“Lucas! What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he answered. “Mind if I come in?”
She seemed to hesitate and be uneasy, but then she stepped aside and swung the door wider. “Sure.”
He felt her body heat as he brushed past her and stepped inside. The soft scent of roses seemed to float from her hair and he wanted to fist his hands through the silky strands and tilt her head back to give him access to her full mouth.
“I’m about to put some pastries in the toaster,” she said. “Care for one?”
“No, thanks. Coffee, though, if you have it.” He followed her back to the kitchen, fascinated with the way the silk kimono slid across her tight bottom as her hips swayed. If he could only trust the beast not to rear its head and use its fangs, he’d reach around and pull the delicate sash that held the thing together. He’d bet a Roman coin that she was naked beneath it. Just the thoughtof cupping her breasts and pressing her back against him made him hard instantly.
“You’re out of toothpaste,” Michael said as he came through the doorway and then stopped.
Lucas turned. The warlock was wearing jeans and no shirt or shoes. The guy had no fat on him and a lot more muscle than was obvious when he wore loose shirts. Suddenly the idea of Sara’s being nude under the robe lost its appeal.
Michael met his look levelly and then allowed the corner of his mouth to quirk up as he moved past Lucas and pushed the handle up on the smoking toaster.
“Burning pastries takes your cooking expertise to a whole new level,” he said teasingly to Sara as he dumped them and put in two fresh ones.
She appeared not to hear him as she stared at Lucas. Her hand was shaky as she held out the coffee cup. “Let’s sit down.”
Lucas remained standing. He wanted nothing more than to feel the satisfying jolt of his fist making contact with the warlock’s handsome face and wiping that smirk off it. Bel’s Fires! While he had been sitting in a car all night with his legs cramped, the man had probably been buried deep inside Sara, holding her warm flesh next to him. He balled his fists as the wolf growled menacingly and then forced himself to stay in control. The bottom line was that Sara had made her choice and it hadn’t been him.
“I don’t think I’ll be staying for coffee,” he said and walked away.
It took every ounce of his tremendous will power not to slam the door hard enough to shake if off its hinges.
****
For the thousandth time, Sara stole a glance at Lucas from beneath her lashes. They were in the library, with him workingon the computer while she wrote notes searching for more clues of the Spear in the verses.
He hadn’t shown up until after lunch and, when he did, he had been coldly polite. Even now his sensual mouth was set in a grim, determined line as he Googled more research.
Sara put her notepad down. She had been doing nothing but doodles on it for the past hour. “We need to talk.”
“Nothing to talk about,” Lucas said and kept working.
She took a deep breath and forced her rising temper under control. “What you saw…what happened—”
He looked up, his eyes burning gold. “I really don’t want to hear about what you do with overnight male guests.” He turned back to the screen as Mr. Smith walked in.
“You have a phone call, Sara.”
She gave Lucas one more look, but he ignored her. Fine, then. She went into the adjacent room and picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“It’s me,” Michael said.
Right now, he was the last person she wanted to hear from. He hadn’t been any help at all this morning. The least he could have done is explain that he’d slept on the couch instead of letting Lucas draw his own conclusions. But no, he had to enjoy his own little ego thing.Men.
“Just wanted to tell you that Morgan called,” he said, obviously not at all concerned that she hadn’t answered him. “She says she needs to see me.”
“No doubt,” Sara said sarcastically. “Why don’t you spend the night at her place? I’m sure she won’t mind.”
“Ouch,” he said mildly. “You still mad?”
“Why should I be mad?” Sara asked. “Lucas refuses to talk to me and we do have a project that we’re supposed to be working on.”
“Okay, I get the picture,” Michael answered. “Here’s your chance to make it up to the guy. I can’t be at your place until I find out what Morgan wants—”
