Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

“Alone at last,” Faith quipped as Gavin left, then cringed inwardly at her own words. Would Colt take them the wrong way and think she was coming on to him? For that matter, was she coming on to him? She wasn’t even sure herself.

He’d been a great temptation to her senses all day during the times they’d been together. Even as he was following her old car in his pickup truck, she’d thought about him and the devastating effect he had on her equilibrium. She liked the way his magic licked at her. That’s the closest word she could find to describe the way the tingles of his magic seemed to caress her every time they touched. It was a pleasant feeling. Exciting. Exhilarating. Even seductive.

By contrast, the other two shifters she’d touched hadn’t meshed well with her energies. So, it wasn’t a generalized shifter thing. It was a Colt and Faith thing. Unique to them and the way their energies interacted. The very idea made her want to explore it more, but she wasn’t sure what he was thinking. He’d been so good about biting his tongue and not rising to argue with Gavin or the Alpha when presented with their sometimes-challenging words.

She could read him that much, but when it came to how he might be thinking about her and a possible personal entanglement, she had no idea. The more she was around him, the more she wanted to touch him. She wanted to feel his hard muscles against her body. She wanted to know his kiss and his caresses. She wanted to feel more of the way their energies touched each other. She’d never been with a man who had that much personal magic. She wasn’t sure what it might mean for their lovemaking, but she had the idea in her head that it could be downright explosive in the most pleasurable of ways.

She would give just about anything to find out. Not that she was the kind of woman who jumped easily into bed with just anyone. No, she’d been very discriminating in her personal life, and it had been years since she’d been with a man. The kind of life she’d led recently hadn’t really lent itself to getting involved with anyone. She’d been too focused on her studies and how her abilities might be needed in the future.

Well, the future was here, and she had finally met a man who stirred her senses in a way that could not be denied. She wanted to get to know him better. She might even want to explore the sizzling sexual attraction she felt toward him. Soon. She just didn’t know if he felt the same.

“Do you want to check out the bedrooms?” Colt asked, moving toward her. For a split second she thought she saw a sexual invitation in his eyes that turned his words into something a lot more intimate than just picking which rooms they wanted. Then, it was gone. Had she imagined it?

She nodded, unable to speak just at that moment, and lifted her overnight bag that she’d been toting along with her since leaving her car. He had one too, only his duffle bag was a lot bigger than hers. Colt came right up to her and took the little bag out of her fingers. The tingles of awareness ran up her arm as their skin touched, and she released the bag without questioning his intentions.

“Let me carry this for you. I should’ve done so before, but I honestly wasn’t sure what we would be walking into here. I’m glad it turned out to not be an ambush.” He winked at her and began walking toward the back of the living room and the doors that Gavin had indicated hid the bedrooms.

“Wait.” Faith jogged a little to catch up with him. “Did you really think it could’ve been an ambush?” Her shock sounded through her tone.

Colt shrugged. “I try to anticipate all contingencies,” he told her calmly as he shouldered open one of the doors and stepped inside.

“But the Kinkaid Clan is well known to be on the right side of things,” she insisted.

“Perhaps, but there can always be a bad apple. Or they could have objected to my presence. I’m not, after all, one of theirs, even if I do have the same last name. I’ve avoided Clan territory all my life.”

That stopped her in her tracks. “Then, why did you come here?”

He stopped and turned toward her. “Because you had to, and I gave my word that I’d protect you. I might not be happy that we’re in Houston, but I’m here to do my duty and make sure you’re safe to the best of my ability. I couldn’t let you face this alone.”

Something in her heart cracked open a little. The look in his eyes as he said the words touched something deep inside. She walked up to him slowly and reached out to put her hand over his heart.

“That’s incredibly nice of you,” she said softly.

“Hey, don’t let that get around. My rep depends on people thinking I’m a badass. Not a nice guy,” he quipped, a little smile tugging up the corner of his mouth. She found it endearing.

“I’m sorry if this has put you in an awkward situation,” she went on.

He shrugged a little. “Don’t worry about it. I do what I have to do.”

“Did you ever think that maybe the Mother of All sent you here for a reason?” she asked, keeping her voice low, as if she was trying not to spook a wild creature.

She could feel the steady beat of his heart under her hand and the heat of him went right through the fabric of his T-shirt. He was warm. So warm.

“Yeah, maybe. And I think maybe that reason is you, Faith,” he said, his voice dropping low as his words surprised her. “And I don’t just mean that I’m here to do a job. I mean that I’m here for you .”

His gaze held hers, and she found she was holding her breath. Could he possibly be feeling the same sizzling attraction she was? His eyes seemed to hold an emphatic yes . But maybe that was just wishful thinking.

“I have to confess,” she said, looking downward for a moment, nervous about what she was going to say. “I’ve been sort of hoping...” She found she couldn’t quite finish her brazen words. Was she making a fool out of herself?

Colt put one strong finger under her chin and raised her face upward so she would meet his gaze. Then, he smiled, and her heart opened.

“You have?” he asked, his voice a low, sexy rumble. “Because I’ve been feeling something since the moment we met. Something very strong and very intriguing. I didn’t dare hope you were experiencing it too.”

She nodded slightly, and his hand moved from her chin to her shoulder. Almost in slow motion, she saw his head descend as she lifted to meet him. Then, his lips were on hers, and the magic zinged between them for a timeless moment, filling her senses with sparkles and her body with white hot tingles of awareness.

She wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted. It felt like forever wouldn’t be long enough to kiss this man. He fit her body to his, and the tingles increased, making her body yearn for more even as he deepened the kiss, stealing her breath and exciting her senses even further.

The man was potent, and he really knew how to light her fire. If they were free to explore this intense attraction, she would give in totally and just jump on him here and now, taking him to the floor and having her wicked way with him. She was that hungry for him by the time he let her up for air. But she read the same regret in his eyes as she felt in her own body. They didn’t really have time for this right now. Gavin would be back in less than an hour, and she wouldn’t want to be caught in flagrante by their new acquaintance.

Colt backed off a little but kept her in his arms, their gazes locked. His eyes told her most of what she wanted to know. There was no way he could fake that heavy-lidded pleasure she read in his eyes, or the hunger riding just below the surface.

“I’ve been wanting to do that all day,” he rumbled, that little half-smile lifting one corner of his mouth.

“I’m glad,” she replied honestly. “I was afraid maybe I was the only one feeling the pull.”

“Nope,” he said, shaking his head slightly. “I like the way I feel when I’m around you and the way our magic—if that’s what it is—zings when we touch.” He lifted one of his hands to capture hers, which was still on his chest. He lifted their hands, entwining their fingers. “Can you see that?” he asked, his gaze on their hands. “Little sparkles of magic zipping around wherever we touch. It’s addictive.”

“You can see that?” she asked, surprised.

“Yeah.” He shrugged, still watching their hands for a moment, then moving his gaze to meet her eyes. “Can’t you?”

“I feel it, and I can see it if I focus and really try, but Colt, you must have a lot more of your mother’s magic than you think if you can see magic so easily.” Her mind raced with the possibilities. “Have you ever had any magical training?”

“Me? No.” He shook his head, seeming to be surprised by her words. “None of us ever thought we got much from Mom. The shifting was obvious from Dad’s side of the family. We figured we just took after him, and that was it.”

She shook her head a little. “I think you have been selling yourselves short. You have magic, my friend. Maybe a whole lot more than you realize.”

He was quiet for a moment then released her hand so that he could cup her cheek and deliver another, disappointingly chaste, kiss then let her go. “It’s something to consider, I guess,” he allowed, “but right now, we should check out the rooms, get cleaned up a little, and get ready for Gavin to return. That nosey lion is going to be checking on us every chance he gets, I’m thinking.”

“You’re probably right. I think he’s really curious about you,” she added, moving past Colt to open one of the doors and peer into the room. “This one is nice,” she said, feeling his presence against her back as he looked over her shoulder and into the bedroom.

It was spacious and had its own bathroom they could just see through an open door next to a closet that also had its doors open. The bed was huge. King size, at least, she thought.

“Let’s look at the other one,” Colt suggested, moving away to open the door a few yards away. She followed him as he stepped into the room and stood in the doorway. “I think they’re pretty much the same,” he observed as he looked around.

“Okay, then I’ll take the other one, and you settle in here,” she suggested. “Unless you want the other one for some reason?”

“No, they’re the same. Equally vulnerable and equally safe,” he said, stopping his perusal of the room to look at her.

“And they both have their own bathrooms,” she added, nodding to the layout that was a mirror of the room next door. She picked up her little bag from where he’d placed it near the door, next to his own, and headed for the other room. “I’ll see you after I get cleaned up. I think I’m going to have a shower.”

“Yeah, me too,” he replied. His gaze met hers, and she swore she could see smoldering flames in his eyes for a split second. “Think of me,” he said, his voice that sexy low rumble that fired her senses.

She fled, not knowing what to say, but certain she would be able to think of nothing else but having him in the shower with her while she was wet and soapy and…hot. Dammit . He had a way of getting under her skin and into her brain without even trying that hard. Now she was going to be horny all night. Unless…

Yeah, plans started to form in her mind for seducing him once they were completely alone. After dinner, once they got rid of Gavin for the night, she was not going to let Colt off the hook. He’d made her too hungry. Too needy. She wanted him, and there was really no reason why she shouldn’t reap the fruits of this situation.

Besides, if she was going into battle in the days to come, she might as well eat, drink, and be merry right now. She’d abstained from pleasure for so long. She wanted to embrace life right now. To embrace him . The most exciting, enticing, sexy man she’d ever met in her life.