“Huh?” I muttered, barely hearing Linnea as I thought of the soft lines of that face in the picture. She really was so beautiful.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“What?” I tore my gaze from the window and looked at her. “Sure. I’m fine. Why?”
Linnea rolled her eyes, then nodded at my hand. I looked down. Crap, I’d been buttering the side of my hand instead of my toast.
“Oh shit,” I hissed, grabbing a napkin and wiping the butter off.
“You’ve been spaced out all morning. What the heck is up?” Linnea asked.
Maybe Linnea knew something about the painting. Would that be a weird question to ask? Probably. But screw it.
“Do you know anything about the painting Levi has in his cabin?” I asked.
“Which one?” Linnea said as she sprinkled salt on her eggs. “He’s a fantastic artist. I’ve only briefly seen the inside of his cabin, but the place has all kinds of drawings and paintings.”
“It’s a picture of a woman. It was in the hallway right outside his bedroom. She has black hair and blue eyes. She was beautiful. Really striking. Any idea who she might be?”
“I wouldn’t concern myself with that if I were you,” Eugenia said. She had a knack for popping up whenever I spoke about Levi. “Levi draws all his ladies. He probably has stacks of sketches in his closet of all the women he’s been with. Probably some chick he bedded back in the sixties or something.”
I thought back to the night before, and the way Levi had devoured me with his eyes as he sketched me. Was Eugenia right? Could it be as simple as that? But it didn’t explain why I felt such a pull toward that face. I wanted nothing more than to see that painting again, to look into her eyes. It was like I knew her.
“Eugenia, please stop talking shit,” Linnea said. “There’s no need.”
Eugenia smirked. “Sorry, Lin, but the new girl needs to know where she stands. I think it’s cute she’s having a little fun with our alpha, but that’s all it is. He’ll grow tired of her soon and realize who hereallyneeds to take as a mate.”
Linnea snorted and turned away, ignoring her. I had already tuned out the discussion, that face flashing through my mind again.
“I’m done,” I said, standing abruptly. “I need to go do something.”
“Okay,” Linnea said. “I’ll see you later for the pickling?”
“Sure.” Keeping my head down, I hurried out the door.
I walked toward Levi’s place after making sure no one was out and about. His cabin was quiet and dark. He could still beasleep, but he typically shifted and headed off into the forest early.
As surreptitiously as I could, I strolled to the back side of his cabin and peeked in his bedroom window. His bed was empty and freshly made. The closet door was ajar, and I could make out the bottom of the picture frame. As reckless and dangerous as it was, I needed to see it again. Ihadto. I couldn’t even explain it to myself, but it was a soul-deep desire to look at that face again.
Moving before I could talk sense into myself, I hurried to the front door and turned the knob. Unlocked. Of course it was. Who would be dumb enough to try and break into Leviathan Cross’s cabin? Me. I was dumb enough.
I closed the door behind me, then peered out the window to see if anyone was around who might have seen me go in. When I saw the coast was clear, I exhaled. If I did this fast, then no one would ever know. I needed to see that woman’s face again.
I made my way to Levi’s room. At the back of my mind, an imaginary clock ticked away as I tugged the painting out of the closet. Sinking to my knees, I turned it and stared at the woman’s face.
The depth of her gaze pulled me in, pushing everything else from my mind. That sense of connection built the longer I looked at her. A melodic hum played in my ears, as if I was being hypnotized by her.
“Who are you?” I whispered.
All sense of time vanished as I looked at her, and I had a ridiculous feeling that she was staring right back at me. Something faint and familiar tickled my mind, like a half-remembered dream. No, it was even more difficult to describe. More like the memory of a description of a dream someoneelsehad. It made no logical sense why this single painting had bewitched me in such a?—
“What the fuck are you doing?”
I flinched, ripping my eyes from the painting. Levi stood in the doorway of his bedroom, fists clenched and shaking at his sides, glaring at me with more anger than I’d ever seen on anyone in my life. My brain felt fuzzy and confused. The light coming through the window was brighter than it should be. How long had I been looking at the painting?
“Levi, I’m?—”
“You’rewhat?” he growled, taking a step forward and tearing the painting from my hands. “Who said you could sneak into my cabin?”
