Leopard 03 - Burning Wild

holding out hope for. Was she stupid enough to do that?
    Hope that he would come after her? That would never happen. He didn’t want her. He didn’t want her legacy, or her name, or her house—and he certainly didn’t want the seven daughters that would come along with her.
    No, she had stopped hoping Jackson Deveau would ever come to love or even want her.
    Now she just had to stop hurting.
    Elle used to envision a life of laughter and happiness with her soul mate. That was before she’d met him. He was a morose, silent, brooding, very dominant male. She knew he could bring stillness and peace to her, or turn her veins to liquid fire with one smoldering look. But he refused to accept who she was—refused to love her as she was. And if he didn’t, she feared no other man ever would—or could.
    Not the real Elle Drake, at least.
    Movement caught her eye and she shifted her gaze to see the captain approach Stavros and whisper something in his ear. She was adept at reading lips but she couldn’t see his mouth clearly. Stavros frowned and shook his head, glanced at his watch and then over at Elle. She kept her face still and turned her gaze back to the sea. Stavros’s bodyguard, Sid, said something as well. He was facing her and she caught his words distinctly.
    “It will be dangerous to have her on the island, sir. Think about this. Take her off the boat now and we’ll give the driver orders to take her to your villa. They can hold her there until the meeting is over.”
    Elle’s stomach tightened. The bodyguard was talking about her. Stavros shook his head and said something she couldn’t catch, but the bodyguard and captain both looked toward her again and neither looked happy.
    That built-in alarm, which had saved her numerous times on countless assignments, shrieked at her and she didn’t hesitate. She moved quickly through the thinning crowd toward the side of the yacht where the boats were coming in to pick up the guests and return them to shore. Though her purse and overnight bag were still in the cabin down below, Elle was careful never to carry anything in her purse or her belongings that could betray her. She would leave the yacht, and if Dane wanted her to return, she could use the retrieval of her things as an excuse to contact Stavros again.
    She made herself small, trying to blend in with the other guests. As Elle she could disappear easily into the shadows, but Sheena stood out. Her heart sped up and a sense of urgency rode her as she wound her way to the departing boats. It wouldn’t do to look back and check to see if she was being hunted; she already knew she was. She had one chance to step onto the departing boat as it was taking off. She had to time it perfectly.
    Elle slid through the last of the guests waiting for the next boat and stepped onto the platform, holding out her hand to the young man pushing off the departing boat. He grinned and guided the boat back into position so she could step into it. Just as his fingers slid around her hand, she felt another hand catch her upper arm in a firm grip, pulling her back.
    “Mr. Gratsos would like the pleasure of Ms. MacKenzie’s company a while longer,” Sid said smoothly, drawing her much smaller frame against him.
    Elle inhaled sharply, feeling the burst of emotion spilling from Stavros’s bodyguard. He almost wished he hadn’t caught her—in fact he’d considered just missing her, but knew Stavros would have stopped the other boat. She allowed herself to be pulled back without a struggle. The bodyguard was bigger and much stronger than she was, and even if she could have caught him by surprise, what would be the point? None of Stavros’s men were going to let her leave the yacht against his orders. She smiled graciously at the driver and looked up at the bodyguard. He wasn’t Greek; she wasn’t certain exactly where he was from. He spoke with a Greek accent, but there was something off about him.
    “You’re hurting me.” She kept her tone low, very low, her gaze on his face.
    He let her go immediately, so fast as if her skin burned him. “I’m sorry, Ms. MacKenzie. Mr. Gratsos asked me to bring you back to him and I was afraid you’d fall into the sea if I didn’t keep hold of you. I didn’t realize how hard I was gripping you.”
    He’s been afraid she’d make a scene, but strangely, that was all she could get from him. Why was that?
    How was the bodyguard protected from her psychic abilities in the same way