to drop his chin a bit and curve an arm around her shoulders to snug her in tight against his body. Tears still gathered in the corners of her eyes though she’d never cried, not really. Vulnerable and hurting, adjusting to their crazy town and all of its ornery inhabitants. If he were Christian, he wouldn’t let her out of his sight.
He touched her waist and turned her, regret making his smile stiff. Audrey honked the horn and he pushed Raquel into the hallway. “You go. I’ll call you when I have the new design ready.”
She only glanced back once, at the door. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded.
The damnedest thing was that he believed her. He thought if she was free, she might have kissed him. And for her, he might take the chance of losing himself. But he knew the cost. He only had to look at Brian and Julia to remember why he’d made that vow to never take a mate. He didn’t intend to bind himself to anyone ever and certainly not to this woman. He wouldn’t betray Christian. And Rocky...
And none of it mattered anyway because right now, Rocky wasn’t offering him anything more than an apology.
Raquel copped another peek at Christian when he wasn’t looking. He’d offered lunch and she’d asked if they could take it out to the lake so she could get another look at the fault. Maybe without Lois looking over her shoulder, she’d see something she’d missed the other day.
But Christian was just as distracting, albeit in an altogether different way. He was like some kind of god. Thor reincarnate. Strong body, straight and tall, dark blond hair and those sharp blue eyes. She didn’t know how to handle him—not his deep silences or his aggressive charm. He made her edgy and uncertain, uncomfortable in her own skin.
She wondered if that was what had made her seek out Fen for help rather than going to Christian. Fen was far more approachable—weird, since he was a hound and most people gave the pack wide berth. There were challenges to being a hound that outsiders couldn’t possibly understand. She’d always thought it would be hardest to be a counselor crow. Cool to be able to fly, yes. And you’d also have the respect people naturally afforded to the Odin’s counselors. It would be fun to have a twin too. But to live for that long, watching people born and die while you remained the same for centuries...uh-uh, she wouldn’t choose that for all the world. Nor would she ever choose to be a hound.
She was perfectly happy being a witch. If only she could take her place.
Self-doubt was eating away at her confidence and making her second-guess everything. That’s all. She wasn’t throwing Fen under the wheels of that bus, Christian either. Or her family.
Christian was hers. He was a good man. Kind and strong. He wanted her, and she respected the hell out of him. She was attracted to him too. How could she not be? That could turn into love, and she owed it to everyone to at least give it a chance.
She thought of Fen last night, wiping the runes from her arm. The gentle touch of his hands and the not- gentle look in his eyes. When she’d stumbled against him in the bathroom, she’d felt his erection. Full and hard and straining at his jeans. And true...that didn’t necessarily mean anything. He was a hound, a twentysomething- year-old virgin. It was understandable that he’d react to a woman throwing herself at him. But she’d felt him press against her...just for a moment. She’d caught the raw expression on his face. And it had set her to wondering what those skillful hands would feel like on other parts of her body. What it would be like if she’d been contracted to Fen instead of Christian.
And there was
The lake was long and narrow. Christian led them down a deer path that ended in a rocky outcrop overlooking the water. He spread a blanket and sat down, swinging his feet out over the edge, and she did the same. This side was bluff, but a little farther down the land gentled to grass and dirt. A willow tree grew among the other barren trees, still golden-leaved and restless in the wind. If someone trucked sand in, it would be a perfect spot for a beach. Geese and a few ducks didn’t seem to mind the weird energy here. Neither did the other wildlife. Most people born to this world wouldn’t even feel it.
“I used to come here a lot when I was little.”
She put her hands behind her and braced her weight on her arms. “Training?”
“Sometimes. Mostly just to get away. My father trained me himself.” He met her gaze briefly. “He wanted the perfect warrior. Sometimes...I needed to get away from that.”
Sun glinted in the gold of his hair. Strange to think that a man like Christian had ever worried about measuring up.
“Well, it looks like he got his wish.”
“Maybe.” He stared at his feet for a moment, then turned his head to catch her gaze. “Fen said you were upset about our expectation that you’d be able to fix this. We’ll fix this even if Aiden has to barter services with the other clans to call in help. And...even if you’re never able to assume the role as clan witch, I’m okay with that.”
Her instinct was to avoid his searching look, but she forced herself to face this head-on. “Fen’s trying to help me figure a way past the block. Using some runes to amplify my power and control. I think we’ll figure it out.”
“I don’t want you to hurt yourself trying to prove something. Not to me.”
As far as romantic declarations went, that one sucked donkey balls, but the look in his eyes made up for it. A promise there, one he was making on his own and not because of a contract he’d never signed. “Thank you, Christian. It means a lot to me to hear you say that.”
“I don’t want perfection.” But he did, he tried so hard to be perfect. Maybe he didn’t demand it from others, but Raquel thought he wanted perfection very badly. She reached for his hand and he pulled hers to his mouth, kissed the backs of her knuckles and set it on his thigh. “And I don’t want to mess this up.”
He handed her a sandwich and a bottle of water. The sandwich was turkey and Havarti with thin slices of apple—either a startling coincidence or he’d asked her mother what she liked. They ate their lunch, talking about nothing in particular, as though they’d just met and wouldn’t be marching down the aisle together in two weeks. It was nice to have that pressure lifted and enjoy his company, the beautiful day, the view.
“Isn’t it strange that you haven’t had any snow yet?”
He shrugged. “It’s a little unusual. Do you like snow?”
“Yeah, I do.” She liked that cocooned feeling of not being able to run around. Almost like hibernation. She’d go crazy if it was like that all the time, but a few months a year of sitting in front of a fire reading books suited her just fine.
“They say if you don’t like the weather to wait five minutes. But I hope it holds off. Once the snow falls, we’re covered until March.”
A suspicion came to her. “Did you have anything to do with the mild weather?”
?sir were born to a specific caste, but it wasn’t unusual to have a few minor gifts thrown in.
“Not me. I
“So do you have any other talents?”
He leered at her and when she laughed, some of the tension in his shoulders eased.
“No, no other gifts. I’m only a huntsman. I kill things and I run the co-op. That’s it.”
She didn’t believe it was that simple. The glint in his eyes was dark and wicked and very, very complicated. She wanted to know that Christian—the hard, unpredictable man that peeked around the corners of perfection.
“How about you? Do you have any other talents I should know about?”
She rolled her eyes. “I can’t even manage the one I have.”
“Fen said the rune work was promising.”
“Is he giving you reports?” Something about the expression on his face made her add, “You should have
