Ghostwalker 07 - Murder Game

referencing the
    scars along with his gear—especially the knife at his side.

    He smiled as if to ease her fear. He looked like a mountain lion right before mealtime.
    "Let's start again. I'm Kadan Montague." Deliberately, his smile almost wolfish now, he held out his hand.

    Automatic reflex was nearly her undoing. Right before his hand enveloped hers, Tansy stepped backward, both hands behind her back. She didn't dare chance physical contact with him. Nor did she wish to get close enough if his intentions were to assault her.

    His smile widened at her reaction, warmed the strange black eyes until they glittered like a cat's at night. "You aren't afraid of me." He made it a statement.

    Anyone with a brain would be afraid of him, especially a woman. This was a man's man.
    There was nothing boyishly handsome in that rugged face. Nothing soft and gentle in those glittering eyes, but something else. What was it that both intrigued and repelled her?

    "You caught me in a compromising position. You must admit it isn't exactly a situation that would make a woman feel safe."

    Kadan studied her face—the flawless complexion, the full mouth, and the long, lush lashes—but it was her eyes that intrigued him most. There was no question that she was enhanced—he could feel the powerful psychic energy she gave off—but there was something more as well, something he'd not seen in other GhostWalkers before, and whatever the talent, it showed in her eyes. He had to resist reaching out to touch her soft expanse of skin. Twice now, her small white teeth had tugged thoughtfully at her lower ABC Amber LIT Converter
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    lip, a habit he found sexy as hell. She wasn't reading him, and that so rarely happened to her, he could tell she that she found the experience unsettling.

    She had a little too much confidence in herself, which meant she had to have some defense training. Deliberately he allowed his gaze to drift over her body and then bac k up
    to her face. She controlled the blush, and that meant she had amazing discipline and command of her body. He sent up a silent prayer that he had the same discipline and command of his body. He needed to get his mind off all that skin, her sweet curves and that damned pouty lower lip.

    "What is it you want, Mr…"

    "Kadan," he interrupted. He kept his voice soft, but he poured steel into it. She was looking at him with those enormous blue violet eyes, and the strange little shimmer unsettled his belly and tightened his groin. He damn well wasn't going to be the one out of control.

    "I don't know you well enough to call you by your first name." She said it primly as she moved to her left, toward the natural rock staircase that led away from the basin.

    Kadan kept pace, matching her shorter strides perfectly, as if they were slow dancing together. He crowded her personal space just a little, testing to see how she would react
    .

    She stopped abruptly, but didn't move out of his strike range. "Are you purposely trying to intimidate me?"

    He let a brief smile curve his mouth, giving her a short glimpse of bare teeth. "You should be intimidated. What the hell were you thinking, going to sleep out in the open without a stitch on and no weapon close to you?" He kept his voice controlled, but there a
    w s a whip in his tone, and she flinched under it.

    "I'm well aware it wasn't smart. I've been out here for some time and got careless."

    There was something in her tone that irritated him—no remorse, not an apology, just an acceptance of stupidity. Stupidity got a person killed. One moment of inattention could kill an entire team. He crowded her a little more, wanting her scared, because in spite of that flinch, there was no fear in her eyes.

    Tansy let him come near her, not once looking at the knife in the scabbard on his belt.
    There was no safety thong tying down the hilt, she'd already ascertained that, and the moment he got close enough, she struck, spinning, hand going for the weapon in a blur of speed and moving away just as fast. Except… she didn't go anywhere. His hand clamped down on hers, capturing her fist around the hilt, his strength enormous, refusing to allow her to draw the weapon and pinning her in place. He held her rigid against his body, one arm locked around her throat, the other keeping her fist tight around the knife.

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