Predatory Game (GhostWalkers 6)

She wanted to take the fight away from Jess's home. If Whitney had sent someone after her, let him come out into the open and try to take her. Hell yes, she'd meet a hundred nutcases if it meant she could keep Jess from harm. Let him be mad. He may have been the biggest badass in the navy at one time, maybe even in the GhostWalker program, but he was locked to a wheelchair now, and she wasn't going to let anyone hurt him.

"I have to agree with Calhoun on this one, Saber. Men like this, calling the station, they think they're going to go out with you. They're fixated on you. You can't agree to meet them. You can't take their calls and encourage them."

She bit back her argument and forced a smile. "You're probably right. I don't like to be afraid, and he's so persistent, I thought if I talked with him I wouldn't be nervous anymore."

Brian scratched his head, frowning. "You've always laughed about these nuts calling you. I didn't realize they bothered you."

"Not usually. It's just that he's so persistent, you know?" She was supposed to look and act scared, but she didn't have very much experience in that department. She tried a tentative smile and fluttered her eyelashes, feeling pretty silly. She couldn't very well admit she planned to beat the crap out of the guy if he touched her or kill him if he threatened Jesse.

"Calhoun put plenty of security guards on the place," Brian assured her. "No one can get in here. I'll make certain a couple of them escort you to your car every morning when you get off work."

"You and I both know security guards aren't always the best, Brian."

He shook his head. "You don't have to worry. Calhoun hired the real deal, not the rent-a-cop version. These men know what they're doing--at least that's what Calhoun said."

Saber made her smile even brighter. "Thanks, Brian. I really appreciate your reassuring me. I won't do anything stupid like that again. I feel much better now that I've talked with you about this." She was going to have to find another way to draw out the caller and assess the threat.

Brian grinned at her, obviously relieved now that she was cooperating with him. He turned away to take the phone calls and she slumped back in her chair and began her Night Siren show.

Jess paced the length of the living room and open foyer, back and forth, back and forth, thrusting powerfully at the wheels of his racing chair. Saber had been asleep eight hours now; if he didn't hear her stirring soon he was going to wake her up. And not so gently at that. What had she been thinking last night? Daring some nut to call her. Inviting him to do so. It was just like her.

What had Logan said this morning? Brian had followed her home from the station last night. Why? What was going on between them?

"What are you doing down there?" Saber demanded, leaning her mop of curls over the banister. "Practicing for some kind of race? Wearing holes in carpets?"

"We don't have a carpet," he pointed out. No one should look that sexy when they first woke up. Everything went out of his head, leaving a burning desire to pull her into his arms, take possession right there.

"Who needs a carpet, you're making train tracks," she laughed, sweeping a hand through her unruly hair, the action pulling her nightshirt taut across her breasts.

Jess let his breath out slowly. "Very funny. Little comedian, aren't you? Get down here."

She grinned at him, a saucy, teasing grin. "I don't think so, Jesse. You sound like a grumpy old bear again. Patsy call?"

"I'd like to get my hands on you." He meant it as a threat but a vivid picture of her writhing naked beneath him rose up to taunt him. He groaned aloud. Time was catching up with Saber Wynter fast.

"Yeah?" she challenged, tilting her chin, blue eyes dancing with mischief. "What'd I do this time? Leave my nylons hanging in your private bathroom? Did your midnight caller find them and get angry?"

"You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?" he asked.

Her foot slid over the bottom railing, calling attention to her bare legs. "If I'm getting to you, I'm having a great time." She laughed at his pained expression.

"Will you get down here?" he demanded, exasperated.

"I need a shower. And I have to dress. It wouldn't do to have Patsy catch me parading around in my night things."

"I could care less if Patsy walks in. Damn it, Saber, I'm running out of patience."

"Oooh!" Dramatically she clutched at her heart. "I'm so scared!"

Jess couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing. "You're such a brat. I'm coming up."

"No!" Alarmed, Saber caught at the banister. "I'll be right down. Really, Jesse, I promise. Five minutes."

He wanted to kiss that look right off her face. She could wreak havoc with his body so easily. "All right." He conceded her the time grudgingly. How was he ever going to gain the upper hand with her, when all it took to wrap him around her little finger was a flashing look from her blue eyes?

He entered the kitchen to make her fresh coffee. Upstairs the water went on and he found himself smiling. She took more showers than anyone he knew. The smile faded as the image of the radio station's night soundman rose up.

Brian Hutton. Tall, muscular, good looking, he was twenty-seven years old, closer to Saber's age. At least he thought so. He didn't even know her age. How close were they? Funny, he had never thought to be threatened by Brian. Saber had worked with him every night for ten months, nearly eleven, and she talked about him often. Why would the man follow her home from work?

Everyone at the station knew Saber lived with Jess, at least half of his employees thought she was sleeping with him. He had never corrected the assumption.

Saber ran into the room, barefoot, hair still damp in little ringlets all over her head, eyes dancing at him. "Did I make it?" Abruptly the smile faded and she hurried to his side, sweeping back the hair that was falling across his forehead. "What have you done to yourself?"

His body stirred uncomfortably, jeans suddenly tight. "You're two minutes late." He tried to sound severe.

"Jesse, answer me. You cut your head. It looks bad. There's bruising and swelling. Maybe you should call the doc."

He caught her wrist and pulled her hand away, irritated that she could see the evidence of his fall. "It's nothing. Let it go."

Saber heard the bite to his voice, hesitated, and then poured herself a cup of coffee. "So what's up, caveman?" She brushed fingertips along the corner of his mouth, sending white heat coursing through his blood. "Stop frowning at me, Jesse. Your mouth is bound to freeze that way."

Strong white teeth snapped at and caught her index finger and drew it into the moist cavern of his mouth. His eyes burned black velvet as he used his tongue to caress her finger. She wasn't going to embarrass him, and he felt the tension in him drain away.

Faint color tinged her cheeks, blue eyes skittered away from his. She pulled her hand back as if he had burned it. "So what's this all about?"

He studied her small, slender form, the ribbed cotton scoop-neck T-shirt, the figure-hugging black denim. She looked ready to flee at the slightest provocation. He resisted the urge to capture her wrist. So close, yet so far away. He wanted her to make up her own mind, bind herself to him. At the same time, he wanted to just take possession finally, irrevocably, and never let her go, the hell with her choices.

"Are you going to sit down or are you going to be flittering all over the house like a little butterfly? I can just see us having a decent conversation with me following you all over."

She perched on the countertop, regarding him warily over the rim of her coffee mug. "Conversation? Uh-oh. What have I done?"

"What makes you think you've done anything?"

Her bare foot tapped the cupboard. "I know you so well, dragon king, you only get that particular look on your face when you're burning to give me one of your lectures."

"Do I give you lectures?" He frowned.

She grinned. "Oh, I don't mind. I think you're kind of cute when you do, and I don't really listen anyway."

"That makes me feel good, baby. Honestly, I really feel so m

uch better now that you've shared that with me." The frown had vanished and there was a distinctly wicked gleam in his dark eyes. Jess eased his chair around the table until he was directly under her feet. The counter was low, built for him to use easily. "How well do you know Brian Hutton?"

It was the last thing she expected, and it wiped the sassy grin right off her face. "Brian?" she echoed. "I don't know. As well as I know anyone at work I guess. He's great at his job. What do you want to know?"

"What kind of relationship do you have with him?"

Saber looked completely confused. "We're friends, I like him, why? Has he been dipping into the till or something?"

"What's he like?"

"You know him better than I do, Jesse, he works for you." Saber rested her bare feet on his knees. "What's this all about?"

He shrugged. "Nothing important, I just wondered what you thought of him."

She studied his handsome face, and then finally shook her head. "Oh, no. This is really getting to be a bad situation here. We can't have Mr. Straight-as-an-arrow lying. You need to give yourself lecture four. The one on telling the truth."

His fingers curled around her bare ankle. "You are in a precarious position, Saber," he pointed out.

"Am I?" She put down her coffee cup, tilting her head to one side. "So let's hear the truth. Why the interest in Brian?"

Jess sighed heavily. "He followed you home last night."

"He did what?"

"Followed you home. With this weirdo calling the station asking about you, anything unusual worries me."

"How do you know he followed me?" she demanded suspiciously. "You were in bed when I got home."

"You thought I was."

Saber shrugged. "He objected strenuously to certain portions of my broadcast." Saber grinned at the memory. "He did a lot of jumping around and yelling."

"We'll discuss my opinion of your stupidity later," he promised. "Maybe Brian was worried about you."

"More likely he was worried about his job if anything happened to me. I think you intimidate him."

"I doubt that. We lost three of our crew in that car accident. There'd been a big celebration at the station--Patsy and David had just announced their engagement. David handled the night program. He, his soundman, and the day soundman were driving down the hill when they lost control of their car and went over the cliff."