only so she could hear it. The fact that X picked it up was a testament to the strength of his shifter senses, or a need that he didn’t even want to explore.
He’d thought about her from that moment up until the second he stood in front of her bedroom door punching numbers into that stupid keypad. The entry doors to Havenway were all on a computerized lock and also had sensory alarms that tripped if the doors were opened without using the authorized codes. X had programmed them all himself. As for the bedrooms, he’d told Nick that keypads with separate pass codes weren’t safe enough. They needed a backup just in case—exactly as he’d done—someone decided to hack the code. All he’d had to do was put in a series of commands that would effectively delete the prior coding; any hackers worth their salt could do it in about five minutes. X did it in two.
When the door swung open and he saw she wasn’t in the bedroom, he’d been about to curse. Then he picked up her scent and the cat within calmed. She was still here.
He looked about the room, saw the completely feminine things she possessed, and wondered about this side of her. On the tall dresser that stood between the only two windows in the room there were dozens of small glass bottles, in different shapes and colors. They all contained fragrances that either irritated or incited X’s senses. There was an abundance of jewelry, earrings, bracelets, watches. It all appeared very feminine and very unlike the idea he’d had of Caprise.
She was guarded, that was for damn sure. And that didn’t really bother X because he had his own shields in place when it came to dealing with females. But there was something else about her he couldn’t quite put his finger on, something that made it impossible for him to walk away from her now.
He was still standing there when she came out of the bathroom, surprised to see him. Their exchange had been as was usual for them, except it felt like they weren’t alone. There were spectators this time, two very intense and hungry cats, interested in what was unraveling between the humans.
She fought everything he said, everything he tried to do. No matter which way he tried to approach her, it didn’t matter. It was as if she lived for moments just like this. When her phone rang, X was instantly on guard. He remembered last night’s text and had run the number through reverse lookup before leaving his apartment. Nothing showed. A more advanced search would take twenty-four hours so he wouldn’t get the name of the person the phone was registered to until sometime tomorrow. Nobody had spoken when he answered, and that pissed him off. He wanted whoever was on the other end dialing her number to say something, just one word so he could give them the cuss-out of their lifetime. But they didn’t afford him the pleasure. Instead he’d issued a threat, one he had every intention of carrying out when he found out whom he was dealing with.
Then out of nowhere the question had tumbled out of his mouth. X, of all people, knew once something was done there was no taking it back. Oddly enough, he really didn’t want to take the invite back.
“Why would I go anywhere with you?” she asked, her eyes narrowing skeptically.
He decided to try another approach with her and didn’t demand that she do what he asked. Instead, he asked in a lower voice, “What else do you have to do? Rome’s not going to allow you to go back to Athena’s.”
There was no way X was going to allow that, either, but he figured she’d swallow that comment a lot easier if it were coming from the FL.
“He can’t keep me from my job,” she protested. And in a move he didn’t anticipate she reached out, grabbing her cell phone from his hand.
X conceded and didn’t use his force to get it back. He could have, but thought it might be best to pick and choose his battles with Caprise from now on. She was hiding something, that much was evident, and until he
He’d thought about her from that moment up until the second he stood in front of her bedroom door punching numbers into that stupid keypad. The entry doors to Havenway were all on a computerized lock and also had sensory alarms that tripped if the doors were opened without using the authorized codes. X had programmed them all himself. As for the bedrooms, he’d told Nick that keypads with separate pass codes weren’t safe enough. They needed a backup just in case—exactly as he’d done—someone decided to hack the code. All he’d had to do was put in a series of commands that would effectively delete the prior coding; any hackers worth their salt could do it in about five minutes. X did it in two.
When the door swung open and he saw she wasn’t in the bedroom, he’d been about to curse. Then he picked up her scent and the cat within calmed. She was still here.
He looked about the room, saw the completely feminine things she possessed, and wondered about this side of her. On the tall dresser that stood between the only two windows in the room there were dozens of small glass bottles, in different shapes and colors. They all contained fragrances that either irritated or incited X’s senses. There was an abundance of jewelry, earrings, bracelets, watches. It all appeared very feminine and very unlike the idea he’d had of Caprise.
She was guarded, that was for damn sure. And that didn’t really bother X because he had his own shields in place when it came to dealing with females. But there was something else about her he couldn’t quite put his finger on, something that made it impossible for him to walk away from her now.
He was still standing there when she came out of the bathroom, surprised to see him. Their exchange had been as was usual for them, except it felt like they weren’t alone. There were spectators this time, two very intense and hungry cats, interested in what was unraveling between the humans.
She fought everything he said, everything he tried to do. No matter which way he tried to approach her, it didn’t matter. It was as if she lived for moments just like this. When her phone rang, X was instantly on guard. He remembered last night’s text and had run the number through reverse lookup before leaving his apartment. Nothing showed. A more advanced search would take twenty-four hours so he wouldn’t get the name of the person the phone was registered to until sometime tomorrow. Nobody had spoken when he answered, and that pissed him off. He wanted whoever was on the other end dialing her number to say something, just one word so he could give them the cuss-out of their lifetime. But they didn’t afford him the pleasure. Instead he’d issued a threat, one he had every intention of carrying out when he found out whom he was dealing with.
Then out of nowhere the question had tumbled out of his mouth. X, of all people, knew once something was done there was no taking it back. Oddly enough, he really didn’t want to take the invite back.
“Why would I go anywhere with you?” she asked, her eyes narrowing skeptically.
He decided to try another approach with her and didn’t demand that she do what he asked. Instead, he asked in a lower voice, “What else do you have to do? Rome’s not going to allow you to go back to Athena’s.”
There was no way X was going to allow that, either, but he figured she’d swallow that comment a lot easier if it were coming from the FL.
“He can’t keep me from my job,” she protested. And in a move he didn’t anticipate she reached out, grabbing her cell phone from his hand.
X conceded and didn’t use his force to get it back. He could have, but thought it might be best to pick and choose his battles with Caprise from now on. She was hiding something, that much was evident, and until he
Similar Books
