Free Slade by Bianca D'Arc Page B

power so strongly. He wouldn’t be surprised. The woman herself affected him as no woman ever had. He wanted so badly to be inside her, to know whether she was silent, or a screamer, when he made love to her. He wanted to hold her in the aftermath and bask in the knowledge that he had brought her pleasure.
    He wanted a lot of things he’d never contemplated before, and didn’t know if he deserved. He was only here for a short time. A mission that would be over sooner rather than later. Did he dare get involved with a woman who could break his seldom-seen heart?
    Kate frightened him. Him. The big, bad, black cat. His mother would laugh if she knew he was afraid of a small, human woman. But it was the feelings she aroused in him that scared him most. Protectiveness was something he’d felt all his life, but the possessiveness and need to claim one particular woman, was new and scary.
    Better to concentrate on their mission. They were close to the house now and he felt the evil building. Kate was right. Whoever was in there was up to something big , and bad, and magical in the extreme.
    Slade gave a passing thought to the backup he could have called. The Spec Ops boys would have been of little help in this situation , though. Most of them had no magic sense at all. They were good ground forces. Superior at stealth. But when it came down to it, this was a magical fight.
    Calling in the cavalry tonight would have been like bringing a knife to a gunfight. Slade was almost glad there had been no time to consider it. Matt’s discovery and the subsequent time squeeze made it impossible to get those guys here, and they wouldn’t have been of much help anyway. No, this was a job for Slade’s specialized abilities. His and Kate’s—much as he hated putting her in any sort of danger.
    He’d do what he could to keep her safe, but he needed her talents, and her help, to get through this magical minefield of a property. They’d made it through the yard, but the house would probably be even worse.
    There was a window about two meters to their right. He’d try to see what he could through it before they went any farther. Motioning to Kate to stay put in the shadow of the foundation, Slade crept up to the glass and peered in as stealthily as he could.
    The room was empty. Nobody saw him from the inside, but he could see through the open door of the empty room into the hall. From there, he could see into another area that looked like the great room of the McMansion. A man was seated on the floor of that room with his back to the window Slade looked through.
    Slade sent all of his senses out, seeking. He breathed deep and recognized the scent of the male from the crime scene, but the female scent was missing. In fact, there was no other scent than the male’s, and no other heartbeat. In the desert night, he could only hear Kate, himself, the man in the house and the two cougars still manning the perimeter like good little kitties.
    The rest of the house was empty. He’d bet his life on it. Which left them with the single opponent he’d seen through the window.
    Slade motioned to Kate, beckoning her closer. He pointed, indicating that she should take a quick look. Her head popped up and then down again, her eyes wide.
    She stepped right up to Slade and spoke near his ear. He liked the feel of her warm body against his, but there wasn’t time to explore the feelings she roused in him. They had work to do and he had to keep his mind on business, dammit.
    “He’s facing east,” she said. “Preparing a ritual. Looks like he is inside a scribed circle. I think they turned the great room into a ritual space. If he’s inside that circle, he’ll be harder to reach,” she added, confirming his thoughts.
    He’d picked up a thing or two about human magic rites in his life, but not enough to claim to be any sort of expert. Which is where Kate came in. She knew a lot more about human ways than he did. Most of his magic was instinctual,