reveal rows of pointed teeth. Yellow foam dripped from the yawning jaws.
Matt tackled her hard, toppling her to the floor. The move threw the creature off her body. He seized the worm, which released a high-pitched squeal. A hard yank and the SEAL twisted off its head. Gray goo splattered.
Breathing hard, more scared than she wanted to admit, she sat up. He squatted beside her, patting her down, his brow furrowed. The lieutenant used the wand again and frowned.
“Need to do a physical check.” Then he gave an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry, but I have to make sure nothing else is on your clothing. May I?”
At her nod, he slid his hands over her body, gentle but thorough. Heat flushed her at the intimate examination. A lock of hair fell over his forehead and she felt a sudden compulsion to brush it back, feel the soft silk between her fingers.
The lieutenant ran his fingers lightly over her breasts, his jaw tight, his gaze impartial. A man with a touch like that would be amazing in bed…. Sienna put her hands to her burning cheeks.
“You okay?”
She gave a breathless laugh. “Fine. Considering a worm almost ate into my Donna Karan suit. My only good suit.”
A small smile touched his mouth, erasing his weary look, and it made him appear younger and more approachable.
“Did you have any contact with anyone today, other than us? Anything unusual? Demon hitcher worms are transmitted through touch.”
“This is New York. I probably bumped into hundreds of people.”
“Must have been recent. They can’t survive more than a few hours, which is why they’re rarely used by demons.” His expression tightened. “Blood. The subway, the suit who followed you. He cut you. You had blood on your collar.”
Sienna thought about it. “The man on the subway. He cut me with a knife. I changed shirts after I got to my hotel. How could he have infected me with the worm?”
“The worm was on the knife. They begin as microscopic organisms, hiding on hard surfaces and then blend with whatever clothing a victim wears so they can hide.” Matt touched her healed wound. “He wasn’t trying to molest you. He was planting the worm. You’ve been followed and targeted, and traced. You okay?”
The deep tone of his rough voice slid over her raging nerves, soothing them in an odd way. She didn’t trust Draicon wolves. Yet it was Lieutenant Parker whom she turned to now, laying her palm into his outstretched hand. He pulled her to his feet, his action decisive, his gaze alert.
Sexual awareness flared between them. For a long moment his gaze locked on to hers, the blueness of his eyes smoldering with heat. He looked at her not as an annoying Fae, but as a female. A very desirable female. Just as quickly, he released her hand. He turned with a menacing scowl toward the chief petty officer.
“What the hell were you thinking? No, wait, you weren’t. Because you’re always about trying to get into a female’s pants. You didn’t sweep her for bugs, and look what happened.”
Low and deep, his voice proved more dangerous than if he’d shouted. Shaymore’s expression went flat. He stiffened.
“I’m sorry, sir. I got distracted.”
Matt got in his face. “You’re a fine operator, Shay, but you let a pretty face get to you and you’re not only burning yourself, you’re burning us. Think next time.”
Lieutenant Commander Curtis looked concerned. “Are you all right, Miss McClare?”
She nodded. So formal, his concern was courteous, not the simmering emotion she’d sensed from Lieutenant Parker. Matthew. Matt. She said his name to herself silently.
Pairing with this sexy, lethal Draicon could prove dangerous. Those steely blue eyes promised heat, and could peel back all her defenses, leaving her bare and exposed.
Sienna shuddered. Yet she needed Lieutenant Parker’s help if she were to recover the Orb of Light.
Chapter 3
Sienna was serious, but spunky, Matt thought as reluctant admiration filled him for the Fae who rode silently beside him. Her gaze was focused on the smokestacks, traffic and lead-gray sky that blurred past them.
Her long, dark hair spilled over slender shoulders. They’d burned her clothing and Matt had bought her new clothes, just in case they missed any stray hitchhiker worms.
But the crisp new jeans hugged her body and the mulberry sweater was too tight. He tried to keep his focus on the road, but hell, he was male. Couldn’t resist a peek at those long legs. She stood around five foot seven, petite for a Seelie Fae, with generous female curves. As formal and brisk as his examination had been, it had been torture. A man could cup her breasts in his palms, feel her soft and silky body beneath him, those long legs tangling with his as he …
Swearing under his breath, he concentrated on the highway. His C.O. had fully briefed him on Sienna McClare while the Fae showered and changed. He knew everything, from her shoe size to her job as a clerk in a convenience store to recent purchases she’d made of classical music CDs. Everything except why she’d been living alone outside her Fae colony, when the Fae were traditionally forest dwellers and social creatures. That had been a gap in her file.
He’d told Sienna as much as he could about their destination. Thanks to intel from their vampire buddy and his extensive network of spies, they’d gotten a bead on a witch in northern New Jersey. She’d asked local covens for protection spells against pyro demons because she’d used info from the Orb to “set up a Draicon werewolf and a jaguar overseas.” Now she was running scared.
Be afraid, he thought grimly, remembering how Adam died. Because if you helped kill my buddy, I don’t know if I can control myself.
For the first time he realized he might. Maybe that was why his C.O. sicced the pretty Fae on him. Curt knew Matt would hold it together around a female. Always had in the past.
There’s a first time for everything.
“Can I drive?”
“Not on this freeway.”
Sienna blew a breath on the window and rubbed her index finger over it. “What are the plans once we reach the witch’s house?”
“I’ll question her. You hang back, keep an eye out.”
“Question her? You won’t hurt her, shift and scare her? Show a little fang and terrorize her into talking?”
“Why would I do that?”
“I’m sure you’ve done it before. That’s what Draicon do best.”
Matt gritted his teeth. She was pretty, but infuriatingly stubborn. “Sweetheart, someone sold you a bad bill of goods about my people. We may have a bad rep among some paranorms …”
“But underneath you’re all sweetness and good? Nice doggies who like car rides and sticking your heads out the windows to catch the wind? I heard you were all snarl and growl.”
His fingers tightened on the steering wheel as he resisted the impulse to do exactly as she’d suggested.
“I’m a U.S. Navy SEAL. My team and mission come first. Just as your Fae colony comes first for you.”
Silence draped the air for a moment. “I have no colony anymore. No family.”
Words spoken so quietly, he wouldn’t have heard them if not for being Draicon. Matt changed lanes and sped up. Odd, how they had that in common. His family had been close, hell, his own brother-in-law supported him joining the teams. It was Étienne who suggested Matt’s abilities would come in useful for the newly formed Phoenix Force.
But in the ten years he’d been a SEAL, his family had become more distant. They’d started nagging about quitting, settling down into pack life, finding