Page 4 of Reaper
Chapter Two
Ara
Something had gone wrong, terribly wrong, and she had known from the moment the morning sun warmed her face.
Whenever she had chosen a place to sleep, she sequestered herself in a room with no windows, which usually led her to the most basic room in the house.Sometimes it was a child’s room or a laundry room, because she had to make sure that she wouldn’t be seen, even by chance.She hadn’t seen or felt sunlight in over six months due to her captivity and after, by hiding during the day.
But another feeling gave her pause.A solid chest pressed against her back, his breathing deep and even.The scent of the woods and rain settled over her, and as she tried to place it, she knew that the scent was unfamiliar to her.
Panic swarmed her, leaving her breaths shallow and her muscles clenched with tension.She forced her eyes open and spotted the muscular arm draped over her waist.An immense hand with long, elegant fingers spread across her belly.Never in her twenty-six years had she allowed a man to touch her, much less hold her in her sleep, confirming her initial thought.
Without realizing her actions, she pushed away from the embrace.Each second that she believed she had been recaptured had increased her struggles, but his strong hold wouldn’t allow her to move more than a few inches at a time.
A low warning growl sounded in her ear, and she stopped her movements.The familiar sound registered in her frightened mind.
His arm clamped down on her when she stopped moving, bringing her closer to his body, and she relaxed into his hold.
In the last few weeks, she often dreamed about that growl and another louder one that had signified his outrage when she had used her power on him.The latter sound had wounded her whenever she thought about it, which was too often for her liking.The shifter who had tracked her down to the warehouse, the one she had been tempted to believe when he told her he wanted to protect her, now held her.That explained the warmth that surrounded her, and without thinking about it, she sank into him until her back touched his bare chest.
Closing her eyes, she thought back to when she first spotted him.Her captives had thrown her back in her cell after a day spent with the pinch of needles in any vein they could find to sample.It wasn’t easy considering they collapsed most of them.
She had been relieved when she had avoided a confrontation with the man who scared her more than the others, but soon after she dropped into a chair in the corner of their enclosure, an explosion echoed through the hallway a short distance away.It had startled her, but she couldn’t bring herself to move from the chair.
A guard burst into the room and headed straight toward her.He wrapped a beefy hand around her upper arm, ready to run, when the tall, handsome shifter stepped into the room.The fierce look etched on the shifter’s face had stunned the guard and he dropped his grip on her.
Inside, something screamed at her to go to the shifter and seek protection from him.Although he stormed into the room dressed in black from head to toe, weapons scattered throughout his body, she found herself wanting to trust him.The others went with the men dressed for combat without question, but the sensible part of her, the one that kept her alive, had rejected the thought of his help, and the indecision froze her to the spot.
When the shifter had killed the guard, she knew it was her one opportunity to escape and she took it.Somehow, she blinded everyone around her, making her invisible to them, and raced out of the building without being spotted.
Exhaustion and pain had left her body and powers depleted, so when she came across the scene at the warehouse, she grew frustrated that she couldn’t prevent the scientist she hated from hurting someone else.The woman had been defenseless, and although she could do little to help her, she felt as though she had to try.
As Ara lay there on the soft bed, she hoped that the woman had survived.
Pulled out of her thoughts when the shifter’s arm tightened around her waist, she blushed when she remembered how often she thought about him since he last tried to help her.She had gotten to know a lot about shifters while she had been confined with them, but nothing could prepare her for the impression this shifter alone made on her.For the first time in her life, she found herself deeply attracted to a man.
Nothing in her life had led her to seek out relationships, even friendships, because of the secret she kept.She hadn’t dated and stayed out of situations where she might draw male attention, so the lick of heat that traveled through her body the moment her eyes had landed on him took her by surprise.
His size alone should have intimidated her.She calculated that he stood six and a half feet tall, with wide shoulders, a muscular chest and arms, and strong legs, but it had been the softness of his chocolate gaze that made her pause.She didn’t trust easily, but something in his gaze had her protective walls crashing around her.
For a long moment, she wished that her life had been different.
Another soft growl brought her out of her thoughts, and she had to acknowledge the urgent need that had woken her in the first place.
She listened to his deep breaths as they brushed against her neck, and when she thought that he’d fallen back to sleep, she wiggled her way to the edge of the bed.Before she could rise and look for the bathroom, she found herself flat on her back in the middle of the bed, with a very pissed-off shifter hovering above her.
“I…have to use the restroom,” she squeaked.
He lost his fierce expression but when his gaze traveled over her body, his face revealed a hunger for her that she would have thought impossible.Instead of meeting her eyes when she gasped, he took his time with his continued exploration.Every once in a while, his hand gently brushed against an innocent part of her—first her shoulder, then her hip, before he moved to her outer thigh.Each solicited a reaction that was completely new to her, and she bit her lip to prevent the mewing sounds caught in her throat from escaping.As his touches lingered for more than a few seconds, she found herself leaning into them, craving more.
When he brought his gaze back to hers, she felt her face flush with heat as he searched for something in their depths.
She couldn’t help but wonder what he thought of her.Despite being half starved for most of the past year, her curves hadn’t disappeared, much to her disappointment.But when she caught the heat that flared in the brown depths, all thoughts of her flaws flew from her mind.
“Don’t try to run,” he said.
Confused for a split second at the change of subject, she swallowed before she answered.“I won’t.”
With her promise, he shifted his body off her, but kept his gaze on her as she rose.He indicated the direction with the tilt of his head.
