Free Lian/Roch (Bayou Heat) by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright Page A

brought me here to decipher the scrolls?”
    “I did.”
    “And now you want me—”
    “Yes.” He came to an abrupt halt, bracing Sage as she slammed into his hard body. Framing her face in his hands, he regarded her with the raw hunger that made her toes curl. “I want you.” His fingers traced down her cheeks and along the line of her jaw. “Your delectable body. Your daunting brain.” He offered a rueful smile. “Your wary heart.”
    An aching need raced through her.
    She wanted to believe.
    She truly did.
    But…
    “Lian.”
    He leaned down to press a tender kiss to her lips before straightening and once again grabbing her hand so he could lead her forward.
    “Today, however, all I ask is that you come and play with me.”
    Sage swallowed a sigh.
    How could she resist?
    Her logic might warn she was bound to regret giving into temptation, but her heart was demanding she savor every moment she could spend with this man.
    “You are a very bad influence,” she muttered.
    He flashed her a grin that could make her bones melt.
    “Sometimes very bad can be very good.”
    No. Shit.
    She gave up any hope of being sensible, instead allowing herself to be led astray by her naughty cat.
    “Where are we going?” she at last asked.
    “Someplace my family won’t find us.” An edge of a growl was in his voice. “As much as I love them I’m tired of having a constant chaperone. I want to be alone with you.”
    With one last tug of her hand, he urged her through a swathe of Spanish moss and into a small meadow.
    “Oh,” she breathed, taking in the narrow channel of water that was spanned by a wooden bridge. “It’s beautiful.”
    Lian stood at her side, his hand skimming up and down her back.
    “Can you feel it?”
    She tilted her head to meet his watchful gaze. “Feel what?”
    “The magic.”
    She frowned. “I’m not Pantera.”
    “Just feel,” he urged softly.
    She parted her lips to argue, only to snap them shut as she realized that she could feel…
    Something.
    The warmth of the sun. The breeze that brushed her skin. The spongy ground beneath her feet.
    And an unmistakable tingle that filled her body.
    Easily sensing the second she accepted the truth of his words, Lian moved toward the middle of the meadow.
    “Now watch,” he urged.
    Sage’s eyes widened as a shimmering mist suddenly surrounded Lian’s large body, the air filled with a burst of heat that made her take an instinctive step backward.
    Holding her breath, she pressed a hand to her heart as the mist slowly cleared to reveal a huge cat with fur as black as ebony and whiskey-gold eyes.
    He was beautiful.
    Proud. Powerful. Primitive.
    For a breathless moment he held himself still, perhaps waiting to see if she would run away screaming in terror.
    But Sage wasn’t frightened.
    She felt nothing but awe as she dropped to her knees and held her arms open in invitation. Slowly Lian prowled forward, nudging her with his wet nose.
    Wrapping her arms around his neck, she stared directly into the eyes that held the essence of the man who’d stolen her heart.
    “I see you,” she whispered.
    Parting his jaws, he released a roar that shook the earth.
    * * *
    An hour after luring Sage from her work, Lian grudgingly allowed her to leave the meadow.
    As much as he was enjoying their rare time alone, he understood that his people were desperate for a way to halt Shakpi’s determination to destroy them. If the scrolls had the slightest potential to offer them hope, then he couldn’t allow his selfish desires to stand in the way.
    And just as importantly, he understood his sweet, serious scholar.
    He could momentarily distract her, but her clever mind wasn’t going to be satisfied until she’d achieved the goal of translating the hieroglyphs.
    It would take time to thoroughly corrupt her.
    She was disappearing through the Spanish moss when a tall male with golden hair and gold eyes flecked with jade appeared from the opposite direction.
    Raphael was