Her eyes changed, going from the deep purple to warm violet. He watched in amazement as the diamond-colored ring surrounding the dark color began to bleed into it, a strange, beautiful starburst that changed her eyes completely.
"Maybe rescuin' you is part of the attraction, or maybe you're rescuin' me. Did you ever think of that? That you might be my savior?"
She reached up with her bare, slender arm, her fingers curving around the nape of his neck one by one, and she slowly pulled him down toward her.
Wyatt's breath rushed out of his lungs, leaving him burning for air. The ground shifted and the bed trembled. He could see every detail of her beautiful, perfect face. The long feathery sweep of her lashes, the strange starburst in her eyes that beckoned a man to fall into paradise. He knew the details of this moment would be branded for all time in his mind.
Her skin, close up, was soft and flawless, a lure of satin, and her thick hair was luxurious silk. He wanted to pull her braid apart and bury his hands and face in the dark cloud. His gaze dropped to her lips. The soft curve, the formation, the fullness. His heart pounded nearly out of control.
She brushed a kiss over his lips. A whisper, no more. There was nothing sexual in the gesture at all, yet it was the most intimate, sensual thing he'd ever experienced. His body reacted with a need and hunger bordering on primal. He felt that small whisper slide inside of him and take hold.
He'd been with women and he'd kissed a lot of them. This was no kiss, yet he felt more than he'd ever felt in his life. A shiver of acute awareness crept down his spine. He wanted to gather her into his arms, strip her naked and spend hours tangled with her, sharing her body, skin to skin.
Her arm slipped from his neck and she subsided on the pillow, as if the energy it took for the one small movement was too much. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Wyatt. Sometimes our brains are just as needy as the rest of us. Yours is just a little more so, but in the end, it's the intelligence the children got from you that's allowed them to stay alive this long. They understand danger and death. They know they can't bite even when they're teething and it hurts. So thank you. I wouldn't have them without you, and I love them. I want to take care of them. So, again, thank you."
He sat back, away from her, away from that potent lure he couldn't seem to resist. He still felt her touch, as if the small gesture had been a stamp that had her name and branded her as his. His body hurt. Ached. Demanded. The blood pumped fast through his veins, a hot turbulent rush of pure need. It took great effort not to touch his mouth with his fingertips - or to get up and lock the door.
"I'm not certain that was the best idea you've ever had," he said.
Her moody gaze moved over his face. "I got that the moment my mouth touched yours."
She had lit a match and he was on fire. Clearly she was too.
"What the hell is going on between us?" Wyatt asked. "Do all men react like me?"
She shook her head slowly. "I wasn't trying to seduce you. I have to try with the others. It isn't natural, I have to create the feelings in them, feed them. I don't feel anything as a rule. With you... it's different. Real. I don't know why and it's a little scary."
He didn't trust what he didn't understand and he sure didn't understand the volatile chemistry between them. He would have leapt off the bed and put the distance of the room between them, but it was impossible to move at the moment.
"I just want you to remember that I wanted to take Ginger and leave. From the beginning, I wanted away from here. You insisted I stay. I'm not part of some big conspiracy and neither are the babies."
"Don' kid yourself, Pepper, you're definitely part of a conspiracy and so are the babies. The question is, are you a willin' participant?"
"I'm tired and I hurt. I understand why you might think that way, given the circumstances, but I'm tired of trying to convince you."
"Well, that's too damn bad, because when I go into that laboratory to get the children out, I won't be alone. Ezekiel and Malichai will be with me as well as a couple of others. I don' want to get my friends killed because you're doin' Whitney's biddin'."
Pepper let her gaze drift over his face. He was beautiful. Perfectly beautiful. It was hard not to allow herself to be drawn to him. She'd always wanted to feel something for a man, just to know she could. Her body felt as if it was in a constant state of arousal. She'd been programmed that way and she couldn't seem to do much about it, but it was her body's doing, not some man. Until this one.
She was shot, snake bit and in a terrible situation, but she craved him. If she closed her eyes, she could taste him. Feel him. Why? The question beat at her. She might take the chance if it was just her, but it was the babies as well. She wouldn't risk them. She just couldn't. This man was dangling his family in front of her. He was offering her a home, but he wanted a relationship with her that didn't include anything but a sexual one.
She didn't want to be wanted for sex. She needed to know she was far more than an object, a body Wyatt wanted. It hurt more than she wanted to admit. Maybe if she wasn't so connected to him, if he hadn't opened some door between them, she could live with just sex for the sake of the children, but she saw into him. She saw what he was capable of giving and she wanted that for herself. If not with him, then with someone else...
He paced across the floor, a restless, lethal jungle cat, his eyes smoldering with fire. She could actually see the cat in him, his eyes focused on her, angry, possessive.
"Don'. Don' even think about being with another man. You aren' takin' those children from me. They're mine. I can protect them here. I can raise them here with a family that loves them. You throw another man into this mix, Pepper, and someone is goin' to get seriously hurt. You aren' goin' to win this one, so just accept that this is the best thing for everyone and we'll work out the problems."
He was truly fascinating when he was angry. He looked powerful. Intimidating. Scary. Yet she didn't feel physically threatened. Wyatt wasn't a man who would ever harm a woman. She would have known that even if she hadn't been inside his mind.
"You told me to trust you, Wyatt, but you don't trust me. You still think I'm some kind of bait to lure you into the laboratory for whatever reasons you think this Whitney has to get you there. Why do you even believe the other two girls exist? Why believe me at all?"
His eyes didn't leave h
er face. She should have known better than to bring his entire attention on her when he was already focused on her. He saw too much. She didn't want charming, sexy Wyatt. She wanted the jerk. The man with an edge so she could keep pushing him away. She didn't dare believe in him. She'd never been able to believe in anyone but herself. She detested that she was so drawn to him that she could put aside life's lessons to believe him. He offered a dream. A fantasy. But it was hollow. Who knew what he really wanted? But it wasn't her.
"Baby," he said softly, and her stomach rolled.
She shook her head and tried to close her eyes against his allure.
"I hurt you, didn' I? You misunderstand me. I'm not afraid of what part you might have in all of this. I've been in your head just like you've been in mine. I do believe Whitney is usin' you as bait, but for what, I have no idea. Of course I have to warn you, just in case you're a far better actress than I believe you are, because if you betray us, you'll end up dead, and that's the last thing I want."
"How did I misunderstand you, Wyatt?" She kept the tears out of her voice with an effort. She wasn't about to show him more weakness than she already had. She could control tears when she wasn't under the influence of painkillers.
There wasn't any misunderstanding. He still considered she might be part of a larger conspiracy theory. And yes that hurt, right after he said he wouldn't hurt her.
Wyatt was silent so long she couldn't help but look at him. He took a breath and let it out. Shook his head. Raked his hands through his hair.
"If we're bein' honest here, Pepper, lovin' you would be too easy. You'd become my world and wrap me around your little finger. You don' know what I'm like, but a woman like you, a man like me lovin' her, that could be paradise or sheer hell. I've got to figure out which before I put us in that position."
The bottom dropped right out of her stomach. The heat between her legs increased tenfold. Her heart contracted. Wyatt forced himself to his feet and left the room. She didn't say anything at all.
Chapter 8
What had possessed him to tell her the truth? To confess his fear? And he hadn't even done a thorough job of it. What man wanted a woman who could become his world? To be tied up in knots? She had the potential to really crush him. Shatter him. Walk the hell all over him. Pepper was that kind of woman.