Darkness Seduced (Primal Heat Trilogy #2) (Order of the Blade) by Stephanie Rowe

rifled through her, and she leapt backward.
    He smiled as she stumbled, the face of a predator who was enjoying watching his prey try to flee, knowing he could stop her at any second.
    It couldn’t end like this. So close to freedom, only to fail like this. God, she couldn’t go back into captivity. She couldn’t do it again. She couldn’t—
    He grabbed for her and she dove out of the way. He caught her ankle and she kicked at him, her bare feet useless against his hard body. She twisted frantically, her ankle rotating in his hand, but she knew it was too little, too late—
    His head jerked up and he stared down the road. Taking advantage of his distraction, Lily yanked herself free and sprinted behind the Hummer as he scented the air. He cursed, and then spun toward her.
    She froze as he crouched, ready to launch himself at her.
    He looked down the road again, then back at her. What did he sense? What was coming?
    He took a step toward her, then swore again, spun around and bolted up into the sand hills, so fast he was nothing but a blur.
    The night swallowed him instantly, leaving her alone on the dark road. Gone? He’d really left? He hadn’t taken her?
    She stared blankly after him, trying to regroup, trying to comprehend that he’d simply left her there. Something had scared him. A threat. What was it?
    Chills raced down her spine and she whirled toward the truck before she remembered its state. Her only way home: upside down, the roof half-torn off, its tires spinning aimlessly. The light from the headlights were pointing haphazardly across the deep grooves the SUV had carved into the road.
    No way home. No way to safety. No more choices.
    Tears pricked at the back of her eyes, and she stared at it, watching the expensive hubcaps whirring. Her head ached, her vision blurred, and she realized how completely screwed she was. I can’t take this anymore. I can’t.
    Then she heard the rumble of an engine. She turned and saw headlights lighting up the night as a car raced toward her. She realized the Calydon had heard the car coming, and that’s why he’d bailed: because the occupants of the car had scared him off. She stared into the approaching headlights, and suddenly knew who was in the vehicle. Gideon. Just the thought of him made desire and fear thrum through her, nearly staggering in from its intensity.
    She needed to run. To hide. To get away.
    But something deep inside her told her she didn’t need to run anymore. Not now.
    She fought against it, tried to order her body to flee, but her legs gave out and she sank to the road as the truck peeled around the corner. She flinched as brakes squealed and the truck spun wildly, but the driver managed to keep the enormous black pickup from flipping. It finally skidded to a stop inches from the overturned Hummer. Gideon leapt out of the truck and raced toward her, his face raw with fury that should have terrified her.
    But it didn’t. She was simply too depleted to fear him, too weary to overcome her need to stop fighting and to put her care in someone else’s hands.
    “No.” She summoned up all her willpower and held up an exhausted hand as he neared her. “Don’t touch me.”
    He hesitated at whatever he saw on her face, and for a moment, she thought she’d won. He wasn’t going to help.
    Then she suddenly was overwhelmed with such grief and despair that she doubled over, her arms wrapped around her belly, and she knew then that she’d finally lost the battle.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Gideon swore as Lily let out a soft moan that blistered his core. Her head was bowed so low that her tangled hair was draped on the asphalt. She hugged herself as she rocked back and forth, trying to hold in the low moans of distress. The white cotton of her blouse was streaked with blood, and fresh rage coiled through Gideon at the sight of her distress. He wanted to scoop her off the ground and into his arms, but he’d seen her fear as he’d approached, and knew instinctively