Tempting Evil (Riley Jenson Guardian 3)

His fingers were caressing my arm, not in a sexual way, but a caring, protective way. It made me feel warm and fuzzy inside - which wasn't something I'd really experienced before and I wasn't sure what to make of it. It wasn't love - I'd been there before, knew what it felt like, and this wasn't that. It was oddly different - safer, nicer.

"So, now that they've beaten you to a pulp, I'm gathering the training is over for the next year or so?"

"I'm afraid not." I looked up at him. "As of tomorrow, I'm on a survival retreat. I won't be able to contact anyone."

Anger, and frustration, seared the depths of his beautiful green eyes. "At all?"

"I'm afraid not."

"For how long?"

I shrugged. "It depends on how well I cope." And how fast we brought down the bad guys.

His hand slid down my side and across my rump as he pulled me closer. "I've only just found you. I'm not too happy about having to let you go again."

Neither was I. But then, if turning my life upside down for several months meant actually getting my life back on track, I wasn't about to grumble. "Look at it this way - I'm going to be one frustrated wolf when I return, so you can be sure the reunion will be a good one."

He grinned. "Now that sounds a little more like it." He shifted slightly, turning onto his side. My head slipped from his chest to his arm, but it felt just as good resting there. "I'm guessing, then, that I'd better let you get some sleep."

I slid a leg over him and adjusted my position as I pressed him close. A shiver of delight ran across my skin as he sheathed himself inside. "I guess you should."

He did. But only after several more hours of loving.

Kellen left at seven. I grabbed some clothes then walked into the bathroom for a quick shower. Once dressed, I headed toward the kitchen to make myself breakfast. Only to discover Quinn sitting cross-legged and elegant in my living room.

I stopped short. He'd changed sometime during the night, because he was now wearing black on black. More than ever he looked like a dark angel - a sinfully sexy dark angel. "I really am going to have to start locking my front door."

"It wouldn't keep me out."

True. Once I'd invited him past the threshold of my home, there wasn't one damn thing I could do to stop him entering anytime he pleased, as often as he pleased.

I crossed my arms and stared at his beautiful but emotionless face.

"What do you want?"

He studied me for a moment, then said, "Would you like to have breakfast with me?"

Surprise rippled through me. Of all the questions I'd been expecting, that wasn't one of them. "Why?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You have to eat, don't you?"

"Yeah, but that's not what I mean."

He shrugged. "You told me two months ago that I needed to pamper you, romance you, to win your heart. Perhaps I've finally realized that was good advice."

"And perhaps tomorrow pigs might fly. Why are you really here, Quinn?"

He didn't react to my barb, and that was almost scary. Perhaps he really was trying to show me a different side of himself. And yet, instinct whispered all was not as it seemed, and I was never one to ignore instinct. It had saved my ass far too many times.

"I'm merely here to see you, and to have breakfast with you. Nothing more, nothing less."

"And I'm not on your menu? A quick snack on the side?"

Amusement glimmered briefly in the dark depths of his eyes. "It would be a bonus, but no." He hesitated, and the glimmer disappeared, lost to the sudden flash of annoyance. "I have attended to my blood needs, in much the same manner as you've attended to your own needs."

"I didn't ask Kellen back. He came of his own accord, bearing roses and an apology." I paused. "Have you even noticed my bruises?"

"Only a blind man could not."