Predatory Game

by Christine Feehan

  The depths of my emotions stirring inside

  Jess felt her tears on his chest as his voice faded. His hands tightened possessively, one in her hair, one around her waist. He didn't need words, her tears were enough. Did she feel the deep emotions stirring in him? Did she realize he was baring his soul to her? He allowed her to hide, not wanting to push her when she was so vulnerable.

  Saber drifted off into a fitful sleep. He waited until her breathing was slow and even before he reached over the side of the bed and found the knife. Very carefully he slid it by the tip into the small pouch on his chair. He could examine it in the morning, lift any prints, find out if anyone other than Saber had handled that military issue knife.

  He held her most of the night, sometimes sleeping, more often than not simply lying awake, enjoying the feel of her in his arms. Her fever abated somewhere close to dawn, and regretfully, Jess eased himself from her side, knowing she wouldn't be happy if she woke to find him in her bed, reminding her of her tears and their shared emotional night. She wouldn't know how to handle it, and with her so close to running, he wasn't about to take any chances.

  Subject Wynter arrived early. I doubled the dose we first agreed on in order to infect her. Her system is much more resistant than believed. Will find a way to get more blood from her to work with. She continues to move away from her training with each day. I believe you are correct in insisting on isolation and daily training. The longer she goes without exercising her skills, the more rapid her decline. Subject Calhoun has had visitors frequently. Lily Whitney and Eric Lambert visit him on a regular basis but almost never when Wynter is at the house. Lily is under heavy guard during the time that she's with Calhoun, so snatching her would be next to impossible. We will see how Wynter fights off the infection and whether Calhoun calls for medical care.

  He snapped off the recorder, wishing he could linger, but he didn't dare tonight. He was taking too many risks, and he couldn't chance being caught. Death came swiftly to those who failed. He wanted the prize they dangled in front of him. Enhancement, both psychic and genetic. He could take what he wanted then. Yeah, and he was having fun along the way. The next time maybe he'd bring entertainment again. He loved the look in the whore's eyes as she realized just what he intended to do. His seed had been smeared all over her face and on her protesting lips at the very moment she'd understood he would have her life too.

  "No, honey, you didn't please me nearly as much as you thought you did," he whispered aloud and glanced up at the window, smiling with a cold, dark promise.

  CHAPTER 4

  Saber opened her eyes slowly, reluctantly. Beside her, the bed was empty. She felt achy and sore, but the fever was gone. What in the world had happened to make her so sick? She was never sick--never--and it had been a shock. She hadn't handled it very well either.

  She rolled over and caught the sides of the pillow to inhale deeply Jess's distinctive male scent. It flooded her lungs and made her stomach do a strange little flip. He had lain beside her, holding her in his arms, singing her to sleep. Her mouth curved at the thought. He said he couldn't sing, but she loved his voice. The thought of it, of his song to her, had a warmth spreading quickly through her entire body.

  She took another quick sniff of the pillow, wondering whether she should wash the pillowcase immediately before she became obsessive over it, or leave it forever, slip it into her emergency pack so if she had to run fast she would always have it. No one was around to see her, so she rolled like a cat over the spot where he'd slept.

  Jess. He smelled so good all the time. He smelled safe and clean and so very male. With a little sigh she forced herself to get up. She had awoken earlier than usual. She tended to stay up all night and sleep in the mornings and early afternoon. Having no idea what she was going to do with herself, she forced her body into motion, taking her time in the shower, savoring the feeling of the hot water on her skin.

  She couldn't get Jess out of her mind. The feel of his hard muscles, his enormous strength, the tenderness in his voice. For a moment she closed her eyes, allowing hot water to cascade over her head and just dreaming. Letting herself believe, just for a moment, that she could have a life. A home. A man. She wanted to belong to Jess Calhoun. Her eyes flew open in shock. Oh God. She was in trouble. She had to get out before it was too late. How had she let this happen?

  She pulled on her clothes as she tried to calm her wildly beating heart. Her mouth went dry. Jess Calhoun was not for her, no matter how much she wanted him. When had it happened? When had she allowed herself to believe her own fantasy? She stared at herself in the mirror while she blew her hair dry, trying to make her mind focus on what to do next. A sane woman would leave. Self-preservation would dictate that.

  As she turned off the dryer she heard the soft murmur of Jess's voice. Something--some note in it--caught at her, raising every alarm. He sounded stressed. Not a lot, but she knew him now, she paid attention to every detail, and Jess was upset.

  Her heart slammed hard in her chest as she carefully set the blow-dryer aside and reached beneath her mattress for her knife. It wasn't there. She swore under her breath and crossed to her pack, placing her feet with care so that she made no noise. Her mouth firmed and her hands were steady as she put on her belt, gun sliding into the holster smoothly and throwing knives slipping into each loop. If Jess was in trouble, she was going to be prepared.

  She had promised herself she was through with killing, but...She couldn't let herself think about that. It would only mess her up. Moving without sound, Saber kept her back to the wall, making the target small as she eased through the bedroom door to the upstairs balcony. There were two places where the boards squeaked. She avoided both, although the stairs would be more difficult. She should have fixed them, but she thought it was a good warning system if anyone tried to sneak up them while she slept.

  "It's so good to see you, darling," a woman's voice purred, followed by a telling silence. Saber stiffened in the doorway of her small sitting room, picturing Jess being soundly kissed. Her fingers curled around the gun.

  "Chaleen. I have to admit you shocked me. You were the last person in the world I expected to hear from when I picked up the phone." There was that note of stress again. Whoever Chaleen was, Jess wasn't happy to see her.

  Tinkling laughter pealed out. The sound grated on Saber.

  "I knew you'd be pleased."

  "What in the world are you doing in Sheridan?"

  Jess didn't sound pleased at all. Chaleen had to be an idiot if she thought he was. Saber eased out into the hall. The alert was still pounding in her body, a warning that all was not right.

  "Why, I came to see you, darling." Chaleen's heels clicked on the hardwood floor. "I've been on planes for simply days."

  Saber padded silently on bare feet to the balcony overlooking the living room. The woman was tall and slim, with breasts that were too good to be true. Her hair was sleek and sophisticated, her clothes elegant. Saber despised her on sight.

  "So how did you find out where I was?" Jess asked. "I thought I'd covered my tracks."

  Saber leaned on the banister, unashamedly listening. Chaleen? Who was named Chaleen? She wrinkled her nose in disgust. And did Chaleen darling have to purr at Jess? Why couldn't the witch talk like a normal woman? Even her perfume was drifting up the stairs. Saber sniffed in distaste and curled up out of sight but where, if they stayed in the living room, she could hear every disgusting, purring word. Or, if the woman wasn't out for sheer sex like she sounded to be, then Saber could put a bullet in her head before she made a wrong move against Jess.

  "I ran into your parents in Paris." Chaleen settled herself on the plush sofa, crossing her silk-covered legs to show them to their best advantage. "I still can't believe it, such a tragedy. Poor Jess had his wings clipped in such a brutal way." A long red-tipped nail traced delicately through the fur of her coat.

  "Cut the crap, Chaleen, you left the moment you found out."

  "I loved you
too much to see your pain, Jess."

  Saber rolled her eyes. What rot. Jesse. Jess and Chaleen. How juvenile. It grated on her nerves the way darling Chaleen said it. Jess. Chaleen purred it. Tasted it. Saber's fingers tightened around the gun until her knuckles turned white. Fuming, she missed Jess's response, but not Chaleen's tinkling laughter. The sound made her want to throw up--or shoot somebody. Little did Chaleen darling know she was seconds away from death.

  "Oh, darling! You're so funny! And so brave, to bear this horrendous burden so heroically. But why bury yourself in this backwater town? You'll never be happy here. You need excitement, the hunt. You'll wither here." Chaleen fluttered her lashes, ran a restless hand along her silken leg.

  "I've managed not to wither so far." Jess sounded bored.

  "Jess, I'm just so devastated to think that such a virile, sexy man could have been struck down so cruelly."

  Saber winced at that, and nearly bit a hole in her lower lip. How did the carcass wearer know that? Sexy. Virile. Good old Chaleen had better keep her red-tipped fingers to herself.

  "You've always needed a real woman, one who could satisfy your appetites, and now...Oh, Jess. Can you...I mean...is it possible for you to..." Chaleen trailed off, a hand to her throat.

  Furious, Saber jumped up and rushed to her bedroom. That--that disgusting hussy. She was throwing herself at Jess. And she was doing her best to make him squirm, make him feel less than a man. The viper. She was trying to strip him of his pride. Well, Saber would be damned if she'd stand by and let that happen.

  She tossed clothes in all directions, searching for something sexy. She didn't own anything sexy. And how was she going to compete with a five foot ten blonde with more cleavage than good manners?

  She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror over her dresser. A slow, saucy smile curved her soft mouth. There was no competition. She drew on Jess's shirt, the one she always wore to bed, the one that made her feel so close to him every time she put it on. The one that had his scent all over it.

  Saber tossed her gun aside, the knives following, and kicked her jeans into the corner of the room, wishing she could be in two places at the same time. She wanted to hear every word that painted witch said to Jess.

  On bare feet Saber padded down the stairs, clad only in lacy underwear and Jess's shirt.

  The vamp was wound around Jess, running her poisonous, bright red fingernails through his hair, bending low to murmur in his ear, clearly in danger of falling out of her dress.

  "Jesse." Saber wasn't above using the Night Siren's whispery voice. It worked on the airwaves, why not at home? "You didn't tell me we were expecting company." She smiled, syrupy sweet. "I take it this is the old friend you told me about." Saber maliciously emphasized the word "old" and just for fun giggled as though Jess had given her an amusing tale.

  Jess held out his hand to Saber, grinning in conspiracy. "Chaleen Jarvos, Saber Wynter. Chaleen happened to be traveling through Sheridan and was kind enough to look in on us, angel face."

  Chaleen straightened abruptly, glaring daggers at Saber, cold hazel eyes sweeping her up and down. "Who is this little urchin, Jess?" she demanded.

  Jess brought Saber's hand to the warmth of his mouth. "Is that what you are, love? My little urchin?"

  Saber laughed and rubbed her cheek along his knuckles. "I'll run in and grab your robe." She glanced up at Chaleen guilelessly. "Would you care for coffee?"

  Saber made herself look as innocent as possible, but deep inside she was as cold as ice. This woman might be Jess's ex-girlfriend, but she was definitely far more than that--and she was a threat to Jess. Those eyes were flat and cold and filled with venom. Chaleen Jarvos was someone other than who she pretended to be.

  "I doubt Chaleen will be staying that long," Jess said.

  "Jess!" Chaleen purred the name. "I've traveled all this way to see you, talk to you." She made a gesture encompassing the house. "This isn't you, you're no family man. You were born for wild excitement, not this cutesy little home scene. You're wasted here."

  Saber's arms circled his neck. She pressed against the back of his chair. Jess could feel the heat of her body, the warmth of her breath. She smelled fresh and clean in contrast to the heavy, cloying perfume Chaleen had poured over herself. A part of him wanted to send Saber far away, where Chaleen couldn't sink her claws into her, and another part of him desperately wanted her there.

  Saber gave a husky, intimate laugh. "Don't worry, umm, Carlene, is it? Jess is definitely not wasted here. And we provide each other with more than enough--how did you put it?--wild excitement." She exchanged an intimate, bedroom smile with Jess, bending her head slightly to brush the side of his shadowed jaw with her soft, satin lips. "Let me just run and get the robe."

  "It's Chaleen." The blonde glared furiously, tapping her high heel on the hardwood floor. Miffed that Saber sailed right out of the room without so much as acknowledging the correction, she paced back and forth. "I cannot believe that a man of your caliber, of your education, Jess, would team up with a little..."

  "Urchin," Jess mocked.

  "Exactly!" Chaleen pounced on that. "We have a past, we know each other. We've shared danger, excitement." She placed her hand on Jess's thigh. "We've shared each other."

  "That was a lifetime ago, Chaleen. Another world."

  "A world you belong in. Losing your legs can't change that." Chaleen loomed over the wheelchair. "You need to come back, be part of it all again. Maybe you are already. I can't imagine that you'd give up your work for that silly little kid. She has to be just out of high school. You need a woman, not a child." She flashed a smile. "You are working for the navy, aren't you, Jess?"

  Saber cinched the belt of the terry cloth robe tighter around her small waist, wishing for one moment the tie was around Chaleen's scrawny neck.

  Jess leaned forward, circling Chaleen's wrist with his hand. Saber's heart dropped right down to her toes. What if she had guessed wrong? What if this vampish viper was the mystery woman from the other night? What if she was making a fool of herself, leaping to Jess's defense when he really didn't need or want it? She held her breath as Jess lifted Chaleen's hand.

  Everything in her stilled. The world narrowed, tunneled. She was suddenly focused and in complete control. Because if he kissed Chaleen's fingers, Saber knew with certainty that Chaleen Jarvos was a dead woman.

  Jess dropped her hand as if it were distasteful. "I'm exactly where I want to be, Chaleen."

  Saber slumped against the wall with relief, closing her eyes briefly, distaste of her first, most primal reaction to an enemy beating at her. That wasn't a normal reaction. Had she waited too long to leave? Had she already become the very thing she'd always feared she was? She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead even as she strained to listen to the conversation.

  "This is my world. Sheridan, Wyoming. And Saber is everything I need. Go back to your boss and tell him I put in my time and I want to be left alone."

  "But there's so much more you can still do. All your people, they're still loyal, they still trust you. Your name could open doors."

  "Who are you looking to contact?"

  "I need some answers, Jess. You know who I work for. Whatever you're doing is pissing off some powerful people." Chaleen pinned him with a cold gaze. "They know you're involved in something big. No one is buying your legless charade. I'm trying to keep you out of trouble, and watching you pretend to be an idiot for your little teenybopper is making me want to throw up."

  "Sorry, I don't do that kind of work. And my injuries are fully documented. Whatever you're looking for isn't here."

  "Damn it, Jess, you don't want to mess around with me." Shifting suddenly from purring, Chaleen sounded as hard as nails, bringing out a protective streak in Saber she didn't even know she had. "I'm trying to save your hide here. You've got some investigation going and it's raising flags all over the place. The FBI. The CIA. I'm hearing your name everywhere. For God's sake, something like that will get
you killed."

  Saber held very still. There was actual fear in Chaleen's voice. She might have come for information on whatever Jess was investigating, but she was genuinely concerned for his safety. Was Chaleen an assassin? Saber moved into a better position to get her away from Jess if she tried anything. Just what was Jess doing, anyway?

  "I have no idea what you're talking about."

  "Damn you, Jess. You were always so fucking closemouthed. This isn't a game. You always think you're playing chess instead of living real life. You're making enemies and they'll be coming after you."

  Chaleen definitely sounded threatening. Saber forgot about trying to get information and moved into the room. She circled Jess's neck with her arms. "Sorry I took so long, love," she murmured.

  Chaleen glanced at her diamond-studded watch. "Did you run?" she snapped.

  Saber ran her fingers through Jess's thick, dark hair. "Pardon me?" she asked, her voice dripping with sweetness.

  Chaleen gathered up her fur coat and Gucci purse. "You're making a big mistake, Jess." The purr was completely gone from her voice, leaving it cold and disdainful.

  Jess's eyebrows shot up. "Don't threaten me, Chaleen. Take that back to your people: you don't want to threaten me."

  For a moment the hazel eyes glowed yellow, the unblinking stare of a dangerous cat, and then Chaleen was smiling. "You misunderstand me, I wouldn't presume to threaten you. So nice to meet you." She didn't bother to look at Saber, some battle still being waged between hazel and dark brown eyes.

  Saber, frightened for Jess for no reason she could think of, clutched convulsively at his biceps. Without taking his eyes from Chaleen, he reached up to cover Saber's hand in reassurance.

  "Okay," Chaleen capitulated. "You're out of it."

  "I hope so," Jess replied ominously. "Saber, make some fresh coffee for us, baby. And drink a glass of orange juice."

  Reluctantly Saber allowed him to move away from her, across the room, escorting the blonde toward the front door. Jess never ordered Saber to do things like make coffee or drink orange juice. The juice, she was certain, was because of her fever. The coffee was a ploy to get her out of the way. She hesitated, worried about leaving him vulnerable to Chaleen, although he seemed to feel the issue was closed.