Turn to Darkness (Offspring 5.6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

stiffened but forced herself not to move away.
    “Shea, when you get over the shock of it, you’ll see how much I care about you. That I will do anything to protect you from anyone who threatens you. It’s my nature.”
    His hand felt cold and smooth against her skin, but even scarier, she saw only shadows in his eyes. She shivered.
    “Don’t be afraid of me, Shea. I can love you. I can be everything you want.”
    She knew she had to be careful with him. His mood could change with a hair trigger. Everything she and the guys had suspected about him was true. She wrapped her fingers around his cool hand and pulled it away, unable to stand the feel of it for another second. “This doesn’t change what I told you earlier.” She released his hand. “I’m damaged goods. I don’t want love or anything that goes with it. You’ll find somebody who will love you like you deserve.”
    She couldn’t force words of gratitude from her throat. “I need to clear my mind.” She walked away, down the hall to the tiny back porch.
    His voice called after her. “There’s only you, Shea. I don’t care if you’re damaged.”
    She wasn’t good with confrontation. Turning away, moving out, were her ways of leaving a hot situation. She knew she was doing that now, but she would have to deal with Darius sooner or later.
    She turned on the light and opened the small cabinet where she kept her tools. Her collection of bonsai felt like friends, and she desperately needed some normalcy and quiet right now. She sat down at her workbench and started pruning. She wanted to call Greer, to tell him what Darius had said. What he’d done. Not while Darius could hear.
    Greer wanted her, too. Though it tangled inside her, she wasn’t afraid of him. Even if he turned into a black beast. Why would two men possibly want her?
    Greer cared about her. He was even willing to work through her hang-ups. He’d been so damned perceptive.
    She did want him like that. Hopefully her flat statement had killed those thoughts. Guys and their egos, after all. That was why he’d backed away from her last time.
    A shadow caught her eye, and she saw Darius, back in human form in his chair, at the French door leading out to the porch. She kept her focus on her plant, looking as though she were doing something vitally important like brain surgery.
    He moved away, getting the message. For now. He wanted her because he wanted her. His primal urges, or maybe because she was probably the only woman who would understand and accept him for what he was. No matter that his desire for her wasn’t rooted in real feelings, like Greer’s. No, because Darius had no feelings. When he’d dropped his bomb, expecting her to fall over in gratitude, he had nothing in his eyes. No emotion, only a flatness. The only hint of real emotion was his glee at murdering that man.
    Darius was going to be a problem. She tried to turn her thoughts to the one bright spot—her mom had called. Shea wasn’t ready to completely open the door between them, but hearing her concern helped.
    Tuck had called, too, after Greer let him know about the detectives’ visit. Thankfully, Greer hadn’t told him about the rape, or if he did, Tuck said nothing. He offered to come over, but Shea told him she’d be fine.
    She turned to the night that surrounded the porch. Was it her imagination that she felt someone watching her? Her stalker was dead—she shivered—thanks to Darius. And he was inside. So why did she feel eyes on her?
    D ARIUS WAITED FOR Shea to get over the shock she obviously felt over what he’d done for her. He let her work on her stupid little plants, giving her space like a good guy would. So when she came back in, he expected her to approach him as he watched television in the living room. He would have liked for her to have gotten to her knees in front of him, her hands on his thighs, and told him how much she appreciated what he’d done. Or better yet, showed him. He smiled at the