Free Rhyannon Byrd - Primal Instinct 04 by Touch of Seduction Page B

roof?
Impressive.”
    “I can’t say that it would surprise me,” she murmured,
shaking her head.
    “Ya know, I think that’s the nicest compliment
anyone’s ever given me,” he drawled, parroting her earlier words when he’d
complimented her driving. “But they’re not my women. They’re engaged to the
Buchanan brothers.”
    “The Buchanan brothers?”
    “Ian Buchanan was the first Merrick to awaken,
followed by his sister, Saige, and then his brother, Riley. Molly is set to
marry Ian any day now. They were supposed to get married last month, but had to
postpone when things started getting crazy. Hope is engaged to Riley, but I
don’t know that they’ve settled on a date yet. And the last I heard, Saige is
marrying Quinn, one of the other Watchmen in my unit, on New Year’s Day, though
he keeps claiming that he’s gonna drag her off to Vegas before then because he
doesn’t want to wait that long.”
    “Wow. It, um, sounds like there’s going to be quite a
few weddings taking place around there.” Hooking her hair behind her ear, she
looked away and stared silently out the passenger’s side window, making him
wonder where she’d wandered off to in her head. The Kings of Leon’s lead singer
had just finished belting out another husky chorus about lust and loneliness
when she turned back toward him and spoke in a soft rush, as if she was in a
hurry to get the words out. “So how did you end up getting stuck with the job?”
    “The job?”
    “Protecting me and Jamie.”
    Well, hell. Aiden ran his tongue over his teeth,
fighting the urge to fidget like a guilty kid. “What makes you think I didn’t
volunteer for it?”
    She didn’t answer right away, as if she was giving
some careful thought to her response. The next song had already wound to a
soulful conclusion, the tires eating up another long stretch of country road,
before she finally said, “You just seem like the last man someone would send to
look after a schoolteacher and a child.”
    Scowling, he lifted one tattooed hand to his long
hair. “Well, I can’t do anything about the tats,” he muttered. “But I’ll be
sure to get a haircut so you think I look respectable enough to be seen with
you.”
    “I don’t—I mean, what’s wrong with your hair?” she
asked, sounding confused.
    Shaking his head, Aiden wondered when he’d become such
a woman, allowing his freaking feelings to be hurt by her comment. “Look,
you’re the one who just suggested I didn’t look the par—”
    “I meant your attitude,” she interrupted, cutting him
off as she gestured toward him with a fluttering of her fingers. It was one of
those wholly feminine gestures that a guy couldn’t have pulled off to save his
life. “It hasn’t really seemed as if you wanted the assignment or job or
whatever we are. In fact, I think your friends expected you to pass us over to
them. Is it that you don’t like kids, women or humans? Or a combination of all
three?”
    Huh, so she’d picked up on that while watching his
exchange with Kellan. The woman was obviously observant for a human, which
meant he was going to have to be damn careful around her. He didn’t want her
getting inside his head. He just wanted to get her to Colorado, where she and Jamie
would be safe, while somehow managing to keep the animal half of his nature
from completely screwing up his life.
    “Well?” she asked, prompting him for a response.
    Aiden kept his attention focused on the long, moonlit
stretch of highway. “I like women and kids just fine.”
    “But…not human ones? Is that it?”
    “Yeah,” he muttered, knowing damn well that he sounded
like a prick. “That’s pretty much it.”
    A soft, wry sound that didn’t quite make its way into
a laugh fell from her lips. “Um, ouch.”
    His face felt tight, his mouth dry. “It’s nothing
personal, Liv.”
    “Oh, no. Not at all.” Flexing his hands around the
wheel, Aiden figured he’d have to be deaf to miss the sarcasm behind