Damn it, Cayenne.

I make my own way.

By robbing? Do you get some kind of thrill from it? This is fucking bullshit and you know it. Go home. I’ll meet you there tomorrow.

It’s my home. You stay away. She sounded stubborn. She looked stubborn.

I bought it. I renovated it. You know it belonged to Whitney, and he set up Braden there to finish his dirty work. He had all kinds of ways in and out built into the place. He had passageways in the walls. I took out the crematorium and the cells below and added in stairways to the lower level. The place is my home, and it can be your home as well, but no more of this bullshit, Cayenne. Sooner or later the cops will get involved, or worse, the military. If they send an investigator, you’re in trouble.

She toed Pascal. They never remember.

There are already rumors. Why do you think I spent the last few days sitting in that fucking place counting peanut husks on the floor? He snapped it at her, rather shocked that he was losing patience. He always stayed cool. She just got under his skin with the vulnerable expression she didn’t even know she wore.

She stepped right up to him and put both hands flat on his chest, staring up into his eyes. Her voice dropped low. Intimate. Sliding under his skin and traveling like a fireball, rushing through his bloodstream to settle in his groin.

There’s no need to worry about me, cher, I can take care of myself. She lifted her face to his.

There was no denying her. Her mouth was pure heaven. He already had the taste of her there. His hands framed her face, and he bent and took possession of her mouth. She melted into him. Her mouth moved under his, her tongue sliding and then dancing along his, sending spirals of heat through his body. He wanted her with every breath he took.

He had to breathe for both of them, unable to stop kissing her. She tasted exotic and rare, like a flower he’d stumbled across. Storms. Moody. The taste of a wild wind, elusive and spinning out of control. He drew her closer, locking her to him, uncaring that the Comeaux brothers lay at his feet, unable to move, paralyzed by something she’d injected into them through a bite.

Her mouth was paradise and he could kiss her forever. No one had ever made him feel the way she did – the ferocious burn in his belly and the fire rolling through his veins with a vengeance. He knew she felt it too. The moment his mouth had come down on hers, she’d ignited as if he’d lit a match to a stick of dynamite.

His hand moved down her spine to the curve of her ass. He had to admit, she had the most beautiful body he’d ever seen. He half lifted her against his heavy erection.

Trap. She murmured his name softly. Intimately. Into his mind. You didn’t come alone, did you?

She would have to be the voice of reason. Even if Pascal and Blaise didn’t remember what had taken place, Wyatt was out there too. He couldn’t very well take her like some crazy animal in the middle of the swamp. She deserved so much more.

He came up for air and rubbed his face in the soft silk of her hair. He wasn’t certain that helped him gain control. Her hair felt sensual moving over his skin.

Baby, we need a bed and hours and hours to be alone.

I agree. She nuzzled his neck. His throat. Blazed a trail of fire from his throat to his chest. Who is with you?

Wyatt. And he isn’t happy about your visits. He’s afraid someone will shoot you accidentally, just the way I am. I’ll be moving in by tomorrow night. As much as I want to be with you, don’t make the mistake of coming to Wyatt’s house again without first meeting everyone.

You take a lot for granted, don’t you?

Her mouth felt so good against his bare skin. Her hands had unbuttoned his shirt, fingers sweeping over the muscles on his chest.

I don’t take you for granted, Cayenne. You’re a fucking miracle to me. No one has ever made me feel like this. I haven’t had a home or a family of my own, not in a very long while. I never wanted a woman for my own until I laid eyes on you.

He knew it was too much to give her – to admit. It made him vulnerable to her, but she needed to know he was playing this for keeps. He’d thought about it. Weighed it in his mind. Analyzed it from every angle. That was what he did, even when it came to his emotions – especially when it came to his emotions. She was worth it; he would never find another woman to suit his needs.

She hesitated, her ear against his heart. Her hands smoothed over his chest. Don’t say things like that, Trap. You don’t know me. You don’t know what I am. I have no past. I have no future. You can’t tie yourself to me, not even in your mind.

I’m in your mind, baby. I see you. What’s inside of you. The enhanced you matches the enhanced me. Your mind can give mine the challenge I need. You’re going to be wild in bed. I need wild. I need you. You’re in my mind. You tell me you don’t think I suit you. That I don’t belong to you.

He wanted to kiss her again and his hands framed her face, but she didn’t move, pressing herself tightly against his chest, burying her face against him this time. He swore he felt tears on his skin.

Are you crying? His hand came up to the back of her head. He soothed her with gentle caressing strokes down that wild streak of red. I’m taking this too fast for you. You have to be overwhelmed just getting out of that cage. Being free. It takes getting used to, not having that structure, but I swear to you, baby, I’ll teach you all about living free. Doing what you want to do. Living the way you want to live. You aren’t that creature in the cage they were all afraid of. You’re a beautiful woman, and I can give you that. Let me teach you how to live. Let me give you the things you deserve.

Stop, Trap. You have to stop. She sounded desperate.

Her breath caught in her throat, and he felt the bite – painful as the venom went in. He kept his arms around her, still smoothing the caresses over her hair while she held him tight. He analyzed the effects of the poison as it entered his system. Clearly her bite injected neurotoxins that affected the nervous system.

I’m sorry, she whispered intimately into his mind. You have to stay away from me. You have to. I’m terrified of you. Nothing – no one else terrifies me, only you. I can deal with everything else. Everyone is an enemy. I’m on my own and no one can hurt me. But you – you can, and I don’t dare let you close. I’ll protect myself from you. I will, Trap. Please leave me alone.

The toxin was fast acting. He would have gone down hard had she not been supporting his weight. He was a big man and heavy, all muscle and solid. As small as she was, she was strong. She lowered him very gently to the ground.