Carpathian 09 - Dark Guardian

the cushions and waved a hand at him to ward him off. "That speed thing you do has got to go."
    He arched an eyebrow at her. She wanted to touch his beautiful face with her fingertip, trace each eyebrow and the shadow along his jaw. Very carefully Jaxon put her hands under her and sat on them, her eyes completely innocent. He had better not be reading her mind at that precise moment. She glared at him just in case he was reading her mind, to show him she meant business.
    "You have such a way with words, honey."
    She liked to watch his eyes. They could go from ice-cold obsidian to glittering jewels in a matter of seconds. "I do, don't I?" She looked pleased.
    "I am not certain I meant it as a compliment," he pointed out with a grin.
    "There was an accident reported in the paper." She changed the subject with a little sigh.
    "So you said."
    " Another accident. A man drove his car over a cliff. The state police think he just drove straight off the road. There were no skids marks at all."
    "And the significance of this is?" he prompted.
    "The man worked for Barnes. It's just too much of a coincidence that they both died so suddenly.
    Maybe the drug cartel was annoyed with him over something. I'll have to do some digging around. If I could just know for sure you'd be safe from Drake while I went out to work…" She trailed off, looking up at the ceiling as if she would find her answers there.
    A slow grin softened his mouth and added warmth to his eyes. "So, you are the one keeping me safe. I thank you, lifemate, that my safety is always such a top priority with you. It shows how important I am to you." He had successfully ended any chance of insubordination on her part over the issue of safety. If she worried about him now, he would simply bask in the knowledge.
    "You would think that. You have a most annoying arrogance about you." She sniffed indignantly. She had to pull her hands out from under her bottom to snatch up the newspaper. "I simply don't want the publicity of some big shot like you getting murdered on my watch. I have my reputation to think about, you know."
    "Speaking of reputations, who is Don Jacobson?"
    She looked shocked. "How did you know about Don?"
    "You were talking to him last evening on the phone, and this rising you were thinking of him."
    "There really aren't any secrets from you, are there?" She didn't want to think about how often she had fantasized over Lucian. How right at this very moment she was thinking thoughts that brought a hint of color to her face.

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    Lucian wasn't about to be distracted. "Who is he?"
    "I grew up with him in Florida. Before Drake goes on one of his killing sprees, he always returns to where it all started. It's some kind of ritualistic thing. He goes over the entire training course several times, camps out, almost as if he's playing hide and seek with the new recruits. No one has ever actually spotted him, and he's never killed anyone there, but he leaves signs to taunt them all with how superior he is."
    "Florida is clear across the country."
    "It doesn't matter. He always starts there. I was hoping maybe he was still there when I called Don. It was a long shot, but I had to try it. We might have caught him at an airport or stopped him in a car on his way here. No such luck. Drake has scouted your royal palace, just as you expected him to. Now I have to stick around and protect you from your own arrogance."
    "I am very happy I am an arrogant man. It pleases me you have a reason to'stick around and protect me.' " Lucian reached out and cupped her face in the palm of his hand with exquisite gentleness. "You did not answer to my full satisfaction who this man Don Jacobson is to you." His voice was very soft and intimate.
    "I don't need to explain him." He was wreaking havoc with her insides, melting her like butter. Just looking at him made her feel weak and shaky. "It's getting hot in here," she complained. "You didn't turn on the heater, did you?"
    "Carpathians can regulate their own body temperatures."
    She nodded. "Of course they can. Why didn't I think of that?"
    Lucian leaned into her so that the heat of his skin touched her through the thin material of her blouse. He swept back strands of her platinum hair. "You do feel a bit on the warm side." He was frowning as he checked her forehead. Touching her skin was addicting. The more he did it, the more he needed to do it.
    "Think about