Savage Nature - Christine Feehan [115]
They had one guard, the others needed sleep, and Pauline Lafont owned one very large piece of property. He silently cursed himself for provoking the male members of the lair. He should have taken care of hunting the killer and then worry about everything else.
A deer nosed its way out of the trees onto the edge of the inn’s rolling lawn. Drake didn’t move. He watched the animal step cautiously, almost delicately onto the expanse of green. He looked warily around and moved to a line of shrubs guarding roses. Every third step the animal stopped and waited. Twice he looked toward the trees where Drake had thought he had seen a shadow move.
Drake shifted his gaze to follow the line of the deer. The trees were close together, some of the trunks quite thick. The rain pounded the leaves, turning the night into a thick gray veil. Every now and then a gust of wind blew straight toward the house. He inhaled, trying to catch an elusive scent. Nothing. The deer continued to make his way toward the roses, leery, but determined.
The brush near the trees moved and a skinny dog emerged, nearly crawling on its belly, away from the deer toward a garbage can. Drake gave a sigh of relief and closed both doors, and as a precaution, adfloor lock.
“Nothing?” Saria asked.
“Nothing, honey. You can put the knife away.” He crawled into bed and gathered her close again. “You won’t be needing it.”
“What a shame.” She brushed his mouth with hers and closed her eyes.
Drake lay awake for a long while, holding her close, marveling at how a woman’s skin could be so soft and yet house a backbone of steel. God, but he’d fallen hard. He didn’t even know how it happened, but every moment in her company just made him fall deeper in love. He drifted off to sleep, inhaling the fragrance of her hair.
DRAKE’S eyes snapped open and he lay in the gathering dawn, listening to the rain, listening for a sound that might have awakened him. He’d been exhausted and he knew he’d slept heavily. He touched his leopard. The animal had woken along with him, but was settling down once again, as if he, too, had no idea what had woken him.
Saria was cuddled up beside him, warm and soft, on her side, unmoving, not restless at all. That surprised him. He expected it would difficult for her to sleep beside someone, just as it had always been impossible for him, yet both of them had slept easily together.
He lifted the corner of her pillow where her hand was hidden. He wasn’t at all surprised to see her knife inches from her fingers. He moved it back a little more, not wanting to take any chances when he woke her. Smiling, he cupped her breast, his thumb stroking back and forth over her nipple. She felt like rose petals, soft and velvety and so warm.
“Turn over, baby,” he whispered in her ear, taking time to tug at her earlobe with his teeth.
Saria murmured sleepily, but obediently turned toward him where he could nuzzle at her warm breasts. She sighed drowsily and one hand landed in his hair, stroking small caresses there. He lapped at her nipples for a moment and then drew one into the heat of his mouth. She made a small appreciative sound and cradled his head to her.
“Mmm, nice way to wake up.”
He took his time, lavishing attention on every square inch of her body, learning every sensitive spot that sent her writhing and tossing against him. He indulged his every whim, loving her with his mouth and hands, getting to know her body as intimately as he knew her strength of character.
A thump on the door brought Drake’s head up alertly, and Saria yanked up the covers. She moistened her lips, her eyes holding a mixture of disappointment, amusement and alarm. “I can’t think anymore, you’ve destroyed my brain.”
“Good,” he whispered unrepentant, leaning down to give her another kiss.
The thudding came again, this time more