Page 7 of Semi-Reckless

Her eyes dipped for a split second and her cheeks colored. That’s when he remembered he wasn’t wearing a shirt. Well…hell.

She recovered her righteous indignation quickly, though. “I’m here to tell you that I have a job to do, and you can’t stop me from doing it anymore.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

He suddenly felt a lot better about seeing her again. This he could handle. Mostly because it wasn’t going to be a conversation about his feelings or hers. All he had to do was teleport her back home. Except when he tried…nothing happened.

What. The. Fuck.

The smirk she gave him was pure evil. “Performance issue?”

Roan concentrated harder than he’d ever concentrated and still couldn’t budge her. “What the hell did you do, Haven?”

“I put a magical chastity belt on myself. Your days of showing up and removing me from whatever situation you deem too dangerous for me are over.”

He took a step forward until she was forced to crane her neck back to meet his gaze—his panicked gaze, he would imagine. No one got in more trouble than Haven, even when she wasn’t working as a hunter. He needed to be able to teleport her. “You can’t do that.”

She matched him, taking a defiant step forward. They were only a heartbeat away from each other now. “I already did. So now, you have a choice.”

He snorted. Like he’d ever had a choice where she was concerned. “What choice?”

“I’m going to investigate what’s potentially a paranormal crime scene. You can stalk me from afar like you’ve been doing for the past two years…or you can just come with me and act as my back up.”

“Or I could call your mother and father. Let them stop you.”

Her eyes flared. God, she was gorgeous when she was angry. And when she was talking. Or thinking. Or breathing. “They can stop me once, but not forever. I’ll keep trying until I get what I want. You know that.”

Did he ever. There was nothing he could do to change her mind. That much was clear by the mulish set of her jaw and ramrod straight spine. His protection over the past two years had apparently pissed her off enough that she was now willing to devote herself to thwarting his best efforts. No one could turn spite into productivity like Haven Hall.

The sad reality was that this investigation was happening, whether he approved or not.

With a sigh that came straight from the depths of his black, battered soul, he turned on his heel and stalked back into his house. “Let me grab a shirt.”

He wasn’t sure, but he thought she muttered, “Not on my account.”

However, when he glanced back at her, her wide green eyes were totally innocent. He must’ve misunderstood. He hoped he’d misunderstood. Because the only thing that could fuck up their current dynamic more than it was already fucked was if Haven wanted him as much as he wanted her.

Now that would be a disaster of epic proportions.

CHAPTER 5

An hour later, Haven was officially a vegetarian. There was no way she could ever eat another steak or burger after what she’d just seen.

Roan frowned at her as they climbed back into her battered, neon-green Honda. “You really know how to show a guy a good time, Hall.”

“She said the cows were mutilated,” Haven said defensively. “I wasn’t expecting…that.”

“I’m sure the cows weren’t, either,” he grumbled.

“I know Mrs. Vassel said she suspected the werewolves, but there’s no way that was werewolves. Those cows’ hides were, like, almost liquified.” She shuddered.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Hearts and livers were missing, though. That tells me that whatever happened to them wasn’t environmental or chemical. Something—or someone—did that and took the organs.”

Haven felt her lip curl involuntarily. “Took them for what? A ritual of some kind?”

Roan shook his head. “No ritual I’ve ever heard of takes the heart and liver. Most rituals need blood, but getting it is very precise. There was no precision there.”

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