He ignored her question, heading up the back stairs and slamming his fist against the steel door.
There was a tense wait as security checked him out on the monitors, then the door was finally shoved open to reveal a furious Bayon.
“What the hell are you doing?” the younger Pantera snarled, glaring at the female in Raphael’s arms.
Raphael stepped past his friend, entering the storage room of the bar.
“Make sure we weren’t followed,” he commanded.
For a moment Bayon bristled, as if he might demand an explanation. Then, muttering something about crazy cats in heat, he slipped out the door and melted into the shadows.
Tightening his hold on a still furious Ashe, Raphael crossed the storage room to kick the edge of the wooden shelves, watching the wall swing inward to reveal the secret chambers hidden behind the bar.
He halted in the communal room, where the Pantera visiting the area could gather in private.
It wasn’t fancy. Nothing more than two overstuffed sofas and a handful of padded chairs sturdy enough to endure the roughhousing that came with a race of people who were cats at heart.
It was, however, the only place they could talk in privacy.
The attached room was dedicated to high-tech security that kept watch on the fringes of the swamp, monitoring everything and everyone who entered the bayous, while the upper story was set aside for private bedrooms.
There was no way in hell he was going to take Ashe to another room that included a bed.
Not until he was convinced there was no threat.
Gingerly setting Ashe on her feet, Raphael stepped back, but not before she managed to take a swing, clipping him on the chin.
“How dare you kidnap me?” she snapped, covering her seething fear behind rage.
Rafael rubbed his chin. More to give her the satisfaction of believing she’d hurt him than in any true pain.
“I’m going to protect you and my child whether you want me to or not.”
She tugged the sheet until it was wrapped tightly over her breasts, her hair spilling over her bare ivory shoulders like a river of ebony.
“Protect me from what?”
“That’s my question,” Bayon interrupted, stepping into the room and folding his arms over his chest.
Instinctively, Raphael moved to stand protectively at Ashe’s side.
“Ashe, this is Bayon,” he said, his warning gaze never leaving Bayon’s grim expression.
“He’s a—”
She didn’t need to finish the question for Raphael to know what she was asking.
“Pantera. Yes.”
Bayon scowled. “Shit, you told her?”
Feeling Ashe shiver, Raphael wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tugged her close.
“She carries my child.”
Bayon hissed in shock as Ashe’s back was exposed, revealing the rapidly healing scratches.
“And your mark.” Bayon gave a disbelieving shake of his head. “Dammit, Raphael. What the hell is going on?”
“The question is open for debate.”
“Yeah, and until we can find out the truth, you shouldn’t have brought her here. She can’t be trusted.”
“I can’t be trusted? Is that a joke?” Ashe broke into the argument, her eyes flashing fire. “I didn’t emit some sort of lust odor to get an unsuspecting woman pregnant and then mess with her mind before kidnapping her.”
Bayon’s brows snapped together. “Why did you come here that first night?”
Ashe stiffened. “It’s none of your business.”
Bayon took a step forward. “Who sent you?”
“No one sent me.”
“Then why were you here?”
“I was paying my mother’s bar tab. She’s the town drunk,” Ashe snapped, seeming to realize that the stubborn Pantera wasn’t going to let it go. “Satisfied?”
“Not even close.”
Bayon reached out a hand and a red mist clouded Raphael’s mind. He didn’t truly believe his friend meant to harm Ashe, but it didn’t matter.
Between one beat of his heart and the next, he had Bayon pinned to the wall, his forearm pressed against the man’s throat.
“Don’t. Touch. Her,” he warned, the air prickling with the threat of violence. “She’s innocent.”
Bayon stilled, accepting that he’d pressed Raphael too far.
“You can’t be certain.”
“Yes. I can.”
“How?”
Raphael held his friend’s gaze, allowing him to see the truth in his eyes.
“Because she’s mine.”
Bayon scowled, but a hint of uncertainty flashed through leaf green eyes.
“That’s impossible.”
“We can argue about it later.” Raphael forced himself to lower his arm and step back. “For now I need your skills.”
Bayon cast a swift glance toward the tense Ashe before returning his attention to Raphael and offering a slow nod.
“For what?”
“I caught the scent of two men entering the hotel.”
Bayon blinked. “Is that the start of a bad joke?”
“They were armed.”
“Everyone in this godforsaken town carries a gun.”
Raphael shook his head. “Not enough to start World War III.”
“They could have been poachers,” Bayon pointed out with a shrug.
“They smelled…”
“What?”
“Wrong.”
Bayon held Raphael’s gaze as they both recalled the warning from Parish, the leader of the Hunter Faction, that there’d been reports of Pantera running across humans with scents that repelled their inner cats.
Parish had been certain they were attempting to spy on the Wildlands.
Now Bayon gave a sharp nod. “I’ll check them out.”
Waiting for his friend to shut the door behind his retreating form, Raphael moved to stand directly in front of Ashe.
He didn’t for a second believe her momentary silence and stoic expression were a sign of resignation. Unfortunately he had to make a call to the Wildlands to warn them to put extra guards on the borders.
“I need you to stay here,” he said, trying to console his raw nerves with the knowledge that there was no way she could escape even if she wanted to.
The locks were specifically designed to only respond to the touch of a Pantera. They wouldn’t budge for a human.
She frowned, clutching the sheet with a white-knuckled grip. “Where are you going?”
“To call…a friend.”
“And you expect me to wait here?” She glared at him with a seething fury. “Do you think a few bouts of hot sex have given me Stockholm syndrome?”
Lowering his head, he claimed her lips in a kiss of sheer frustration.
All he wanted to do was sweep her into his arms and carry her to his homeland where they could celebrate the new life they’d created.
Instead he was plagued with a growing fear that an unseen danger was lurking just out of sight.
“Just stay here and behave yourself.”
CHAPTER 5
ASHE was still reeling as Raphael left through a narrow door on the far side of the room.
Of course, she’d been reeling since the doctor had called with the shocking news of her pregnancy.
That was one of the reason’s she’d gone to the hotel instead of trying to convince her mother to let her return home.
She’d needed a few hours to consider her options in private.
But instead of a few hours of peace, she’d been accosted by the man who’d impregnated her, discovered he was a creature she’d long believed to be a myth, seduced all over again and kidnapped.
She grimaced as she lifted her fingers to lips that still tingled from his touch.
Okay. Maybe it wasn’t entirely fair to claim he’d seduced her.