gravelly sound of his voice raised chill bumps on her arms, and she resisted the urge to reach out and smooth the deep furrows between his brows, then the harsh lines of frustration bracketing his sensual mouth. Instead, she reached up to the visor and took down Perry’s picture, holding it up for him to see. “I’m looking for this girl. She’s my sister. Have you seen her?”
He glanced at the photo that had been taken on Perry’s last birthday. “No. Never set eyes on her before. She isn’t here.”
“Well, I’m not leaving until I’ve found her.”
He drew in a slow, deep breath, taking a step closer to the bus, bringing the details of his ruggedly gorgeous face into a sharper focus. The ink-black hair, cut severely short, emphasizing that spectacular bone structure. The dark, mesmerizing glitter of those heavy-lidded eyes. The strong line of his nose, as well as the shadowed hollows of his cheeks. Each detail was almost painfully beautiful, and yet, perfectly masculine.
The air seemed to crackle between them, as if something was building…growing stronger, layer upon layer upon layer, each one gaining in intensity. Something powerful and electric that you couldn’t see—that you could only feel…sense. His breathing grew deeper, his chest rising and falling as if he were exerting some kind of physical effort, when he only stood there…staring…watching.
The way he suddenly shoved his hands back in the pockets of his jeans caught her attention, and she could have sworn he was struggling for some kind of control over himself as he asked, “What makes you think your sister is here, on our mountain?”
Instead of answering his question, Chelsea returned the photo to the visor and posed one of her own. “Our mountain? What, you own it?”
He shrugged those impossibly broad shoulders, and her eyes snagged on the intricate design of the tattoo swirling over his right biceps, just visible beneath the tight stretch of his sleeve. It made her heart beat even faster.
“In a way, yes. This is private property.”
A sick feeling swept through her stomach. “Your boy soldiers over there claimed the same thing, but I don’t see how you can own an entire mountain. And I was on a public highway,” she argued.
“Which you then turned off of,” he explained, his voice a low, mesmerizing rumble, “and onto a private road.” He arched one dark brow as he added, “I assume you missed the clearly marked signs when you exited the main highway a few miles back?”
“Must have,” she said tightly, wondering what the hell she was going to do. “So what now? Are you going to waste your night trying to kick me out of here, or go back to wherever you came from and leave me alone?”
“I’m not going to try anything,” he murmured, while something that almost looked like regret flickered through those beautiful gray eyes. “I am kicking you out of here.”
With a tired sigh, Chelsea shook her head again. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but you aren’t leaving me much choice. In fact, you’re acting like a complete and total ass.”
Then she lifted the pistol from her lap…and pointed the barrel right at him.
Chapter 2
Though there wasn’t anything particularly funny about having a gun pointed straight at your heart, Eric had to fight the surprising urge to laugh at the human’s audacity. A bullet wouldn’t kill him, but it would still hurt like a bitch. He should have been furious that she was threatening him, but that wasn’t the source of his anger. Instead, he was uncomfortably aware that the more she stood up to him, the harder it was for him not to pull her out of that goofy-looking bus and show her just how much danger she was courting here.
Running his tongue over the edge of his teeth, he said, “I’m thinking you probably hear this a lot, but you’re too gutsy for your own good, lady.”
She smirked, but didn’t bother to lower the weapon. “Maybe I’ll be more understanding if you just tell me what the big secret is. Why all the urgency for me to leave? Afraid I’ll stumble across something I shouldn’t? Are you guys part of some religious cult?” Her brows lifted with curiosity. “Do you like to run around naked and worship the moon?”
“Something like that,” he offered drily, still struggling against the driving urge to drag her out of the bus and take her to the ground, where he could press her into the soft, damp grass. Without doubt, she was a shock to the system. Instead of sharp angles to match that sharp tongue, the woman possessed a glowing, fresh-faced softness that made her look entirely adorable—and he had to fight back another grin as he imagined what her reaction would be if he expressed that opinion out loud.
Hell, knowing her, she’d probably shoot him the finger again. Either that, or just plain shoot him.
As if reading his mind, she said, “I’ll put a bullet in you if I have to, though I’d rather not. Can’t stand the sight of blood.” She slowly lowered the weapon back to her lap, but kept her finger close to the trigger. “So don’t tempt me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” His tone was even drier than before. “But you still need to get lost.”
“You know, even if you succeed in making me leave—” her breasts swayed with a delicious jiggle beneath the tight green T-shirt as she shifted in her seat to face him “—I’ll only come back.”
She drew in a shaky little breath after making that rather forceful announcement, and for the first time since this bizarre confrontation got started, Eric managed to see past his frustration and lust, down to the exhaustion and worry haunting her gaze. And he didn’t like it. What the hell had this woman gotten herself into? And why the fuck was he getting uptight about it? He damn well knew better!
“Do you have any idea how unsafe it is, what you’re doing, coming to the mountains by yourself?”
She gave a negligent roll of her shoulders, then lifted her free hand to push that thick fall of hair behind her ear. “I came armed. I’m not stupid.”
He flicked a dismissive glance at the gun in her lap, and a rude sound rumbled in the back of his throat. “It’s a nice weapon, but isn’t going to do you much good up here.”
She arched one slim brown brow again. “And why is that?”
“Just trust me on it,” he muttered, wondering if lightning was going to come down and fry him on the spot for the things he was thinking about doing to her. It was one thing for the Runners to take human lovers, seeing as how they were half human themselves—but Eric was in an entirely different situation.
“You can’t stay out here in your car,” he growled, the sudden pronouncement making her jump. “It isn’t safe.”
Carefully recovering her composure, she jerked her chin toward Hendricks and Franks. “Why? I won’t go snooping where I don’t belong. And no one was bothering me before those two showed up.”
The headstrong woman had no idea how lucky that made her, and Eric wanted to keep it that way. “Save your breath and stop arguing, sweetheart. I’m not trying to jerk you around. You really can’t stay here.”
“First of all, I’m not your sweetheart,” she snapped, obviously irritated
