Free Mark of the Wolf; Hell's Breed by Madelaine Montague Page A

go
to court.
    Now all she could think about was that the DA
was afraid she wasn’t going to make it to court to
testify.
    She’d managed to scare herself pretty
thoroughly with her thoughts on the trip to the cabin by the time
they got there. It had seemed to take forever— at least as
long as it took to drive from south Georgia to Atlanta — and
she was exhausted enough by that time, despite her fears, that all
she really wanted to do was crawl in a bed and sleep until the
trial.
    Lucien—this time she was sure it was
Lucien—showed her to a bedroom. Basil and Kane brought her
suitcases while he moved around the room grabbing up clothing and
balling it under one arm, checked the windows and the bathroom that
was attached.
    Laurie, who’d immediately moved to the bed and
plopped down since there weren’t any chairs in the room, watched
them uneasily.
    He glanced at her when Basil and Kane had
trouped out again and disappeared.
    “ You sure we’re going to be ok
here?” she asked worriedly.
    He moved toward her and sat down on the bed
beside her, looping an arm around her and gathering her close to
his side. “We’re going to take good care of you, Laurie. We aren’t
going to let anything happen to you. I swear,” he murmured in a
rumbling growl of a voice, tapping her chin to get her to look at
him. “You believe me, right?”
    She stared up into his eyes, feeling warmth
spread through her. It was so strange! She should have felt
uncomfortable in his embrace. She hardly knew him, and yet it
didn’t feel that way. He felt completely familiar. She felt
an odd little déjà vu moment as she stared into his eyes, as if
they’d done this before. She felt as completely comfortable curled
up against him as if it was something they’d done many, many times.
Swallowing with an effort, she nodded and then settled her head
against his shoulder. “I do.”
    He stroked a large hand over her head and then
used his thumb beneath her jaw to force her to look at him again.
“Good girl. We won’t let you down.”
    She thought he was going to kiss her for
several faltering heartbeats, but he merely tapped her nose, smiled
and got up to stretch. Then he strode from the room and shut the
door.
    Laurie stared at the door when he left, trying
to decide what time it was and if it was late enough to be
acceptable to go to bed. Or if it was still so early they’d think
she was a wimp for flaking out or worse, some sort of country hick
or prude—bed at sundown!
    The smell of frying bacon clinched
it.
    She’d forgotten she hadn’t had a chance to eat
after the deposition. She’d been making phone calls then almost
gotten murdered and then they’d gotten in a hurry to leave
….
    Grabbing a suitcase, she found something more
comfortable to wear and headed into the bathroom to see if a quick
shower would revive her enough to keep her from falling asleep in
her plate. It helped a little. She was still towel drying her hair
when she left the bathroom. There was a tap on the door before she
could grab her brush.
    “ You hungry?”
    She thought it was Basil’s voice at the door,
though she hadn’t heard him speak enough to positively identify his
voice. She’d heard Lucien and Damien enough, though, to recognize
them so it had to be Basil or Kane. “Starving! Am I
invited?”
    He chuckled as she opened the door. She sure
hoped it wasn’t the fresh scrubbed, wild hair that did it. His eyes
were dancing, though, as they roamed over her. “Naw. I just wanted
to see if you wanted some so I could say no.”
    Laurie smiled back at him. “I’ll arm wrestle
you for some of that bacon.”
    His amusement deepened and his gaze warmed as
it moved over her again, this time speculatively. “I wouldn’t mind
…. Never mind. Come on and eat before it gets cold. Nothing cools
faster than eggs.”
    Nodding, Laurie headed back to the vanity
mirror to rake the snarls from her hair quickly and then left the
bedroom. Neither of the twins were