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

What’s wrong?”
    She was shivering, her eyes clouded with fear, but she
only stammered, “N-nothing. It’s…nothing.”
    “You’re lying,” he growled, hating that shattered look
on her beautiful, sweat-misted face. “Damn it, Morgan. You’re as white as a
ghost. Did you see something?”
    The crowd surged around them like a violent ocean
current, pressing into her back, shoving her against him, and she gasped, her
eyes going huge. “Can’t…can’t breathe,” she choked out, and it scared the hell
out of him.
    Swinging her up into his arms, Kierland ignored the
outraged shouts of those around them and started shoving his way through the
mass of shoppers, snarling at anyone who didn’t get out of his way fast enough.
    When they were finally outside, he headed straight for
the nearest truck he could find parked on the curb of the road and carefully
sat her on the hood. Standing between her long legs, he ran his hands over her
upper arms in what he hoped was a soothing, calming touch. “Are you sick,
honey? Come on. Talk to me.”
    “I’m fine,” she mumbled, looking down, her hair
shielding her face. Kierland reached up to push the heavy strands behind her
ear, but she flinched. He stepped back a little, taking his other hand from her
shoulder, sensing that she needed the space.
    Rubbing his hand over his mouth, he wondered what the
hell had caused her to panic like that, while a strange surge of protective
instincts flooded his system, creating chaos in its wake. Suddenly everything
seemed to be shifting on him, turning wrong side up, the perceptions he’d
always held about this woman twisting and flipping. Despite the hard-ass
persona she tried so hard to project to the outside world—tough, fearless,
independent—he was starting to realize that there was a core of something
tender and soft in her. And maybe something even a little bit broken. Something
Morgan was trying hard to hide from him…that she didn’t want him to know about.
    “I’m better now,” she whispered, still keeping her
face averted. “Can we…can we just get to the car?”
    Kierland wanted to demand an explanation then and
there, but knew she wasn’t going to give him one. “Are you sure you’re ready to
move?” With the edge of his fist, he lifted her chin and studied her pale,
drawn features. “You still look a little green around the gills.”
    “Probably just too much caffeine, but I’m fine.” She
wet her lips, and took a deep breath. “Really. Let’s just go.”
    The Spider was parked about a block down the road, and
after walking close by her side to make sure she didn’t pass out on him,
Kierland opened the passenger’s door for her, waiting until she was settled
with her seat belt on before shutting it. He drove through the town, vaguely
familiar with its layout, since he’d done some work there for the Consortium
several years ago. Wanting to avoid the traffic, he headed for a two-lane, less
populated road that wove around the outskirts of the town, cutting through
thick evergreen woodland, the ground still covered with the lingering remnants
of the last snowfall.
    As they left the town center behind them, Kierland
couldn’t stop thinking about the incident in the arcade, turning the event over
in his mind like a puzzle that he needed to solve. He couldn’t help wondering
if the reason Morgan was looking forward to the “freedom and space” awaiting
her in Australia was because she couldn’t handle being surrounded by people.
The bodyguards had almost managed to get the better of her in the packed club
the night before, which should have never happened. And she’d recoiled from the
people pressing against her in the arcade. He couldn’t remember her ever
suffering from claustrophobia during her time at the academy, but he supposed
she might have just done a good job of covering it. Still, the back of his neck
prickled with an uneasy sensation, and he knew that wasn’t the answer. Neither
was too