Page 20

‘I race,’ she said. ‘Pinnace-class. Modified engines. I’ve been doing it since I was fifteen.’

Xander blinked, surprised and impressed.

‘You’re a racer?’

‘Damn right,’ she said, pride slipping into her voice. ‘Won the Ventura 500K Circuit last cycle. Came second in the Haliton-X Straits Cup before that.’

‘Haliton-X,’ he echoed, adding a whistle. ‘That’s a tight field. Engine compression limits, atmospheric submersion round, canyon slalom final. And still runner up?’

‘Three seconds behind the leader,’ she said with a dry huff. ‘The winner disappeared straightaway after the flag. No name, no log-in, no post-race identity confirmation. The circuit called him a ghost.’

Alexandr took a slow sip of his whiskey, then smirked around the rim of his glass.

‘I know,’ he said, voice teasing, husky.

She narrowed her eyes.

‘You know?’

He set his drink down and gave her a lazy nod.

‘I was the kinai in the Nightstorm Vex.’

Her mouth dropped open. ‘You were in the Vex?’

‘Guilty as charged,’ he said, smirking now in full.

‘I don’t believe you.’

‘Want proof?’ he said, eyes glittering. ‘I’ll race you. You name the course. First pass, no safeties. Let’s see if you can handle a second-place rematch.’

Her brow arched, competitive fire sparking. ‘Fighting words, Roman. You better not ghost this time when I leave you behind.’

‘I only ghost when I win,’ he drawled, leaning closer, ‘or when things get too complicated.’

She didn’t back away, locking eyes with him.

Fokk , a racer like herself who looked like walking sin and gave off notes of smoke, leather, and a rare, storm-born spice. So freakin ’ seductive.

Their banter coiled tighter, electricity surging again between them, his utterances dripping with flirtation, deeper now, getting personal.

‘You ever think about putting those racing instincts to better use?’ he asked, lips brushing the rim of his tumbler, his voice timbred and velvet-wrapped. ‘Like training up a flotilla-wide fighter crew?’

She cocked a brow. ‘Why?’

‘We need more agile warriors, a united response,’ he said, leaning in just enough that her breath caught. ‘because shit is only going to get worse as we get closer to our destination. The Wildlight hides horrors unimaginable.’

‘According to whom?’

‘I’ve got intel from the most influential actors in Pegasi.’

Of course, he did.

She huffed, taking his pronouncement in while his essence and aura washed over her.

It wasn’t just his looks. It wasn’t the charm or the smirk or even the banter.

It was his mind, acute, strategic, hungry. The way he listened. The way he held a hundred thoughts behind his eyes let her feel their heft.

It was intoxicating.

Savvine was suddenly aware she was in serious trouble.

‘If I weren’t defending the Eterna to within an inch of my life, sounds like a challenge I’d like to take on,’ she murmured. Not sure if she was just referring to his blatant headhunt.

The blaze crackled, casting flickering shadows across his face.

Xander leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, tumbler dangling from his fingers. His gaze locked on hers, slow, deliberate, and searing.

‘You’re something else, Savvine Bianchi,’ he said, voice husky, words sliding over her like velvet over steel. ‘That fire in you, it’s not just rage or ambition. It’s smoldering purpose.’

She blinked, her pulse stuttering.

He tilted his head to the faux sky, eyes gleaming.

Her breath caught, her grip tightening on her glass.

The air between them roiled, turning molten.

‘Now,’ he added, softer still, ‘you’ve got me wondering what it’d take to make you stay a little longer. Fish a little more. Drink a little slower, mull over our troubles, work together, and find ways to forget it all.’

She didn’t trust herself to speak, not right away, because every cell in her body was screaming with desire.

The bourbon she sipped scorched her tongue as desire pulsed through her.

A flush rose in her cheeks, the way her limbs were loosening, her pulse jumping.

She sat back in the chair, dragging in a breath of cool night air, trying to anchor her soul.

Get a grip, Bianchi.

She cleared her throat. ‘Does this mean we can talk shop now?’ she said, a little too fast.

Alexandr turned his head, eyes half-lidded, a lazy grin tugging at his mouth.

‘Tomorrow, mi cielo ,’ he drawled, voice lower than dusk. ‘I’m too sleepy after that meal. Tonight, let’s listen to the waves lapping on the beach til they lull us to sleep.’

She lurched, as her traitorous body ached as if there was something else she wanted lapping.

Her skin prickled.

She shivered despite the blanket, and when their eyes met, his smirk deepened, knowing, dark, devastating, as if he read her mind.

‘Do I have a choice?’

‘ Nada .’

Why did it sound like he was referring to something altogether different?

Damn this man.

Xander suddenly knifed up in his seat, his spine stiffening.

He turned his head toward the underbrush. ‘ ?Quién está ahí ?’

Savvine caught a scrape of feet on rock, followed by a rustling.

‘Who’s there?’ Xander repeated in a growl.

A towering, glowering silhouette stepped into the open.

Bone.

Still barefoot and unsmiling, arms crossed over his scar-scored rippling chest, still wearing his grimy work trousers with the suspenders slack against his hips.

His eyes, black-lit and burning, fixed on her like he’d tracked her scent from the catacombs.

‘The fokk ,’ Xander muttered under his breath, voice gone steel.

Bone didn’t speak. He only stared at her, then at Xander, the air thickening between them with unspoken challenge.

Xander rose, slow and controlled. ‘Excuse me,’ he said to Savvine, already stepping off the blanket, and to her shock, stripping his tee and dropping it to her feet. ‘Shouldn’t take long.’

He jerked his chin at Bone, who followed him down the beach, their footsteps leaving twin tracks in the sand.

Savvine sat up, frozen, half in shock, half in curiosity, eyes locked on their retreating forms. They moved a reasonable distance away, out of earshot, but not out of sight.

Then it happened.

Without warning, both men shifted mid-air in a blur of light and arced charges, the night split by snarls and spectral energy.

Two wolves collided, one gold-violet and massive, the other obsidian and leaner but no less lethal.

They clashed with feral grace, claws skimming through moonlight, fangs flashing as they grappled and struck, bodies slamming into one another with the mass of tectonic force.

Were they fighting over her ?

Fokk , no way. It’d be too primal and archaic.

So why did her heart leap at observing them have it out in a savage and raw clash?

However, even in their fury, Savvine could tell they were holding back.

Finally, Xander, the more tactical of the two majestic wolves, twisted Bone, who fought with pure mass.

The Signet pack leader’s massive jaws clamped around the Sigma’s throat.

A long beat passed.

With a snarl, Bone yielded, shimmered back into his human form, neck bared, breathing ragged.

Xander released him, shifting back, his amethyst hair tousled and chest rising.

They exchanged words, rumbled, and tightened.

She couldn’t hear them, but she observed the tension.

Bone’s eyes darted her way again.

Uttering a guttural growl, he turned and vanished into the tree line, swallowed by the shadows like a ghost made flesh.

Xander walked back, naked from the waist up, his jaw clenched and his eyes unreadable.

Savvine sat gazing up at him, folding her arms. ‘What the hell was that?’

He reached for his shirt and shook out the sand.

‘A reminder to Bone that he’s not in charge and can’t take what he likes when he sees it,’ he rasped, slipping it on. ‘Especially not a guest.’

She jolted. ‘Me?’

Xander’s lips twitched. ‘Don’t let it get to your head. He won’t touch you.’

She gave him a glance, a flicker of worry. ‘Why? What did you tell him?’

‘What he needed to hear.’

His growl was timbered, yet his eyes were flaming, protective, and almost possessive as he raked them over her.

His tall frame cast long shadows in the firelight.

Then, with the same smooth confidence that was undoing her from the inside out, he extended a hand toward her.

‘Probably enough excitement for one day, ay? Come,’ he murmured. ‘Let me take you to one of our guest cabins.’

She hesitated half a breath to pretend she still had control, then slipped her hand into his.

She realized then she hadn’t thought of her overnight accommodation.

Damn, she had no choice but to go along with his hospitality.

Not that she minded.

His grip was warm and steady. It was firm yet gentle enough to ground her and make her want more.

He helped her to her feet, which brought her to his front.

She shivered despite the solid black of scorching heat at her back.

She made a move to pack up, and he shook his head. ‘I’ll take care of it later.’

Slinging her bag around his front in a cross-body hold, he led her along the quiet lake shore, slow and unhurried.

Her boots dangled from one hand, her comm tab carrier slung over the other.

She wrapped the shawl he gave her closer as the breeze picked up.

The lake rippled with silver light, fireflies drifting like dreams above the grass.

An owl hooted from the trees, and nature pulsed with calm, beauty, and an ancient, unspoken mystique.

She glanced up at the night sky dome arched overhead, endless and glittering. ‘This place is magical.’

Xander glanced at her, his expression soft. ‘Tis. Until werewolves come prowling from the undergrowth.’

She laughed, a nervous chuckle as they walked side by side through the quiet path toward the cabins, as night settled overhead.

Their pace was unhurried now, the adrenaline of the last few minutes fading, though the air between them still crackled, charged with tension and need.

Savvine peeked up at him, as yet another question burning in her chest rose to the surface.

‘Hey,’ she said, her voice softer now, brushed with a smile. ‘Can I ask you something a little personal?’