One Down: Bayou Heat (Pantera Security League Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

and set off at a rapid pace. He did a careful sweep to make sure there were no stray campers in the area before returning to the pathway to make certain there were no footprints that might reveal the direction they’d taken.
    Once confident he’d left nothing behind that could lead the guards to the cave, he headed toward a hunting lodge he’d seen when the chopper had dropped him off three hours ago. The four human men who were staying at the large, log structure were still awake, but not one of them noticed the silent shadow that slid through the back door. They were on the porch, busy swapping bullshit about the ‘one that got away’ and drinking heavily from a bottle of scotch.
    Collecting what he wanted, Cerviel left as silently as he’d arrived, melting into the shadows with the ease of a predator.
    A quarter of an hour later, he was back at the cave.
    “It’s me,” he called out before stepping into the opening.
    The last thing he wanted was to startle Hallie. She might not know much about guns, but she could squeeze a trigger and put a bullet through his heart.
    “I promise not to shoot,” she called out.
    An odd sensation twisted his heart. The light, almost teasing words couldn’t disguise the aching relief he could hear in her voice.
    Entering the cave, he moved to settle next to her shivering body, setting up a small battery-powered lantern before placing a canvas bag between them on the floor.
    “I come bearing gifts.”
    With a lift of her brows, Hallie watched in silence as he pulled out the loaf of bread, a large container of roast beef and a bag of chips. Hardly gourmet fare, but he’d overheard the guard telling Donaldson that he hadn’t fed Hallie. Right now any food would no doubt taste like ambrosia to her.
    “Where did you get this?” she demanded in appreciative surprise.
    “I borrowed it from a hunting lodge a few miles away.”
    She glanced up to study his overly-innocent smile. “You borrowed it, huh?”
    He shrugged. “Something like that.”
    “Did you poach it?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “Hell no,” she admitted on a laugh. “I’m starving.”
    He laughed with her as she reached to take the bread. She quickly assembled two sandwiches, piling them high with roast beef. Not that he was going to complain. He was a carnivore. The more meat the better.
    Taking the sandwich that she offered him, Cerviel absently consumed it in four large bites. Then, leaning against the wall of the cave, he studied his companion in the warm, soft light of the lantern with unconcealed fascination.
    She was so exquisite. From her wide, hazel eyes to the long, thick red hair that bracketed her lovely face with such smooth skin and pure lines. But it wasn’t her physical beauty that attracted his attention, and made him—in Raphael’s words—act like a mate where she was concerned. It was the unbroken strength he could see in her eyes, and the courageous spirit visible in the aura that flickered around her.
    She was a warrior.
    She was a survivor.
    Fuck… He scrubbed a hand over his face. He could only hope that the Pantera’s need to know the truth didn’t do irreparable harm to his tenuous yet ever-growing bond with her.
    Polishing off the last of her sandwich with more restraint than he’d displayed, Hallie glanced up to discover his unwavering gaze.
    “What?” She put her fingers to her mouth, then her nose. “Do I have something on my face?”
    Unable to resist temptation, Cerviel reached out to lightly stroke a finger over her cheek. Damn. Her skin was as silky smooth as it looked. And now that she had some food in her belly, a hint of color was replacing her unnatural pallor.
    Her hand dropped from her face, and her lips parted in an unconscious invitation, but with a heroic effort, he managed to resist temptation.
    “Your face is perfect,” he assured her, pulling his fingers from her cheek. She doesn’t belong to you, Cerviel. No female ever can. She is yours to protect.
    For