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She escorted the her feet into a pair of sneakers and waiting impatiently for thehts headed down the street, she grabbed her keys, threw open the door, and slipped onto the porch Closing it quickly, she sprinted through the rain toward Tarek’s

She wanted answers now Not whenever he decided to show A frightened screareen trees in his yard and was caught from behind as another hand clamped over her mouth

A hard ar her froan to move quickly to the house

"How did I know you would do sorowl in her ear as he pushed her through the living room door and slammed it shut "I told you to stay put, Lyra"

He released her quickly, throwing the bolts closed on the door before punching in the code to the security pad beside it

"You were too slow," she snapped "What the hell was going on tonight?"

She turned on hi hih, as she caught sight of his pale face and the bloodstained bandage

"Are you okay?" She reached out, her fingers touching the hard, sun-bronzed flesh just beneath the bandage

"I’ll live," he grunted "And stop trying to distract old in the di room

"I don’t obey orders so well" She licked her dry lips nervously "And I was tired of waiting"

"The police had barely left, Lyra" He pushed his fingers through his dah ih not by much as he stared down at her For a ain

"You would drive a grownto stalk through the house "Come on, I need coffee"

"Do you kno to fix it?" She followed hi from her lips before she could stop it

"Hell no But I’h

"Then don’t touch that coffeepot, because I want so to a dead stop in the o for it" He moved past her to the door where the tiles shone damply, the s?" She was al It was alrunted "I don’t want it staining the tiles" He knelt on the floor, a heavy towel in his hands as he mopped at the puddle of cleaner he had poured on the floor Her brothers, bless their hearts, would have waited for her to try to clean it She doubted they cleaned anything besides their weapons, at any time The slobs

"Do you ever cook in this kitchen?" she questioned him nervously as shethere

"I’d need to kno to first," he grunted, working at the floor with single-ure it out eventually" She searched the cabinets until she found the bag of preground coffee and two s The term bare cupboards definitely applied to thisas he rose to his feet to watch her measure the coffee into a filter with narrowed eyes

"I eat," he finally growled as he h the kitchen into a short hall

Seconds later she heard water running in the sink and then a heavier flow, as though into a washer

Hethe refrigerator

Cheese Baloney Ha to the cabinet over the stove and pulling down the bread she had given hin of the cinnamon rolls Half a loaf of white bread was left and perhaps a third of the banana nut bread She checked the freezer and then sighed He had to be starving A body that big took energy

"What happened tonight?" she asked as she s of the dark brew

"Soht hi froo home then and call my daddy and my three ex-Special Forces brothers and let them knohat happened Shouldn’t hurt, if that was all it was"

He paused, his gaze slicing back to her for a long

She didn’t think anything could take his hly, shaking his head eary acceptance

"Yes, they are" She nodded o They were even part of the Breed rescues that took place just after the main Pride announced their existence" His expression stilled and grew cold and distant

"I know you’re a Breed, Tarek" She wasn’t playing games with him She hated it when they were played with her "Tellup hisdistance between the as she leaned against the counter across from him and waited Other than appliances, the kitchen was bare No disorder No clutter or decoration The living rooh he had yet to decide who he was enough to s that defined him Unless…