Kiss of Moonlight (14 page)

“I’m fine, Kyle. Can we just…go somewhere and talk? Please. I just need—”

He grabbed her hand. “Come on.”

He led her down the hall, heading toward the back of the building. She barely noticed her surroundings, so completely lost in her own thoughts. She allowed him to lead her into a room, heard him shut the door behind them. Looking up, she spotted a couch to the right of the door and headed for it, sinking into as he made a motion forward then stopped and grabbed the wooden chair from the desk next to the couch. Flipping it around, he sat on it backward directly in front of her.

Her gaze unable to connect with his, she let it roam his body.

He really should scare her, with those tattoos and the bulging muscles, the sense of leashed power simmering just below his outward calm.

Finally she lifted her gaze to his and got caught in the intensity of it.

“Are you going to tell me what she said?” he asked.

She nodded. “I just needed…a few minutes.”

“Is it that bad?”

Seeing him shot in front of her would be awful, yes. And he deserved to be forewarned.

But if she left, he’d be safe.

She had to go, somewhere no one knew her. Somewhere the woman who was after her wouldn’t think to look.

And she had to get as far away from Kyle as she could.

“Tira saw you get shot standing in front of me.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is that all she saw?”

“No. She saw pieces of my past. You knew about my great-grandfather. You knew he had power.”

He raked a hand through his hair, pushing the strands away from his eyes. “I also knew he was a righteous bastard. You didn’t miss a thing not knowing him.
Probably better off for not.
He wasn’t
lucani
. He was Etruscan descended and he had enough power to classify him
stregone
, a male witch. But the reason he moved out here away from everyone was because no one could stand him and he couldn’t stand anyone else. I knew your great-grandmother was an
eteri
he accidentally made pregnant and when his son was born with no powers, he never bothered with them again. At least, that’s what he told my dad.”

“My grandfather wasn’t much more compassionate. He kicked my mom out at eighteen when she got pregnant with me, and I never knew my grandparents. Mom always said we were better off without them.”

“Then you were.” He reached out to run a finger along her chin. “You turned out just fine.”

She smiled as a shiver ran through her body from his touch.

Why the hell was she even thinking about running away when she should be throwing herself at him?

But there were other considerations here than just how she felt about him. His life was more important.
His secret.

Her secret too, apparently.

“What are you thinking?”

Kyle’s low-pitched rumble revved her slowly simmering libido. Which just went to prove how completely off-kilter she was because almost overwhelming exhaustion crept over her. She wanted to lie on the couch, close her eyes and take a nap. Just let it all go away, just for a little while.

“I’m trying to figure out when my life became a runaway train.”

His expression hardened as he withdrew his hand and wrapped it around the top of his chair. “Are you going to tell me what else Tira had to say?”

A yawn caught her off guard and she raised her hand to cover her mouth. “I told you. Tira saw you get shot in front of me, Kyle.
In the chest from only a few feet away.”
Tears welled but she closed her eyes against them. “There’s no way you could live through that. I don’t want you to
have
to live through that.”

He didn’t say anything at first, as if he were trying to come up with a response that would be acceptable to her. “Sweetheart, I’m a lot tougher than I look.”

She yawned again, shaking her head. “You’re not Superman.”

He barely lifted his left eyebrow, giving him the look of a pirate. “Says who? Besides, I’m not stupid enough to get shot in the chest.”

Her smile was almost too hard to pull off, she was so tired. “I didn’t say you were stupid, Kyle. I’d never say that about you.”

That wiped away the almost-smirk he had going. Suddenly, he rose, towering over her so she had to bend her neck at an uncomfortable angle to look up at him.

“Lie down, babe. Take a nap. You’re practically falling asleep on your feet.”

“Where are you going?”

He reached behind her to grab the blue blanket on the back of the couch. She hadn’t even noticed it there. Rolling it into a log, he
snugged
it into the crease between the cushion and the arm.
“To talk to Dan.
You look ready to pass out and I don’t think you’d appreciate any more of my brand of stress relief.”

She had to smile at the memory of their bout against his car. “Kyle?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t go far.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything as she put her head on the makeshift pillow and shut her eyes just as his hand brushed her hair just before he walked out.

* * * * *

Kyle had lied to her. He didn’t go to Dan.

“Tira.
Can I talk to you?”

The little blonde turned a pained expression toward him when he finally caught up with her at the home she shared with her mother.

“Did you talk to
Tamra
?” she asked.

“Yeah, she told me what you said about me taking a bullet for her.”

Her pained expression changed to one of relief as she sighed. “Thank the Blessed Goddess. I thought I was going to have to break my own rule about readings and tell you myself.”

“I want to talk to you about the vision. Can we sit for a few minutes?”

Tira glanced at the door to her home then back at him. “Mom’s not doing real well right now.”

Which was probably an understatement.
Tira’s
mom hadn’t been “doing well” for the past year but she’d been managing her increasing psychosis until about a month ago. From what Kyle had heard from Margie and Cat,
Tira’s
mom
Suvera
had pretty much lost the battle for her sanity. It happened to seers occasionally, when the visions overwhelmed them. When they could no longer control when and what they saw.

“How about if we go for a walk?”

She smiled at him gratefully. The girl was a beauty, all blonde hair, blue eyes and stacked body. She had the air of a seer, not quite all there. You’d think she was a classic dumb blonde if you didn’t know her. But that far-off look she sometimes got had nothing to do with a deficiency in her mental capacity.

As they started down the lane, he had a brief second to wonder about the fact that he’d never even considered asking her out.
Too young.

Tam was three years younger.

Vaffanculo
.
In his head, he heard mocking laughter and silently told himself to shut the fuck up.

“Can you describe the vision for me?” He waited until they were out of hearing distance of her home.
“In detail?
Anything at all you remember, no matter how insignificant.”

Tira cocked her head to the side, her gaze turning inward. Kyle took her elbow, knowing she wasn’t watching where she was walking.

“Well, I don’t recognize the room you’re in but it looks like a living room.
Blue couch, white walls, small television on a table.
No paintings on the wall, no pictures.” Tira shook her head as if coming out of a trance and Kyle released her when she looked up at him, her grimace apologetic. “That’s all the detail I saw. I was so focused on
Tamra
and
you,
I didn’t really take notice of anything else.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “That rules out my place and any place I know. I’m guessing you didn’t see the shooter.”

She shook her head.
“Not at all.
I don’t think it’s that far in the future though. Neither of you look any older. I’m sorry, Kyle.
Tamra’s
fear almost overwhelmed me. I did get the sense that she was surprised to see you but I could be mistaking that with her shock at seeing you shot. I’m just not sure.”

Which basically told him nothing except he was going to take a bullet for Tam.
That didn’t surprise him. He’d stand in front of her no matter what.

And his body’s natural defenses would protect him from any regular bullet unless it was a direct shot to the heart or the brain. And even then a
lucani
could survive if they got treatment fast enough.

Now, a silver bullet could do lasting damage. But most people didn’t carry silver bullets.

So when did
Tira’s
vision happen?
And where?

“Kyle?”

Dragging himself out of his thoughts, he forced himself to focus on Tira. “What?”

“There was one piece I didn’t tell
Tamra
because it didn’t have anything to do with her. It was only a flash, just a few seconds. I saw Cat crying. I assume she’s crying because you were shot but I couldn’t tell if this was before or after that happened.”

Kyle nodded, his mouth tightening. He hated to think of his daughter crying over him but he wasn’t going to die so her tears would dry. “Thanks again.
Tira.”

Tira’s
mouth tipped in a half-hearted smile. “You don’t have to thank me for telling you you’re going to be shot. I just wish…” She sighed, shaking her head.
“Never mind.
Just take care, Kyle.”

* * * * *

Tam woke when the door to the room opened and closed.

She sat up, running her fingers through her hair before she caught Kyle’s topaz gaze and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

He paused for a moment, his hand still on the doorknob. “What do you mean?”

“The look on your face.
What happened?”

He shook his head as he leaned back against the door. His hair fell around his face in midnight shadows, his eyes laser-sharp on hers. His
chest rose and fell, his t-shirt loose but not loose
enough to hide his muscular
pecs
. With his arms crossed, his biceps bulged and she knew her hands couldn’t encompass it.

And those jeans…
Low on his hips, tight on his thighs and way too explicitly cupped around his impressive package.

He was everything she never thought she’d want.

She’d never had the white-dress fantasy, not even as a kid.
Never dreamed of meeting Prince Charming, walking down the aisle and moving to a little house with a picket fence.

No, she’d dreamed about a good job, a small apartment and a car that didn’t break down every other week. Guys hadn’t figured into her plans.

After her attack, she hadn’t dreamed at all. She’d been too preoccupied with holding onto her sanity and getting through each day.

Now, this man made her shiver with his touch. He made her want that happily-ever-after.

And he was a werewolf.

Maybe she needed to buy herself a red cape.

His gaze narrowed. “Tam, are you okay?”

She couldn’t contain her smile at the image in her head—her in a red cape and nothing else and Kyle chasing after her. Not as a wolf though. No, he was all man.
And naked.

Damn, the man looked like a god naked.

She continued to smile up at him as she considered telling him to lock the door and strip. Would he do it?

Or would he think she only wanted him for sex?

Her smiling fading, she swung her legs over the side of the couch and planted her feet on the floor.

Back to reality.

The reality where she had to leave.
Run somewhere whoever was after her wouldn’t find her. Apparently, those men had been searching for her for months and had only just caught up to her. Now that they were dead, it’d make sense that the woman who’d sent them would need to find new bloodhounds to sniff her out.

She could take an
alias,
go somewhere no one would expect her to go.
The Midwest, maybe.
She could disappear.

Kyle would be safe.

And she’d be alone.
Again.

“Tam, what are you thinking?”

If she was going to disappear, she wanted one more memory of him.

Meeting his gaze again, she held out her hand to him and waited with bated breath for him to take it. He didn’t make her wait long. He pushed away from the door and took her hand, lacing their fingers together as he stood in front of her.

“You sleep okay?” His husky voice made her nipples tighten and burn, her thighs clench.

Her gaze level with his stomach, she let it drop just a few inches to his crotch. She swore she saw his cock twitch against his zipper.

“
Tamra
?”

His voice had dropped at least an octave, sexy and arousing.

She wanted him, the desire so strong, it nearly made her breathless.

Lifting her free hand, she slid it under his shirt to his waistband, letting her fingers trace the button. He wasn’t wearing a belt so she wouldn’t have to contend with that.

“Tam.”
His voice sounded distinctly strangled now as his fingers tightened around hers.

She lifted her gaze to his. “Can I touch you?”

His jaw clenched and his eyes darkened to burnished gold as he stared at her. “You can have anything you want, sweetheart. Haven’t you realized that yet?”

Her heart began to beat in a furious rhythm and all the air vanished from the room. No one had ever said that to her before and she’d never imagined how freeing it could be to hear.

Anything she wanted?

She wanted him.
Only him.

Brushing her fingers against the skin of his waist, she watched him suck in a breath, as if she’d burned him.

But he didn’t move.

Releasing his hand, she slid both of hers under his shirt and stroked her fingers up his sides, feeling his silky, hot skin beneath hers.