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A second later, the arm around my upper stomach disappeared and so did the hand. Without hesitation, I spun around and looked up into a pair of startling emerald colored eyes.
Chapter Four
It was him. Green Eyes. Ren. That was his name. Now I remembered. I started to step forward, but he beat me to it. Moving as quickly as a damn snake striking, he caught my wrists. He didn't yank my arms to my sides. All he did was hold my fists away from his face.
A lopsided grin appeared on those full lips. "Can't say I'm entirely surprised you took a swing at me."
"Then I guess this won't surprise you either." Leaning back, I shifted my weight onto my left leg, but again, Ren outmaneuvered me with a quickness that was sort of embarrassing.
He stepped into what would've been a fantastic kick and forced me back against the wall. Then there was nowhere to go, no space whatsoever. My back was against the building, and the entire length of his hard body was pressed against mine.
Son of a bitch.
As if he could read my mind, that grin spread and the dimples played peekaboo. "Now I think we can have a conversation without me ending up bloody."
I blew out an aggravated breath. "I wouldn't bet on that not happening."
He chuckled, and the sound rumbled through me. I couldn't even remember being this close to a guy since . . . since Shaun. "Look, I'm sorry for snatching you off the street like a kidnapper, but you were about to make yet another huge mistake."
His apology was lost on me. "Make another mistake?"
"Yeah, like the one last night that ended with you getting shot." He dipped his chin, and the yellow glow of the light attached to the wall above us glanced off his broad cheekbones. "I know what you were about to do."
"I didn't make a mistake last night. I was doing my job," I spat. "And I doubt your job includes grabbing chicks off the street."
"That would be a hell of a lot more entertaining, but the moment you thought you could engage that fae last night, you made a mistake. And you were about to do it again, you little ass."
"Little ass?" I sputtered. "You grabbed me off the street like a serial killer!"
"And I've apologized for that even though you should be thanking me. I just saved your life, sweetness."
Floored, all I could do was stare at him for a moment. "You're insane."
"I'm a lot of things, but today I'm your fucking saving grace."
"Wow. You're so incredibly modest," I said. "Let me bake you some damn cookies."
That grin spread into a smile that I could easily see stopping hearts across the nation. "I like sugar cookies. With extra sugar sprinkled on top."
"Oh, go fu—"
"You were about to get your ass handed to you by an ancient, Ivy. I stopped you," he said, proving that he knew my name wasn't Merida or whoever the hell he called me. "And I know you're one bundle of kick ass hotness, but you're not ready to face off with one of them."
I opened my mouth, but two things struck me into silence. First off, he called me a bundle of kick ass hotness, and that really did sound like a cool compliment. But more importantly, he called that fae an ancient more than once, and that got through the haze of fury.
Staring up at him, I simmered down. "He really is an ancient?"
"Yes."
My heart rate jumped. "How . . . how do you know?"
"I know."
"I don't know you enough to even begin to trust you or what you're saying," I told him. "So a little detail would be nice."
"I didn't ask you to trust me." He tilted his head to the side as his thumb moved on the inside of my right wrist, gliding in a small circle in a way that was distracting. "What I am telling you, is that fae you met last night and were following tonight isn't a normal one. He's an ancient, and he's not the only one here."
"How do you know?" I repeated.
A muscle thrummed along his jaw and a moment passed. "Aren't you supposed to be taking time off? What are you doing out here? Because I cannot believe you came out here to hunt, not more than twenty-four hours after you almost bled out on my boots."
"You didn't answer my question." I paused. "And I didn't almost bleed out on your precious boots."
"You were bleeding pretty bad. How are you feeling?" His thumb was still moving.
"Obviously, I'm not dead," I snapped. "Tell me why you're saying that's an ancient. David said—"
"Let me guess, he said it was highly unlikely that it was an ancient because none have been seen in decades, if not centuries? Of course he said that." His gaze darted to the sidewalk as a scream sounded from off in the distance. "You wouldn't believe me if I did tell you."
Frustration snapped at my heels, but without warning, he let go of my wrists and stepped back. The whole front of my body tingled from the contact or lack thereof. As he stood in front of me, I realized his entire right arm was covered in tattoos. Nothing like what each Order member had inked on their skin. There wasn't enough light to check out the detail, but it looked like a vine curling down his forearm, over the top of his hand, and disappearing between his thumb and pointer.
Ren widened his stance as if he expected me to attack, but I managed to refrain from doing so. "You need to go home, Ivy."
My mouth dropped open. "You need to get your head checked if you think you can tell me what to do."
That slow curve of his lips happened again, forming a rather devastating smile that showed off his dimples. "If you don't go home, I'm going to call David and tell him you were out here hunting."
Now my jaw was on the ground. "You wouldn't."
"Hmm. I wonder how he'd react. He doesn't seem like the kind that seems cool with people disobeying his orders."
David would probably throw a fit. Hell, he might already be in the process of throwing a fit if Trent had called him. And if he got another call from Ren? He'd probably suspend my ass, maybe even fire me, and I . . .
I really didn't have anything if I didn't have the Order.
And I hated Ren for using that against me. "You're a dick."
Some of the humor slipped out of his eyes. "You know, I've been called that a time or two."
"No big surprise." Without saying goodbye, I turned and walked toward the sidewalk. I started to turn back toward Bourbon, but stopped when I remembered the damn beignets I promised Tink.
If I came home without beignets, Tink would probably cut my hair off while I slept. Sighing, I spun in the other direction and headed toward Café Du Monde. At this time of night, the place was going to be packed.
"Where are you going?" Ren asked from behind me.
I cursed under my breath. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm going to get some beignets."
"Right now?" He fell in step beside me. "Are they really that good?"
Sending him a disbelieving stare, I shook my head. "You haven't tried them yet? That's like the first thing everyone does when they come to New Orleans."
"No." He scanned the sidewalk, frowning as he passed a couple that looked like they were about to make a baby on the sidewalk. "I haven't had a lot of time."
I wanted to ask him what he was doing, but then again, I really didn't want to chat with him either. He wasn't going to tell me how he was so sure that fae was an ancient or anything of real value, and I wasn't sure I even believed him.
If David didn't think it was a real threat and Trent obviously thought a brick in my foundation was loose, then why would Ren, a complete stranger, be the only person who believed that the ancients were around?
Ren didn't talk as he followed me to the Café, and I did my best to ignore him, but it was hard to pretend he didn't exist when he was a six foot four prime specimen of a man walking beside me.
