They stood for several minutes looking at each other, and finally Jonas nodded toward her porch hidden behind the Middlemist Red Camellias. “Can we sit there and talk for a while?”
Her porch was small, and it would be extremely intimate surrounded by the draping branches of flowers. She nodded because there was no resisting those eyes. She turned and led the way through the camellias to her home.
3
Camellia Mist was beautiful. Just looking at her robbed Jonas of his ability to breathe. Who knew that when he’d set out to find the source of the threat to their team he’d find his other half? Jonas knew that, even without Whitney’s interference, she would have been his first choice. Probably his only choice for someone permanent in his life.
Her looks, as gorgeous as they were, weren’t the source of his attraction, though he found her utterly beautiful, from her lush curved body to the dark hair that blended in with the night to those eyes, blue like cornflowers or darkening into a turbulent sea, hinting at the cat in her before she turned her head to lead the way to her cabin. No, the real attraction was everything else. She had survived on her own for a very long time. Not only had she survived, but she had built this incredible, beautiful garden, a little piece of paradise that provided sustenance and protection as well as beauty. A revealing reflection of herself.
Clearly, she was highly intelligent, resourceful and no doubt lethal. She was everything a man like Jonas could possibly desire in a partner. He found her sexy. What she might not know, he was absolutely certain he could teach her. He was more than willing to learn from her.
She walked without a sound. Completely silent. Her hips had a feminine sway that drew his attention, as did the fact that the Middlemist Red parted her branches as they approached.
“So many growing free and beautiful,” he commented, touching one of the limbs gently in a kind of reverence. He felt a curious sensation in his veins, a rush of power close to the towering shrubs as they formed an arc over their heads. “Look how unbelievably healthy they are, when they usually only exist in a greenhouse. You’re amazing, woman.”
Camellia looked over her shoulder, a small smile lighting her eyes, throwing more silvery blue into the dark blue. “She’s truly beautiful, isn’t she?”
Jonas looked at the wealth of flowers on the shrubs. The branches were covered in them. Each blossom was large and looked more like a rose with fresh, tight petals, as if they’d just blossomed, a brilliant pink.
“What’s your secret with these plants? Do you talk to them? I’ve got a small place of my own now, but I haven’t exactly got your way with plants, although I’d like to.”
She sent him another look over her shoulder. When she half turned, her hair swung, a gleaming, thick mass of dark strands, flying in the air and cascading down her back. Her eyes glittered a strange silvery blue again, reminding him of a jungle cat, and her mouth—that generous mouth of hers that gave him one too many fantasies—smiled at him.
“Of course you can. How do you think you managed to tap into both networks?”
He raised an eyebrow, uncertain what she meant. She had waved her hand toward the single chair on the porch. He shook his head and indicated she take it.
“I’ll get another one. Give me a minute.” She disappeared into her house.
The moment she was gone, his gut reacted, hard knots developing. He found himself pacing, adrenaline flooding his system. He wasn’t a man to get attached to a woman. He didn’t think about them after spending time with them or want them in his bed all night. He never took one to his home. He knew Whitney had manipulated them with his “pairing,” using pheromones and some kind of virus he put in their bodies so they were physically attracted, but already Jonas knew he was connected to Camellia on a much more emotional level. That made no sense.
Do you understand why I’m feeling this way? Do you feel it as well? Not just physical? He made up his mind he would be totally honest—or as honest as he could when it came to what was between them. He wasn’t going to hide his strange, unexpected emotions from her. He couldn’t hide his physical reaction to her, and she would expect that. He was laying himself pretty bare.
The door opened and a chair came through first. He took it from her, even though he could see she was extremely strong. She was enhanced. She might look delicate, but she wasn’t. He could never forget that.
Deliberately, he met her gaze over the back of the chair, standing there, trapping her in the doorway, the rattan rocker between them. She didn’t flinch away. She had courage. Her eyes were back to liquid sea blue. Her long dark lashes fringed the blue, making the color even deeper. He was utterly obsessed. Hell, he even noticed her skin, a beautiful silky expanse that looked as fresh and soft as the Middlemist petals that surrounded them.