Animal Instincts (Entangled Ignite) by Patricia Rosemoor Page A

he could see from her widening eyes that she felt it, too. Hiding his reaction to her, he easily moved her away from the crowd and into an empty bank of slots where they could have privacy of sorts. He didn’t want anyone to overhear.
    “What are you?” he repeated, wanting to know how she had resisted his mental suggestions.
    “What are you ?” she said heatedly. “And what is this place?”
    “Somewhere you shouldn’t be. How did you get here?”
    “I told you, I got directions from that poor wild dog at the fight. I’m an animal rescuer.” Skye shrugged her arm from his grasp. “That’s why I was there. To make sure the animals were taken care of. Why were you there?”
    He stared into her belligerent green eyes that told him so much about her. About who she was if not what . There was an inner core of decency in her that went beyond the ordinary. He tried to ignore that. Tried to ignore the way her mahogany hair framed her angelic-looking face. Or the way her dark T-shirt clung to her feminine curves. Tried to ignore the sheer animal heat distracting him.
    He wondered what exactly she did or didn’t know.
    About the shifter fights.
    About The Company.
    About him.
    “You are a foolish, foolish woman, Skye Cross. Do you know how easily you could have been killed outside the fight arena?”
    How easily she could be killed now. Not that he would let that happen. Now he owed her. He couldn’t bring her brother back, but he could make sure she didn’t end up dead like him.
    “I wasn’t there alone.”
    “But you left the arena alone.”
    “To go after a wounded coyote.” Her tone grew strident. “An innocent animal was being abused and I wanted to make sure it got proper treatment.”
    Trying not to let her humanity touch him—she didn’t belong here and he needed to make her leave—he mocked her. “Are you always that selfless, putting the needs of animals before yourself, no matter the danger? You could have been eaten.”
    Her response was another frown. Her slender brows pulled together and her full lips pursed. He didn’t sense any element of fear.
    Frustrated, Luc stared at Skye and wondered what it would take to intimidate her so that she would leave and never come back. Every minute she spent here put her in danger. Even as he thought it, he sensed a vulnerability in her. An opening. She was feeling some primal attraction to him. Certain he could seduce her away from here, take her in a way that would send her running to never return, for some reason he was reluctant to pierce her fragile armor. To become her worst nightmare. Yes, he could make her fear him, but he wouldn’t.
    Because her brother’s sacrifice to save his mother burdened him with an obligation. He owed the Crosses and couldn’t ignore that debt.
    “Tell me how those predators were walking around the city loose,” Skye said. “What happened to them?”
    He evaded. “They’re taken care of.”
    “By whom? You?” Indicating the direction of the habitat, she asked, “Are they the same animals I saw back there?”
    So she was already putting things together. Not good. Now that she knew about this place, she might be able to figure out what her brother had been investigating.
    “You don’t need to worry,” he said. You should leave now. Go home and forget you were ever here.
    “I’m not leaving until I get some answers. And stay out of my mind.”
    “What are you?” he asked for a third time.
    “I don’t know what you mean.”
    He could tell she was being truthful. He could sense her building anxiety. And suddenly caught a whiff of fear that surprised him and rattled his instincts. But did she fear him or the unknown? He couldn’t tell.
    “About the animal fights,” she said, reminding him of a stubborn terrier he’d once had as a kid. “Do you like seeing living creatures ripped apart?”
    The breath caught in his throat and his pulse tick-ticked. It took all his will not to picture it. “I wasn’t there