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Even though he meant it - at least for now - he could see that she was far from convinced. She was trembling hard, her entire body taut and rigid, fear pouring off her in vibrating waves. Over the edge of his palm, her gold-flecked green eyes were huge and wild. Her fine nostrils flared with every short, panicked breath she took.
"Do as I tell you, and you won't get hurt," he said, holding that wide, wary gaze. Very slowly, he began to ease some of the pressure from her mouth. The moist heat of her lips and sawing breath seared his palm as she adjusted to the tiny bit of freedom he'd granted her. "Now, I'm going to take my hand away. I need you to stay quiet. Agreed?"
She blinked slowly. Gave him a faint, tremulous nod.
"All right." Rio began to lift his hand. "All right, that's good."
The female didn't scream.
She bit him.
No sooner had Rio relaxed his hold than he felt the sudden, blunt force of her teeth latching on to the web of flesh between his thumb and forefinger. He spat a vicious curse, more pissed off that he hadn't seen the attack coming than he was put off by the pain of her bite.
She drew back just as swiftly as she'd struck and managed to break away from him. She lunged for the locked door but didn't even make it one step. Rio tackled her from behind, his arms wrapped around her like iron bands.
"Oh, God - no!" she cried, and went down hard on her knees, too fast for him to cushion her fall.
She collapsed in a clumsy, face-first sprawl on the floor. Rio heard her breath whoosh out of her on the abrupt impact and knew her lungs had to be screaming. Not that it sapped her of her determination. Damn, she was tenacious.
She made a last-ditch, frantic scrabble on her belly, trying to drag herself over the carpeted floor to get away from him. But she stood no chance, certainly not against one of his kind.
Rio crawled up the length of her, trapping her under the weight of his body. She was panting as he flipped her over onto her back and sat himself astride her. She wriggled, still fighting him for all she was worth, but she wasn't going anywhere. Rio had her imprisoned beneath him, holding her arms tight against her sides with the strength of his muscled thighs.
She was completely at his mercy now, and from the look in her eyes as she stared up at him, she didn't expect he had much to give.
Rio could guess what he looked like - Jesus, what he smelled like too. This close, he couldn't hope that his scars were hidden behind his overlong hair. He saw her terrified gaze flick to the left side of his face, where the flames and flying shrapnel had left their mark a year ago. The tight, reddish-silver tangle of ruined skin must look especially hideous underneath all his grime. He must look like some kind of half-crazed monster...
Yeah, he did, because that's just what he was.
And he was also suddenly, acutely aware of the soft, warm woman trapped beneath him. Where he was dressed to offend, in torn clothes that were too far gone months ago to even make decent rags, she was wearing a curve-hugging, cap-sleeved tee-shirt with a pleasantly deep V-neck and light tan cargo pants that rode just below her hips. She smelled clean and fresh, infinitely female.
And she was beautiful.
Holy mother, was she ever.
He'd never seen eyes of her precise color, a rich, verdant green flecked with pale gold. A thick fringe of dark brown lashes framed those intelligent, mesmerizing eyes, which stared up at him now in such wary uncertainty. Her cheekbones were delicate and high, accentuating the graceful line of her jaw. She had the kind of beauty that made her seem both innocent and wise, but it was the shadows in her incredible eyes that intrigued Rio the most.
This woman had known disappointment and hurt in her life. Maybe even betrayal. She'd been wounded before, and now here he was adding a new brand of terror to her life experience.
Even worse, she aroused him.
Not only the knowledge that he had her caught between his thighs, but the sight of her pretty mouth, which was stained with a trace smear of his blood from when she'd bitten him. Everything male in Rio was alert with the feel of her beneath him. Everything Breed in him was tuned in to that scarlet smudge on her tempting lips...and to the thrumming tick of her pulse where it beat so quickly at the base of her creamy throat.
He wanted her.
After the months of exile in that godforsaken cave, after Eva's deception that had left him dead in so many ways, Rio looked at this woman and felt...alive.
He felt ravenous, and she likely picked up on that fact from the low growl he could do nothing to suppress. He felt his vision sharpen as his pupils began to narrow with his interest. His gums ached as his fangs began to elongate behind the tight line of his lips.
And his cock was suddenly, achingly erect. There was no hiding that fact, even as he shifted his hold on his captive.
"Please...don't do this," she said, a tear sliding down her cheekbone and into her silky red hair. "Whatever you're thinking, just...let me go. If it's money you need, take it. My purse is right over there - "
"I don't want you or your money," Rio ground out tightly. He got off her, angered with himself for the twin physical reactions he was having a hard time holding at bay. "Come on, stand up. All I want is your camera."
She slowly pulled herself to her feet. "My what?"
"The camera you had with you in the cave, and the pictures you took. I need all of it."
