Primal Heat 05 - Darkness Reborn

who had gone rogue. She didn't want them dead. She just wanted them stopped, and she wanted herself to live. That was very different than the team slaying of all the "bad guys" that the Order would do.
    "Like hell we do, Sarah. We're in serious shit here, and there's no point in pretending we're not," Nonny said. A genuine smile burst over her face, and she slapped Kane's shoulder. "Welcome boys. We've been waiting two thousand years for you. It's about damned time."
    "Wait—" Sarah grabbed her grandmother, and pulled her to the side. "They're Order, Nonny," she whispered. "You know what that means—"
    Nonny ignored her and looked right at Kane. "You think you can squeeze water from stone, young man?"
    Kane glanced back at the fountain. "Yeah."
    Nonny met his gaze. "You do that, and you can stay. Sarah needs a man like you."
    A conspiratorial grin flashed across Kane's face. "It doesn't appear she agrees with you, but I do." He grinned at both of them, then turned away, gesturing at his teammates to meet him at the fountain.
    "Nonny," Sarah hissed at her as Kane headed toward the fountain. "Didn't you see his scars?"
    Her grandmother raised a well-plucked eyebrow at her. "You think I'm blind? Of course I saw them. The man's covered with them. Why? Do you find them abhorrent? Because personally, I think the man's obvious sex appeal is enhanced by his badges of suffering." She smiled fondly at Kane and the others. "I always liked a man who'd seen the grittier side of life, and I think it's awfully judgmental that you are repulsed by them."
    "No! God, no. Of course I'm not repulsed by him!" Sarah grimaced when she saw Kane grin, and her grandmother chuckled. Damn Nonny for making her say that. Sarah lowered her voice and leaned closer to her grandmother. "It's the shapes of the scars. Didn't you see them?"
    "Of course I saw them." Nonny rolled her eyes again. "Again with the questions about my eyesight? Do I suddenly look old to you or something?"
    "No." Sarah wanted to strangle her grandmother. "It's just that, what if they mean—"
    "Mean what?" Kane turned back to them, his brown eyes boring into both of them. "You know what my scars are? Both of you?"
    Sarah saw the anguish in his eyes, and suddenly she wasn't certain anymore. How could this man be Los Muerte? He'd averted his weapon instinctively when she'd moved in front of his blade. Los Muerte's instincts would be to kill her. But then again, there was no mistaking the darkness within him... Dammit! "I don't know—"
    "Yes, you do, Sarah," Nonny said. "You know exactly what those scars are."
    Kane met her gaze, waiting. He wasn't waiting for her grandmother. He wanted to hear it from her. But what was she supposed to do? Tell the man who'd given his life to protecting innocents that he could be the biggest assassin of them all?
    Nonny broke the silence. "Save my granddaughter, and we'll talk," Nonny said, her eyes blazing fiercely. "We've been waiting for you, young man. Even Sarah."
    Satisfaction gleamed in Kane's eyes, and he nodded once, accepting Nonny's promise. "Not as long as I've been waiting for you." He settled his gaze on Sarah, his voice so heavy with meaning that her body ached in response, and Nonny let out a low whistle and muttered something about the legal levels of testosterone in a man.
    Sarah collapsed back against a rock as Kane turned away, her skin flush with heat that had nothing to do with the morning sunshine. Damn him. How could he affect her that way?
    Kane caught up with Thano and Ryland, and the three men got to work. Nonny eased Sarah to the ground while Kane and the others began tearing apart the rocks beside the fountain with their hands. The rock seemed to crumble beneath their iron grip, and as Sarah watched the thousand-year-old structure succumb to their strength, she began to fully understand the power of these men.
    Of the male whose mark was still on her arm.
    The warrior who, despite the intensity of how he made her feel, seemed likely to be the demon who had come back to the village for the singular purpose of being her ultimate destruction. A shiver rippled over her, and she hugged herself, leaning against her grandmother for support. And as she watched his muscles bunching with the effort of unearthing water for her, she couldn't keep herself from wanting even more of him, like a lamb rushing straight into the lion's gaping jaws.
    "Dear God," she whispered. "What have I done?"
    * * *
    Luc Acostos whipped his head up