Devony pivoted away from him as he slowed to a stop next to her. Her fingers were usually nimble and unerring. With awareness of him sending a dangerous arousal through her senses, she was all thumbs, fumbling to retrieve the compact pack that held her tools.
Behind her, the BMW’s motor quieted, then stopped. The leather seat creaked softly as Rafe got off it and his heavy boots hit the gravel as light as a cat.
“Looks like a storm’s on the way.”
She nearly groaned in agreement. Doing her best to tamp down her body’s reaction to this male, she determinedly left him at her back as she continued struggling to unfasten the snaps and bungee on her toolkit.
“Need some help with that?”
He reached around her and the heat of the near-contact felt like an open flame to her heightened senses. “Leave it,” she bit off without looking at him. “I didn’t ask for your help.”
Amber sparks tinged her vision. Not good. The spike of her irritation was too sharp. She had to contain herself around him.
She’d already given him enough cause to suspect she was hiding her true nature. She couldn’t afford to confirm it to him now. Not when Cruz was practically rolling out the red carpet for him to be part of the gang.
“I see you’re still upset with me from last night,” he murmured. “I want you to know, I didn’t tell them your secret.”
Even though she already knew that, hearing him say the words was jolting. She continued working furiously on her gear. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” He scoffed under his breath. “That’s how you want to play this?”
He was standing too close, crowding her against her bike. Finally, her impatience hit its limit. With a pulse of mental power, she freed the last cord holding her pack of tools and yanked the kit free. She held it against her like a shield as she pivoted around to face Rafe.
“We done here?”
“No,” he said grimly. “I think you and I are just getting started.”
“Like hell we are.” She stepped past him but didn’t get far. His hand wrapped firmly around her arm, the same way he’d taken hold of her at the party last night. “Let go of me. Now.”
He shook his head. “Not until we talk. We can either do it here right now, or inside, in front of everyone else.”
She glared. “Are you trying to threaten me?”
“Just trying to get to the truth. You’re not what you’re pretending to be.”
“I don’t think you are, either.”
His handsome face remained impassive, but he didn’t deny her accusation. And his grasp on her arm went a bit tighter. She tested his hold, confident she could break free if she really wanted to, but not without proving his point.
His eyes searched her face before moving lower. “What are you hiding under your long-sleeved turtlenecks and barbed-wire attitude?”
Devony’s pulse raced. She braced herself for fury or violence, but instead his deep voice was gentling, almost soothing. So was the dark-lashed gaze that lifted back up to her face.
“I know you’re not human, no matter how much you want to pretend you are. I’ll bet anything that underneath all these concealing clothes, your soft skin is covered in Breeddermaglyphs.Am I right?”
A strangled sound escaped her throat. “You’re crazy.”
If he had snarled at her or treated her with even a trace of brutality, she would have fought him with everything she had. Instead, his low, quiet tone and penetrating eyes called to something deep inside her.
A preternatural connection.
A longing to have someone she could trust.
A yearning to feel that she wasn’t all alone in the world.
Things she often dreamed could be hers one day . . . before everything she had was ripped away from her.
She shook her head, reminded of where she’d come from and how far she still had to go.
