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She whirled around, her expression stony "Problem?"
His eyes moved over her face Pale, perfect skin, a ry kisses, and a severe attitude that was supposed to ward off all ed to turn Jean-Baptiste into a brain-dead, lusty, adolescent Pantera male
Problem?
Fuck, yeah
"Believe it or not, Miss Burel," he said with barely contained aggression "I would do anything to help the Pantera, to help Ashe and the cub And I arowled softly as it released "Let&039;s go"
As Genevieve walked past Jean-Baptiste into the diain re Make sure the voodoun didn&039;t get anywhere near the Wildlands, while acting as though that very journey was her one and only goal All she kneas that the elders believed this human to be detrimental to the Wildlands, to Ashe and the child
And that was all Genevieve needed to know The elders were not to be questioned After all, they were the essence of Pantera, the wise ones and the ultis
"Re," Jean-Baptiste said, following her past a row of books, crystals, voodoo love dolls, and potions, all backlit by ato be happy about this"
Isi Very pretty, Genevieve thought
Exotic "Why&039;s that?"
"Let&039;s just say that the Wildlands&039;
ic and her own don&039;t mix well" Lucky for me "Hoould she know that? Has she been to the Wildlands?"
"She&039;s been to the border"
Genevieve&039;s insides hulanced over her shoulder Tall, broad, eyes wary, tattoos and piercings glistening eerily in the candlelight, Jean-Baptiste looked like the sexiest demon alive "Alone? Or with you?"
"Curb the questions, Miss Burel," Jean-Baptiste said coolly "And don&039;t forget you&039;re here in a diplomatic capacity only"
"I knohy I&039;m here," she returned
Did the elders know about this? The voodoun at their borders? Was that their reasoning for keeping her out?
Did they believe she had so to do hat happened to Ashe?
"Well, well, Baptiste," came an almost otherworldly voice near Genevieve&039;s ear
Startled, Genevieve whirled around to find one of thewomen she&039;d ever seen Not near her ear as she&039;d believed, or felt, but standing a full ten feet away in front of a cobalt blue curtain For a second, Genevieve couldn&039;t put her thoughts together She blinked several times A sudden blast of incense irew fuzzy and slow She reached out for so
"Isi" She heard Jean-Baptiste&039;s voice behind her, his tone thick arning
"Cut it off"
"But it&039;s so rowled
The scent of incense died away, and the haze inside Genevieve&039;s brain vanished She drew in air, and had the e to turn around and run But her feet were planted to the floor, and her eyes pinned to the woht jeans, black heels, and a sleeveless red top that showed her flat stomach on one end and her firm breasts on the other She had short, jet black hair with blue streaks running through it, a tattoo of a rose wrapped around a candle that ran froht ear down to her shoulder, and a dia in each nostril Genevieve&039;s mind felt murky as hell, but even so she knew that this was the kind of woman Jean-Baptiste probably went for A real kindred spirit, complete with ink andmore than just friends
"Hello there" She shoved away the urge to fiddle with her top button and walked straight for the woman, her hand outstretched "I&039;m Genevieve Burel
Diplomatic Faction for the Pantera" Her expression stony, the wonored Genevieve and her hand, and pushed past her Genevieve watched
Heels clicked on the stone floor and hips swayed as Isi made her way to Jean-Baptiste Goodness, the wos
When she reached hiood"
"I think so," he said
She ran a finger down the cord of rinned "Always"
The fuzzy head thing was gone, but soh Genevieve as she watched this woman Isi&039;s hands moved over Jean-Baptiste&039;s body as if they had eternal permission to do so, and her voice practically licked at him, it was so intimate
Were they lovers? And if so, why had Jean-Baptiste not disclosed it?
"I need to speak with you," he said to the voodoun, his voice grave
"Problelanced over her shoulder at Genevieve "Another foolish female fall in love with you, Baptiste? Must we administer a reverse spell?"
"No," he said with a s like that," Genevieve returned with barely disguised irritation
More for herself than for the real sick of this back and forth, pseudo-flirtatious, weirdly possessive behavior she was feeling and exhibiting
Her future, and her family&039;s future, rested on this pick-up and delivery Or preventing it, and that was all she was going to be focused on for the next twenty-four hours
"Miss Rousseau," she said tightly
"As I said before, I&039; sure you-"
Jean-Baptiste interrupted sternly "I got this" He took Isi&039;s arm and ushered her down the candlelit aisle His eyes were hard, his mouth too "If you&039;ll excuse us, Miss Burel"
"I absolutely will not!" Genevieve called after him, far more passionately than she&039;d intended "This wasn&039;t the arrangenored it
"We&039;re supposed to do this together, Mr Baptiste," she continued, going after theh "What the fuck is that about?" His expression fierce, Jean-Baptiste guided Isi through the curtain, whispered soed
"I warned you, Miss Burel," he said, halting her progress "I don&039;t follow rules Especially ones that were decided upon without me"
She stared up at hi "I don&039;t care about any of that I have a job to do
Raphael sent et the job done" His voice dropped "And I always get the job done, Miss Burel"
Instead of muscle and bone, it felt like water suddenly resided inside her legs
And his scent, that heady,itself inside her nostrils, battling for do incense This was iht with deep irritation
"Now," he continued in a soft, deadly voice, "You&039;re going to remain out here, while I have a conversation with rowled "Not how this was supposed to go" His eyes flashed amber fire "Life is made up of the unfair, Miss Burel Learn to accept that and you&039;ll never face disappointets , fires me up, turns me on" She tried to yank herself back, but she couldn&039;t seehly aroused for the next twenty-four hours" She could hardly breathe as they stared at one another Dark hair fell over his cheekbones, a few stray wisps brushing against the two hoops in his lower lip Her eyes traveled down to the full, lush flesh What would it be like to kiss hiet the tip of her tongue inside, spear one of those srowl pierced the thick air between them, and Genevieve&039;s brain lurched back to the &039;on&039; position
Oh, Christ What rong with her?
The things she was sayingthe way she just openly stared at hied him The female as all set to enter a life of service with the elders-a life where she would have noover the very Pantera male she had to outwit
This was bad
Jean-Baptiste&039;s eyes narrowed, and he pulled back sharply "I&039;ll be back in fiveyou like"
Too late
"Or maybe you&039;ll find soray bottles, I believe"
What the hell was she doing?
Genevieve thought shakily as she watched him walk away and disappear behind that blue curtain Why was the top button on her blouse digging into her throat, irritating her, begging to be bitten off, when it had always lain so coainst her skin?
And why had hersure the voodoun never entered the Wildlands suddenly expanded into the disjointed goal of never allowing the dark-haired woain?
She turned to a table of potions, released a heavy breath, and started picking up rando here that returned sanity to a clearly insane mind, and cals of the words lust and possession until just a few o