Page 64 of Siege of Blood and Betrayal
“I suppose.”
“What happened?”
Her back stiffens, and she doesn’t look at me as she passes and moves toward the next guest room. “Nothing worth mentioning. Lies were told. Things got… complicated.”
Complicated.Fair enough.
She leads me to the next room down the hallway, opens the door and motions me inside. The room is elegant and yet masculine, the soft shades of gray and the deep oxblood red of the Vasari colors creating a dramatic effect.
It’s nicer than any hotel I’ve ever stayed at, but that doesn’t interest me. There’s only one thought pumping adrenaline through my bloodstream right now. “And where is your room?”
She chuckles. “Back the way we came and across from the office.”
I swagger forward and rest my hands on her hips. “We could save on laundry by sharing.”
Scottie lets out a surprised laugh, the sound light and warm. “As committed as I am to lowering my carbon footprint, I don’t think that would be wise.”
“Wisdom is overrated. We will be amazing.” I can feel it in the way her eyes meet mine, in the way her breath hitches when we’re this close.
She bites her lip, her gaze steady. “Tucker, this is crazy. It’s not natural.”
I lift one shoulder. “Not for normal humans, but we live in a world of magic.”
“Is that what this is?” Her gaze narrows as she studies my expression. “And please, don’t lie to me.”
I bristle at the thought. “Why would you think I’d ever lie to you, beautiful?”
“Past experience.”
The more I learn about her past experiences, the more I realize how desperately she needs a good man in her life. “Scotland, you don’t know me well yet, but I assure you, I will never lie to you. I may not tell you everything and bare my soul, but I’ll never lie.”
She studies me for a moment longer before smiling, a little softer this time. “That is both attractive and refreshing.”
I should leave her comment and simply take the win.
I can’t. Not when she’s standing this close, her scent wrapping around me, her voice soft and full of curiosity. “On a scale of 1 to 10, just how attractive is it?”
She bites her bottom lip, craning her neck to look up at me. Her body sways forward, making contact from our thighs right up to where her palms lay flat against my pecs. She’s warm and sexy and even though she can kick ass, she’s soft and curvy in all the right places.
She knows I’m totally checking her out and her feminine scent grows stronger. “Do all women fall for this cocky charm of yours?”
“Not all, but then again, I’ve never been as sure about any woman as I am about you.”
Her brow arches. “Why are you so sure? What is this?”
I ease back and hold one palm up between us. “Try something with me.”
After a moment, she nods and then mirrors the gesture.
My hand is massive when pressed up against hers, but the moment our palms touch, magic arcs, and a kaleidoscope of fluttering makes my heart beat faster.
Scottie sucks in a gasp, and I know she feels it, too. “That’s so crazy.”
It is… but it’s also incredible. “I don’t know for sure, but I have a theory about what’s happening.”
“All right. Let’s hear it.”
“My father held the power of the Sacred Squire when he and my mother made me. I carry it in my DNA. That same power is now embedded in your cells. I think there is a resonance of magic between us that just feels right. It’s like the pull of a magnet.”
