Kalindra (GateKeepers) by Sondrae Bennett Page B

breath froze in her throat when she caught the look in his eyes. Pure heat. He was hungry for something, alright. But not food.
    Turning around, Kali lowered the heat on the oven. Not ideal, but it would give them enough time for a quickie. Just as well. The heat of his embrace still lingered on her skin. She shivered as anticipation snaked up her spine.
    “Alright. You have twenty minutes. Let’s do this.” A lot could be done with twenty minutes.
     

 
    Chapter 10
     
    Flying into the air as harpy, Kali soared over the fence surrounding her property and shifted in midair, landing nimbly on the other side. She stretched toward the heavens, her smile plastered on her face.
    What a perfect way to start the day. Her blood was pumping, her muscles were pleasantly sore. Even the sun shone through the foliage. She closed her eyes and let the warm rays soak into her skin. Absolute perfection.
    Her growling stomach interrupted her thoughts. Well, maybe not perfect yet. She was starving. Her breakfast probably still sat on the counter where she’d been preparing it before being ported away.
    She remembered the milk with a grimace. They’d have to pick up some more. Warm milk? Eeew. She’d have to drink her coffee black today. The thought brought on a shudder. She liked her coffee sweet and light. But black coffee was better than no coffee.
    So intent on getting to the coffee machine, Kalindra almost didn’t see him sitting at the table. But when she did, his glare froze her in place. Busted.
    She’d hoped he hadn’t seen her little disappearing act. But the daggers shooting from his eyes said he had. Or at least had gone looking for her and discovered she’d placed him on lockdown.
    “Morning,” she all but sang, turning toward the coffee maker. Ignorance seemed like as good a plan as any.
    “That’s all you have to say to me?” Uh oh. He might seem simply pissed off, but his voice spoke of a darker emotion. He sounded downright furious.
    “Have you had breakfast?” she asked, avoiding the conversation. She would not let herself be drawn into a fight. She was in the right here, so he’d just have to get on board.
    The scrape of his chair seemed to silence everything else in the room. She turned toward the sound in time to see him lean over the table on his fists.
    “No, I haven’t eaten breakfast. And do you know why?” The anger in his eyes warned caution. Personally, Kali had never been a big fan of caution.
    “Can’t imagine.”
    “Because when I woke up to the sound of fighting at the gate, I ran to grab my sword. Do you know what happened then?”
    Oh, for crying out loud, what was this, twenty questions? Well, she wouldn’t help him. If he wanted to act all pissy, he’d have to explain it himself.
    “Ooo, storytime!” Which somehow only seemed to anger him more. “What happened then?”
    If he clenched his jaw any tighter, he was liable to break some teeth. “I discovered that someone had locked me in. I don’t suppose you have any idea who would do that?”
    “Santa Claus?”
    He turned, hurling his coffee mug against the wall. The crash of ceramic against rock resonated in the resulting silence.
    She stared at the wall in shock, where coffee dripped down the wall to the broken shards on the ground.
    “You broke my…” She stopped when her gaze landed on Cameron. His back was to her, head hung downward, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. He looked to be struggling with control. Over a silly little assault? It wasn’t even a challenging one. A few witches who thought their magic would protect them.
    “Cameron?” she questioned, crossing toward him. For a minute when she put her arms around him, she thought he would pull away. Slowly, the tension drained from his muscles.
    “You locked me out.”
    Still he wouldn’t look at her, but rage swirled in his voice. This level of anger didn’t match the deed. Yes, she’d locked him inside the castle grounds, but for his own good. And