Free A Love For Lera (Haikon) by Aliyah Burke Page B

growl.
    “Fuck off, man. I saw this piece of ass first.
This ain’t got nothin’ to do with you.”
    The snarl couldn’t be stopped, and Kori snatched
out with one hand and lifted the guy straight up so only his toes remained on
the floor. And that just barely. Kori was inches taller than him but now they
were eye to eye.
    “That piece of ass, as you put it…she is mine,” he
growled, seeing red. The man’s face paled. Kori squeezed harder. “I suggest you
and your boys stay away from both of them. She walks by, and you look
the other way.”
    “Right,” he gasped.
    The urge to end his life was strong. Kori
tightened his hold even more.
    “Enough.” Lera’s voice calmed him enough so he
could release him.
    The man scrambled back through his crew and
rasped, “She ain’t worth it.”
    Kori held his gaze until he looked away. Then, he
glanced down at Lera who watched him with uncertainty.
    ‘How much farther until his home?’ he
asked with his mind for he needed the contact with her but knew if he
physically touched her he’d most likely lose the thin control. If he gave in
and touched her, he’d mark her; the urge was so strong and powerful within him.
    ‘Fifteen minutes or so.’ She faced away
from him.
    It didn’t matter suddenly. All he knew was her
touch was needed. A physical one. ‘Come to me, Lera.’
    He watched her stiffen before muttering to Kim.
Then, she stood and walked to stand before him. Kori ran the backs of his
fingers down her face and struggled not to kiss her.
    ‘I need to sit with Kim, Kori.’
    Dropping his hand, he stepped back and returned to
his seat. He went with as she and Kim headed to his apartment building but he
remained outside while she went in.

Chapter Five
    Lera walked slowly out of Kim’s apartment,
trepidation filling her. Murdock Denton was one thing, and she could go toe to
toe with him any time, but that wasn’t who she had waiting for her. She had to
face Kori. And she knew he wasn’t happy. Lera paused at the entryway door to
the building. Her hand rested on the knob.
    Buck up, Valera, she admonished herself. Kori
may very well be pissed but he’ll never lay a hand on me in anger. So why
was she hesitating? Why am I?
    She stared at the hand on the doorknob; the dim
lighting glinted off her slave bracelet. She’d had it specially made. Almost
all the knots were Kells except for the one surrounding the single wolf
engraved on each bracelet and the ring. Those were surrounded by a trinity
knot.
    Licking her lips, she turned the handle and
pushed through. Kori leaned against a cement wall, appearing deceptively
relaxed and at ease. The night air sizzled with his barely restrained energy.
His gaze zoomed in on her as she headed over the walkway toward him, even
though the only thing on him moving was his hair, courtesy of the wind.
    Lera paused before him, keeping some space
between them, and stared in his eyes. Her belly clenched at the mass of
turbulent emotions in them. She could see more than a hint of his wolf and knew
he was seriously close to losing control.
    “You know there’s a park that leads into the
countryside two blocks away if you need to run.”
    “And while I did that, where would you be?” His
question was more growled than anything.
    “Waiting in the park.”
    He pushed off the wall with a ripple of power and
was before her in less time than it took her to blink. “And I would believe
that why?”
    It took a lot for her keep the snarl contained
behind clenched teeth. With an unconcerned shrug, Lera turned away. One step.
That was as far as she got. His hand curled around her covered arm like a steel
vise.
    “Where are you going?”
    “Back to the party and eventually then to bed.”
    “No party.” There was nothing but finality in his
tone as it cracked through the air like a whip.
    She did snarl then. Jerking her head to glare at
him, she found Kori right up in her personal space. He stared at her, his gaze
hard and