Into the Light by Tami Lund Page B

tight in the crotch area.
    She’s just another female , he reminded himself. And not the type I’m attracted to .
    Except Tanner wasn’t sure he’d ever been so attracted to a woman before in his life.
    “My cousin is there,” she said in a determined voice.
    Despite his annoyance, he liked her determination. He liked that she wasn’t a wimpy female who cowered away from him, who obeyed his every command without question. If he had to describe her personality, he would say she was a leader, too. The way she held her head high when she was essentially heading toward the gallows. The way she’d commanded him to open the shade at Lisa’s parents’ vacation home. The way she informed him that they had to go to Vegas.
    Wait—all of those things should annoy him, not impress him. What the hell was wrong with him?
    “Cici,” he guessed, recalling what she’d said just before she passed out the day before.
    “Yes. Her name is Cecilia, actually. We have to go back for her.”
    “What makes you think she’s still in Vegas?”
    Her hesitation told him she wasn’t sure. But then she thrust out her chin and said, “She wouldn’t leave until she knew I was safe.”
    Procuring a vehicle from Freddy’s cousin had been surprisingly easy. It was an ancient maroon sedan, but under the hood it was in impeccable condition.
    He and Olivia had watched from the SUV as Freddy met his cousin, gave him a one-armed hug, chatted for a few minutes, and then accepted the keys. His cousin had glanced all around and then in the blink of an eye, shifted into the form of a wolf and loped away.
    Olivia’s eyes had been huge behind her sunglasses.
    “I take it you never saw a shifter actually shift before?”
    “Until a few days ago, I had never seen a shifter,” she replied.
    “Does the idea repulse you?” Tanner had asked before he could stop himself.
    Her eyes had shifted from the spot where Freddy’s cousin had stood, to Tanner’s face. “More like fascinate me,” she murmured in a soft, sexy voice that caused Tanner to think thoughts that were not exactly appropriate given their current situation. Hell, considering those thoughts were about a lightbearer, they weren’t appropriate at all, no matter the situation.
    When Freddy returned and offered him the keys, Tanner asked if his cousin knew why Freddy needed the vehicle.
    “If you’re asking if I told him that you were trying to escape with the pack master’s lightbearer, the answer’s no,” he replied sarcastically.
    “Just covering my bases,” Tanner said shortly, and he whisked the lightbearer out of the SUV and over to the sedan. They were cruising down the road, headed toward the interstate, when she announced their destination was Vegas.
    Tanner fished his cell phone out of his pocket and offered it to the lightbearer. “Call her,” he suggested.
    She looked at the phone as if it was a foreign object. “I do not know how to use that device,” she admitted stiffly.
    “Use what? A cell phone?”
    “Is that what it is called?”
    “You’ve never used a cell phone before?”
    She gave him a reproachful look and shook her head. Which meant her cousin probably didn’t have a cell phone either. Where the hell did these lightbearers live, anyway? A past century? He shoved his phone back into his pocket and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.
    “Fine,” he ground out. “We go to Vegas. But you have to listen to everything I say, do you understand? Obey my every command without question.”
    She looked insulted by his words.
    “Unless you don’t care about living,” he added, just to push her buttons.
    Her back stiffened and she pursed her lips and all he wanted to do was pull her close and kiss her until she softened and melted against him. It occurred to him that shifters were really missing the boat by assuming they should kill lightbearers. Killing her was the very last thing on his mind.
    “Fine,” she ground out in an