Excerpt:
Nina
My jeans were
scorched in places, so Tanner lent me a black T-shirt and helped me into the
single pair of panties I owned, fresh out of the dryer. I was clean and my hair
was combed and almost dried. My knees were still shaking from the orgasm, but
on the upside, I didn’t have to walk far. Aiden insisted on carrying me down
the stairs. The smells of bacon and biscuits scented the house and sent my
stomach into a growling fit.
Aiden looked down on me and cocked
his broken eyebrow. “Hungry?”
I flashed an apologetic grin.
“Starving.”
“No worries.” He settled me on a
stool by the kitchen island and went over to the huge fridge. “We’ve got you
covered.”
Wow. When was
the last time someone said that to me?
A quiet beep lit
up over the discreetly paneled door that slid aside to reveal Tanner, leaning
on his crutches, shuffling out of the elevator. “Ready to chow?” He winked at
me and then joined Aiden and Zar at the kitchen counter, picking out cutlery
from one of the drawers.
I caught an
excellent view of three very nicely built backsides, broad shoulders, tapered
waists, asses chiseled from granite. Holy hell. These hunks made menial kitchen
work look like a sexy, seductive dance.
I fanned my
burning face with my bandaged hand. “Can I help with something?”
“No need,”
Tanner said. “Sit tight.”
Zar was parked in front of the
stove, firmly in charge of some gigantic omelets, plus a pan of bacon and the
biscuits he maneuvered out of the oven. A distinguished touch of silver frosted
his fair hair at the temples. It had to be premature gray, because he was
otherwise too young and fit. Or else he worried too much. Yeah, that could be.
He glanced over
his shoulder. His eyes were startling. His irises were a shocking color, azure
flecked with Lapis. I couldn’t decide whether his gaze reminded me of the
oldest glaciers in the world or the flame’s hottest fire. A million questions
gleamed in his stare. He considered me as if he was debating whether he should
send me to the corner or spank me. If I had a choice, number two, please.
Balthazar Flint.
The name suited him to perfection. It had gravitas. It also matched his
demeanor, down to the hard edges of his powerful body. It occurred to me that,
in another life, I could’ve been the steel to his flint and we would’ve made
lots of sparks. Dream on, girl. Like that could ever happen.
Zar transferred
the last of the omelets to the plates and Aiden plunked a cup of tea in front
of me, Earl Grey with lots of cream. Before I had time to ask Aiden how he’d
known exactly what I liked in my tea, Tanner picked up the mug and tipped it
against my lips. I took a deep draft, enjoying the sweet heat that warmed my
stomach and spread to the rest of me. The four of us sat at the kitchen
counter, facing our loaded plates. After examining my right hand, I was about
to give the utensils a try, when Aiden beat me to the fork.
“I promised I’d be your hands when
you needed me.” He speared a chunk of eggs and lifted them to my lips. “You
need me.”
So freaking
sweet. Panty-melting cute. “Thanks,” I mumbled through a mouthful. Had I died
and gone to heaven?
I chewed my
food, enjoying every bite, studying the men as I did. These guys were military
or ex-military, like my brother had been. They spoke, moved, and acted like
trained warriors. Tanner had admitted to training as a corpsman and Aiden had
mentioned they’d designed the house while they were on deployment. I had to get
to Ulysses, but I couldn’t help being fascinated by the remarkable trio that
had taken me in.
I stole a glance
at Tanner. At six feet or so, he was the shortest of the three, tall to my five
foot five. Fit and compact like a soccer player, he was a head-turner. The
striking contrast between his smooth, dark olive skin and his light green eyes
gave him an exotic flair that conjured images of distant shorelines, sun-kissed
dunes, and fabulous spice markets.
There was no
question that Tanner appealed to me. What he’d just done to my body challenged
my skepticism at every level. With his chiseled chin, his body’s perfect
proportions and his hair, cropped in a clean, sharp cut that spiraled from the
cowlick at the back of his head, he should be strutting some runaway in Milan.
My gaze shifted
to Aiden. His size alone should’ve made him lumber and yet when he moved, he
did so elegantly and efficiently, as if he’d trained his body to function in a
world that didn’t always fit him. Aiden looked like a basketball player. Or an
Olympic swimmer. The scar that nicked his eyebrow gave character to his face
and the curls and facial scruff added a roguish touch that reminded me of
pirates and Vikings. I bet he’d taken a few shield maidens to Valhalla.
My eyes went to
Zar, downing his food with automatic precision. Height-wise, he was somewhere
in between Tanner and Aiden, but he was built like an NFL linebacker. His
muscular neck was made to carry the weight of a dangerous world. His solid pecs
could serve to bulldoze entire armies. His thighs were as brawny as the beams
that held up the house. When he glared at me as he was doing now, I had to
repress an impulse to kneel at his feet and ask for mercy.
“You got enough
in you to talk?” He set down his fork and nailed me with his skull-piercing
gaze. “The sooner we deal with this, the better.”
He was right and
I needed to get back on track.
