“Something personal there?”
“You don’t remember, do you? I wondered why you didn’t react to me saying something about her.”
“Remember what?”
“How you healed.”
Romano didn’t remember much about the time, years ago, when he was thrown through a portal into the Chaos Realm and Dominic pulled him back out. The trolls that had shown up during their monthly warrior-class guard service hadn’t been expected, neither had the portal. One minute he was fighting for his life with Dominic, and the next he was being dragged into darkness where he’d felt literally pulled apart and brought back together in so many pieces, and not all of them were his. But no, he didn’t remember much of it, except in dreams, and he didn’t recall them when he woke up.
“Romano?”
“Yep. Crying about the Chaos Realm over here. Thanks for the recollection.”
“You’re a bastard, but I like that about you. That’s about all I like,” Dominic mused. “Where was I? Anyway, Zahara was brought in to help heal us. Yeah, shifters heal fast, but troll wounds and portal energy are something else entirely.”
“Why would she bother me though?”
“Because your wolf thought she was an enemy and tried to kill her a few times. She’s going to charge us out the ass the minute you come in.”
“I’ll cover what it takes. If my wolf was agitated, it saw her as an enemy. I didn’t try to go back and tear her to pieces, so she should have sent me a thank you note,” Romano smirked.
“Yeah, don’t push your luck.” Romano heard the annoyance in his Capo’s voice, and it made him smile even wider. “The Viscount Pride’s involvement bothers me though. The allergy was a ruse; we know that.”
Of course, it was. No shifter would eat something they were allergic to unless it was the first time and they didn’t know. “But why did they need the ruse?”
“They’re working for someone else?”
“Maybe, but we won’t know for sure without more investigation. I’ll give Zahara a call and see if she’s willing to make a house visit. Until then, keep Kalinda preoccupied while we sniff out her business.”
“Got it. Let me know if you find anything. She’ll start asking questions soon enough.”
Dominic was off the call without saying anything else.
I guess I’ll get some grub then.
The soup was sizzling as he came back into the kitchen and Kalinda was mixing something else. Her hands moved faster than he’d ever seen a simple human’s go, and his hackles rose.
“What are you doing now?”
When she looked at him, everything froze. Her pupils were dilated, her mouth parted on a pant. What the hell? Old and new, desire and need, desperation and fear all permeated the room, and now he had a direction—Kalinda.
“Food,” was her only response.
Her voice wrapped around his manhood and wouldn’t let go. He’d never in his life heard a woman sound like that with the most mundane word. It shouldn’t have made him hard as a rock, but it did. He took a step forward, his wolf pushing and snapping.
“Kalinda?”
She blinked and picked up her spoon before bringing it to her mouth. Her pink tongue darted out and lapped at the chocolate mix she’d been working on.
Before he could stop himself, Romano took another step, and another, until he was within reaching distance. “What are you doing?”
“Eating.”
She was totally hinting about something else, something I’d be more than happy to take her up on, right here in this room.
Her eyes traveled down his body, stopping between his legs before she lapped at the chocolate again. He swore her warm, wet tongue slicked its way over the head of his shaft. He slammed his hands to the table, trying to snap her out of it. As much as he’d like to take her on the island in front of her, this didn’t feel right.
“Are you seeing colors, Kalinda?”
