Highlander's Magic (Highlander Heat #2)

“It’s a wild guess going off the whole furniture maker thing. C’mon, you’ve gotta give me something, otherwise I’ll think the worst. What about Choo-choo?” I’d drag his full name out of him somehow.

He chuckled. “Where’d you come up with that middle name?”

“I’m inventive. What about Chimpanzee?”

“Are you calling me an ape?”

“I wouldn’t do such a thing.” I picked up his black leather jacket slung over the padded chair seat. The inside tag again read CCC. I shoved my hands into the sleeves and tugged it on. His jacket swamped me, but cocooned within, I drew in his spicy scent.

“Why don’t you sit and I’ll tell you.”

“Is it Confident?”

“Sit.”

“I really don’t have time to get too comfortable.” Although he did have a rather cozy looking padded couch of beige with floor length curtains of the same velvety fabric tucked behind it. I crossed to his glass door, pressed a hand to its warm surface. Sunlight bathed his private garden. “I like the golden roses. Flowers barely survive where I live.”

“And where is that?” His hunter skills had him as intrigued as me by the drilling sound of his voice, and it wasn’t good to leave a hunter with unanswered questions. I’d tell him what I could then get this day over with. There wasn’t a chance we could work out any form of relationship. Hope and Faith had, but they hid a ton of secrets to make it work.

“In Dralion my parents have a cottage in a village near the snow-capped mountains. Snow equals no roses. Then there’s the warriors’ barracks. Not one garden to speak of there. On Earth, I live on a station in the blazing heat of the outback.”

“Ahh, that explains why I was drawn to Earth.” He moved in behind me, his chest brushing my back. Usually such a move would have my defenses on alert. Instead I eased back and allowed his presence to surround me. He was my mate, the one man meant to be mine. Destiny though had backfired with this bond. “Lieska? You know what we need to do, right?” His voice was a soft murmur in my ear.

“I sure do.” I tugged his jacket tighter around me. “Time to break up, not that we’ve actually gone out, but you know, it’s not likely to work.”

“Protectors and warriors don’t mix.” He stroked my arms.

“I take it that’s why you never came for me. You’d already decided to let our bond pass?”

“There’s a war, and we’d never suit.”

“I know.”

“I’m not happy you’re here, but at least it’ll give us the chance to end things the right way.” Yep, releasing each other would mean we could move on, even though we still held the other half of each other’s soul. Distance and time though would aid in the separation.

I turned in his arms and faced him. “Speak the words I need to hear, Cole. Release me, and I’ll release you.”

His gaze intensified. “I like your strength.”

“Yes, and you’re—oh, perhaps the C in your name stands for Challenging?” Geez, I really had to know. He had to give me something before the hunter in me got really serious.

“That’s not it either.” He cupped my cheeks. “It’s Chase. I’ve always gone after what I wanted and never deviated from the set course.”

“Cole Chase Cyrano.” My pulse sped up. I liked his warm hands on my face and the intense look in his eye, all for me. “That’s why we hunt. Thank you for telling—”

“Lieska? You gotta minute?” Hope’s frantic voice rang clear in my mind.

“What’s up?”

“I hate to interrupt whatever’s going down, but it seems I’ve attracted some attention.”

“I’ll be there soon. We’re almost done.”

“Maybe I should have said a lot of attention.”

“Hold still then. I’m on my way.” I covered Cole’s hands and squeezed. “Sorry, but there’s an emergency. Hope’s in need of a pick-up. An urgent one.”

I flashed us to the safety rail since I had the image. Oh boy, and a lot of attention was right. Four beefy protectors, their swords drawn, towered over Hope.

Shoot. What had she done now?

Dralion’s princess certainly knew how to find trouble.





Chapter 2


“Put your weapons away!” Cole bellowed as he heaved in front of me and faced the others. “This is Hope, a friend of Silas’s. I can vouch for her.”

Wow. My mate was a rather imposing force. Nice. I liked.

One of the towering menaces spun around. “Cole, she still shouldn’t be here. She’s a civilian.”

“I was keeping an eye on her.”

“Not a close enough eye.”

“It’s okay. I’ll leave.” Hope eased past the brute in black leathers and whipped in beside me. “We’re leaving, right?”