Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild)

10

Sebastian stood on the well-lit front porch of the huge Cheval home and wondered if he was making the most foolish mistake in his life. He’d come here without invitation, without a plan of any kind, but when he’d finally called Lily’s office, when her circumspect assistant working late on a Friday night would only admit Lily was visiting family, Sebastian knew he had no choice.

It had been easier than he’d expected to get a flight out of the city, and the closer he’d gotten to Lily’s Montana home, the better he’d felt about his decision. The rental car had been waiting and the front gates to the Cheval estate wide open, almost as if he were expected. He’d parked behind a large garage, out of sight of the house.

He wasn’t hiding on purpose. He wasn’t going to hide from anyone, especially from Lily’s mother and father. He knew they were home because he’d watched them drive in just a short while ago. Another couple had been with them, but they’d entered the huge, sprawling house through separate doorways, and he imagined they must all live here together.

One of his father’s favorite rants was about the blatant immorality of Chanku, the fact that they swapped mates and had indiscriminate sexual encounters, that they were nothing more than animals.

It was hard to deny they were animals—beautiful creatures of the wild, choosing their forms at will, and as far as Sebastian was concerned, what consenting adults did behind closed doors was their own damned business. No matter their morality, Lily’s parents had raised a pretty amazing daughter.

With that thought foremost in mind, he raised his hand to knock on the door. It swung open before his fist connected with the intricately carved wood.

Startled, he stepped back. Lily’s father, the very famous and yet somewhat reclusive Anton Cheval, stood in the doorway. One hand supported his weight against the door frame, the other grasped the heavy brass handle. His shoulder-length dark hair was tousled, half out of its queue as if he’d just crawled out of bed, though Sebastian knew he’d arrived home mere minutes ago. His long-sleeved white shirt was unbuttoned over a lean but muscular chest. His shirt sleeves were rolled back along his forearms exposing narrow, graceful wrists with a dusting of dark hair, and his shirt tail hung loose from his dark gray slacks. Sebastian had the horrible sense he’d interrupted something intimate, something between man and wife.

But all that was noted in a heartbeat, and it was nothing compared to the man’s aura. Red and maroon flames shimmered all around him, cascading arcs of pure power at least as strong as, if not stronger than Lily’s.

Sebastian sucked in a breath. He should have expected this, but he forced himself to look at the man’s face. He was immediately caught in the brilliant gleam of the most amazing amber eyes he’d ever seen. There was so much power here, power beyond his own, beyond his father’s. No wonder Lily’s magic was so strong.

Her father was flat out terrifying.

He buried his fear and stuck out his hand. “Mr. Cheval? My name is Sebastian Xenakis. I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I’ve come to see Lily.”

Her father grasped his hand, holding it a fraction longer than a handshake should require. Sebastian wondered if his entire life had just been read like an open book.

As Cheval released Sebastian’s hand, one corner of his lips lifted in a feral grin. “It’s good to meet you, Mr. Xenakis. Lily has spoken of you. We all owe you our thanks for watching over her at the reception last night.”

Hadn’t she told him what happened after? He maintained eye contact, even though an unfamiliar instinct had him wanting to press his belly to the floor and bare his throat. “It was definitely a unique way to meet a beautiful woman. Is Lily home?”

Cheval shook his head. “She’s running with friends tonight. I expect her back in a few hours.” He held the door wide. “Would you care to come in?”

“I don’t want to disturb you.” Sebastian shrugged and gazed toward the mountains, and wondered if he’d be able to find her, if he should shift and go after her.

If she’d even want to see him.

“I believe she wants very much to see you.”

Mind reading? Sebastian turned slowly and stared at Cheval. He wondered what he was thinking.

The man smiled, looking every bit the wolf. He stepped back and held the door open wider. “You probably don’t want to know that. I really think you should step inside, Mr. Xenakis.”

Like he had a choice? “Sebastian, please. Mr. Xenakis is my father.”

Cheval nodded. “As you wish, Sebastian.”

Holding his head high and struggling not to take the submissive pose his body cried out for, Sebastian stepped through the doorway and entered Anton Cheval’s home.

An absolutely beautiful dark-skinned woman stood in the foyer. She wore a bright blue, silky gown wrapped around her full-figured body, color that created a stunning contrast against her bittersweet chocolate skin. With her black hair flowing in long, smooth waves past her waist, her full breasts, and her rounded hips, she looked like an artist’s rendition of a fertility goddess ready for a pagan ritual. So beautiful, so sensual, she took his breath.

He recognized Lily in her mother’s beauty, though Lily’s lean height and tensile strength was a direct gift from her father. Her mother’s aura pulsed in soft shades of green and blue, and he read her as healer, caretaker, and empathetic lover.

And it was more than obvious she was adored by her husband. Cheval stood before her and took her hands in both of his. Focusing entirely on his woman, he said, “Sebastian, this is my wife. Keisha is the better part of me, the iron strength and the heart of our pack. My love, this is Sebastian Xenakis, the young man who assisted Lily at the reception last night.”

She tugged her hands free of her husband’s and moved forward with a welcoming smile and her arms held wide. “Sebastian ! I’m so glad you’ve come. It’s a pleasure to meet you, to thank you in person. Please, come in. You are welcome in our home.” She hugged him, enveloping him in strong arms and a sense of such peace, such overwhelming acceptance, that his eyes welled with tears.

So not like him, but before he had time to wonder at his sudden rush of emotion, she quickly stepped back, took his arm in both hands, and led him down a broad hallway. “Would you care for a drink? We just got home, and Anton and I were going to have a glass of cognac. Come. Join us.”

Cheval’s soft voice, surprisingly humorous, filled Sebastian’s mind. My mate is a force of nature, Sebastian. I suggest you just go with the flow.

As if he had any choice. With a quick glance over his shoulder and a raised eyebrow at the man’s barely controlled smile, Sebastian allowed Lily’s mother to guide him toward a large, oddly shaped den. With five rather than four walls, richly paneled in wood inlay, it was filled comfortably with dark oak and leather furniture. Colorful rugs overlay floors of natural stone. A flat video screen covered most of one wall and a massive oak desk filled the corner.

A mottled green and black granite bar ran the full length of the wall opposite the screen. Anton stepped behind the bar and set out three heavy crystal goblets without stems, then reached beneath for an expensive-looking bottle of cognac. He glanced at Sebastian, who nodded. As Anton poured, he gestured toward one of the leather bar stools.

Sebastian sat. Keisha patted his shoulder, leaned across the bar, and kissed her husband. “I’ll see you later, my love.” Then she winked. “Be kind.”

As she turned to go, she brushed her fingers along the side of Sebastian’s face. The gentle, loving gesture was so much like one his mother had made when she still lived, that he felt the sting of tears once again. What the hell was going on?

And what were Lily’s parents up to? No one was this nice, not to a guy who’d had sex with their daughter and then bailed out like a damned coward before she woke up.

Of course, they wouldn’t know that. He watched intently as Keisha took a half-filled glass from her husband. She gave Sebastian one last smile as she left the room. He wanted to follow her, wanted to spend more time near her, absorbing the sense of peace that seemed so much a part of Lily’s beautiful mother.

He realized he was still staring at the empty doorway. Damn, what an idiot. Lily’s father was going to think he was nuts. He turned. Cheval had remained behind the bar, but the affable smile was gone. Sebastian had a feeling he was getting a glimpse of the real man behind the handsome face.

Cheval’s voice had an edge to it as he held his glass without actually taking a drink. “Actually, Sebastian, I do know that you left our daughter’s bed without telling her why. I also know another young woman died shortly after you left, but if I believed you were the killer, you wouldn’t be sitting in my home, drinking my best spirits, or accepting kindness and hugs from my beloved wife. I do, however, have grave misgivings about your dealings with my daughter.”

This was more along the lines of what he’d expected. Sebastian thought of taking a sip of the cognac for courage, but decided there wasn’t enough alcohol in the world to give him the courage he needed. He cupped the glass in his hands and faced Lily’s father. “First of all, Mr. Cheval, I would never harm Lily. I understand and respect your misgivings.” He took a deep breath and searched for an elusive sense of balance. “The reason I’m looking for Lily is that I want to apologize.”

“For sneaking away in the middle of the night?”

Sebastian stared at the amber liquid in his glass. “That, and for frightening her today on the astral. I didn’t mean to. I had no idea she was there.”

Cheval went dead still. Sebastian felt the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He really didn’t want to meet the man’s gaze, but he raised his head and looked directly into narrowed eyes and the face of a feral creature barely under control.

There was an edge as fine as sharpened steel to his voice. “You were on the astral? Why? And how? How did you gain access?”

Slowly, Sebastian shook his head. Hell, even he wasn’t quite sure how he’d gotten there or if that was where he’d actually gone. He took a sip of the cognac. Smooth as silk and yet it still burned going down. He’d never been much of a drinker. “I used a spell I found among my father’s papers.”

“Blood magic?”

He nodded, not totally surprised that a wizard as powerful as Cheval would know.

“That requires a sacrifice. What did you kill and how?”

He shook his head. “No. Never. I won’t kill to empower my spells. I used my own blood.” He sighed, still slowly shaking his head. “I won’t do that again. The blood tainted the spell. It felt wrong the minute the drops hit the flame.”

Cheval merely nodded. “Do your father’s spells, the ones he casts, require the death of living creatures?”

Sebastian stared at the granite bar, grounding himself in the natural patterns running through the stone. “I believe so, though I’ve not witnessed any sacrifice. My father is very secretive with his magic.” He should have felt like a traitor, divulging his father’s methods, but something about Cheval made Sebastian comfortable trusting the man. There was a sense of honor here that was sorely lacking in his father.

“Possibly the deaths of young women?”

Sebastian raised his head and once again looked directly into the man’s eyes. He consciously dropped his shields, should Cheval want to see his innermost thoughts. “I hope not. I wish I knew for certain, but I’ve a growing suspicion they might be his source of power.”

Again, there was no reaction. Cheval turned as he took a sip of his cognac and stared at the big window. From the position of the house, Sebastian imagined that during daylight it would look out on a huge meadow with the granite peaks of the Rocky Mountains rising majestically behind. Tonight, with the lights shining inside, Sebastian saw only the reflections of two men, lost in thought while searching carefully for answers.

He wondered what Lily’s father saw.

Anton glanced over his shoulder. “I just reached Lily. She’ll be here in about half an hour.”

Seb’s gaze flashed from the window to the man. So calm, and yet so very powerful. It wasn’t common knowledge that Chanku were telepathic, but from what he’d learned, most of them were limited to a fairly short distance. Cheval appeared to have no limits.

Was it the magic, or merely his personal set of Chanku genetics ? Did Chanku gain power with age? Anton Cheval was no kid. Sebastian had done his research, knew he’d been born in the twentieth century, in 1955. That meant he was eighty-four years old, and yet in both appearance and action, he was a man in the prime of his life. Chanku were said to be nearly immortal. Seeing him, Sebastian had no doubts the rumors were true.

By appearance alone, Anton Cheval could be one of Sebastian’s contemporaries. It was unnerving, knowing Cheval was older than his own father and yet looked half Aldo’s age.

Almost as unnerving to feel the power that was so much a part of him. At least Cheval’s aura had settled. It no longer spiked and flamed, though it continued to glow with bursts of red and magenta.

When he spoke of Lily, though, soft pale pink wove in among the red. He truly loved his daughter with a pure and enduring love that Sebastian couldn’t even begin to imagine. What would it be like, to be loved so completely?

His mother had loved him, but she’d also lied to him. He’d grown up believing his father was dead.

Maybe he’d have been better off if Aldo had died. Or, at the very least, if he’d never learned his father lived. In hindsight, it had been a rash decision to search for Aldo after discovering his name on the birth certificate. Even more foolish to take that name as his own, but it had pleased the old man.

In the beginning.

Cheval stepped out from behind the bar and faced the big window. He glanced over his shoulder at Sebastian. “What makes you think your father is involved with the murders?”

Sebastian slipped off the stool and walked across the room to stand next to Lily’s father. They were of equal height, and seeing their reflections together like this, Sebastian realized he’d been right—they appeared the same age.

Standing here beside the man, it was easier to think of Cheval as a peer, not as the father of the woman he might be falling in love with. He shoved his fingers through his hair in frustration and looked at Cheval’s reflection in the glass.

“Please realize, I don’t know Aldo Xenakis very well. I only discovered he was my father a couple of years ago, when my mother was dying and I was helping organize her papers. I found my birth certificate, their divorce papers. She warned me to stay away from him, but my curiosity won out. After she died. I contacted him. He knew nothing about me, but when I sent him copies of the paperwork, he asked me to come. I did. I’m still not sure if it was the smartest or stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but there is something different, almost mesmerizing about . . .”

His voice trailed off. What was there to say about the man? Aldo was fascinating in the same manner as a cobra. Sebastian glanced at Cheval and realized he had his full attention. “Anyway, when I first saw Lily at the reception . . .” He shrugged. “She’s beautiful. Charismatic. I’ve never felt a connection like I felt with her. I was trying to influence her to look my way.”

Cheval chuckled. “Did it work?”

Sebastian laughed outright. “Hell, no. She said I was much too pushy.”

“That sounds just like Lily.”

“I’d never really communicated telepathically before. My father can push at my mind, and occasionally I understand what he wants, but we don’t actually speak. Not the way Lily and I can. To say she grabbed my attention is an understatement. She was working her way through the crowd, talking to people greeting her, and at the same time, we were tossing telepathic comments back and forth.”

He remembered how she’d looked, like royalty acknowledging her subjects, and his heart sped up. “We made eye contact, and suddenly a sharp pain spiked through my head. Lily collapsed. Just went down like someone had coldcocked her. I was aware of a sense of evil, of darkness, but there was a subtle familiarity. I pushed it all away and ran to Lily.”

He chuckled. “She was awake but pretending to be unconscious because she was embarrassed. She asked me—telepathically, again—to get her away from everyone, so I carried her to a private office. She recovered quickly, we went back to the reception, and all was well.”

He glanced at Lily’s father. Cheval stood motionless, listening carefully to everything Sebastian was saying, but watching him in the way of a predator studying his prey.

What did he see? Facial expressions or something more? Did he see auras the way Sebastian did? Was he searching Sebastian’s thoughts, looking for words he wasn’t speaking aloud? He’d often thought his father could read his mind, and he already knew Cheval was capable. So be it. He had no intention of lying. The man could turn his brain inside out for all he cared. All he’d find was just how very much Sebastian already cared for his daughter.

“After the reception, Lily said she was going to run on Mount Tam. I asked if I could go with her, and she said she’d be running as a wolf. I’m not Chanku, but I can shift by magical means. She was okay with that. But something happened that’s never happened to me before. Shortly after we shifted, I lost almost half an hour. I have no real explanation, but Lily says I chased her as if I intended to mount her.”

He shook his head, still ashamed of what had happened. “I vaguely recall a sense of evil, as if something foul had entered my mind, similar to what happened at the reception, but it’s not clear enough for me to be sure. Whatever it was, I can only assume I was mentally compromised until we were attacked by two huge wolves. Lily was able to get through to me then, thank goodness, because they were bigger than anything I’ve ever seen. They were smart, obviously working together, but Lily wasn’t sure if they were Chanku. She and I fought them off.”

He shot a quick glance at Cheval. “Your daughter is amazing. She doesn’t give an inch in a fight, and together, we were able to overpower them. One left with a broken right front leg. The other one had a broken left hind leg, and a slashed nose.”

“There’s more to this. Something Lily doesn’t know, right?” Cheval’s focus was laser sharp, aimed directly at Sebastian.

“Yes, sir. Early this morning, my father made a couple of comments that let me know he was aware of what had happened last night. When I admitted to losing myself in the wolf, he seemed disappointed I’d not raped Lily. He was rather crude about it.”

Anger surged, fresh and hot with the memory. He realized he was clenching his hands into such tight fists he’d cut off circulation, and he stared at his hands a moment, flexing his fingers, getting the circulation back. After a moment, he raised his head and faced Lily’s father. “His comments infuriated me. We had strong words; it got ugly. Later, before I did the spell to access the astral, he held one of his big public rallies against Chanku rights of citizenship. I watched the remote feed and noticed he had at least six large bodyguards up on the stage with him. Men I’d never seen before, but he likes to flaunt his power, so their presence wasn’t unusual. Except one bodyguard had his right arm in a sling. Another had a slashed nose and a walking cast on his left leg.”

“Coincidence?” Cheval raised an eyebrow.

“If you say so.” Sebastian met his steady gaze.

Cheval studied him for what felt like a very long time. Then he nodded, as if answering his own questions. “I have a condition if you want to continue seeing my daughter. Now, obviously I can’t prevent you and Lily from being together if that’s what she wants, but I hope you’ll humor me on this.”

Sebastian merely waited while Cheval walked across the room to his desk, reached into a bottom drawer, and grabbed a small plastic jar. Sebastian walked over to stand beside the desk, and Cheval dropped the jar into his hand.

It was filled with large brownish-green capsules.

“These are the nutrients I want you to take. I believe you are Chanku, but I want to know for sure. Once you take these, if you are Chanku, you can’t go back. You will no longer be human. The changes are at a cellular level, and they are permanent.”

Sebastian held up the plastic container and looked at the capsules. “Lily asked me to take them. I told her I would.”

“And then you left.”

Sebastian nodded. “And then I left.” He glanced at Cheval. “Not a very bright move on my part. I knew it the moment I shut the door behind me I’d made a stupid mistake.”

“Good. There’s hope for you yet.” Cheval glanced at the jar. “They go well with cognac.”

Sebastian removed the lid and dumped one of the capsules into his palm. He retrieved his glass from the bar, swallowed the capsule down with too big a gulp of cognac and almost choked.

Cheval ignored his coughing and checked his wristwatch. “Do you play chess?”

“I do.”my

“Good. We can play while we wait for Lily. And when she arrives, I would like to hear more of your walk on the astral.”


None of this felt real. Annie gazed into Alex’s eyes and wondered if she should pinch herself. He was usually so funny, teasing and playing jokes, acting like a clown. Making her laugh.

Not now. Not here. His hands slid down her arms, but his fingers trembled against her skin. His lips parted when he cupped her breasts, and he sort of gnawed on his lower lip as if he was totally lost in touching her.

She was quickly losing herself. Losing any sense of who or what she was beyond what she could be for Alex. What they could be together. Was this love, this terrifying sense of free fall, the feeling that if he didn’t do more now, make love to her now, she’d burst into flames?

She’d had sex with a lot of women—girlfriends both human and Chanku. None of them, not even Lily tonight, had affected her the way Alex did, merely by looking at her as he ran his big hands over her body.

She reveled in the rough scrape of calloused palms, his strength, and the flex of muscles barely visible in the darkness. Even with her Chanku eyesight, he was all line and shadow, shape and form without truly defined edges, but he was every inch an alpha male.

What was he thinking? She wondered if he’d open his thoughts to her, and when she dropped her shields, just like that he was in her head.

And firmly entrenched within her heart.

Beautiful. So beautiful, and I don’t know if I’m good enough, if I’ll ever be good enough. Beautiful, perfect Annie.

Her breath caught in her throat. He had no idea she was listening, that he was broadcasting, and as much as she wanted to hear more, it wasn’t fair to him. Not when she could answer his questions so easily.

Since I was little, you were always the best thing in my world. The boy I looked up to, and then the man. The one who made me laugh, even when you didn’t realize I was in the room. The one who always kept the bigger kids, including my brothers, from teasing me. You’ve always protected me. Make love to me. I’m thirty years old, and I’ve waited almost all of those years for you. You know how this is supposed to work, but I don’t. Please don’t make me wait any longer.

He groaned and kissed her, but there was nothing practiced in the press of his firm lips, the click of teeth bumping, the sensual tingle of tongues touching, stroking, searching deeper. Annie sensed that Alex was every bit as nervous as she was, and his sweet anxiety gave her courage.

She loved his taste and the way it felt when they were skin to skin. She twisted beneath him to bring their bodies closer together. She wanted him inside where no man had touched her, where she’d kept that one small bit of herself inviolate, just for him.

Did he care? Did it matter?

It matters, sweetheart. You have no idea. Matters so much, and yet I’m afraid of hurting you. Afraid I’ll screw up and you’ll hate me, hate what should be wonderful. He laughed, breaking their kiss and looking at her with so much tenderness that a lump grew in her throat and his image wavered through tears. He kissed her again, a short quick taste of her lips. “I’m not kidding, you know. Believe me, if anyone’s going to screw something up, it’ll be me.”

“Only if you don’t shut up and make love to me.”

He chuckled, a sound from deep in his chest, almost as if he groaned at the same time. “See? What did I tell you?”

But then he leaned close and clamped her right nipple between his lips, worried the sensitive peak gently with his teeth. Her body writhed and twisted beneath him, and she wondered if a woman could come merely from having her breasts licked and nipped, but then he brushed the curls between her legs, and she knew this intimate touch would definitely make her come.

“No.” She moaned the words. “Please, not with your hands. Not with your mouth. I want you inside me. All of you, as deep inside as you can be. Please?”

Her body trembled and his was shaking, and she wondered what it was like for him, a man who’d been with so many women, making love with someone so inexperienced, but he followed her plea, lifted her hips beneath his hands, and nudged at her needy sex. He was gentle, parting her slickened labia with his fingertips, pressing forward until he’d seated the broad head of his cock just inside.

She wanted more. Wanted him now, and she raised her hips and thrust against him, impaling herself on his thick length, thrilling with the burn and stretch as he filled her. She’d used sex toys to ease the pressure of unmet needs, but they were nothing like Alex’s thick, hot erection. She lifted her hips, pushing against him until the solid pressure of his cock against the mouth of her womb, the soft slap of his balls against her bottom, signaled she’d taken all she could, that she’d taken all of him.

He held still for a moment, giving her time to adjust to his size, and both of them a chance to savor the feeling. When he finally withdrew, the wet, sucking sounds as he pulled free made her shiver. He paused with the thick head of his cock resting against her entrance, and then he drove home again. And almost as if it were an afterthought, he opened his thoughts to her, shared the sensation of her inner muscles rippling along the fullness of his cock, the way her skin felt to him, like silk. He shared his sense of surprise and amazing joy, that since Annie had suddenly reappeared in his life, he knew his life would never be the same.

Annie returned the sensations, magnified through her sense of wonder, that the man she’d loved for so long truly cared about her, maybe even loved her. This was what she’d waited for. So many times she’d dreamed of just this moment, this wonderful sense of fulfillment, but only with Alex Aragat. Never any other, and now that it was happening, it was more than she’d hoped. So much more, so much deeper, more meaningful than anything she could have imagined.

It wasn’t just sex. No, this was so much more. This was Alex making a commitment unlike any he’d ever made. She felt the strength of it in every move he made, in every touch.

It was a commitment to her, to Anne Marie McClintock. Not even Lily, a woman he’d loved all his life, had affected him this way. There was no doubt in her mind. He was telling her with his eyes, with his body, with the soft words he whispered in her ear, that he hoped this was worth the wait for her.

That she was definitely worth the wait for him.

His words of love heated her mind as his touch heated her body. Her climax grew closer. His thrusts went from long and slow to short and fast, and she saw the shimmer in his eyes, the sweat on his forehead and across his broad chest making his muscles gleam in the faint reflective moonlight that lingered.

She opened to him, found him waiting, balanced on the precipice. Waiting for her. I love you, she said, unashamed to tell him what she’d imagined saying for so long.

Oh, Annie. Sweet, sweet Annie. I never thought I’d know this feeling, but I love you, too. I think you were made for me to love. Be mine, Annie. Forever mine.

Forever, Alex.

Climax caught them, lifted them together, tossed them to the stars, and then settled them, gently intertwined, connected in a way neither one had ever felt. They lay there in the cool grass, and she was lost in the harsh rasps of his breathing, the thundering beat of her heart pounding in time with his. Even the rush of blood in his veins turned her on, completed her. Her body clenched and pulsed around him, holding him deep inside, and she dreamed of the day they would mate as wolves. When they would bare all to one another and complete a link that had always been nothing more than a lonely young woman’s fantasy.

Except it wasn’t merely a dream anymore. No, not when she held the reality of Alex in her arms.


Lily felt like such a voyeur, but they’d known she was here all along, at least until they totally forgot about everything but each other. She brushed tears away from her cheeks and thought of sneaking away, but then she realized she wanted them to have her cottage tonight.

Alex still lived in the big house with his parents and hers, and Annie hadn’t been home long enough to think of where she might want to live, so Lily knew she must still be at home.

The idea of Alex spending the night there with Annie, under the same roof with her wonderful but intimidating father almost made her giggle. Almost.

She’d give them a minute to come down from their high, and then let them know her place was theirs, at least for tonight.

Lily?

Dad? What’s up?

I want you to come home. You have a visitor.

A visitor? Who the hell would come all the way to Montana to see her, especially this late at night? It must be close to ten by now. Who?

Sebastian Xenakis.

Holy shit. Sebastian’s here? But . . . I’m a good half hour from home. Do you think he’ll wait?

She heard her father’s soft laughter. Oh, I think he’ll wait. But hurry. We have much to discuss.

She glanced at Alex and Annie. They lay together in the tall grass, totally immersed in one another, but she had to leave, and she wanted them to know about the cottage. She glided across the pond, crawled out, and shook the water out of her long hair over Alex’s butt. It seemed only fair.

He whipped his head around and glared at her, but Lily just laughed. “Be nice to me, big guy. I’m here to do you a favor.”

“What?” He sounded surly, but she caught his private aside when he added, You’ve already done me the greatest favor in the world.

She just grinned. “I thought you and Annie might like the use of my cottage tonight. The sheets are clean, and the fridge is stocked. I’ll stay in one of the guest rooms at the big house. Wish I could stay and play with you, but Dad’s summoned me.”

Alex sat up and brought Annie with him. She snuggled against his chest with a sigh of contentment, oblivious to Alex and Lily’s conversation. “Anything wrong?”

Lily shook her head. “I hope not. Sebastian Xenakis showed up on the doorstep tonight, looking for me. Dad hasn’t killed him yet, so that’s got to be a good sign.”

Alex frowned. “Xenakis is here?”

“He is, and if you meet him, you will play nice.”

Alex growled. Lily merely leaned over and kissed his nose. Then she turned away, shifted, and took off at a steady lope.

She wondered how her father and Sebastian were getting along. Wondered if the poor guy would be in one piece by the time she arrived. She certainly hoped so. She had to hand it to him, though. It took a brave man to meet Anton Cheval on his own turf, especially a man who was sleeping with his daughter.

Excitement simmered in her veins. This could be interesting.

It could also be an absolute fiasco.

Stretching out, Lily put on an added burst of speed as she raced down the mountain toward home.

Home and Sebastian Xenakis.

Now why did those two things sound just perfect together?