Authors: Lora Leigh
Tanner's Scheme (42 page)
Tanner completed her.
“My Schemer,” he finally whispered roughly at her ear. “Forever, my Schemer.”
She was Tanner’s Scheme. But she was her own person as well. And beneath his love she had come to learn that being her own person meant giving her soul where it belonged. Within Tanner’s care.
———
As Scheme slept, Tanner moved across the room to the phone, picked it up and dialed a secure number.
“I don’t have much time,” John Bollen announced as he answered the call.
“Were you contacted?”
“Right after the arrest,” John revealed. “I’m under scrutiny.”
The inner Council needed the Tallant organization to carry out its objectives, and now John controlled it.
“Did the order go out?” Tanner asked.
“An hour ago. He’ll be dead before the week is out. The Council can’t afford to have him talk. They’re taking care of it.”
A cold smile pulled at Tanner’s lips before his gaze sliced back to the bed to see his mate watching him knowingly.
“Let me know if you receive warning.”
“Jonas will let you know. Now go away, I can’t afford these calls this close to success. Practice patience.”
Tanner disconnected the call and stared back at Scheme.
“Patience was never one of my virtues,” he informed her unapologetically.
Her arms opened wide for him. “Mine either. And mine has run out. I need you again.”
They wouldn’t speak of it, he realized. She was smart. She knew what would happen. She knew that if he could, Tanner would kill the bastard himself. And she understood, because she knew that monsters couldn’t be allowed to roam unchecked.
Speaking of it wasn’t something he wanted to do anyway. Sometimes, it was best that his Scheme be allowed to ignore the merciless animal that lurked just beneath the flesh of the man. The animal willing to kill to protect all he held dear.
The animal that understood that sometimes, only blood could ease the rage beneath, and assure the safety of the woman that held his soul.
His woman. His mate. His Scheme.
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