by Anya Nowlan
River drummed his fingers on the arm rest, his brows knit together.
His men were loyal to him, but he wasn’t foolish enough to think that couldn’t change. His family name was one thing that had helped him stay on top, but more so it was his reputation. No one crossed River Royce and lived to tell the tale.
Except for Kate.
As soon as he showed weakness, the higher ranks would come for him, like sharks smelling blood. Yet he couldn’t make himself feel bad for not killing Kate. Even though her presence was causing him more problem than he could count, having her there was also the only positive thing he could find in the potential shitstorm he was facing.
Her scent still clung to him and the thought of her just a short walk away, naked under a hot stream of water made his mouth dry and his heart beat faster.
Ridiculous. How can one woman have such an effect on me? I’m River Royce, head of the Crimson Claws, not some inexperienced cub who loses his mind at the sight of a hot woman…
Nothing he told himself made the rush of his blood quiet or his tiger stop growling, though. He had to face the facts.
He had a weakness now and it was called Kate Walker.
And not only was she a weakness, but she was his mate. The greatest weakness he would ever have.
This would have been so much easier had I just taken an arranged mate…
Suddenly, he felt very tired.
Of always being on guard, of cleaning up the messes his men left behind, of the responsibility of having a whole organization lean on him. The Claws had had a purpose once, a reason to exist other than greed and violence. Granted, that reason had been mostly to sate his own spite and anger at the world, but it had been something.
Maybe he had even harbored daydreams of making the organization something… better, one day. But those days were long past. The Claws seemed to be drifting further and further away from what River had hoped the organization would become, and he knew he had no one but himself to blame for it.
His heart wasn’t in it, and maybe his conscience was catching up to him. Either case, the end result rested solely on his capable shoulders.
But he had made his bed and now he had to sleep in it. No matter how much he had felt like he had no choice but to follow in his father’s footsteps, like Kate had not so gently pointed out, he could have decided to go a different way.
I still could…
He didn’t get to ponder his life choices further, though, as Gunner suddenly reappeared in the doorway of the study River had ended up in. He waited silently for River to acknowledge him.
“Sir, I’ve received some information,” he said after River looked up at him.
Great, now what?
“What is it?”
“Your father just landed in O’Hare, sir.”
Shit. Dornan Royce is the last man who needs to witness all of this.
“Thank you, you can go,” River instructed with a sigh.
His father barely came to Chicago, too busy running his own organization to visit his sons. Even more concerning, he hadn’t told River he was coming. While shifter father and son relationships always came with their fair share of tension, it was nothing like what River had with Dornan. Somehow, the Royce family could always take everything a notch too far.
River didn’t like surprises, especially when they involved Dornan.
This can’t be good.
Nineteen
Kate
Leaving me unsupervised, huh? I can’t tell if this is another challenge or he’s confident I won’t be able to get past the front door, Kate wondered, looking around the room with her hands on her hips.
It matched the rest of the house. Simple, with clean lines and a no-nonsense vibe, it was just the right mix of masculine and Spartan for her tastes. It managed to be serious without being bare or uninviting. Sort of reminded her of her Chicago mansion, the one she’d had to leave behind.
She rummaged through the drawers near the bed, just in case she found something that could be useful in her next escape attempt.
Tracking me down may be easy on a cornfield smack dab in the middle of nowhere, but sniffing me out in a city of almost three million people should be challenging even for him. I hope.
Whatever this thing was between her and River, however magnetic and attractive she found him, it didn’t mean she was going to give up her freedom. While she had no desire to hurt him, she wasn’t sure what she would be capable of doing if he got in her way.
Could she plunge a knife into his chest if it meant getting away?
Cursing herself, she realized the answer came to her far too easily.
No, she wouldn’t.
So she would just have to get out of here without him even knowing she was gone until it was too late.
Right now, he was probably on full alert, waiting for her to make a move. But as time passed, he would drop his guard and she would be waiting to take advantage of it.
Smiling to herself, finding the thought of outsmarting him exciting, she peeled off her clothes. Stepping into the guest bathroom and into the shower, she was eager to wash the cornfield off of her.
The fact that it would also wash River away was somewhat less appealing, though.
Adrenaline filled her veins as she thought back on River’s hands on her body, the whole thing made even more thrilling by the preceding chase. Her hands stroked over her body, gravitating to where River had touched her, and her eyes closed as she remembered what he’d done to and with her.
The water was suddenly too hot on her skin and she leaned against the cold marble of the bathroom wall. Breathing harder, she willed the delicious image of River’s naked form to leave her mind.
With some reluctance, she had to admit River had a point. They couldn’t sweep what happened between them under the rug.
From his remarks, it was clear that she wasn’t the only one who had found it more than memorable.
As hard as she tried, she couldn’t forget the way their bodies melted together so naturally. She hadn’t felt anything even close to it since…
No. Not now.
Adjusting the water’s temperature from hot to cold, she forced herself not to finish that thought. No matter how badly she had wanted to move on after David’s death, there was always a part of her that held on and felt guilty whenever she had even an inkling of any romantic feelings towards someone. It was the sole reason why every single one of her relationships since him had failed.
They’d never had a chance.
Thinking rationally, she knew there would have to be a time when she let herself fall in love again, fully and without shame. Yet that shadowy corner of her still whispered to her, making her feel like finding someone new made what she had shared with David less special.
David had been a kind, devoted man, a real rock to lean on. Always ready to listen, patient and loving. There were things he didn’t like to talk about, like his time in the military, but there was no one more honest. Their life together was uninteresting in the best of ways, filled with lazy afternoons roaming the city and nights spent cuddling up on the couch.
And then I stood by and let him die…
The image of his bloody, lifeless body would never be erased from her mind, no matter how hard she tried. And she wasn’t sure it was something she wanted to forget. It was a reminder of what she used to be and what she never wanted to be again.
And even if she did manage to quiet that part of her, River would be the last person she would pursue a relationship with.
That would be pure madness. There was nothing between them other than an insane physical attraction, amplified by the fact they couldn’t get away from each other.
Right?
Right.
Shampooing her hair, she forced her mind to go blank. Her thoughts were uncharacteristically tangled and illogical. Of course there was nothing real between her and River. It was absurd to even consider anything else. She found herself scrubbing at her skin way too ha
rd.
After washing his scent off her, she got out of the shower and went through the closet in the bedroom, hoping to find something to wear.
No way am I putting on that t-shirt again. I still have some dignity left.
With a relieved sigh, she pulled out a bathrobe from the bottom of the closet. She wasn’t used to being without her massive wardrobe. Her clothes were a form of self-expression to her, and this white terrycloth robe didn’t exactly scream ‘sophisticated and deadly’.
At least I won’t have to walk around half-naked anymore. Or surrounded by his smell.
At the same time, it was very easy to remove. Mixed with her wavering resolve to keep her hands off River, it didn’t make for a very good combo. But beggars couldn’t be choosers in this instance. Kate would just have to make the best of it.
Towel-drying her hair, she moved to the window, bringing her face near the glass so she could have a better view of what was going on outside.
A tall, lean man was walking around in the small backyard, pointing and talking. As he moved forward, four other men came into view behind him, nodding and looking around.
From the tattoos and gun holsters peeking out from under their clothes, she guessed they weren’t gardeners.
So River is already beefing up his security, she mused, not being able to help the grin that spread across her face. At least he’s not underestimating me this time.
Many of her targets had made that mistake over the years, fooled by her blonde hair, tight dresses and sweet smiles. But River had gotten a good idea of what she was capable of that first night they met, and was probably acquainted with her resume even before that.
It actually felt nice to have someone know about and appreciate her talents, even if he’d come in all gung-ho the first time.
The fact that he’d won in that particular duel wasn’t something she wanted to dwell on.
My particular set of skills is something only someone like River would find appealing.
A knock at the door derailed her train of thought and immediately put her on edge. Rolling up the sleeves of the oversized robe, she cracked her neck, ready for anything.
It might be River’s house, but it could just as well be Dyson at the door. It seemed he had free roam in this place from the way he had looked very at home before. And he could very well see her as a problem that needed solving, while River seemed to view her as a problem mostly meant for pondering.
“Kate?” River’s voice flowed in from the other side.
She relaxed right away, chiding herself as she did. He wasn’t her friend, he was the man that took her and dragged her back to Chicago against her will.
The war inside her continued, her gut telling her he could be trusted while her mind disagreed, even as she crossed the room and opened the door.
There he stood, smiling at her, disarming as usual. The way his eyes roamed over her made her feel naked even though she was covered almost head-to-toe in the bathrobe. Resisting the urge to smile back, she placed a hand on her hip and brought all the annoyance brimming inside her, though it was mostly at herself, to the surface.
“What do you want? Come to tell me the house rules? Lights out at eleven, no murdering your guards, that sort of thing?”
“Actually, I’ve come to ask you to join me for dinner.”
Kate’s brows shot up at that, even as her stomach growled. Being around River was dangerous and an intimate dinner was the last thing she needed if she was going to keep her proverbial pants on.
But I’m hungry!
She’d need to keep up her strength if she was going to escape. Having dinner with River could also provide her with a good opportunity to look around downstairs and try to find the weak spots in his security.
That’s the only reason I’m saying ‘yes’. It has nothing to do with wanting to be close to him, or any other such bullshit.
She almost believed the rationalizing.
“Fine. I’m a little underdressed, though.”
“What you wear is not important. You can come naked for all I care.”
The smoldering look and matching smirk he threw her way was hard to ignore, but she did her best. He didn’t even try to hide the way his gaze roamed over her, like he knew every inch of what was under that robe.
Which, of course, he did. Cocky bastard.
What is going on with me? I have better self-control than this!
Arching a brow and squaring her shoulders, she took a step closer to him. It was hard to miss the way his pupils dilated, or the way her heart started beating faster when his masculine scent hit her nostrils.
No. There will be no fluttering hearts or butterfly-filled stomachs. I am still angry at him, damnit!
The little pep-talk she gave herself seemed to work as the shields she had constructed long ago shot back up around her.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable traipsing around without any clothes on, with all the security guards milling around.”
River’s smile vanished at her sharp tone.
“I haven’t forgotten I’m your prisoner, so you can stop playing the gracious host. I’ll be down in ten,” she said, before taking a step back and slamming the door shut in his face.
The moment she heard his footsteps retreat from her door, Kate plopped down on the bed with a groan.
I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. He is much too charismatic for his own good.
And now I’m having dinner with him with almost no clothes on. This should be fun and not at all an excruciating exercise in self-control.
Twenty
River
Sitting in the dining room, River listened to every little creak and rustle, waiting for Kate to come downstairs. He didn’t host many dinners, which likely came as no surprise, but the room had come with the house. After transforming a large section of the first floor into a control room for his security, he had gotten tired of remodeling and decided to leave the dining room as it was.
Sitting at a table together, maybe he could coax something out of his Ice Queen.
The stairs groaned softly and he almost shot up from his seat, but decided against it. Being polite only seemed to annoy Kate, and he needed this dinner to go well. He wasn’t even sure why it was so important to him, but it was.
Please… You know, he told himself sternly.
She was still reluctant to communicate with him past terse accusations and jabs at his character. Which was fair, but he was sure there was something else she was holding back. He wanted to know what that was. Or, more precisely, he needed to know if he had a shot at her at all, past the occasional romp in the corn field.
Kate rounded the corner, still in her robe, her hair slightly damp, and looked at the dinner table apprehensively, ignoring him. Since she looked like she was a second away from changing her mind and bolting back upstairs, River leapt into action, disregarding his earlier decision to not treat her like a guest.
He didn’t usually waver in his tactics or back down from his strategies like that. It set a bad precedent for the persona of an iron-willed leader like him, but Kate already had him breaking all his rules, so what the hell.
Jumping to his feet, he made his way to the other side of the table and pulled out a chair.
“Please,” he said, gesturing towards it.
Kate looked at him suspiciously, but walked over and sat down anyway. She quirked her nose when he helped her slide the seat in.
He didn’t know what kind of food she liked, so he had one of his guys go and grab different to-go meals from all of Chicago’s most beloved restaurants. Which meant there were piles and piles of food stacked on the table, ranging from pasta and pizza to steaks and seafood.
Getting back to his seat, he noticed Kate looking around, seemingly confused.
“Who else is joining us?” she asked.
“No one, it’s just us.”
“Then who is all this for?”
“I didn’t know what you liked so…” he t
railed off, shrugging. “And I have an appetite.”
“You really are insane,” she muttered as she started filling her plate regardless.
Her robe opened up just slightly as she leaned forward, making it hard for River to concentrate on the meal. Not wanting to get caught staring, he busied himself with piling a mountain of food in front of him. He wasn’t kidding, he would have no problem going through all of this food by his lonesome, especially after the workouts Kate had given him.
River gestured to the bottles in the middle of the table.
“Wine?”
Kate opened her mouth, a scowl on her face, but seemed to reconsider whatever she was about to say. She snapped her mouth shut, thinking it over.
“Red. Dry. Thanks.”
River got up, opened one of the bottles and walked over to fill her glass. He stood close and inhaled her scent as he poured the liquid into her glass. A stray strand of hair fell on Kate’s face and he had to stop himself from brushing it away, guessing the gesture would cost him at least a finger if not the whole hand.
Getting back in his seat with some reluctance, they both dug into their dinner in silence. Kate looked at him warily from time to time and he kept stealing glances at her whenever he could.
A slew of possible topics kept rushing through his head, but none of them sounded like something that would afford him more than a lukewarm response from the prim and proper woman sitting across from him. So the silence lingered.
When Kate looked like she was almost done with her meal, he decided it was the right time to try and have an actual conversation, damn the consequences.
“You’re going to need some clothes.”
Kate sipped her wine, looking poised to rule a small country despite her undone hair and fluffy robe. The way she managed to look dignified no matter the situation still amazed him. There weren’t a lot of women like her out in the world, that was certain.