.”
    When they’d driven out of Prague that morning, after
leaving Gideon’s apartment, she’d told Kierland to head west, since that’s
where she’d “felt” Ashe’s pull coming from. As they’d traveled down the
motorway, her directions had gradually become more specific, until they’d found
themselves heading north, toward the German border.
    “I’m thinking Hannover,” she told him, slipping the
backpack onto her shoulder. “But I won’t know for sure until we get closer.”
    As they left the café, walking down the busy market
street, Kierland found himself thinking back to the news she’d delivered that
morning about the job with The Guard. It’d been impossible to hide his shock at
the stunning announcement. He’d demanded to know the details, and she’d
explained that the reassignment to his Watchmen unit was only temporary, until
March, when she would be taking her first special protection assignment in
southern Australia. It seemed that one of the Guards on the detail was retiring
at the end of February, and Morgan would be taking his place.
    When he’d laughed and told her that she’d be bored out
of her mind within a week, she’d just shaken her head and smiled. Apparently,
she was going to be assigned to an eccentric family of human scholars who were
studying ancient scrolls from the lost civilization of Atlantis, which had
always been a topic that fascinated her. Then she’d gone on to say that it was
the perfect job for her, because of the freedom and space it would afford her.
A sprawling ranch house in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but wide open
skies and red sand that stretches as far as the eye can see, was how she’d
described the family’s home, and he could tell that she was genuinely excited
about the relocation.
    Kierland, on the other hand, was still trying to come
to terms with how he felt about it. Though he’d been working the idea over in
his mind throughout the long hours of driving that they’d already done, he
hadn’t come to any sort of conclusion. All he knew was that the relief he would
have expected still hadn’t made an appearance…and he was starting to wonder if
it ever would. A month ago, if you’d asked him how he’d felt about the prospect
of never seeing Morgan Cantrell again, he’d have instantly responded with some
smart-ass comment about his prayers finally being answered. And at the time, he
would have meant it.
    Only…now, he was beginning to realize just how wrong
he would have been. He still wasn’t comfortable around her…and yet, he wasn’t
entirely comfortable with the idea of never seeing her again, either.
    It took forever to make their way down the busy market
street, some kind of local bazaar drawing an eclectic assortment of shoppers.
Kierland stayed alert to their surroundings, too seasoned a soldier to overlook
the possibility that their enemies could be watching them, waiting to attack as
soon as they got the chance.
    “Let’s cut through here,” he indicated, curling his
fingers around Morgan’s upper arm as he guided her through the crowd, heading
for a covered shop arcade that led to the street where they’d parked. “It’ll
save us time.”
    She said something in response, but he lost the words
beneath the hundreds of overlapping voices. As they headed farther into the
arcade, the crowd became horrendous, bodies pressing in close until it was
difficult to breathe. At first Kierland was just focused on keeping his hold on
Morgan’s arm, making sure they didn’t get separated—but then he looked over his
shoulder and caught sight of her panic-stricken expression.
    Stopping in the middle of the crowd, he turned and
took both her arms, pulling her close. “What is it?