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Ashcombe opened his mouth, but the sound of footsteps cut him off.
“You heard him, Kenneth,” Roy said, strolling inside with measured steps. “Get out of his kitchen.”
Kenneth moved in a blur. Fangs unsheathed, he lunged. A gust shuffled my hair as he closed the short distance between himself and Roy. There was a thud, followed by the sound of a fist hitting bones and flesh. I blinked, and Kenneth was lying on the stone floor, Roy’s knee pressing against his chest. Roy hadn’t turned into his panther, and his fangs and claws weren’t fully out, but his frame vibrated with wrath and a desire to kill. Somehow, Kenneth’s knife was in Roy’s clenched hand.
“If you disparage Kristin again, if you hurt her again, I’m going to kill you.” He didn’t need to add a more convincing threat. He meant every word. “You want someone to hit?” He leaned closer until his face was an inch from Kenneth’s. “Hit me.” The last words came out with a roar.
Peggy suppressed a gasp with a hand over her mouth. Ashcombe glowered, not pleased at all.
As quickly as the tension started, it ended. Roy pulled away from Kenneth and tossed the knife to the floor. Fuming, Kenneth stood up and walked out of the kitchen without a backward glance.
Silence thickened. Roy fixed the collar of his shirt and ran a hand through his hair. “Are you all right, Kristin?”
I nodded, words failing me.
“He didn’t touch you, did he?” Fury lit his eyes from within again.
A head shake was my reply.
His shoulders relaxed. “Enjoy your evening.” With a quick nod toward Peggy and Ashcombe, he strode out. The moment he left, the atmosphere relaxed.
“Blimey.” I sagged against the table.
Ashcombe let out a whistle. “He cares for you, lass.”
“Very much,” Peggy muttered.
I patted my hot cheeks, pretending not to see the deep frown furrowing her brow.
~ * ~
MY RIDICULOUSLY BIG bedroom in Raven Park was the size of the dining room in my aunt’s house. The four-poster bed took up one corner. A vanity, dresser, and writing desk completed the furniture. Despite the heavy walnut dresser and the Hessian carpet, an air of lightness and space suffused the room, and I needed air and space after seeing Roy twice yesterday. Each encounter with him left a trail of devastation behind in my heart, which took a while to go away. During the night, dreams of him had tormented me. In the dreams, he’d been standing close to me, like he’d done in the corridor, whispering how much he wanted me, kissing and touching me, but never where I wanted the most, and now I was a frustrated mess again.
After I changed into a modest blue dress, I strode to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. The Eros shot I had last night had left my arm sore, which didn’t help with my mood. Did I want to spend a few hours, trapped in the confined space of a car, with Roy?
Yes. No. Yes, if I could touch him and kiss him as much as I wanted, which wasn’t going to happen any time soon. Curse him. Could the beasts get hot flushes? Not possible. We were barren. Hormones shouldn’t be a problem.
I put my hands on the edge of the sink and took deep breaths when soft footsteps padded closer from the doorway. I didn’t need to turn around to know that Clare was standing behind me. Her delicate, sweet perfume thickened the air.
My room would be perfect if it weren’t for the fact I had to share the bathroom with her. I stiffened when she cleared her throat.
“Commander Allen told Kenneth that he meant to bring forward Roy’s claims over Germany,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Allen formally reproved him for his conduct during the whole business. Hope you’re happy now. You and Roy told him that we—”
With unsatisfied desire still raging within me, I slammed a hand on the sink, watching Clare’s reflection in the mirror. “We didn’t say anything to the commander. Kenneth should blame himself for barking at Miss Hammond without reason and losing his temper.”
Her golden eyes flashed; they matched her platinum-blonde hair when she wasn’t enraged. “You aren’t part of Roy’s intelligence team. You weren’t allowed to go to Berlin with him.”
“He asked me, and I said yes.”
Her muscles grew a few inches in size, a sign that her beast was about to come out. I slowly turned around. Giving my back to one of the best fighters in Raven Park, when I could barely throw a punch without tripping on my own feet, wasn’t a smart move. If I faced her, at least I’d see her coming at me. When the tips of her fangs made an appearance, my knees weakened. Clare’s best weapon was the poison in her fangs that could paralyse even a large beast for minutes.
She took a step closer. “So you went to Berlin. Then you came back here to spread rumours of a phantom war, scaring the commander and making Kenneth look like an idiot.”
“It doesn’t take a lot of effort for that.” Oops, I must have crossed a line because her fangs flashed dangerously. A side of me, the same side who was hopelessly aroused by Roy, wanted a fight with Clare. A bloody, dirty fight with claws and fangs as we thrashed on the floor, scratching at each other’s face. She’d used her poisonous fangs to overpower Roy and take advantage of him. Oh, I’d be so happy to be the one who avenged him, since he didn’t want to denounce her. She knew something dangerous about him. Something that, if out, would ruin him. Something he didn’t want to share with me. Like many other things.
A moment of charged energy filled the space between us.
“I’m more powerful than you think,” she said through gritted teeth.
