Megans Mark (Breeds 6)

"It doesn't do any good to run from it, Megan. You knew our lives weren't exactly happy hour," he pointed out calmly when he wanted nothing more than to smash something, anything. Preferably the computer that held the incriminating information.

He ached for her. For himself. How horrifying it must be to be bound to a man you knew could kill you with one thrust into your body. To know he could stare into your eyes, whisper your greatest fantasy, and murder you a second later. But it was information she had to have. Secrets she had to know.

She was his mate. He refused to hide anything from her.

The air thickened with tension, fear and pain whipped around him. Not through him; his natural blocks were too strong for that. But he felt it, knew it for what it was.

She turned back to him slowly.

"Do you think I blame you for any of that? she snapped as she flicked

her fingers to the laptop. "That I would ever believe you had done anything other than you had to?" Bitterness twisted her lips. "You might be as arrogant as hell, Braden, but you're not a murderer. "

He stared back at her silently, watching as her expression softened, the militant light of battle slowly fading from her eyes.

"I wish I could ease the memories, the pain. " Her whispered admission surprised him. "I would take the nightmares if I could, Braden. "

Shock tore through him as he read the truth in her eyes.

His little Empath, who had hid from the world and from other's nightmares, was willing to take his in order to ease his pain and accept it as her own.

"Then you're insane. " He growled, feeling his erection swell in his jeans as he watched her, saw the emotion that filled her gaze and felt it swirling around him.

Her gaze flickered to it. The scent of her pussy drifted to him, her arousal growing as adrenaline began surging through her body.

"Yeah, that remark resembles me sometimes. " She flashed him a cocky smile that had his heart aching.

"Don't romanticize me, Megan. " He growled then. She had to know the truth of the man she was bound to now.

"I'm not a hero, and I'm sure as hell not Superman. I kill, and sometimes I even enjoy the blood I spill. " Council Trainers, their soldiers_ And one day, he swore, when the main Council members were found, he would exact his own vengeance.

"No, you're not Superman. " She rolled her eyes at him as she propped her hands on her hips and confronted him with a frown. "But neither are you a monster. If you want to put distance between us, find another way to do it. "

"Wouldn't you like that," he snapped. "You've been trying to throw me out since the beginning. "

Her eyes widened at the anger he displayed.

"What's with you? " She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes in challenge. "You've been fighting to get into my bed and override my defenses against you since you first met me. Fine, you had me, you bit me, you mated me. And now dumb little Megan cares one way or the other if you die. Feeling a little trapped now, are we?"

Braden glowered back at her. He didn't feel trapped, he felt_ off balance.

Women feared him; even those who came to his bed were wary of tempting his anger. But Megan accepted him, defended him even when he couldn't defend his actions himself. She terrified him with her courage and her ability to accept not just the Mating, but him.

He finally sighed wearily. "I don't feel trapped, Megan. "

He felt like snarling at his own helplessness to see her safe from the threat against her. "You have to know the truth about me. Dealing with this situation requires that you know who and what I am. Otherwise, you cannot make the choices you will have to rationally. "

"I have a feeling few people deal with you in any kind of rational manner. " She crossed her arms over her breast, the loose T-shirt she wore riding up the hem of her shorts to flash a tempting strip of flesh. He wanted to lick it.

"This is possible. " He dragged his attention from the bare flesh to reply to her comment. "I was never considered one of the tamer specimens. "

"Why did you pull that up for me to read?’ Her lips thinned in annoyance and suspicion.

"It's a part of me, Megan. " He shrugged. "Part of who I am. If you don't learn it now, you may have to later. And controlled conditions are always

best. "

"You think you're fooling me. You're not so cold, Braden. "