a Touch of Intrigue by L. j. Charles Read Free Book Online

there are still broken parts, and they react without my permission to anything that smells like a lie. I’m sorry for doubting you. It was an unjustified reflex that I… How can I fix this?”
    “We’re good, Belisama. Building trust takes time and practice.” He cupped my neck with a warm hand, then planted a hard kiss on my mouth before he drew back. “Did Harlan hang out in your North Carolina house?”
    His question hit me with a blast of reality. “No. Oh, my gosh, hardly ever. Only Millie. Harlan stayed outside, worked in the garden, and probably did a ton of other things I don’t know anything about, but the house was totally Millie’s domain.”
    “And?” Pierce—pushing me to think.
    “And they had their own cottage.” I grabbed his arm. “Did you see any out buildings when you cleared the property?”
    He caught my hand, tugged me into the living room and toward a different hallway. “No but it was a cursory search because Aukele has protected this place with a heavy dose of magic. I focused on the house out of habit.”
    I came to an abrupt stop and arched my eyebrows. “Seriously? You didn’t check every inch of the property?”
    Pierce rubbed the back of his neck. “Thought I’d give trusting Aukele a try. Hasn’t worked worth a shit, and now I have a permanent twitch in my neck.”
    My grin was instantaneous. “So… You think we both have some trust issues?”
    “Yeah. Fits.”
    I swung our joined hands back and forth a few times. “First thing tomorrow, property search?”
    “It’s a definite.” His smile was slow. “How about we postpone the shower and take that platter of food to bed? Now.”
    His towel had developed an interesting bulge. “Another definite. But can we please zip through the rest of the house tour first. I don’t like being lost, especially in a home I supposedly own.”
    The tour took a solid twenty minutes because it was a huge house. Lots of rooms, and many of them had energy patterns that were going to require some time for me to explore, but it was close to midnight and I’d about zapped out my spidey senses in the kitchen. Truth—I wanted to be in bed with Pierce, feeding him bites of fruit, cheese, and of course me. The house could wait.

    I WOKE SATED, AND COULDN’T remember ever being so completely at peace. The dark magic that was Tynan Ailill Pierce had seeped into me, had become a part of me. A comfortable part of me. And wasn’t that surprising? Mostly my energy field had been sparkly, white, and pulsing at a delightful fast hum that supported my avid curiosity. It was different now, and I…
    “Good morning.” Tynan’s words vibrated in his chest. Slow and solid. His body was spooned behind me, his arm resting over my waist, and all was right in my world.
    “Last night—”
    I rolled, pinning him to the mattress. “It was perfect. It’s still perfect.”
    He tapped the tip of my nose. I inhaled. “Wait. Is that coffee?”
    He nodded.
    “Were you up early?” I asked, but a cold chill hit the base of my spine because I knew he hadn’t left our bed. “We’re not alone.” I rolled out off the mattress, had a moment of total panic when I didn’t spot my messenger bag. “My sig. There’s no locks on the doors.” The words had sounded embarrassingly shaky. I tugged the sheet free, wrapped it around me, and considered the best way to arm myself and hit the kitchen without getting killed.
    Other than glancing down at his rather prominent arousal, Pierce barely twitched. “You’re not going to share the sheet?”
    Unable to tear my gaze from the chiseled perfection of his body, I shook my head and got a mouthful of knotted hair. He didn’t move, just soaked in my stare, comfortable, like we’d had a million mornings together. I freed one of my arms from the sheet, and pointed into the house. “Why aren’t you reacting?”
    “I like watching you.”
    True. He’d proved that several times during the night, but the marked lack of