Within minutes, I was fast asleep.
∞ ∞ ∞
The scent of coffee woke me the next morning. It drifted into the bedroom, tickling my nose. My eyelids fluttered open as I stretched languidly.
A groan hit me when my sore muscles greeted me. Ugh. I was crazy stiff from training yesterday, but coffee? That, I would get up for.
I pushed the covers off me, noting the bright sunlight filling the room around the curtains. I’d definitely slept in. A peek at the bedside clock confirmed it. It was nearly ten in the morning.
After throwing a robe on, I padded on bare feet to the bathroom before venturing downstairs.
My footsteps slowed when I spotted the hunter. He sat in the same spot in the living room as he’d been in yesterday, legs stretched out, book in hand, while he sipped coffee from a large mug.
He paused his sipping, but didn’t look at me, and continued to read his book.
I hurried past him, heading straight for the coffee pot on the counter, but called over my shoulder, “What are you reading?”
“A book about the history of supernatural wars.”
Non-fiction. I cocked my head. That wasn’t overly surprising. “Are you sure it’s not a romance hiding behind a non-fic dust jacket?” I joined him in the living room but sat on the couch by the window.
A smile tugged at his lips. “I’m sure.”
I sipped my coffee as the Fire Wolf continued to scan his book. He was legit reading it.
Settling more into the couch, I gazed outside, admiring the bare trees and rolling hills. Several minutes passed during which we both quietly sipped our coffee in companionable silence, and it struck me that it wasn’t an uncomfortable solitude or one where a person felt the need to say something.
No, it was strangely one of those peaceful silences where neither person felt the need to fill the gaps with endless chatter.
I curled my legs beneath me and enjoyed my coffee as the hunter did the same, turning the pages of his book as he read.
When I finished my cup, I stood and eyed the outside again. “Can I go for a walk? Is that allowed?”
He set his book aside, his amber-hued eyes meeting mine.
My breath sucked in. The hunter’s expression was open, his eyes soft, his dark hair tousled. He looked relaxed and at home, even though he didn’t consider this his home, and I’d . . . never seen him look like that.
It struck me for the first time since meeting him that we weren’t running hell-bent toward a fight, or chasing something, or avoiding the nagging attraction that sparked between us.
We were simply existing in a somewhat normal moment right now.
“I’ll go with you.” He set his book on the nearby table and stood. “I just need to change quick.”
He still wore what I’d assumed he’d slept in. Loose sweatpants and a T-shirt. I gulped as my attention shifted to the broadness of his chest when he rolled his shoulders. Somehow the man made sweats look sexy. I hastily looked out the window again. “Did you, um, sleep okay?”
He cracked his neck. “It was fine.”
I eyed him. Something told me that he could have a giant crick in his neck but he wouldn’t complain. “Thanks for letting me take the bed.”
The corner of his mouth tugged up. “Don’t expect it every night. That bed is big enough for two.”
“Not if I sleep perpendicular.”
“Oh, I’m sure I could accommodate that.”
I bit my cheek to stop my smile as a twinkle lit his eyes.
Well okay then, the banter had officially started today.
With that twinkle still in place, he jogged up the stairs, a flurry of stealth, speed, and . . .
I jerked my gaze away. I did not just check out his ass.
But who was I kidding. I totally had.
∞ ∞ ∞
We ventured from the cabin to the surrounding hills, and even though I knew the pack’s men were stationed around us, I didn’t see any of them. The hunter and I walked leisurely, both of us quiet while chirping birds filled the breeze with their songs, dry leaves crunched under our feet, and bright sunshine warmed our faces.
The sky was blue, the air clear, and I realized it was the first time in years that I wasn’t rushing to work, crafting spells, or running about in the chaos that was my life back in Chicago.
“This is nice,” I said quietly.
“Good,” he replied.
We carried on, and as the hills rolled around us, we began talking. It was the usual bantering at first, in which one of us was always trying to best or insult the other, but then it shifted and we actually settled into a more normal conversation in which I was surprised to discover that we had a few things in common. And since the subjects we were discussing weren’t earth-shattering—books, music, movies, politics, cities we’d visited, that sort of thing—the Fire Wolf was forthcoming and his usual guardedness melted away.
Before I knew it, we were actually talking, laughing, and joking around like two normal people. Well, as normal as we could be. We still took sly jabs at each other every now and then, but from the grin stretching across the hunter’s face, I figured he liked it as much as I did.
My mood was light when we finally returned to the cabin, and the walking had done my sore legs good. My stomach was another matter entirely, though. It was early afternoon and growling with a vengeance, reminding me that a cup of coffee for breakfast wasn’t cutting it.
“I’ll make lunch,” the hunter said before prowling into the kitchen.
“I’m going to, uh, take a shower.” I was still reeling that I’d just spent several hours with the menace of the Shadow Zone and now knew that his favorite city in the world was London. Turned out the hunter had an affinity for history and mince pies.
∞ ∞ ∞
We were seated at the kitchen island, an array of food that Ocean had left for us last night spread out around us, as I inhaled everything in sight.
“You need to train,” the hunter said out of the blue before popping a slice of ham into his mouth. His jaw worked, looking disturbingly sexy as he chewed the meat.
I forced my gaze away. “I know.”
“So why are you stalling? There’s no better time than now. You can’t work here. There’s not much else to do since you’re still refusing to—”
“I know!” I cut him off before he could again hint at the fact that we hadn’t ended up in bed yet.
He chuckled. “We should train today. I can help you.”
My heartbeat stuttered. I forced the mouthful of food down my throat, then took a hasty drink of water. “How will you train me?” I asked hesitantly.
“I have a few ideas.”
Of course he did.
He tossed the last pieces of food on his plate into his mouth. “No more stalling. We train today. You need to learn to harness your new power. If you could wield it, you would be unstoppable.”
My heart rate kicked up, and not from the threat of Jakub-Dipshit. I raised my eyes to his, not surprised to find fire rolling in his irises. I swallowed the dryness in my mouth, knowing that he spoke sensibly even though I dreaded training with the hunter. But he was right.
“Fine. I’ll train with you.”
A slow smile spread across his face before it turned into a wicked grin.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, once again, you win. Tell me, does your constant gloating ever get old?”
“Never. When it comes to you, Ms. Davenport, I plan to keep winning until I get everything that I want.”
“So relentless,” I muttered softly, shaking my head. “What the hell was I thinking when I hired the menace of the Shadow Zone who’s known to be the most relentless hunter in this part of the world?”