Read Primal Heat 2 for Free Online Page A

the bathroom wearing one of his button-down shirts.
    When he turned to see her he realized all she had were her pants and they were lying on the floor on the other side of the bed. The shirt she’d worn in here, he’d tossed into the trash can. For a mere flicker of an instant he was struck by how naturally beautiful she looked with her hair hanging down to her shoulders, her feet bare, and his shirt nearly reaching her knees. Something, other than his cat and the dark he was so used to being inside him, shifted with the sight of her. Irritation won over the unknown and Eli frowned.
    “He was trying to diffuse the situation. He let that lunatic hold a knife to his throat for who knows how long before I came, in an attempt to protect our secret. The man meant to kill him, I saw it plain as day in his eyes. He would have tried to kill us both,” she told Rome and the others adamantly.
    The room grew silent after her outburst and Eli, not really knowing why, had moved closer to her while she spoke. Now he stood right beside her, his body slightly in front of hers.
    “You’re right.” X spoke up first. “He wanted to kill Eli and he would have tried his damnedest to kill you both. I know you reacted the only way you could,” X said, looking at Eli. “But now the situation is more precarious than it was before. We’re dealing with exposure from so many outlets at this point.”
    “Including from you,” Nick said, his gaze aimed directly at Nivea.
    “I’m no threat to the Shadows,” she told him vehemently. Her body had lurched forward slightly and Eli had extended his arm to block her from moving any farther, and also ready to prevent anyone from striking out at her.
    “I’ve trained for years to defend us and our secret. I don’t care what you think you know, I’m no traitor,” she finished confidently.
    Eli believed her. In that moment he knew what she’d said was the absolute truth. While he had no idea what was going on with her parents and their apparent connection to Comastaz, he knew without any doubt that Nivea was not involved.
    “She’s telling the truth,” he told them. “She doesn’t know what her parents are up to.”
    Nick frowned. Rome folded his arms over his chest, his hand lifting to rub along his bearded chin.
    “Whether that’s true or not, you should know we’re keeping a close eye on them,” he told Nivea.
    “That’s not my concern,” she replied coolly.
    “Your issue to deal with,” he told her. “Right now, one of my issues is that you were injured today, pretty badly from what Ary told me. So you’re on security monitor duty for the next week, until that shoulder is completely healed. Eli will do the press conference and continue to try to find out what the hell went down at that cabin and where Agent Wilson ran off to. The Sanchez brothers are also on hand to help with tracking Crowe.”
    Eli heard her intake of breath over Rome’s orders and knew she was about to go off.
    “We’ve already had that discussion,” he interjected. “She knows she will not be going out into the field until I say she’s cleared.”
    “What the hell? Are you all crazy? I’m fine!” Nivea yelled. “You know how quickly we heal. I’ll be ready to go out tomorrow. Why are you doing this to me?”
    “Enough!” Rome yelled, raising his voice for the first time since coming into this room. “One week in the security monitoring room. And you, press conference at ten tomorrow morning. Tonight, both of you need to get some rest.”
    The Assembly Leader turned and walked out of the room before another word could be spoken. Nick followed right behind him without looking back, while X gave Eli what was as compassionate a look as the big man could offer.
    “You’re an idiot!” She rounded on him the moment they were alone. “Why didn’t you tell them that I’m okay? That I can go out tomorrow?”
    “Because you’re not and you can’t,” he said somberly. “Look, I know that