Predatory Game (GhostWalkers #6)(3)
Author: Christine Feehan

It had been her eyes and mouth that had given her away. This was no child wrapped in a thin denim jacket several sizes too large, but a young, exhausted, exotic, disturbingly beautiful woman. Those eyes had seen things they shouldn’t have had to, and he wouldn’t-couldn’t-turn the young woman with those eyes away.

It had taken a moment to close his mouth and move back into the foyer, inviting her in. His hand had completely enveloped hers, yet he could feel the strength of her grip. Beneath the deceptive peaches-and-cream skin were muscles of steel. She moved with flowing grace, her carriage so regal he pegged her for a ballet dancer or gymnast. When she had finally offered a tentative smile, she had taken his breath away.

Jess raked a hand through his hair, cursing himself for inviting her in. From that moment, he had been lost; he knew with a certainty he always would be. Over the past ten months she had cast a spell and he didn’t even want out. He had never had a reaction to a woman the way he had to her. He couldn’t let her go, no matter how illogical that had been, so instead he’d opened his home, offering her the job as well as light housekeeping in exchange for a place to live.

Of course he’d investigated her; he wasn’t entirely out of his mind. He owed it to his fellow GhostWalkers, members of his elite military team, to know who was sharing his house, but there was no Saber Wynter in existence. It wasn’t exactly shocking, he suspected she was hiding from someone, but it was very unusual that he couldn’t find out every last thing about her, especially when he had her fingerprints.

The shrill ringing of the telephone sent his heart slamming hard against the wall of his chest. His hand flew out, the swift striking of a coiled snake, and snatched up the receiver. “Saber?” It was a prayer, damn her, a blatant prayer. He inhaled deep, wishing he could draw her into his lungs and hold her there.

“Hi, Jesse,” she greeted him breezily, as if it were noon and he hadn’t been climbing the walls for hours. “I sort of have this teeny little problem.”

He ignored the relief racing through his body, the tightening of his muscles at the sensual sound of her voice, and the instant hard-on that never quite went away when he thought about her-which was all the time. “Damn it, Saber, don’t you dare tell me you landed yourself in jail again.” He really was going to strangle her. A man could only take so much.

Her sigh was exaggerated. “Honestly, Jesse, do you have to bring that silly incident up every time something goes wrong? It’s not like I tried to get arrested.”

“Saber,” he said in exasperation, “holding out your hands with your wrists together is asking to be arrested.”

“It was for a good cause,” she protested.

“Chaining yourself to an old folks’ home to call attention to conditions is not exactly the right way to go about changing things. Where the hell are you?”

“You sound like an old grumpy bear with a sore tooth.” Saber tapped out a rhythm with a long fingernail on the booth wall, one of the nervous habits she’d never overcome. “I’m stuck out here near the old warehouses, sort of, um, like by myself-without a car.”

“Damn it, Saber!”

“You already said that,” she pointed out judiciously.

“You stay put.” Cold steel was in the deep timbre of his voice. “Don’t leave that phone booth. You hear me, Saber? I’d better not find you throwing dice with a bunch of deadbeats down there.”

“Very funny, Jesse.”

She laughed, actually laughed, the little brat. Jess slammed down the phone, itching to shake her. The thought of her, so fragile and unprotected, down near the warehouses, one of the worst parts of town, scared him to death.

Saber hung up and leaned weakly against the wall of the phone booth, momentarily closing her eyes. She was trembling so hard she could barely stand. It took an effort to pry her fingers, one by one, from the receiver. She hated the dark, the demons lurking in the shadows, the way the black night could turn people into savage animals. Her job at the radio station, the job she owed to Jess, couldn’t have been better suited to her, because she could stay up all night.

And tonight, her first night off in ages, had to be spent with Larry the Louse. He just had to dump her butt in the worst section of town he could find-not that she couldn’t take care of herself, and that was the problem. It would always be the problem. She wasn’t normal. She should be afraid of what lurked in the night, not afraid of harming someone.

She sighed. She had no idea why she had gone out with Larry at all. She didn’t even like him or his rotten breath. The truth was, she didn’t like any of the men she dated, but she wanted to like them, wanted to be attracted to them.

She sank down in the small booth, drawing her knees up to her chest. Jesse would come for her, she knew it. It was as certain as Jess’s silly story about needing someone to rent the upstairs apartment, or how it was so cheap because he needed someone to do light housekeeping for him.

The place was a palace as far as Saber was concerned. Wide open spaces kept immaculately clean. The upstairs was no apartment, had never been an apartment. The second upstairs bathroom had been added after she had moved in. The huge, well-equipped weight room and full-size swimming pool were an added enticement that he’d said she could use anytime.

For the first time in her life, Saber had swallowed her pride and had taken a handout. The truth was, as much as she hated to admit it, she had never had cause to be sorry, not once since she’d moved in-except that she’d known she couldn’t stay too long. Jess was the real reason she stayed-not his house, the swimming pool, or her job. Just Jesse.

She closed her eyes briefly and rubbed her chin on her knees. She was getting far too attached to the man. Six months ago it wouldn’t have occurred to her to call for help, now it didn’t occur to her not to. The revelation made her uneasy. It was time to leave, past time to leave, she was getting too comfortable. Saber Wynter had to go out in flames and a new identity had to rise from the ashes, because if she stayed any longer, she was in terrible danger, and this time, it wasn’t going to be anyone’s fault but her own.

The van rumbled up to the curb in record time. Jesse thrust his handsome face out the window. His eyes were dark with shadows as he looked her over rather anxiously. The drift of those gorgeous eyes had her stomach flipping when she didn’t want to feel anything but relief.

Saber stood up slowly, a little shakily, and dusted off the seat of her jeans, allowing herself time to recover.