Page 27

It was a plain, masculine room, save for the colorful Native American rug at the foot of the bed; the room of a man who lived alone.

Other than the large oak bed, the only furniture was a chair and a nightstand with another of the large chunks of quartz his mother had brought back from her tours overseas.

This one had come from Morocco, where his mom still had a few relatives, her family having migrated from North Africa to Jamaica several centuries ago.

It was a piece of art—an oblong tower of white calcite encrusted in places with silver crystals and a darker gray mineral running through the center.

“I thought it would be damp,” Evie said, “like a cave. But it’s warm. And I love the rug.”

“My great-grandma wove the rug. Dad was part Cherokee.”

“It’s beautiful.” Evie crouched to trace a finger over the red, green and black pattern.

“Our cats don’t like the cold, so we have heating coils set in the floor. Actually, the wolves don’t either. The bears don’t give a shit, but they’re in the minority.”

She gave a gurgle of laughter and rose back to her feet. “I can’t imagine anyone telling Beau what to do.”

“You don’t. But like I said, he doesn’t care. It takes a lot to rile Beau.”

“I like him already.” The fae lights drifted toward her and her eyes widened. “Are those what I think they are?”

“Fae lights? Yeah. I did a sun fae a favor and she gifted them to me.”

She stretched a hand toward one of the glowing balls, and to Jace’s surprise, it floated down and slid over her palm as if welcoming her.

“I can feel it.” She turned awed eyes on him. “It’s warm and a little tingly.”

“Tap it, and it will shut off.”

She obeyed and the light winked out.

“You can leave it on while you’re sleeping if you want—it will sense how much light you need and power down.”

“Wow.” She tapped the light a second time, and it glowed back on and wafted its way toward the ceiling.

“You can put your stuff in there.” He indicated the closet. “Feel free to take a shower if you want.”

She nodded. “I really appreciate this. I hate to put you out—”

Her gaze went to the large unmade bed in the center of the room. It was a tangle of sheets and the red print bedspread he’d bought because it didn’t show dirt. He hadn’t expected to be bringing anyone home.

She glanced at him and he just knew her mind had gone the same place as his: the two of them nestled in the sheets, bodies joined.

Not tonight.

He’d brought her here to protect her, not fuck her. You didn’t take advantage of a woman like that. And his knife wound—the deeper one—was throbbing.

But he could almost taste her nipples in his mouth, feel her fingers digging into his shoulders, her body moving with his.

She dragged a hand over her hair, ruffling the short blond strands.

“I’ll be fine,” he said.

“What?” Her pupils were big and dark, the irises a rich brown shot with gold.

“Sleeping in the living room. I can change to my jaguar and curl up on a cushion.”

She stepped close and his lungs seized. She touched his cheek. “Your jaguar is beautiful. I’d like to see him again sometime.”

His animal preened. The cat loved to be admired.

Jace smoothed down her ruffled hair. It was silky soft, like a kitten’s fur. “You will.” It was a promise, even if she didn’t know it.

He brushed his mouth over hers. Their lips clung, and then he stepped back. “I’ll help you make the bed.”

She touched her mouth. “All right.”

He grabbed a spare set of sheets from the closet, and together, they stripped off the old sheets and put on the new ones. And damn if that wasn’t almost as intimate as touching her. His cock was painfully hard.

He balled up the dirty sheets and tossed them into the closet. “If you need anything, I’ll be in the living room.”

She nodded her thanks, and he closed the few feet between them. “Good night,” he said, and swayed closer. Not to kiss her again. He just wanted one last whiff.

But she turned her head and their mouths met, and then she was in his arms.

Heat flashed up his spine. Fuck his injured belly, and to hell with what was right or wrong.

They twined around each other. It was as if the two hours between their last kiss and this one had never been.

They picked up right where they’d left off: his tongue in her mouth, his hand on her ass.

She pressed herself against his aching groin, making sexy little moans that vibrated through him like a tuning fork.

He wrenched his mouth from hers and dragged in a breath. “I didn’t bring you here for this.”

“I know, but—” She set her lips to his throat and sucked. Heated sparks danced over his skin. “It’s okay. I want this—I want you. But you’re hurt.”

“Not that hurt. And Suha’s going to stop by. I’ll be okay by the time she leaves.”

“Yeah?” She nibbled his ear, and his eyes slit with pleasure.

He nudged her chin up, gave her a last, deep kiss and then resolutely set her from him. “Later. I’ll come back after your brother’s in bed.”

“All right.” Her lips were moist and reddened from his kiss.

His gaze fixed on her mouth, his mind painting a lurid picture of those moist lips on him. He almost grabbed her again, but instead he reached blindly for the doorknob. “Later,” he repeated.

Her dimple flashed. “Sure.”

She took her backpack and set it on the bed to unpack it. The three fae lights floated down to circle her head like a faerie crown.

His brow creased. Fae lights sensed when the user needed them, but these three acted as if Evie was some kind of a lodestone.

He’d never seen a fae light do that, even around another fae.

Evie shook out her clothes—a couple of T-shirts, a sleepshirt, and a pair of cargo pants—and hung them on hooks in the closet.

The underwear could stay in the backpack, which reminded her that she still had on the plain black panties and white sports bra she’d worn to work that night.

She hadn’t planned on anyone else seeing them.

Not that Jace seemed to care; she had a feeling he was just fine with bare skin.

She did a little happy dance. This was really happening—her and Jace. Even it if was just for a couple of nights, she intended to squeeze every last ounce of enjoyment out of it.

She headed for the bathroom to wash up. The fae lights trailed after her, casting a warm glow over everything.

The bathroom was jaw-dropping—two sinks, a walk-in shower carved from speckled gray stone, and a black jacuzzi taking up one corner. Plain white towels were stacked on a small table, and the shelves were scattered with razors, shaving soap and other masculine paraphernalia.

Back in the living room, she found Jace and Kyler had been joined by a large man with curly cinnamon hair and pale gold eyes. The fae lights had trailed her down the hall. They spread out across the room as Jace turned to smile at her.

“There you are. I want you to meet Sam.”

The big redhead held out a blunt-fingered hand. “A pleasure.”

Evie’s hand was swallowed in his. His grip was firm, but it was clear he was holding his enormous strength in check. “Thank you.”

“I was telling Sam what happened tonight,” Jace said.

The other man nodded. “Adric already sent word to me and some of the other soldiers. We’re searching Baltimore for that bastard cousin of his. I just wanted to make sure you have things under control.”

“We’re fine,” Jace replied. “Beau’s in his room, and I have Kyler here as backup.”

Her brother straightened his shoulders and gave a short, unsmiling nod as Jace’s quartz buzzed.

“It’s Suha,” Jace said.

“I was just on my way out,” said Sam. “I’ll let her in.” With a nod to Evie and Kyler, he headed for the door.

Jace limped to the couch and sat down, his injured leg stretched out on the cushions. “I’d better sit down, or she’ll yell at me.”

Evie suppressed a smile. She was looking forward to meeting the woman who could make a badass like Jace scramble to please her.

Then Suha entered and Evie’s eyes widened.

This was no motherly healer—in fact, she didn’t look any older than Evie—and she was pretty, with a dancer’s grace.

Her flirty yellow summer dress made Evie feel like a bag lady in her tank top and sweat shorts.

“You must be Evie.” The healer gave her a warm smile. “Nice to meet you. And you too, Kyler.” Tigger gave an imperious meow and bumped her shin. “Yeah, yeah, I see you.” She scratched the tabby behind the ears and he rumbled with pleasure.

Kyler stuck out his hand. “Hello. I’m Kyler.” He winced. “Right. You know that.”

Evie met Jace’s eyes and tried not to laugh, but Suha just smiled and shook his hand. “Peace to you and yours.”

“Peace.” He gazed down on her, a silly grin on his narrow face.

The moment stretched until Suha gave her hand a tug. Kyler’s cheeks reddened and he released it like it was a hot coal.

The healer gave him a wink, like the two of them were in on a joke, and Kyler’s embarrassment faded. Right then, Evie decided she liked her.

“So.” Suha turned to Jace. “I hear you had a run in with Corban and tore something open inside. I suppose you had to chase him down yourself.”

“There was no one else.”

Suha rolled her eyes. “Let me have a look.”

“Should we leave?” Evie asked.

“That’s up to Jace.”

Jace leaned back on the cushions. “It’s fine with me if you stay.”

Evie and Kyler helped move the coffee table so Suha could pull up a chair next to Jace. Evie sat on the other end of the couch while Kyler sprawled on a nearby chair, his long, knobby-kneed legs stretched out before him.

Suha removed her quartz and lifted the hem of Jace’s shirt. His knife wounds were seeping blood.

Evie bit her lip. “He wasn’t bleeding a couple of hours ago.”

Suha muttered something that sounded like “stubborn ass” and ran her quartz over his abdomen. The stone began to glow with warm, healing colors—pink, yellow, peach.

Jace’s eyes closed. He was quiet, but fine lines of pain radiated from around his mouth.

Evie stroked his ankle, wishing there were more she could do to help. His breath sighed out and Suha gave her an approving nod, so she kept doing it.

Suha moved to the gash on Jace’s thigh. It had scabbed up, but it was still nasty looking. The healer ran her quartz up and down it, and then went to his nape, where she clucked at the puncture wounds. “An inch to the right, and you’d have been paralyzed for life.”

Evie gulped and met Kyler’s eyes, but Jace just shrugged.

Suha moved back to Jace’s abdomen. Several minutes passed. Evie scooted closer and took Jace’s hand. His lips curved, although his eyes remained shut.

Kyler got up to wander around the room, examining the TV and the colorful chunks of quartz on the mantelpiece. He crouched down to examine the fireplace. Instead of logs, there were several large amber-and-brown chunks on the firebox floor.

Tigger strolled past him and the teenager held out a hand. The cat ignored it with a lordly disdain, continuing past to the kitchen. A moment later, they heard the crunch of kibble.

Kyler sat down with his back against the wall and took out his phone. He swore under his breath. “I can’t get a signal.”

“It’s the quartz,” Jace said without opening his eyes. “There’s a streak of it in the bedrock. It messes with the signal.”

“Can I charge it?”

“Sure. I rigged up an outlet for the TV. There’s one in the kitchen, too.”

“That’s lit. At least I can play games.” Kyler got a cord to charge the phone, and then sat down in the chair again, eyes half-shut. It was past two o’clock, and he’d been up early to apply for a job at a local pizza place.

Evie opened her mouth to tell him to go to bed, and then closed it. He’d only snap at her, and it wasn’t like they had anywhere to be in the morning.

Suha continued working on Jace, moving from his thigh to his stomach to his nape. A trio of fae lights drifted down to circle Evie’s head. She felt that curious tingle of energy, and the hand holding Jace’s warmed.

She blinked, and looked again. The gash on his thigh was visibly healing like a fast-motion video.

When it was just a thin red line, Suha shot Evie a look, her brow furrowed, and then sat back. “There,” she told Jace. “You can run a frickin’ marathon if you want. But for God’s sake, can you go a couple of weeks without letting someone take a chunk out of you?”

He propped his elbows on the couch and winked at her. “You’re the best.”

“Yeah, yeah.” But she grinned back at him before turning to Evie. “And you—you’re part fae.”

She shrugged. “That’s what they say.”

“But no one told me you’re a healer.”