Hunt the Darkness (Order of the Blade Book 11)
Page 41
“You were planning to stay here?” Guilt shot through Blue. There was no chance in hell he was stealing her safe house. He stood up. “No problem. It’ll take me five minutes to pack, and the place is all yours.” He set his beer on the counter of the kitchenette, and strode across the room to where his duffel was stashed. “I’ve already been here two days, and I told Harlan I wasn’t staying any longer than that—”
“Whoa.” She stood up just as quickly, her hand going to his arm as he passed.
He froze, his senses flashing to awareness at the feel of her touch. Her fingers were gentle, barely there, and yet he couldn’t move away from her. He took a breath, and turned his head to look at her. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “The place is yours—”
“No, I don’t need it. Emma found another place, one that’s in town, which I would prefer anyway.” She rolled her eyes. “I was never a huge nature girl, but after tonight, I think I’d lie in bed all night waiting for the boogie man to get me if I stayed here. It’s all good.”
“But you’ll have to pay for that one, right?” He didn’t move away from her touch, and she didn’t take her hand away either.
Her face softened. “It’s very sweet of you to be concerned about that, but the answer is no, actually. You know how Harlan is a real estate agent in his spare time?” At his nod, she continued on. “He has a vacant listing that’s for sale, but the owners said I could stay there for free while it’s on the market. They figure it’ll help sell if the windows are opened and the mustiness is aired out, so I’m good. That’s where you’re driving me tonight, unless you can work magic with my car.”
He grimaced. “I don’t want to complicate things for you—”
“It’s not complicating anything,” she interrupted. “Seriously, this works out better for me.” She patted his arm. “But I appreciate your willingness to surrender the cabin to me.” Her smile faded. “It’s nice. Nice is good.”
He still didn’t move. “I’m not nice.”
She raised her brows. “No?”
“No.” Her face was so close to his. Only inches away. Her mouth…it was insanely tempting. He imagined brushing a kiss over her forehead. Across her cheeks. Against the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes widened, and she caught her breath. Suddenly, that same tension that had been strung so tight when they’d first walked in was back, only this time, it hummed with higher intensity, like the eerie silence when a night was too still, indicating that all hell was about to break loose.
He brushed his fingers along her jaw, and she froze, not even breathing. “Would it be inappropriate to kiss you right now?”
“Yes.” She blurted out the answer before he’d finished asking the question. “Don’t kiss me.” But she didn’t retreat, or even turn her head away from the brush of his fingers along her jaw. “Don’t even think about it.”
He shrugged. “Can’t help thinking about it.”
“Well, find a way.” She swallowed hard.
“Can’t.” Silently, he moved his hands so his fingers were resting on her throat. The frantic fluttering of her pulse was like a butterfly beneath his touch, delicate, untamed, and beautiful. “You could stay here instead of going into town tonight.”
Her eyes widened. “Stay here? With you?”
“Yeah.” He ran his fingers along her collarbone, tracing the delicate curve of her body.
She closed her eyes, inhaling sharply at his touch, leaning into him ever so slightly. “Never.”
“Why not?” He wanted to kiss that fluttering pulse in her throat. He wanted to trace it with his lips, and his tongue. He wanted to taste her lips.
“Because—” She stopped, her breath catching again as he bent his head and pressed a feather-light kiss to the delicate skin of her throat. “Oh, God. Really? You had to do that?”
“Yeah, I did. Your throat was calling to me. Didn’t you hear it? It was whispering my name. Blue, kiss me. Blue, kiss me now.”
She made a strangled noise that sounded like a cross between laughter and disgusted, skeptical scorn. “My body would never beg for a man’s kiss. Ever. You’re delusional.”
“Probably.” He pressed another kiss to her collarbone, and her fingers tightened on his arm, where they were still resting from her initial contact. “But as delusions go, it’s an extremely pleasant one, so I’m just going to go with it.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Can you hear it? Now it’s your cheek whispering to me. Blue. Kiss me.”
“My cheek is not saying that—” He brushed a kiss over her left cheekbone. “Damn you,” she whispered.
He bent his head, so his lips were hovering over hers. “What about your lips? Can you hear them whispering?”
“They’re telling you to stop bugging me.” But her fingers continued to grip his arm, and she didn’t pull away.
“What about the corner of your mouth? Right here?” He kissed the spot in question.
She tightened her grip on his arm. “Oh, yeah, maybe there. That might have been saying something to you.”
“And this corner?” He tried the other.
She made a small noise of pleasure that made him grin. “It’s a distinct possibility,” she muttered. “But only because that particular corner of my mouth is stupid, irresponsible, and a glutton for situations that would leave it strewn across the highway in a thousand shattered pieces.”
He slid his hand into her hair, tangling his fingers in the strands. “No need for shattered pieces,” he said gently. “I can’t have any of that when I’m around. I’m a sucker for picking up broken pieces and trying to glue them back together. I can’t ever leave them scattered around. It’s against my nature.” His lips brushed hers, barely, just a whispered touch that made visceral longing course through him, tightening every muscle in his body. “I need to kiss you, Chloe. Like my life fucking depends on it.”
Her eyes snapped open, and she searched his face. He knew he’d sounded too desperate, but he didn’t pull back. He let her see the raw, brokenness of his soul. He let her see it, because she’d already ripped away his shields, leaving him with no defenses.
“Kiss me, Blue,” she whispered. “Kiss me, now.”
“Chloe.” With a low groan, he closed the distance between them, and claimed her mouth with his own.
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Books By Stephanie Rowe
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Order of the Night
(An Order of the Blade Spinoff series)
Edge of Midnight (featuring Thano Savakis)
Coming in 2017!
Heart of the Shifter series
Dark Wolf Rising
Dark Wolf Unbound
Dark Wolf Untamed (Coming Soon!)
Shadow Guardians series
Leopard’s Kiss
Order of the Blade series
Darkness Awakened
Darkness Seduced
Darkness Surrendered
Forever in Darkness
Darkness Reborn
Darkness Arisen
Darkness Unleashed
Inferno of Darkness
Darkness Possessed
Shadows of Darkness
Hunt the Darkness
Darkness Revealed (Coming Soon!)
NightHunter series
Not Quite Dead
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Wyoming Rebels series
A Real Cowboy Never Says No
A Real Cowboy Knows How to Kiss
A Real Cowboy Rides a Motorcycle
A Real Cowboy Never Walks Away
A Real Cowboy Loves Forever (Coming mid-2017!)
Birch Crossing series
Unexpectedly Mine
Accidentally Mine
Unintentionally Mine
Irresistibly Mine
Mistakenly Mine (Coming Soon!)
Mystic Island series
Wrapped Up in You
ROMANTIC SUSPENSE
Alaska Heat Series
Ice
Chill
Ghost
YOUNG ADULT
Once Upon an Ending Series
The Fake Boyfriend Experiment
Ice Cream, Jealousy & Other Dating Tips
The Truth About Thongs
How to Date a Bad Boy
Pedicures Don’t Like Dirt
Geeks Can Be Hot
For a complete list of Stephanie’s books, click here.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to my beta readers and the Rockstars. You guys are the best! There are so many to thank by name, more than I could count, but here are those who I want to called out specially for all they did to help this book come to life: Malinda Davis Diehl, Leslie Barnes, Kayla Bartley, Alencia Bates Salters, Alyssa Bird, Donna Bossert, Jean Bowden, Shell Bryce, Ashley Cuesta, Denise Fluhr, Valerie Glass, Heidi Hoffman, Jeanne Stone, Guinevere Jones, Dottie Jones, Janet Juengling-Snell, Deb Julienne, Bridget Koan, Felicia Low Mikoll, Phyllis Marshall, Suzanne Mayer, Jodi Moore, Ashlee Murphy, Elizabeth Neal, Judi Pflughoeft, Carol Pretorius, Kasey Richardson, Caryn Santee, Amber Ellison Shriver, Summer Steelman, Regina Thomas, and Linda Watson. Special thanks to my family, who I love with every fiber of my heart and soul. And to AER, who is my world. Love you so much, baby girl!
For AER, my shining light.
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Rowe is the author of more than forty-five novels, and she’s a four-time nominee for the RITA® award, the highest award in romance fiction. As an award-winning author, Stephanie has been touching readers’ hearts and keeping them spellbound for more than a decade with her contemporary romances, romantic suspense, paranormal romances, and YA contemporary romances.
For the latest info on Stephanie and her books, connect with her on the web at:
@StephanieRowe2
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www.stephanierowe.com
stephanie@stephanierowe.com