“He’s a Bengal Breed.” Cassie looked up at Mike, then Dash. “He’s only twenty-five but he’s becoming known as one of their greatest spokesmen. I bet he’s really nice…” she trailed off faintly.
“Tanner’s quite nice, actually.” Mike smiled down at the little girl. “I met him this past summer with Kane Tyler. Both men are very good spokesmen.”
Cassie looked impressed now, staring up at Mike thoughtfully.
“Kane Tyler doesn’t like speaking in public much.” Cassie frowned as she watched Mike, gauging his response. “He acts like Dash. Tanner is sneakier about what he says. So he’s better.”
Four adults stared down at Cassie in surprise. Mike chuckled. “She’s about right there.” He slapped Dash on the shoulder. “I wonder how much Kane will like knowing an eight-year-old has him pegged so easily?”
Cassie moved closer to her mother, gripping her hips tightly as she stared up at Mike with a suddenly fierce expression. “Just cause I’m short doesn’t mean I’m a baby.”
“Cassie.” Elizabeth’s voice firmed as she glanced down at her daughter. “Mr. Toler is our host. And I’m sure he doesn’t think you’re a baby.”
Elizabeth didn’t make excuses for Cassie’s behavior. None was needed. But she was gently letting Cassie know she was stepping beyond her bounds.
“I thought you seemed awful old for your age,” Mike teased her then. “Come on, ladies, I’m older than eight and I need a comfortable chair for visiting. Serena, don’t you and Mica have homemade cookies cooling?”
Serena moved to her husband, her arm wrapping around his waist as she reached up and kissed his cheek softly. “We do indeed,” she said with a smile before turning back to Elizabeth and Cassie. “Come on in and we’ll get you settled in and get some cookies. Cassie, do you like gingerbread?”
Serena ushered Cassie and Elizabeth into the house as Dash and Mike trailed behind. Dash couldn’t help but admire the other woman and how easily she helped Cassie and Elizabeth to feel comfortable.
“Thanks, buddy,” Dash breathed as they entered the house. “It’s been a long haul for them.”
“I can understand that.” Mike shook his head slowly. “Damn, Dash, I’ve had nightmares since you called, thinking about those two and what could have happened before you caught up with them. I don’t know how they survived.”
Dash knew he hadn’t slept much himself before finding Cassie and Elizabeth. And he was starting to feel it.
Dash grunted. “They don’t come close to my nightmares.”
“Come on into the study and we’ll talk.” Mike nodded down a long hallway off the garage entryway. “I’ve been getting some reports together for you.”
Dash nodded. “Let me talk to Elizabeth first and I’ll be right there.”
He stepped into the living room. Cassie was sitting on her knees in front of the television by Mica, absorbed in the news report and interviews of the Feline Breeds. Elizabeth stood by the kitchen doorway, watching as Serena made coffee.
“Elizabeth.” He said her name softly, gaining her attention.
She turned to him, her long hair swaying at her waist, her eyes dark and haunted. God, he hated that look, hated knowing that even now her fears assailed her. In one hand she gripped his service revolver, though she was careful to keep it behind her back so the girls couldn’t see it.
She moved to him slowly, her deep blue eyes watching him carefully. She hadn’t relaxed her guard, hadn’t given in to her need to just rest since he had found her other than the few hours she had slept in the motel. She was still running on nerves and fear and it was making him crazy. She needed her rest. Something inside him demanded that she was too weak, too frail, for the hungers rising inside him.
“I need to talk to Mike for a bit, but I’ll be just down the hall.” He drew her back to the entryway, glancing at the revolver. “You want to keep it or you want me to hold it for you?”
She glanced back at Cassie then at the revolver. Dash watched as she licked her lips nervously before extending the weapon to him. When she raised her eyes, he wanted to howl in misery at the fear and insecurity he saw there.
“Elizabeth,” he whispered gently as he took the weapon with one hand, the other lifting to her cheek to touch her pale skin. Soft skin. Skin he wanted to spend the rest of his days learning the feel of. “I promise you. No one can track us here. No one will find us.”
She swallowed as she nodded faintly. But the shadows in her eyes didn’t lessen.
Dash reached out beside him and extinguished the light in the entryway, dimming the area as she stared at him in shock.
“I want to kiss you,” he whispered as he backed her against the wall, pleased by the sudden flare of interest in her eyes.
Oh yes, he thought, she remembered how hot that last kiss had been, how good it felt. It made her eyes glitter with something other than fear.
“Do you know how soft your lips are?” He was careful to keep his voice from rumbling as he lowered his head to her. “How warm and sweet you tasted?”
Before she could answer he allowed his tongue to lick over her lips softly. Dash heard her breath catch, watched warm color flush her cheeks. He was hard and hurting, his cock throbbing imperatively as he fought to keep the caress light. If he kissed her as he wanted to, he feared he would never stop.