Born of Fire

Despite her effort, she had the distinct feeling he knew anyway.

She pulled her wrist free of his tight grasp. Why was he willing to leave her in his home? It didn’t make sense. “What am I supposed to do while you’re gone?”

“Think up ways to kill me while I sleep.”

The blase tone didn’t comfort her in the least. “I’ve already got a large number of them in mind.”

He shrugged. “I should warn you that if you succeed in killing me, you’ll never get out of here alive. You’ll starve to death long before anyone misses me and thinks to come here to see if I’m all right.”

Now that was something she hadn’t thought of.

“Like I won’t starve to death anyway if you keep me here without food,” she said sarcastically, thinking about the empty cupboards in his kitchen.

Without a word, he snatched his gloves off the counter, walked past her and pressed the controls to open his closet. He pulled out a black leather jacket and shrugged it on his massive shoulders. “You can take my bed. I’ll sleep on the couch. If it’ll make you feel any better, lock the bedroom door.”

That said, he left the room.

Shahara stood in shock at his words. One minute he threatened her, then in the next he offered her a relative amount of safety.

What kind of convict was he?

Before she could regain her thoughts, she heard the front door close behind him.

Syn leaned his head back against the closed door and took a deep breath to center his raging emotions and hormones. It’d been years since anyone had knocked him so off-kilter. A cynical stoic by birth, he’d always been able to control himself, control his emotions.

But something about Shahara made a mockery of his iron will.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him. How could he be mad enough to kill her, then turn around and kiss her?

If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she used pheromone enhancers.

“You’re losing your edge.” If he had one single brain cell left, he’d cuff her to the bed instead of giving her the freedom of his house to devise a way to kill him once he returned.

But then he knew the reasons for that particular stupidity. One, she was Caillen’s beloved sister and he didn’t want to traumatize her too badly and have his friend never speak to him again over it. Two, she reminded him too much of Talia. The scared look in her eyes as she watched him, expecting him to throw her to the ground and tear her clothes from her.

He hadn’t been old enough to protect his sister—a fact he’d never come to terms with.

And he would never harm a woman like that. Anyone for that matter. It just wasn’t in him.

But what was he going to do with her?

Sighing, he wished he knew an easy answer. He’d give her a few hours alone. Maybe then she would calm down enough that he could speak to her without her trying to claw him to shreds.

Or maybe he should tell her he was a friend of Caillen’s . . .

Yeah, right. She most likely wouldn’t care. And considering the type of people Caillen usually associated with, it would only give her another reason to take him in. She’d probably consider it a community service.

No, it would be best to keep his friendship with her brother a secret.

Surely by morning she’d be willing to listen to him. For now he had a shipment to focus on and his legitimate business affairs.

Shahara leaned her head back, letting the hot water slide against her body. It’d been a long time since she last had a hot shower . . .

And this was heaven.

In her flat, she was lucky to have lukewarm water even in the summertime.

She must be insane to shower when she should be plotting an escape, but as she’d searched his place, the temptation had been too much for her. Besides, Syn had told her he’d be gone for the night so she had hours left to plot a way home. For just a few minutes, she was going to indulge herself.

Feeling much better and with clearer thoughts, she left the shower, grabbed the long, fluffy towel on the bar and wiped the water from her face. She gasped as she realized the scent of musk in the towel smelled just like Syn.

She clenched her teeth in anger and tossed the offending towel to the floor. No matter how good he might smell or look, Syn was a convict with an extremely violent past. She must never forget that.

Just as she bent over to pick up her underwear from the floor, the door to the bathroom swung open.

Horrified, she straightened and stared into a pair of beautiful, wide dark eyes.

Syn froze dead in his tracks as all breath left his body like he’d been sucker punched. He couldn’t have been more stunned had he opened the door and found a huge lorina waiting there to devour him.

Then again, he had to admit he much preferred the sight of Shahara’s well-rounded ass greeting him.

She stood in all her naked glory, her pale skin glistening from tiny water droplets. Her mahogany hair clung to her body, dripping tiny beads of water onto the floor. And one particularly attractive, long strand was curled around her right breast.