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it!”
    She struggled to get away. Creed held her in a solid grip until Wil rushed over and stabbed a needle into her hip. Limp and sweat-soaked, Chiana slid into a heap on the floor, falling into an induced unconsciousness.
    A strong hand shoved Wil against the wall.
    “What the hell did you do to her?” Mick’s eyes were dark with fury.
    “What I had to. What you can’t.”
    Creed yanked Mick off the smaller man and shoved him toward the entry door.
    With a snarl at Mick to stay where he was, Creed carried Chiana back to her bunk. Although she was coming around, she didn’t protest when he pulled the blanket over her. She simply smiled, closed her eyes and fell asleep.
    Creed stalked over to where Mick leaned against the wall, his eyes narrowed. Before a fight could break out, Wil stepped between the men and said, “Please join me at the table.”
    Mick grabbed a chair and sat down, glowering at Creed who stood at the other end.
    “What?” he demanded.
    “We have to fight this,” Wil said.
    “Fight what?”
    “The…common attraction. The effect Chiana is having on all of us.”
    So he hadn’t been the only one to feel the throbbing need, Creed realized.
    “I also felt the pull to eliminate the competition,” Wil said. “The urge to get rid of the two of you, no matter what it takes, to have Chiana for myself.”
    Mick slammed the table with his fist and walked away, muttering to himself.
    “Get out of here now.” Creed kept his voice low as he spoke to Wil. “Take him with you, however you have to do it. If we all stay, we’ll end up killing each other. Who knows what will happen to her then.”
    Wil nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
    “Try reason first. If that doesn’t work, stun him.” He handed Wil the Taser from his duffel and nodded toward the utility room. “I’ll be in there while you get rid of him.”
    Leaving the door open a few inches, Creed leaned against a stack of boxes where he could watch the other men. He logged onto his smart phone loaded with everything Guardian’s techno-wizards could come up with, and accessed his private files. Before he could get into the one he wanted, Mick’s voice, filled with rage and fear, roared through the room. Creed ran, grabbing the agent before he took a swing at Wil. He pushed him into a chair, using the weight of his body to keep him there.
    “This is why you’re leaving,” he spat. “You’re too involved. Go with him. When it’s safe, I’ll bring Chiana to you.”
    “After you’ve done her every way you can, that’s what you mean.” Mick struggled against Creed, who found it harder and harder to hold him down. “My hearing’s fine. I know what she offered you. You’re going to take her up on it as soon as you get rid of me.”
    On the other side of the room, Chiana moaned on her bunk, her body twisting; Creed felt a new tightening in his body. Even though she was thirty feet from him, covered by a blanket, Creed could almost feel her hands on him, her lips touching his, her voice whispering all the naughty things they’d do.
    Creed increased his hold as Wil raced past, another syringe in his hand. He heard Chiana’s startled cry then silence. Creed felt the desperate desire leach from him.
    Mick straightened and blinked, like a man coming out a trance. As soon as he knew Wil was safe, Creed returned to the cramped storage room. He needed time to collect himself, time to figure out what in the hell he was going to do next.
     
    Chiana floated in her drugged state, aware of the voices and activity around her, yet uncaring. The terrible heat that had possessed her was gone. She was ice cold, shivering beneath the blanket. She wondered how long it took a person to freeze to death. Her thigh ached, and her head hurt, yet she couldn’t remember being in a fight.
    Her lips curved into a smile. She was a lover, not a fighter. Images popped into her mind of Mick and her, of Creed and her, wonderfully intense memories of the marvelous