Christmas Tsar (Blood and Thunder 1)

“Not at all.”

She was stroking his favorite mare, a notoriously difficult animal that never let anyone close to her but him. “I didn’t expect to find you here,” he admitted, leaning over the stall door.

“I didn’t expect to get among such valuable ponies quite so easily,” she said. Her lips pressed down to show what she thought of Cesar’s security measures. “Horses as beautiful as this should never be put at risk,” she added, stroking the gleaming neck of his glossy-coated bay. Resting her cheek against the mare’s noble neck for a moment, she inhaled deeply, as if the scent of warm, vital animal appealed to her as much as it did to him. Scratching beneath the pony’s jaw, which they both knew it would love, she was rewarded with a long contented snuffle.

Leaving his horse with a few quiet words and a soothing pat, she came out to join him. “The motion sensors don’t seem to be working, and the cameras are out.”

“Correct. The entire system is undergoing its annual maintenance. Cesar is upgrading everything. We’re on the island,” he added, as if that were a cast iron guarantee of security. Unfortunately, he agreed with her. Even a short outage left them dangerously exposed.

“I don’t expect anyone ever expects trouble,” she remarked, turning for the door.

He caught hold of her arm as she walked away. “Do you have any idea how annoying you can be?”

She huffed a laugh and shrugged.

He wanted to kiss that stubborn mouth until she begged for more, but since he’d made the very sensible decision to put distance between them, that was off-limits. “I hope I’ll see you at the match tomorrow?” he said instead.

“If I’m invited.” Amber held his stare steadily.

“Why wouldn’t you be?”

“Will you post my ticket under the bunkhouse door?”

He gave her a long, considering look. “I’ll get you a special pass. You can hold my stirrup while I mount.”

“I could have a forklift standing by…”

Her face had remained admirably straight. “And now, if you’ll excuse me—”

And

even if I won’t, he thought, judging by the look on Amber’s face.

“I’ve got things to do—like prepare supper for a team of hungry men,” she elaborated coolly.

“I look forward to that,” he murmured as she walked away, hips swaying beneath her clothes.

~o0o~

So now she didn’t have one demanding billionaire to cook for, she had four. Great, Amber thought as she started to find her way around the kitchen. And what was she supposed to do when the meal was cooked? Hit the nonexistent dinner gong to summon them?

That problem was solved when the team rolled in while she was still in the throes of cooking one of her famous hot pots—perhaps not the most sophisticated of dishes, but certainly one of the tastiest. And a real man-pleaser, her grandmother used to say. Savory, hot, and filling, what better way to a man’s heart? A stiletto seemed like a pretty good option right now, Amber thought as Alexei, Dante, Diego, and Cesar arranged themselves around the table and stared at her expectantly.

“You don’t wash your hands before you sit down to eat?” she inquired. They’d come fresh from the stables and were covered in ten types of shit. She frowned. “Or even take your boots off?”

Four sets of ridiculously powerful shoulders lifted in a shrug. Four sets of ridiculously appealing mouths pressed down. Four sets of stunningly gorgeous eyes regarded her as if her opinion was of no interest to them whatsoever.

“We just want feeding, okay?” Alexei told her impatiently, turning back to his friends.

She raised her voice above theirs. “We need to set some ground rules here…”

The men had been talking animatedly and laughing at their private jokes, but as she spoke silence dropped like a safety curtain. “I beg your pardon?” Alexei said, turning to look at her.

“I said… I think we need some ground rules here. If you want me to cook for you, you’re going to have to show me some respect—taking your boots off would be a start. Washing your hands before you sit down at the table would benefit us all, since I’ve got no interest in acquiring whatever bugs you’re carrying around.”

Four backs turned on her like a wall.

Okay. If that was the way they wanted to play it. She’d feed them tonight. She’d worked hard enough to make a nice meal for everyone, but if they behaved this way tomorrow, she would not be quite so accommodating.