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“What’s at stake, Scheme? Another strike against Sanctuary? Another plan to kill Breeds? Tell you what, tell me what your precious daddy has planned and I’ll think about letting you go. Better yet, tell me what he was willing to kill you for. ” His expression was friendly; his eyes were roiling with danger.
“Father hasn’t shared his plans with me in years and I have no idea what Chaz was talking about. ”
Tanner’s snort of disbelief assured her of his opinion concerning that one. It wasn’t good. And of course he knew she was lying. Bastard’s sense of smell was off the damned charts.
Then, he really surprised her.
“Your father has two teams after you, both headed by loyal coyote Breeds. The order is dead or alive,” he informed her softly. “I’m going to ask you one more time. What do you know that your father is willing to kill you over?”
She felt the blood drain from her face. Damn, Cyrus was serious about this one. Not that she had expected anything less.
It wasn’t as though she hadn’t lived with the threat of her own death hanging over her head for years now. She knew how dangerous Cyrus was, just as she had known that she couldn’t get away with betraying him forever. She couldn’t trust Tanner with that though. She couldn’t trust anyone except Jonas. He and the pride leader, Callan Lyons, were the only two Breeds that were without a doubt not a Tallant spy in Sanctuary. The information she held now was too important, too explosive, to trust to anyone but those two men.
“Who knows why Father does the things he does,” she finally said and sighed. “I’ve outgrown my usefulness to him, one would assume. ”
“So he sent an assassin guaranteed to kill you mercifully, just because you had outgrown your usefulness? Because you made some mistakes?”
“Go figure. But to be fair, I’ve been messing up a lot lately. Why not let me go so I can ask him about it? Then I’ll get back to you. ”
“No. ” He crossed his arms over his chest as he smiled arrogantly. “I think I’ll keep you for a little while longer. ”
“And Sanctuary has ordered this?”
“I think you know better than that. You don’t exactly have friends at Sanctuary, sweetheart. ”
No kidding there.
“So I’m here for what reason?”
“Because I want you here. ”
“Because you want me here?” she asked in surprise, a mocking laugh leaving her lips as she stared back at him. “For what? Excuse me for being just a bit surprised, Tanner, but you’re not exactly on the allies’ side of my personal contacts. ”
“Does it matter why I want you here?” He frowned then. “You’re safe for the time being. Content yourself with that. ”
“And my safety matters to you why?” None of it made sense. “Why the hell would you care if a dozen coyote Breeds were after me? You’re not making sense. ” This was not part of the profile she had done on him over the years.
Tanner gave a good impression of the classic playboy, the lazy Breed raised outside of the labs, taught mercy, family and values. Bullshit. He was taught how to hide the killer he had become before Callan Lyons ever stepped foot in that New Mexico lab.
“I don’t want you dead before I have the chance to fuck you myself. ”
“And once you’ve fucked me?” She forced the words past gritted teeth. Going to bed with this man would be the ultimate mistake.
“Would once be enough?” He moved forward slowly.
And she didn’t like that. She could feel the air thinning, his very presence taking up the oxygen, almost leaving her lightheaded.
“You’re very confident. ” Too confident, and she was weak. She could sense her body’s weakness to him and she hated it.
“Is it merely confidence?”
Scheme steeled herself for his touch, for his fingers as they touched her collarbone, moving slowly over the slight ridge and sending a rapid fire of response racing through her body.
“I won’t have sex with you. ”
“Yes, you will. It’s just a matter of time. ” His eyes gleamed with the knowledge.
“And you have all this time to waste? Don’t you have a job at Sanctuary, Mr. Reynolds? News releases to send out, press conferences to prepare for?”
