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Excerpt
(unedited)
As she opened herself
up to his feelings, the intensity of them overwhelmed
her. The sheer force of it was a physical sensation and
threatened to drop her to her knees. Fingers curled
tightly around the banister railing, she fought to
remain on her feet. An instant later, a shiver went
through her at the hint of darkness emanating from him.
Whatever was creating the malevolence, she knew he was
worried it might consume him.
Despair scraped across
her senses like sharp glass, and she cried out from the
mental anguish it sent slicing through her. Care Deus,
was this what he felt like every day? Like someone
turning off a faucet, his emotions no longer flowed
through her. Lysander was halfway up the staircase
before she realized it, and she quickly gathered her
wits. Deliberately rubbing the suede material covering
her ankle, she opted to fake a twisted ankle to account
for her wounded cry. The minute she saw him round the
staircase’s small landing, she stopped nursing her ankle
and waved her hand.
“I’m fine, I just
twisted my ankle,” she lied as he stopped two steps down
from her.
His penetrating green
gaze slowly skimmed its way over her and down to her
feet. Did he realize she was lying? Tension danced
between them, and she caught a whisper of emotion before
he tamped it down until it didn’t exist. She suppressed
a sigh. He was on guard again, and the opportunity to
continue breaking through the wall he’d built around his
emotions was gone. And at the moment, she wasn’t sure
she had the strength to deal with what he kept deep
inside him.
“I’m surprised you
didn’t break your ankle with the spike on those
boots,” he snapped. “We’re not going to a fashion show
in Milan.”
“No, but we’re
supposed to be acting like tourists.” Irritated, she
frowned. “A fact I kept in mind when I dressed. What
about you? In that black leather people are going to
think you’re a soprano.”
What she didn’t tell
him was that he looked sexy as hell the way he was
dressed. Deus, even with his horrible
disfigurement, he was still splendid. Raw power emanated
from him, drawing her in like a magnet. He wore a black
leather jacket over a black turtleneck shirt, while soft
black leather pants hugged his muscular legs. Her
fingertips tingled as she remembered what it had been
like to run her hands over his sinewy body. The air in
her lungs disappeared as she breathed in his delicious
scent.
It was the smell of
soap mixed with something dark and sensual. It wrapped
its way round her senses, tying her into knots. He
looked every inch the seasoned warrior, and his black
eye patch only heightened the sense of danger about him.
He was an open invitation to be bad. And with him, she
wanted to be as wicked as she could. Anything to make
him respond to her.
Deus, she was
insane. Subconsciously, she’d actually listened to
Cleo’s outrageous suggestion. It was the only
explanation for the boots and the rest of her outfit.
Her outfit wasn’t overly provocative, but it wasn’t
sedate either. The hair on the back of her neck rose and
her stomach lurched at the hunger that suddenly flashed
in his green gaze. The look was enough for her to know
she didn’t need to read his emotions to know what he was
feeling. She knew desire when she saw it.
His one-eyed gaze
drifted slowly upward over her blue jeans tucked into
her Dal Co originals to the jean jacket she wore over a
red sweater. She suddenly realized the sweater clung
just a little too snugly to her breasts because his gaze
lingered there. Care Deus, had he just
used his mental ability to caress her or were her
nipples stiff just because she wanted him so badly?
She swallowed hard at
the memory of the last time he’d made love to her. Their
bodies had melded together perfectly as he’d stroked her
with every inch of his body. Heat pooled between her
legs at the thought. She wished they were in a secluded
spot. She wanted the chance to seduce him. She wanted to
make him see that no matter what had happened in the
past, they were good together.
Their gazes locked and
the desire on his face made the scarred muscles of his
cheek taut with tension. She instinctively stepped
toward him, and he stiffened. Another wall rose between
them, and frustration whipped through her. Damno id,
the man would drive her crazy if this was the way things
were going to be between them while they worked
together. She drew in a sharp breath then blew it out
just at harshly.
“Is this the way it’s
going to be then?” She glared at him. “Because if it is,
I want a new partner.”
“What are you talking
about?” His tension was still present, but he skillfully
covered it with a nonchalant demeanor.
“You know exactly
what I mean.” Her sharp words made him narrow his eye at
her. “I think we need to work with other people.
Ex-lovers never make great partners.”
The Praetorians had
peeled off the side of his face in jagged strips, but
they’d left his beautiful mouth intact and it was now a
thin line of determination.
“As I said in the
conference room yesterday. I’m willing to listen to
ideas, but I have the final say. I paired everyone up
based on their strengths and weaknesses.”
“And exactly how
do we balance each other out?” she snapped, incensed by
his calm, rational tone.
“You’re a valuable
asset to the team. I’ve no doubt the Praetorians will
discover you’re here, and I’m the most qualified to
ensure you’re protected.”
His response made her
mouth fall open as she stared at him with first
amazement and then an anger that slowly spread through
her until she was rigid with outrage. She narrowed her
gaze at him and took a step down the staircase to bring
her closer to him. Even when she was furious with him,
her body still responded to his on a primal level. It
raised her ire that much more.
“That is most
asinine reason I have ever heard in my entire
life,” she said with a sharp hiss. “I might be a simple
healer, but I’ve kicked your ass in the gym before.”
“One time doesn’t
qualify,” he drawled. It was rare to see him amused, but
she could have sworn she saw a flash of humor in his
green eye.
“Are you laughing at
me?” she asked stiffly. The fact that he seemed to think
so little of her fighting skills hurt. Damno id,
she was a good fighter.
“No.” He shook his
head. “But my fighting skills are the best of anyone on
the team. You’re a valuable asset to the Order, Phaedra.
I can’t let anything happen to you.”
She noted he didn’t
say that he didn’t want anything happening to
her, just his concern for the Order. She wanted to hit
him. She brushed past him with a harsh noise of fury and
charged down the steps to the foyer. When she reached
the foot of the stairs, she stood there fuming. The man
needed someone to dropkick his ass back to Chicago.
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