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.“My body language? I fail to see—”“Oh, for Pete’s sake.You all but leaned against the car door on the way uphere, like you’re afraid I’m actually going to touch you or something.” Sheknew she was lying because that was exactly what she wanted to do—touchhim anywhere and everywhere, preferably naked—but she’d never admit it.She had some pride left.Gavin’s dark eyes held her gaze and Chloe kept her chin up, refusing to lookaway.Then he slowly smiled and deliberately let his arm slide across herribs as he reached over to open the door on her side.His body heatenveloped her like a warm cocoon and she caught the woodsy scent ofexpensive aftershave on his now-stubbled jaw—a look that only made himsexier, damn it.Her breath hitched as he sat back, still smiling.She didn’t say a word, stumbling out of the car in her haste to put somespace between them before she did something she would truly regret, likethrowing her arms around him and clinging like some silly adolescent fan.No man should have that kind of animal magnetism, but obviously her bodywas not about to be persuaded that easily.It was going to be a long week.****It was going to be a long week.Gavin stared after Chloe’s cute behindswaying as she all but ran toward the front entrance of the motel.Now whyin the hell had he reached across her like that? As if having to inhale theslight spicy scent of her cologne all the way up here hadn’t been tortureenough.Or the fact that her skirt had hiked up above her knee just enoughto keep him thinking what the rest of her slender thigh would feel like—looklike, he corrected himself.All men were interested in women’s thighs.Leaning over her had given him a whiff of her unique female scent as welland he’d had to exert every ounce of Templar training not to let his fingersbrush the soft roundness of her breasts.Damn it.He knew better than to play with fire.Hadn’t Guinevere provedthat? The hurt look in Chloe’s eyes had been more than he could takethough.She thought he was keeping his distance because he didn’t find herattractive.Hell, the fleeting look of rejection he’d glimpsed told him sheprobably thought he was repelled.Nothing could be farther from the truth.What he wanted was to unwrap her like some precious gift and meld hersoft, nubile body against his while he tasted every centimeter of her withouthis fangs…just mouth and tongue and hands, touching everywhere.Gavin sighed.Better in the long run to let her think he didn’t care.Onlyheartache came when vampires got involved with mortals.****“It’s not very big,” Chloe said later that afternoon as they stood outside Taotemple in Joss House State Historic Park.The small house was painted pinkwith a blue porch-like entrance.“The Temple of the Forest Beneath theClouds,” she read from the brochure she’d picked up.“I don’t think we’ll findany golden platter here, but it’s a pretty name anyway.”“Perhaps not,” Gavin replied as he adjusted his sunglasses, thankful that theday was at least partly cloudy.The new meds were good, but his skin stillprickled, even with the long sleeved shirt.“However, since the relics dateback to ancient times when people worshiped the Sidhe, the platter’sguardian may very well have aligned it to an eastern religion, rather than awestern one.”“Because Eastern religions are older?” Chloe asked.“Because they are based in nature,” Gavin said.“Tao is a path—or a conceptof natural order in the universe that humans strive to be in balance with—”“Ying and yang,” Chloe interrupted, “the balance of positive and negativeenergies in the body.My mother meditated a lot when I was a kid.”“Your mother sounds like an interesting person.”“Yeah.Well, you’ll probably meet her.She lives in Frisco.”Meeting Chloe’s mother was exactly what he did not need to do.Why had heeven commented on that? “I don’t think—”“Of, for Pete’s sake.I won’t introduce you like you were my boyfriend orsomething.I’ll just tell her we’re working on a story.”Relief filtered through Gavin mixed with a bit of some strange emotion thatalmost felt like regret.He had never been introduced to anyone’s parents asa suitor—in fact, he had taken great pains throughout the centuries to avoidmaidens and their mamas.So why was he feeling piqued now? Romantic tieswith Chloe were what he was desperately trying to avoid.But damn it, for abrief second her eyes had that hurt look that made him feel like he’d justkicked a puppy.“That will be fine, Miss Whitney.As I was saying, since the ancient Celts alsopracticed religion based on alignment with nature, this is a place where wecan start looking, especially since this was also gold-mining territory.”Chloe placed the tip of her finger between her lips and nibbled on a nail,contemplating.“Just so I have things straight—We’re looking for a centuries-old platter made of gold that a guardian of a secret society brought toformer gold-mining country to hide in plain sight?”Gavin riveted on Chloe’s pliant lips sucking softly on the tip of her fingertip,making it glistening-wet, like another part of her body would be if only hecould—with an effort, he forced his gaze away.“It may sound strange, MissWhitney, but returning the gold to an area where other gold lies buried may,indeed, be the perfect hiding place.”She seemed unaware of the burgeoning tension he was feeling andcontinued nibbling.“And supposedly this platter has some kind of specialenergy or power that is aligned with the season of autumn and connectedwith cardinal direction of west and ties in with Tarot cards?”He could hear the skepticism in her voice.It did sound weird, but he was notat liberty to divulge the true scope of the relics’ powers and the extent ofdestruction that would happen if Balor found them first.“That is correct,Miss Whitney.”She grinned.“Cool! My mother will absolutely love this!”Gavin blinked, not sure he understood.“Your mother?”“Well, yeah.She reads the Tarot.”He had the sinking feeling he was going to be seeing a lot more of Chloe’smother than just an introduction.****Chloe craned her neck and stared through the heavily-tinted windows asGavin drove through Coloma heading toward Marshall Gold Discovery StatePark.“It looks like a ghost town,” she said.“It is a ghost town for the most part,” Gavin answered.“The sign said thepopulation was 529.”“This whole area was booming with 300,000 people after gold wasdiscovered,” Chloe said.“I Googled it last night after dinner.”Like studying history was what she wanted to do knowing Gavin was in theroom next door.They’d had a pleasant dinner in Weaverville and the glass ofwine she’d ordered had mellowed her to the point where she had hoped shemight get Gavin’s interest in spite of the “rules” he’d laid out.After all, whatred-blooded American male wouldn’t recognize the romantic setting of themajestic Sierra Nevada mountains with a nearly full moon rising like a hugesilver ball in a black velvet sky? The air on the veranda was crisp and cool—what more would a guy need to put his arm around a girl to keep her warm?Especially if that girl was standing as close as she dared without falling ontohim? Gavin had been oblivious to it all, acting like a perfectly proper Brit,escorting her to her room and insisting she lock the door once she wasinside.So much for hoping he might want to come in for a nightcap [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]