He swung from the ledge to the narrow path that led back into the gully as Megan followed.
Megan pushed back the stray strands of hair that had escaped from her braid as she began trudging toward the Raider. She was ready to get the hell out of the desert, to head into town for dinner then home to her soft, comfortable bed.
Bruises from the past week throbbed painfully, as did some new ones collected climbing the cliff faces. Her ear burned and her pussy had developed an erotic, sensual ache that tormented her with the knowledge that she was fighting something she knew Braden wanted just as much as she did. Well, she wanted it pretty damned bad; she could be in worse shape than he was.
"What did you really expect to find here, Braden?" She watched him curiously, still not certain what he was after.
"Anything. Everything. Nothing. " She could hear the shrug in his lazy tone and gritted her teeth in irritation.
"Two out of three ain't bad. " She mocked their dubious success with a roll of her eyes. "We found everything this gorge could have contained and nothing we needed to answer our question. You're on a roll, Braden. " She jerked the driver's-side door open, sliding into the cool comfort of the vehicle with a sigh of relief.
"You do sarcasm very well, Megan. " He turned to her as he slid into the passenger seat, leaning back comfortably as he smiled with a slow, too sexy curve of his lips. That fuller lower curve made her nipples ache. It was bad when something as simple as a man's smile made your nipples ache, made them long for the feel of those sensual curves surrounding them.
"I try. " She cleared her throat nervously, quickly turning away from the temptation of him as he emitted a completely male grunt of exasperation.
That shouldn't have turned her on. It was insulting, not in any way erotic. But the sound had her thighs tightening and her core aching. Dammit.
Maybe it was time for the Pocket Rocket, the little clitoral stimulator that came in so handy. Pocket Rockets were nice. Or her vibrator. It had been a while since the need for sexual release had been so imperative. Maybe it had never been this imperative, she thought. Nor had it ever had this ability to make her want to be closer to a man; to make her need to be.
And he knew what he was doing to her. She could see it in his eyes, in the way he lifted his head, his nostrils flaring.
He could smell her, smell her heat and her arousal. And there was no way to hide it.
On the heels of that thought came another. She knew the Breeds' senses were more advanced than those without the altered DNA. But she wondered, how much more advanced were they?
She glanced at him from the comer of her eye and cleared her throat before asking, "How's your hearing?"
"My hearing?" he asked, his voice filled with lazy amusement and just a hint of curiosity.
She glanced over at him fully, widening her eyes innocently. "Your hearing. You know, your ears? Can you hear things better than other people?"
She fought the flush that threatened to build beneath the skin of her cheeks as she turned her eyes back to the track ahead.
"Better than non-Breeds, you mean?" he asked with interest.
She didn't trust that look of male innocence for a minute, but the pretense had her fighting to hide her smile.
"Yeah. " She nodded shortly. "That's what I mean. "
"I don't know. " Cool amusement filled his voice. "How good is your hearing?"
Well, she wouldn't be able to hear him jacking off, but it wasn't like his hand buzzed either…
"Normal. " She shrugged.
"What would you classify as normal? What can you not hear that you think I could?" Was he teasing her?
She spared him a quick look, frowning at the curious expression. Was
that laughter lurking in his eyes? Surely he couldn't guess why she wanted to know?
She probed at the shields he used, but could detect nothing but the amusement.
"I don't know. " She gripped the steering wheel harder as she tried to appear casual and merely interested in his unique Breed abilities. "If I were in the kitchen and you were in the living room of my house, I wouldn't know it if you were to use_ oh, say_ a pair of hair clippers. " That seemed like a good contrast. A small, even vibration of sound, not too harsh, not too easy to hear.
"Hair clippers?’ he asked hesitantly.
"Yeah. " She nodded in all seriousness. "Hair clippers. "