“You ever been put on the wall?”
“Once, when I was twelve. I borrowed my brothers’ fishing gear and accidentally dumped it into the lake. They hung bait fish all around me and played the twangiest country music they could get their hands on. I don’t want to suffer through that again.”
His image of her being tied up, in her grown-up state, had a decidedly different picture—and outcome. One that hiked up his physical discomfort by another couple of degrees. He kicked out those tantalizing thoughts and headed to the property line, knowing he’d be back. For Violet. For justice.
5
Violet smoothed out the wrinkles Kade had made on her bedspread. Of all the nerve. Just because they’d had that weird moment outside didn’t mean he could presume he was welcome in her bed. Her hand paused as she imagined him and his nerve lying on her bed, shirtless. Having a man in her own bed was a fantasy, rather than meeting them out of town. Gorgeous guy: check. Guy who totally turned her on: check. Kade Kavanaugh: no way in hell. Not going there.
But, oh, she’d gone nearly there, close enough to find sweet, mind-numbing release. Reeling from grief and frustration, along with the adrenaline high from their fight, she’d acted foolishly.
Foolish is wrestling with alligators. Tangling with a Vega—with Kade Kavanaugh—that’s sheer insanity.
She huffed out a breath. She hadn’t meant to touch him. Hadn’t known that what began as an innocent rinse-off so he wouldn’t track mud into her home would turn into a seduction. Worst part was, she had started things by touching him and probably exuding some need to connect. She could imagine it so clearly, the water sluicing over his sculpted chest, his gaze on hers, and that need…it all exploded inside her. Suddenly, he was hoisting her up and kissing her with a thoroughness she’d never experienced before. Damn, the man could kiss. His mouth did a number on her, and then when he’d touched her, she’d been so…ready.
Part of her felt sick, thinking that her reaction was a betrayal of her brother. But her family was in tune with their primal Dragon urges: violence, pleasure, sex. They would never judge her for drowning in sensuality; it was the facilitator that would have them going ballistic.
And to think minutes earlier you were about to kill him. She still wasn’t sure she could trust Kade as far as she could throw him, which was, oh, about twenty feet if she recalled correctly. Then again, if he was truly seeing her side of things and willing to approach his boss about the situation, it was probably a good thing she hadn’t killed him.
No, you couldn’t have.
She could so hear his confidence in her inability to annihilate him. Argh, arrogant devil. Damn, why did he get to her? And in more ways than just being annoyed, which was damned…annoying.
She pushed the crazy tangle of feelings aside. She needed to continue her investigation, even if Kade was helping. She made a couple of calls, following one connection to another, and got Marshall Peregrine’s number. He was the patriarch of the family, and his son, Liam, was the first victim of the spree. She called the number.
A boy answered, and Violet asked, “Hi, may I speak with Marshall, please? This is Violet Castanega.”
Silence for a moment. Their clans weren’t mortal enemies, but they’d had their share of skirmishes.
“Hold on a sec.” The kid’s heavy footfalls pounded in the background, and he told someone she was on the phone.
A man answered with, “Yeah?”
“I wanted to extend my condolences on behalf of the Castanegas,” she said, meaning it.
“Uh…thanks.”
“I’d like to meet with you at Ernie’s. I think there’s more to this than the Wolfrums acting up.” Silence. “Please, before things get out of hand. Again. I’ve got some fresh alligator meat, if you’d like some.”
Yeah, a bribe. Whatever she had to do.
“Two pounds?”
“Meet me in an hour?”
“You got it. But if this is some kind of trick?—”
“It’s no trick, Marshall. Somebody’s playing us, all of us in the Fringe. I want to stop it before more people die.”
Kade knocked on Ferro’s door, then went in at his answer. He closed the door behind him.
“I trust it went smoothly?” Ferro asked.
“No, sir. I was in her house, waiting for her to return. She did, but she had her brothers in tow. Since my assignment did not include them, and they complicated matters, I remained in hiding. What I overheard made me question this assignment because, quite frankly, she made some good points as she outlined her research to her brothers. Further, I found nothing to warrant her termination. I extracted myself, aborting the mission.”
Ferro’s expression hardened. “You did not kill her.”
Well, he thought he’d made that clear. “No, sir.” He walked over to the map. “It does appear that someone is trying to incite clan violence. She has a map like this?—”
