Free Predatory Game by Christine Feehan Page A

reaching halfway to her knees, looking more beautiful than ever. “Are you still here?” she demanded as she flounced across the floor to fling herself on the bed.
    “Did you take aspirin?”
    “Yes.” She made a face at him to show him he wasn’t forgiven. “Are you happy?”
    Jess sighed softly. “You’re still angry with me.”
    Saber curled up in a little ball, facing away from him, actually hunching a shoulder. “You think?”
    It took one powerful motion of his incredibly strong arms and Jess had shifted himself from his chair to her bed. Saber’s slender body stiffened as he stretched out beside her, but she didn’t protest.
    He pulled her close, fitting her into his shoulder, amazed at how soft her skin was, how fragile and small she appeared next to him. He reached out a lazy hand to snap off the lamp.
    “Don’t.”
    “It’s time for you to sleep, baby,” he prompted, plunging the room into darkness with a quick flick of his fingers.
    Instantly he felt the shudder run through her body. “I sleep with the light on.”
    “Not tonight. Tonight you sleep in my arms, knowing I’ll keep you safe.” He stroked her hair tenderly.
    “I have nightmares if the lights are off,” Saber admitted, too sick to care.
    His chin rubbed her silky curls. “Not when I’m here, Saber, I’ll keep them away.”
    “Arrogant dragon king,” she murmured drowsily, reaching to lace her fingers with his. “Demons wouldn’t dare cross you, would they?”
    “Who did you think I was, Saber? Who are you running from?”
    There was such a long silence Jess was certain she wouldn’t answer. Finally she sighed. “You’re imagining things. I’m not running from anyone. You scared me is all.” There was the tiniest note of amusement in her sensual, silky voice.
    Lying next to her should have produced the familiar relentless ache, but instead he felt a deep peace, something he had never experienced, stealing into him. She felt intensely hot despite the fact that the air in the bedroom was quite cool and he had only pulled a sheet over them.
    “Maybe I should call you a doctor,” he murmured. “Eric could be here in a couple of hours.”
    Saber sighed. “Stop fussing, Jesse,” she pleaded. Her fingers tightened around his. “I’ll be fine.”
    He held her, feeling her body relax in the shelter of his, her breathing slow and rhythmic. Jess buried his chin in the mass of silky raven corkscrews, enjoying the feeling of just lying next to her, of being close to her.
    Sometime later he must have drifted off, his dreams mildly erotic, not the usual flaming fantasies Saber aroused in him. The first sign of her distress awakened him, a soft little whimper, her body jerking convulsively.
    She rolled suddenly, her hand coming up and toward him, a knife slicing fast toward his jugular with deadly accuracy. The movement was smooth and practiced. He caught her arm, slammed it down to the mattress, twisting almost to the point of breaking her wrist, his thumb finding a pressure point to force release. She never made a sound. Didn’t cry out in pain, even when he dug his fingers in hard enough to bruise.
    Jess was enormously strong, genetically enhanced, and worked out daily in order to lift his own body weight all the time, yet it was difficult to subdue her. “Wake up, Saber,” he hissed, giving her a little shake.
    The knife dropped from her hand and slid off the bed, but she rolled, ramming her elbow toward his jaw. He took the blow on his shoulder and caught her by the throat, slamming her down to the mattress.
    Saber fought back, her eyes wild, haunted, his name on her lips. “Jesse!” She called for him again, the sound so filled with pain, so raw with terror, he felt actual tears stinging his eyes.
    “For God’s sake, Saber, wake up. I’m here. I’m here.” He pinned her wrists, holding her down so she couldn’t continue the attack. “You’re having a nightmare. That’s all it is, just a bad dream.”
    He knew