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She was weak, too off balance even to realize that Cabal was fixing her robe until he had already completed the job.
His expression was tight with lust, his eyes greener, the amber flecks in them more brilliant as he stared down at her.
“We’re insane to have let this start,” he stated harshly.
She could have cried. She wanted to cry. There was nothing like the regret when a man she was tied to forever stated his own regret that they were tied. Oh yeah, this little relationship was going to be tons of fun.
“Your hand was in my ro
be,” she reminded him, her voice tart. “Not the other way around. I remember telling you I had things to do this evening.” She would have preferred Cabal not know about this meeting though.
Her body was still singing, the need for release still tearing through her, as Sheriff Lacey knocked on the door once again.
Wiping her hands down her thighs, Cassa drew in a hard breath before pulling her control around her and moving to the door.
She looked back at Cabal, wishing she could still her response to him as easily as he seemed to be stilling his to her. She would have taken more time to get herself under control, to stop her hands from shaking, if the sheriff hadn’t pounded on the door again.
Clenching her teeth, she gripped the doorknob and pulled the door open, stepping back and facing the sheriff as the other woman’s gaze sliced into the room and settled on Cabal.
For a moment, Cassa felt the tension and the certainty that the sheriff and Cabal knew each other more than either of them would want her to realize. It was in the tension that tightened in the other woman’s shoulders, and the suspicion that filled her hazel eyes.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.” The sheriff’s tone was wry, her smile friendly, though the knowledge that she had indeed interrupted something was clear in her gaze.
“Not at all,” Cassa assured her. “Please come in, and thank you for taking time to see me again.”
“When I received the message that there was possible Breed violence in the county, I admit, I rushed right over. You didn’t mention that earlier today.”
Great. Cassa glanced at Cabal and watched his eyes narrow.
“Is Mr. St. Laurents involved?” Slender, tall, the sheriff hooked her thumbs in the pockets of her jeans as her gaze raked over Cabal. “I always did think he was a rather suspicious character.”
There was an edge of laughter in the sheriff’s voice, and one of familiarity. She wasn’t trying to hide the fact that she knew Cabal, but there was no sense that she knew him too well. Cassa tried to still the jealousy rising within her, both surprised and horrified as she recognized the emotion.
She didn’t do jealousy. She did not, she would not, become jealous of a man. There was no quicker way to self-destruct than to give in to that emotion. And Cassa refused to ever self-destruct again.
“Mr. St. Laurents, I’m certain, is most likely involved somehow.” Cassa felt the tightness of her smile as well as the certainty that Cabal had come here tonight for no other reason than to influence her against the investigation she had come to Glen Ferris for.
Danna Lacey stepped into the room, her gaze going between Cassa and Cabal as a dark brow lifted curiously.
Dressed in jeans, an official shirt and boots, Sherrif Lacey looked the quintessential country girl. Her shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a sleek braid that fit well beneath her official sheriff’s hat and showed off her high cheekbones perfectly.
Green eyes twinkled merrily, but they held a hint of cyni cism. She was amused though well acquainted with dealing with Breeds and very well aware of their deceptions.
She should be. Danna Lacey’s department had been one of the first to sign on to cooperate with Breed Law in its efforts to incorporate Breeds into the law enforcement communities and to enforce the new laws governing violence against Breeds.
“So, what’s the problem?” Sheriff Lacey looked between the two of them. “Usually the Bureau of Breed Affairs contacts me if any violence has occurred involving Breeds. Not reporters. And you didn’t mention any of this earlier, Ms. Hawkins.”
“Ms. Hawkins is merely concerned, I believe,” Cabal drawled. “We’ve been conducting training exercises in the national forest and she came upon one of them the other night.”
Oh, that was a good one.
“Not quite,” Cassa objected. “The last I heard, Coyotes in the employ of John Bollen don’t exactly cooperate with the Bureau or Sanctuary.”
John Bollen, formerly second-in-command under General Tallant, a once high official with the Genetics Council, had taken over after Tallant’s death. The Tallant organization, now called Bollen Enterprises, supplied security guards, personal protection and other services where muscle and weapons were required. It had, under General Tallant’s ownership, also supplied subversive teams to strike against Breeds.
What it did now, where Breeds were concerned, was anyone’s guess. Bollen kept his business quiet, but the general consensus was that the Breeds were now in more danger from Bollen than they ever had been when the organization was under Tallant’s leadership.
“Bollen’s Coyotes are in the national forest?” Sheriff Lacey directed her question to Cabal. “During Breed training exercises?”
