Page 14 of Fire of the Fox

As my gaze trailed the back wall, unease settled in my bones. Across the space was a dark-headed man who stood alone. An eerie energy filled the air around him, and the urge to shrink away hit me hard. His eyes unnerved me above all else. From this distance, they looked like narrowed onyx slits, and they seemed to be looking right at me.

When our eyes locked, he pushed away from the wall and stalked in my direction. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and, after tapping around the screen, held it up to his ear as he kept his stride toward my table. I glanced around to see if maybe his target was someone near me, but no one seemed to be paying him any mind. I wasn’t sure if I was overreacting, but my gut told me he was bad news.

I was about to stand and look for Dallas when he drew close enough to really see him. Recognition flared in the back of my mind. It was the same guy I’d run into outside of the tattoo shop. Dread settled in my stomach, and I wondered if he recognized me too. Could that be why he was headed right for me? Was he really still pissed about my accidentally running into him?

He reached my table, but instead of stopping, he kept walking past me. I held my breath, waiting for him to continue on. When he was directly next to my seat, I heard him say into the phone, “Yeah. I see her.”

Ice pricked at my insides. I whipped around to look after him as he vanished into the crowd. Surely to God he wasn’t talking about me. If he were, wouldn’t he have stopped and confronted me? I convinced myself I was being paranoid. He kept walking, so I figured he was referencing a girl who had been somewhere behind me in the sea of people.

“Bria, you clearly need to tone it down on the true crime shows,” I mumbled to myself.

“Hey there.”

I spun back around in my chair with alarm bells still ringing. Everything inside me wanted to jump around and scream, but it was no longer from apprehension. Rune stood across the table. He was back, and he stared down at me with a sexy glint in his eyes.

Chapter Seven

SWALLOWING MY SHOCK, I met Rune’s smile with my own. “Hi again.”

“Can I sit here?” he asked, pointing at the empty chair across from me.

“Yes, of course.”

He sank down in the chair, and I watched his every movement with hungry eyes. Everything about him screamed seduction. His long, white hair, the embers burning in his golden eyes, the tilt of his lush lips, the fit of his black tee hugging his well-built frame. I subtly scratched at my mouth to make sure I wasn’t drooling.

“Your name is Rune, right?” I asked, hoping my voice didn’t give away the nerves he elicited.

“It is. I’m afraid I didn’t catch yours.”

“It’s Bria.”

“Bria,” he repeated.

My toes curled inside my heels at the sound of my name on those lips. I bit the inside of my cheek to refrain from asking him to say it again in that deep, husky voice of his.

“I’m glad you’re back. I wanted to say sorry about—” I looked sideways to where Dax had interrupted our dance. “You know, involving you in that drama.”

He chuckled, the sound delicious and rich. “No need to apologize. I quite enjoyed myself, to be honest.”

My cheeks heated at the memory his words called forth. His hard body pushing against my soft curves. Those decadent lips teasing the skin along my neck. The way his hips pressed into me, igniting wickedly delightful thoughts. I was going to make myself breathless just thinking about it.

Clearing my throat, I glanced around us. “Did your friends leave?”

“No, no. They’re dancing out there somewhere. We stepped away for a minute when things were about to get out of hand, but they weren’t done partying. I wasn’t even close to being done here, either.”

I didn’t miss the way his eyes traced my body then, nor could I ignore the heat it sent spiraling through my core to settle between my thighs. It was starting to get hot, and I knew it had nothing to do with the actual temperature in the room and everything to do with the sexy stranger in front of me.

Biting my lip, I leaned forward to prop my chin in my hand on the table. “Well, I’m glad you came back.”

“Not as much as I am.” He tilted his head as he regarded me. “Do you go to school around here?”

“I do. I’m a freshman at Brinkley.”

“Brinkley, huh? That’s a good school. I know some people who went there. They said Brinkley was a top choice school for people in the fine arts.”

“It is. That’s actually my major, and I can attest that your friends are correct. They have some great programs for art majors.”

“An artist. Very impressive. A friend of mine was into sculpting and got to go overseas to study in Greece. They said it was really awesome and urged anyone who got the chance to go abroad.”

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