Hour of the Lion by Cherise Sinclair (reading a book txt) 📕

She finished her recounting with, "...and I slipped out the back door, jumped the fence, and found a place to hole up for the night. I arrived here the next day." With a scowl at each brother, she pulled her arms free and wrapped them around herself. Calum could see Alec‘s desire to comfort her. He felt the same.

Instead, he considered her story. "They deliberately threw you into Lachlan and didn‘t leave until he bit you."

"Uh-huh."

"Trying to make more shifters," Alec murmured. "Won‘t work."

"Lachlan said that." She pushed hair out of her face. "So what happens now?"

"We‘ll investigate further," Calum said. She didn‘t need to know more than that.

"Right. But what happens to me?"

Calum caught Alec‘s worried gaze. She did bring out a male‘s protective instincts, didn‘t she? "How many people have you told about us?"

"Nobody."

"Why not?"

"I promised Lachlan I wouldn‘t."

"And if we‘d scared you?" Calum trapped her gaze, waiting for her answer.

She said reluctantly, "If I thought you were dangerous, I‘m not sure what I‘d do."

"Do you think we‘re dangerous?" Alec asked and tugged on her hair.

She snorted. "You guys are damned scary. And I have to wonder, if I‘d just blundered into you in the forest, what would you have done?"

"Would Alec have slit your throat, you mean?" Calum asked.

"Ah, yeah, something like that."

Thorson‘s eyebrows went up. They hadn‘t mentioned the events in the clearing.

Calum studied the little human for a minute. Her hands had gripped together so tightly her knuckles were white. More worried than she wanted them to realize. And so he answered in greater detail than he had planned. "A Cosantir has the ability to blur a person‘s memory of the previous few hours. This has been our primary defense for generation upon generation. We are usually careful that a human doesn‘t discover us," he added with a hard stare at Alec who gave him a rueful look.

"A messed up memory would be horrible," Victoria said slowly, "but at least you‘re not murdering people."

Calum tilted his head without answering—for death could indeed be a penalty. A shifter whose actions exposed the clan was killed, either at the hand of his Cosantir or a cahir like Alec.

Her brows drew together. "I‘ve known about shifters for longer than a few hours. How would you deal with me—if I wasn‘t such a nice person and all?"

Awkward question. The mind-wipe ability was called that for a reason. Reluctantly, Calum said, "Then a longer period of time is...destroyed. As far back as is necessary."

"Leaving big holes in a person‘s mind, and they wouldn‘t know why?" She shuddered. "I‘d rather die."

"Well, you are not dead," Calum said, "but you do look exhausted." And still worried. An edge of pity slid under his defenses, and he ran his knuckles down her soft cheek. "You acted honorably, Victoria. Your memories are yours to keep."

However, the rest of their discussion should be conducted without a human in attendance.

Rising, he held his hand out to her. "I‘ll escort you home so you can sleep."

*

Calum wasn‘t his usual smooth self this evening, Vic thought, as he paced silently beside her. He tried to hide it, but ever since he‘d heard how Lachlan died, anger had simmered inside him. When a streetlight illumined his face, she saw his pupils had gone back to black. Must be some shifter thing, although no one else seemed to change their eye color like that.

He caught her look and smiled slightly, setting his hand on her back below the edge of her coat. Funny how he could terrify her one moment and make her feel so safe the next. If Alec was like a comrade in arms, Calum was the best kind of officer, one who took to heart any harm to the ones under his command.

His warmth, his nearness was both comforting…and disconcertingly arousing.

He walked up onto the porch with her. After she‘d unlocked her door, he lifted her chin to study her face in the moonlight. "Will you be all right tonight?" he asked softly.

"No problem." Her voice came out uneven. The feel of his warm fingers, the sure way he touched her sent her insides into quivers.

His eyes lightened to a silvery gray. "Never admit to any worries, do you, little human?"

Human? Little? The insult lost its sting under his affectionate tone. He stood close enough she could feel the heat of his body, and his scent surrounded her, brisk and clean and wild, like the wind from the mountaintops. "Um." What had he asked? "No."

A vertical crease in his cheek accompanied the amusement in his eyes. "I‘ll bid you good night then." His fingers cupped her jaw as he bent and took her lips. With an arm behind her, he drew her closer. No teasing kisses for him, just smooth possession. His lips were far too knowledgeable, his mouth demanding, and her world began to swirl. When he lifted his head, her arms were around his neck.

She pulled them down with a gasp and pushed him away—or tried to. His arm didn‘t loosen.

God, in bed with Alec just hours ago, now kissing his brother? What kind of skanky whore did that make her? "Let go of me."

He regarded her, brows pulled together, as if confused by her about-face. "Why?"

She pushed again, even though her body wanted to move forward, to melt against him so thoroughly that nothing could separate them. And that was just wrong. Dammit all. "Calum, your brother, Alec and I…" She swallowed. Why the hell was she tongue-tied? And her tone came out nowhere near as cold as she might have wanted. Maybe because she was radiating heat to rival the sun. "Alec is interested in me," she finished finally.

"As am I." His confusion remained for a moment, then understanding glimmered in his eyes, and he smiled at her. "A human. Why is that so easy to forget with you?" He kissed her lightly, ignoring her words completely.

Her body betrayed her, softening, yearning toward his. As if he could tell,