True Colors by Thea Harrison Read Free Book Online Page A

sautéed vegetables. The intended omelet became a scramble upon which she had heaped scoops of sour cream and cheese. The hash browns were a delectable brown, and the bacon was so aromatic and crispy, his stomach emitted a loud rumble.
    He gave her a sheepish grin and Alice laughed. Then she said suddenly, “Oh, I forgot to make toast!”
    He snagged her by putting an arm around her shoulders and redirecting her back to the table. “Please sit and relax. This is more than perfect.”
    She frowned at him over the delicate wire-rims perched on her slender nose. “As long as you’re sure.”
    He clenched down on an almost uncontrollable urge to kiss her. It wasn’t time.
    Not yet, at any rate.
    He said, “I’m sure.”
    He held Alice’s chair for her. She smiled at him as he sat. “Don’t be shy,” she said. “Eat up. As you can see, I cooked portions relative to your size.”
    So she had. He inhaled deeply as he looked at the fragrant meal. Gods above, he didn’t even have to taste any of it to know she was a superb cook. He told her, “This is more heaven than I can remember seeing in one place for quite some time. Please serve yourself something before I get started.”
    Her gorgeous cocoa-and-cream skin turned pink with pleasure. “I’m not very hungry but, well, okay.”
    She took a little of the scrambled eggs, a slice of bacon, and a spoonful of the hash browns. It was not nearly enough to his critical gaze, but on a night that was so hard for her, it probably would have to do.
    She might lose her appetite for even that small amount if she were to realize hers was the fourth name on that website list.
    Not that anything was going to happen to her. Not on Gideon’s watch. He would die before he let that happen.

Chapter Four
    The Depths
     
    True north .
    What the hell did it mean?
    Gideon could wish for a little time to contemplate it. For now, though, he shoveled half the contents of each skillet on to his plate, helped himself to a generous squirt of ketchup on the hash browns and set to with enthusiasm.
    Those first quick bites were indescribably delicious. Salty meat, rich melted cheese and sour cream on eggs and veggies, and crunchy filling potatoes, all with a beautiful, gentle woman in a warm kitchen on a cold winter’s night. Suddenly Gideon felt happier than he ever thought possible, happier than was even comfortable. The emotion shuddered through him with such fierce intensity his fingers shook as he gripped his knife and fork. He clenched his hands, willing the unsteadiness to stop.
    Gideon had been one of Cuelebre’s deadliest dogs of war, the alpha captain that led the wolves, the mastiffs and the mongrels. His brigade had been the most gifted and volatile, the troops on the extreme edge. They had hurtled first into any conflict, not baying, but racing to the battle in an eager, murderous silence. They were the advance scouts, the rangers sent in to places too dangerous for the regular troops, the sentries that patrolled the shadowed corners and slipped past enemy lines to take down their opponents from behind.
    Gideon had risen in the ranks when he still had the thoughtless athleticism of youth and a strong body that could go on forever just because he asked it to. Now that boundless, youthful energy had turned to disciplined maturity, and his blond hair had faded like an aging golden retriever’s pelt. He exercised and trained hard to maintain his muscled physique, stamina and quick reflexes. Each battle he fought and won, he did so knowing that his youth might have gone but he was still at peak condition, and it was not yet time for the alpha to lose his place at the head of the pack.
    He was not one of the strange, immortal Wyr who had come into existence in the dawn of the world. Wolf Wyr had a life span of around two hundred years. If something didn’t bring him down first he expected to see another good eighty, eight-five years. With discipline and constant training, he could have