“Yeah? How?”
He sounded interested, not scared. Maybe he considered her a challenge. She was getting more annoyed by the minute.
“I could pull you straight into a nightmare,” she said. “I might even shatter part of your aura.” She paused and then added politely, “Accidentally, of course.”
“Sounds like you’ve had some experience.”
“Yes.” She was not about to go into an in-depth discussion of her list of failed experiments. Not now.
Luke moved closer. “Don’t worry, you won’t damage me. What’s the deal with the shades? Are they for dramatic effect? No need to impress this client.”
Before she realized his intention, he reached out with both hands and deftly slipped off the mirrored sunglasses.
Three
“No, wait, stop,” she yelped.She took a step back but came up against the old sofa. She was trapped. “You don’t understand.”
Too late. Luke went very still and gazed into her eyes as if mesmerized. She held her breath, waiting for what she knew was coming next. He would experience a flash of primal fear. He probably wouldn’t panic—he was too strong—but at the very least he would be shocked. While he might not run, he would definitely want to put some distance between them. So much for his plan to calm her aura.
She straightened her shoulders. She was a Harper. She had her pride. “Don’t say you weren’t warned.”
Luke set the sunglasses on a nearby table. “This,” he said, “is going to be interesting.”
That was when she realized that his own eyes were burning—but not with horror or shock or even mild alarm. The heat was intimate and intense. Part of the energy was sexual but there was something else going on, too, something she was afraid to define.
He took one of her hands in his, pulling her close. To heramazement, nothing awful happened. She did not know what she had expected but it wasn’t this incredibly thrilling warmth, this sense of rightness. He released her fingers to cradle the back of her neck with his palm. Her frazzled nerves responded instantly, seeking and luxuriating in the heat of his body. The ice fever began to recede.
It wasn’t just the inviting intimacy that was tugging at all her senses. There was a sensuality about the experience that was unique. Fascinating. She had never felt anything like it.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered.
Luke’s mouth kicked up a little at one corner. “Neither do I, but I think you can stop worrying that you’ll traumatize my aura beyond repair.”
She decided not to argue or offer any more warnings. Things were going too well.
She was letting herself sink deeper into his heat when the hurricane of his aura swept over her, threatening to envelope her. Her intuition shot into the red zone. Her instincts took control in a desperate attempt to repel the invasion.
The result was a clash of energy fields that sent shock waves through all of her senses. Disoriented, she lost her balance and grabbed the front of Luke’s leather jacket with both hands to keep from falling. She would have collapsed if he hadn’t tightened his grip to steady her.
But he, too, was swept up in the storm they had ignited.
“Too late,” he said.
He did not sound alarmed. The opposite. Masculine anticipation infused the words. He should have been worried. Why wasn’t he worried?Shewas worried. Their auras were locked in the most intimate kind of combat. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced. Enthralling.
What was happening?
She came out of the strange trance with a jarring jolt to her knees.
“Ouch,” she muttered. “That hurt.”
“Yeah, that could have been better managed,” Luke said. “In my own defense, all I can tell you is that I didn’t see it coming. Well, I did, but only in a vague way. No details were provided.”
She realized they were both on their knees on the hard wooden floor, face-to-face, clinging together as if trying to save each other from drowning.
“What are you talking about?” she managed.
Luke did not get a chance to answer because they were collapsing together in slow motion. He ended up on his back. She found herself sprawled on top of him in an undignified tangle of arms and legs. Her mouth was very close to his.
