Lost Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 4)

“I wish I could,” I answer honestly, sucking in air when his lips start trailing down my neck.

The rain pelts against us, but neither of us gives a damn. I reach up and grab his wet, blond hair, clinging to him as he blazes a trail over my skin with his demanding lips.

He starts undoing the button on my jeans, and I shift, giving him better access. Thunder crashes in the distance, but I barely hear it as my heartbeat pounds louder and louder.

Just as he gets my jeans undone and starts to slide them down, his head snaps up, and a growl bubbles from his chest as he glares at the vacant air beside us. Disoriented and confused, I follow his gaze.

Lights blare brighter and brighter. Headlights, I realize.

Chaz clutches me as he shifts his body, taking a protective stance as he moves me behind him and slides his arm behind him to tug me against his back. Fire forms around his free hand, and I grab it without thinking.

The fire slides over my hand, not burning it, and my breath catches in my throat for a new reason as I stare, fascinated.

The flames lick across my flesh, but it feels like a caress rather than abrasive. Chaz’s breath also hitches as he looks down, seeing my fingers flex within the flaming orbs around his hand.

His eyes flick back to mine, but he cuts his gaze away as the roar of a powerful engine suddenly screeches to a halt, followed by two more.

“Chaz!” I hear a guy shouting.

Chaz’s body relaxes, and the fire disappears from his fist, but I don’t miss the flicker of disappointment that crosses his eyes when he looks back at me again. He turns and leans toward me as someone else shouts his name, and my eyes remain locked with his when I’m not blinking against the rain.

When his fingers brush the skin of my stomach where my shirt is still pushed up and glued to my body by the rain, I lean into him. He mutters a curse while redoing the button, and I lean back, swallowing down the embarrassment from mistaking his action.

He’s redressing me instead of undressing me. Right. Obviously it would be stupid to just continue mauling each other now that there are people who’ve found us.

“We’re here,” Chaz says back, not looking away from me as he retreats a small step.

Another car sounds off from behind us, and I whirl around as Slade slides across the grass in a large Hummer. I never saw a road, so I have no idea how they all got over here in their vehicles.

“Kya,” Slade says, climbing out of the Hummer as he opens the back door.

Chaz’s gaze flicks to Slade, and I struggle to join the man who has saved my life countless times.

What is wrong with me?

A wild tangle of blonde hair draws my attention. I see Slade emerge from the Hummer again with a limp Ella in his arms. Chaz moves, going to Slade, who meets him halfway.

Slade eyes him warily, and Chaz eyes him with just as much caution. The two predators tense, sensing each other, waiting for the other to make the wrong move. Instead, Slade thrusts Ella toward Chaz, who snatches her away and backs up several steps.

?

??What’d you do to her?” Chaz growls.

“Saved her life and kept her from killing anyone. You’re welcome,” Slade says with a bored drawl. “Kya?” Slade prompts, then turns and walks back to the Hummer.

Ella stirs in Chaz’s arms, whispering Slade’s name, and I arch an eyebrow when I see Slade tense all over as though he heard it. Instead of turning around, he gets back into the Hummer.

“Kya!” he snaps, no longer patient.

“You don’t have to go with him,” Chaz tells me, even as he holds another woman in his arms.

Seeing her there, seeing the others walk around the side of the house, I remember this isn’t where I belong. I’m still lost. I was only temporarily left with a sense of belonging, and then the illusion was shattered.

It’s a foolish desire that should be holstered anyway—wanting to belong. We’re supposed to be in survival mode, after all.

Instead of speaking, I turn and walk away, climbing into the passenger seat next to Slade. He gasses the vehicle without a backwards glance, and I sit back, staring out the window as he drives through the field, heading straight for the woods.

A small trail is near the back, and he shoots right through it like it’s a road.