Temptation's Heat (3 page)

He walked back into the bedroom. He’d done some quick shopping after getting his room assignment and he was headed for the stack of new clothes on the bureau when the door that separated the living room from the bedroom opened.

When he turned around, Scarlet Montgomery was staring him in the face.

Well, not the face, exactly.

He could only look at her, the air charged with something thick and hot, his naked body on fire despite the cool air in the room. Scarlet’s eyes were glued to his body in the moment before she raised them to his.

“I … I’m sorry … Lily …” She looked away.

He walked toward her, hyper-aware of his nakedness. Of how easy it would be to pull her to him. To feel her body against his. To reach down and rip the buttons of her shirt, pull it from her body while his mouth found the creamy mounds straining against the lace bra he could make out beneath the white cotton.

“I don’t mind if you don’t,” he said, reaching past her to the towel that hung on the door.

He was being a dick, but he felt a perverse kind of pleasure in the knowledge that he was throwing her off her game. He had a feeling Scarlet Montgomery wasn’t off her game often. The fact that he was the one to do it, however inadvertently, gave him a welcome feeling of control. One he hadn’t had since he’d first laid eyes on her in Ambrose’s office.

She raised her chin. “No. Of course not.” She waved toward the towel. “Do … whatever you need to do. I just wanted to tell you that Lily is serving breakfast. She wondered if you would be joining us.”

He wrapped the towel around his waist and stopped in front of her, close enough to smell cinnamon on her breath. “Lily was wondering, huh?”

Her slender throat moved as she swallowed, and he had a flash of his mouth connecting to the pale skin at her neck, his tongue tasting the delicious hollow at the center of her collarbone.

“Yes,” she said, bowing her head a little. “I knocked, but, uh … no one answered, so I … I …”

He leaned in, dropping his head until it was almost touching the skin near her ear. “Well, you can tell Lily I’ll be right down. Unless you can think of something that would make missing breakfast worthwhile.”

He heard the intake of her breath as she reached up and put both hands on his chest. Her warm palms on his shower-cooled skin sent a ripple of electricity surging through his body like a lightning bolt.

Then she gave him a good shove. “I’ve already been to that party. I’m not interested in a repeat.” Her eyes flashed. “And in case you’re wondering, I’ve seen a naked man before. You’re nothing special.”

She turned and left before he could respond. He stood there in the empty room, wondering if the sting he felt was the cold or the fact that she had just made it abundantly clear she wasn’t the least bit interested in him.

Eight

Scarlet could only hope she hadn’t given herself away. That it hadn’t been obvious how much restraint it had taken not to step toward Rowen, to press herself against that very male—and yes, as long as she was being honest she might as well admit it—very hot, body. Her palms had burned against his skin, cool and damp from the shower. She felt the heat moving between them. Could almost smell the animal attraction in the air.

Then, he had turned all cocky, looking at her with the “been there, done that” gleam in his eye.

And good thing, too. It was just the reminder she needed.

She plastered a look of calm on her face as she entered the dining room. It was a cacophony of silver on porcelain, quiet murmuring, and a heated debate between Braden and Kane about the most expeditious way to dispatch a revenant with a sickle.

Lily pushed through the door from the kitchen carrying a basket of steaming blueberry muffins. “Should I set a place for him?” she asked Scarlet.

“I have no idea.” Scarlet took her seat next to Braden. “The man is infuriating.”

Braden turned to her, grinning. “I always figured you for the infuriating type.”

She grabbed a muffin from the basket and took a huge bite, chewing it angrily. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

His laugh was a warm rumble coming from his wide chest. “Just that nice and respectful hasn’t done the job. Obviously.”

“Obviously?”

“C’mon, Scarlet.” She was surprised to see embarrassment on his face. “You’re Ambrose’s daughter. Even those of us who can be dicks wouldn’t dare treat you with anything but kid gloves, but it’s not like you’ve been interested in what any of us were offering.” He took a swig of coffee, his big hand incongruous against the dainty floral cup Lily insisted on using. “Maybe infuriating is just your type.”

As if on cue, Rowen walked into the room. Scarlet’s body betrayed her with a fresh slam of lust as she took in the tight black t-shirt and snug jeans, hugging his body like they were made for him, making no secret of the significant package between his legs.

Then again, that wasn’t a secret anyway. Not anymore.

She looked away, trying to concentrate on the omelet Lily slid onto her plate instead of the image of a naked Rowen Black, body still glistening from the shower, now seared into her brain

Nine

Her arms were in mid-air. She was doing something to her hair, but it was her breasts that had him captivated. They strained against the fabric of her shirt, the perfect fullness of them outlined in lace.

“You can watch from the sidelines, if you want,” Kane said to him.

Rowen nodded, pulling his eyes away from Scarlet’s curves.

He liked Kane. Sensed a fellow rebel in his flinty eyes, his gruff demeanor. And Rowen learned some things from talking to the other man. Turns out Rowen had been sent to replace some guy named Mikhail, a member of the Guard who had disappeared nearly two months ago. Word was Mikhail had been under suspicion for fraternizing with the enemy even before his disappearance. They didn’t have proof, but Mikhail’s invisible-man act was enough to indict him in the eyes of the rest of the Guard.

Rowen stepped back against the wall as Lily led Ambrose Montgomery into the training room. Rowen didn’t know who looked more fragile, the ailing old man or his youngest daughter, supporting him with obvious effort.

Pushing back from the wall, Rowen walked across the floor and offered Ambrose his arm.

“Sir.” He glanced at Lily. “Breakfast was delicious. I don’t know you well, but I’m assuming you have something cooking in the kitchen.”

A surprised smile lit her face. “How did you know?”

“Just a hunch.” He winked at her. “Go ahead. I’ll keep your father company.”

“You sure?”

He nodded, smiling down at the old man. “It’s my honor.”

“Thank you. I’ll save you a cookie.” Lily kissed her father’s cheek before hurrying from the room.

Ambrose took Rowen’s arm and patted his hand. “That was kind.”

Rowen accompanied him to a chair on one side of the room. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ambrose chuckled. “I knew there was more to you than meets the eye.”

Rowen helped him get settled in the chair before retreating to the wall. Braden, Ivan, and the woman named Eva trickled into the room and took up residence near the door.

Ambrose brought his hands together. His clap was dry and faint. “Everyone ready?”

Scarlet and Kane, facing each other in the center of the room, nodded and raised their sickles. Kane hadn’t seemed unusually large when they’d been walking to the training room, but standing next to Scarlet, he was huge. A mountain next to a rose bush. He had a foot and at least a hundred and twenty pounds on her. A flicker of dread pulsed through Rowen’s chest.

He cut a glance at Ambrose, looking utterly unconcerned, before returning his attention to the center of the floor where Scarlet and Kane were slowly circling each other in ready position. It was none of Rowen’s business if Scarlet Montgomery wanted to get her ass kicked.

Scarlet stepped forward first and extended her arm. She struck Kane’s sickle with her own, and a dull thud rang out across the room.

Kane held firm, stepping to the left and hitting her sickle with his own. Her arm came down with the force of the blow, but she held onto the sickle and pivoted to her other foot, raising her leg to strike at Kane’s fighting arm.

Kane blocked her, sickle in hand.

Rowen watched as the pair executed a series of quick maneuvers. He was surprised how quickly Scarlet moved. Her smaller size gave her an advantage in speed that she utilized to the hilt against Kane’s greater bulk. But what he lacked in speed, he made up for in force, and he rocked her with every blow he landed.

Rowen admired her tenacity. Her stubbornness was an advantage in battle.

They’d been fighting for a full twenty minutes when Scarlet ducked under Kane’s right arm, spun around his back, and hooked the sickle in his left hand. It clattered to the floor.

Kane looked up in surprise, lashing out with one of his legs, hitting Scarlet’s right arm so hard that Rowen saw her body vibrate with the impact. Her sickle dropped out of her hand, skittering to the far wall.

Rowen thought it might be over, but they continued to circle each other, sizing the other up, before simultaneously advancing. They continued their battle hand-to-hand, battering each other with blows and kicks that didn’t look the least bit watered down.

Rowen fought the unfamiliar urge to stalk across the floor and intervene, give Kane a good kick in the ass. But when Rowen looked at the others, their expressions were unconcerned. Even Ivan watched without an ounce of fear for his sister, although after their exchange in Ambrose’s office, maybe that wasn’t such a surprise.

Rowen stood, hand clenched, until Kane landed a particularly ferocious kick to Scarlet’s chest. She stumbled backward before crumpling to the floor in a tiny heap.

Something in Rowen snapped. One minute he was standing against the wall, and the next he was seeing red, his hands around Kane’s throat, the other man shoved up against the wall while Rowen squeezed his throat.

“Stop, man … listen …” Kane gasped. “She’s … one of us. She has to be … ready.”

A firm hand came down on Rowen’s forearm.

“Hands off, brother.” The voice came from the man named Braden. “I understand the impulse, but this is how Scarlet wants it.”

The sound of her name brought everything back into focus. He dropped his hands from Kane’s neck and turned to Scarlet, still on the floor. He stalked over, kneeling at her side, and took her head in his big hands, resting it in his lap. Glossy chestnut hair spilled from her ponytail onto his legs. In that moment, he didn’t care what a pain in the ass she was.

He would have done anything for her.

Ten

When Scarlet came around, Rowen’s face was bent to hers. Her head was ringing, although the only thing she remembered was Kane landing a blow to her chest. She must have hit her head on the floor.

“Hey,” Rowen said, his eyebrows knitted together in an expression that looked like worry. “You all there?”

She tried to nod, but the ringing grew louder in her head. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

“Shhhh, it’s okay.” Gentle hands moved against her head, stroking her hair, and she realized Rowen was holding her head in his big hands, as gently as if she were a baby bird. “You took quite a hit.”

It took her a minute to understand what was happening. She was on the floor, being coddled by none other than Rowen Black, like she was some kind of damsel in distress. Probably in full view of the other members of the Guard and her father.

She forced herself to sit up.

“You shouldn’t get up yet,” Rowen said.

She pushed him away. “
You
shouldn’t tell me what to do.”

A look of shock passed over his face before anger set in. “I’m trying to help,” he hissed from between clenched teeth.

“Well, don’t.” Black dots swam before her eyes as she rose to her feet. “I’m fine.”

He stood, towering over her. Even now, his utter maleness caused a rush of desire to blossom between her legs.

He leaned closer. “A minute ago you were flat on your ass. Lights out.”

She stood taller. “I’ve taken hits before. I don’t need you undermining me in front of everyone.”

“Undermining?” He glanced back at the others, watching the exchange with interest. “Well, excuse me for giving a damn. It won’t happen again.”

“I don’t need your help,” she called after him. “And I don’t need you to give a damn.”

“Fine!” he growled. The floor vibrated with the force of his footsteps.

The others talked amongst themselves as they filed slowly from the room. This was old hat. Just another day on the Guard sparring circuit.

Her father remained seated, eying her curiously.

Kane crossed the room, extending a hand. “I’m sorry. I think I got you harder than I intended.”

She shook his hand. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s for my own good.”

Kane stared in the direction Rowen had gone. “I’m not sure he agrees.”

Scarlet crossed her arms over her aching chest. “
He
doesn’t have any say in the matter.”

“Yeah, well, he seems to think differently.” Kane rubbed the whiskers at his jawline. “Thought I was going to be pouring soup down my throat for the next month.”

Scarlet did a double take. “What do you mean?”

“You’d barely hit the floor when my throat was in his hands. Dude wasn’t fucking around, either.”

“Wait … he tried to hurt you?”

Kane thought about it. “Honestly, I thought the guy was going to kill me. Another minute and I would have been done.”

“Why would he do that?” Scarlet asked.

He looked at her like she was a few weapons short of a full arsenal. “Because I hurt you.”

Scarlet could feel her father’s eyes on her, knew he hadn’t missed a thing. But she couldn’t even think about dealing with him. All she could think about was the way her head had felt in Rowen Black’s hands and the strange sense of comfort she’d felt when she’d looked up into his face.

Kane’s words rang through her ears.

Because I hurt you.

Eleven

Rowen stopped outside the double doors of Ambrose’s office and knocked. He knew what was coming; he was about to get his ass handed to him on a silver platter.