Savaged

A couple walked by the diner, holding hands and talking, the man throwing his head back and laughing at something the woman said.

There was no war.

No enemy.

It was a quiet town on a peace-filled night.

Jak had been lied to.

Tricked.

Why, why, why?

The world started spinning.

He fell down to the ground, holding his head as his body began shaking. It had all been a lie.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Jak was filled with a breath-stealing mix of happiness and fear. He had someone to trust, someone he might be able to open up to. Maybe not about everything, but most of it. Someone caring and kind, a woman who made his heart thump louder in his chest and made the blood rush more quickly through his veins. A woman he wanted in every way.

He didn’t want anyone to know every terrible thing about the ways he’d survived, but he could tell her most of it. Even he tried to forget some parts, shivered when a memory came to him without him reaching for it. He was afraid Harper would be . . . disgusted if she knew all he’d done to live, but he was also afraid she’d think he was a stupid child to be tricked the way he’d been. All his life . . . a lie, and he still didn’t know the reason why.

Would he ever know now that Driscoll was dead? Did it even matter? He was who he was. That was all.

Harper stood in front of the fire and rubbed her hands together, warming them. He let his eyes move down her body, wanting to pull at her pants, to kneel behind her and put his tongue between her legs from that position. Would she let him? Would her knees shake? Would she touch him again the way she had before? He wanted to make her shake and cry out his name again. Male animals made it known what they wanted and waited for the female to give a sign she wanted it too. But how did a man ask for something like that? Words had made her blush before, and he still wasn’t exactly sure why, but he didn’t think asking for it with words was the right thing to do.

Should he just . . . touch her? Would she like that?

Animals made it easier than people.

She turned, giving him a smile over her shoulder, her eyes widening as she caught his gaze like she’d read the thoughts on his face. The quiet sound of footsteps in the snow caught his attention, soft but coming closer. He turned from Harper, moving toward the door. Listening. Waiting for a scent. The sound got closer, then someone was climbing his steps. A man. That was followed by a knock.

Jak tensed, a growl rising in his throat. When he saw that Harper was looking at him, he snapped his mouth closed, making his body loosen.

He moved closer to the door just as a male voice called, “Lucas, it’s Agent Gallagher.”

Lucas.

He’d already forgotten that name.

He frowned as he went to his window and peeked out. The man was standing to the side of the door, in a huge puffy jacket, and boots with fur at the top that came from a type of animal Jak had never seen in nature. No weapon and . . . no car, which meant wherever he’d come from, he’d walked.

“You can trust him, Jak,” Harper said, coming up behind him and putting her hand on his arm. “I do.”

He realized how tightly he’d been holding his body and met her eyes, nodding. When he opened his door, the agent’s gaze went quickly behind him to where Harper was standing. He let out a breath. “Good, you’re here.” He looked at Jak. “May I come in?”

Jak opened the door wider and the agent came in, looking around the cabin as he took off his big coat. “I was concerned,” he said, again to Harper, giving Jak a look that he knew meant he didn’t trust him all the way. Jak could understand that, but he didn’t like this man worrying about the woman he was already thinking of as his own. He wanted that to be his job.

“I’m fine,” Harper said, taking his jacket, and hanging it on the hook on the wall next to where she’d hung hers. Jak liked that she already knew his house, liked that she was acting like she lived there. “Were you looking for me?”

“Yeah. I’ve called you several times. When you didn’t answer, I got worried. I remembered you said you were thinking of coming here.”

Harper frowned. “Oh, I didn’t see that I had any missed calls. The reception is so spotty out here. Maybe your messages hadn’t come through before I moved into a spot where there wasn’t any service.”

The agent gave Jak another look that had something in it Jak didn’t know the name for. It wasn’t a good look though. It told Jak the agent had wondered if Jak had hurt Harper and had come to rescue her if she needed rescuing. Jak had thought he’d had nice eyes in the sheriff building, but now he didn’t like him.

“I’ve sort of fallen down on the job you asked me to do if you’re driving yourself out here.” Harper looked back and forth between the agent and Jak with a nervous smi