Blood Diamond Read Online Free PDF Page A

them. Your scent is all over this truck, as is theirs. Why?” Her words were spoken in a growl, which rumbled in her throat. While she’d never be a soprano, her voice wasn’t deep either. Her grip on my arm tightened, confirming my suspicions about her strength.
    If I wanted to keep all of my limbs intact, I needed to take care with what I said and learn to avoid staring into her eyes. I was pretty sure that classified as a challenge to Fenerec. If I looked away, however, I’d see more than I should.
    I was tempted, and that bothered me almost as much as the risk of her ripping my arm from its socket if I pissed her off.
    I was in a lot of trouble.
    She growled at me, wordlessly demanding an answer.
    “I don’t hurt women, ma’am,” I replied, both grateful for and cursing my response. Fenerec, so far as I knew, could smell lies, and I didn’t want to give her a reason to rip my throat out. Women, however, often didn’t like hearing that bit of truth about me. Since I was already neck-deep in trouble with her, I added, “I don’t hurt the helpless, either.”
    When she didn’t say anything, move, or start snarling at me, I shrugged and said, “I try not to lie to a lady. The Inquisition wants you dead, ma’am, and I was sent to help them do it. I won’t. If you want, I’ll take you somewhere safe. Canada, perhaps? One of the packs there would take you in.” I didn’t know as much about the Fenerec as I wished I did in that moment, but I knew enough to understand females were in high demand.
    There’d be a lot of competition to have her join a pack. It’d be easy enough to find someone to help her on the other side of the border, where the Inquisition didn’t have a strong influence over the supernatural. I knew the perfect Alpha for her, a longtime friend who’d protect her from the Inquisition.
    “I see,” she murmured, leaning closer to me, her knees digging into my leg once more. Heat washed over my face. Without letting go of my arm, she shifted closer. As she moved, I caught a glimpse of her sliding across the cab towards my seat.
    She had a lot of freckles.
    I jerked and turned away, preparing to twist out of her grip to beeline for the door. “Would you like my jacket, ma’am?” I asked, reaching for the handle.
    “I’d like if you would take a look at my leg, sir,” she murmured in her sinfully husky voice. “To make sure it’s healing properly, you know. It was a silvered bullet.” When she growled at my silence, it sounded more like a purr. My route of escape was cut off as she slithered over me, squirming and twisting around until her back rested against the Red Beast’s door.
    Wondering just how I had gotten into such a situation, I tried to figure out how to take a look at her leg without getting a really good view of the rest of her. I closed my eyes, drew a deep breath, counted to twenty, and exhaled. “My apologies, ma’am. Let me wrap it for you.”
    While I had been too busy focusing all of my attention on her jade eyes, her nose, and the splattering of freckles on her cheeks, she had managed to toss the first aid kit out of my reach. If I wanted it, I’d need to shift on the seat and reach for it, all while she was on my lap.
    At least it gave me something appropriate to worry about. Maybe she didn’t care about her dignity, but I did. I hoped the Red Beast’s video surveillance wasn’t being monitored; if it was, someone—my brother—was getting quite the show.
    “You can look, I don’t mind,” she murmured.
    Women, I reminded myself, were tricky creatures. If my new friend was anything like other Fenerec females, they were doubly tricky. They also mated for life.
    The realization was a bit like having a bucket of cold water dunked over my head. Suzanne had been a water witch; witches didn’t mate for life. Like regular humans, witches married, some divorced, others died. Our vows had been until death. Suzanne was gone, but I hadn’t been able to let go of my