Page 2 of The Huntress

“It’s a free world last time I checked,” she said, her hair blowing around her face.

She wouldn’t flick it out of her eyes, unwilling to remove her fingers from the glass.

“Or you could join me?” His voice cut through the wind.

Unable to see him, she huffed like an asthmatic hippo, trying to shift her hair. With the help of another gust of wind, she cleared her vision.

“For a scotch?”

She scowled. How did he know her preferred drink? She hadn’t indulged tonight, so the scent of it didn’t cling to her.

“Have we met?” She snorted at the naïve question.

Such a face wasn’t easy to forget.

Said face burst into a charming smile she didn’t appreciate. He offered his manicured hand as if beckoning her to trust him. Since the jig was up, she should accept his assistance. Besides, he might—and that was a humongous might—reveal more about this drop-off.

She slid her bare feet from heel to heel until her fingertips could brush his. He extended his arm and grasped her hand, his grip warm, firm. With a sharp tug, she tumbled into his arms.

Sprawled across the front of him, with her fingers curled over his tuxedoed shoulders, she drew in a shuddering breath. Despite having her feet back on something solid, she wasn’t grateful. Concern furrowed her brow, instead. Her responses to men were never this instantaneous, but she expected it from a suckblood. She hoped he wasn’t one. It would be nice to meet an attractivehumanman for a change. One who couldn’t manipulate her with his pheromones.

“Your name?” He glided his hands up her bare back, drawing her into the warmth he emanated.

She shivered, goosebumps rippling from her spine to her thighs. After burrowing his nose in her neck, he inhaled her scent, shameless in his appreciation.

“Callista,” she said.

“Ah, beautiful beloved huntress of Zeus.” He chuckled.

Of course he knew what her name meant. Damn suckbloods. Overeducated arrogant bastards. Was that supposed to impress her? Okay, it did! But that didn’t mean she had tosuccumbto his seductive ways.

“Yes.” Her instincts screamed, demanding she flee.

She ignored them for now. This man had information about the package. Not that she had any idea whatitwas.

Disappointment dampened her mood. She should’ve known crashing this event wouldn’t garner evidence—only raise more questions and create new crimes to investigate. Her compiled files on the various patrons attending tonight needed a few secrets to unlock the investigations further. She was desperate for closure.

He gathered her hand in his distracting her from her thoughts and brushed his lips across the pulse at her inner wrist. The sensation was too good to be natural.

His head shot up. He scowled, but it didn’t detract from his dazzling handsomeness—it made him brooding, which was downright breathtaking.

“I must abandon you, sweet Callista. Rest assured, I will find you.”

“Why?” She claimed her hand back.

She fought the urge to rub her wrist along her outer thigh to erase the memory of his kiss. He was too close for her senses or her instincts to handle, not to mention for her peace of mind.

Smothered by his presence, she raised her hands palm up, placed them on his chest, and pushed. He didn’t budge, but she did, stumbling backward from the force she applied. She suspected she’d surprised him and thus gained her freedom. She’d felt his strength—iron-like and indomitable—beneath his tuxedo. He could have held her against him for as long as he pleased, and there wouldn’t have been a damn thing she could do about it.

“Because you smell delicious.” He smiled.

What had she expected? Typical suckblood, thinking with his stomach. The poor man was hungry, like she gave a damn. “So?”

He blinked, tilting his head to the side. “Don’t I smell good too?”

She arched a brow, her suspicions confirmed. Hewasusing his pheromones on her. His sheer beauty swayed her more than his cologne. Since he waited for her to respond, she leaned in to sniff him, her nose brushing along his Adam’s apple, which bobbed at the contact. Citrus, bonfire, and earthy undertones combined to form a mind-numbing enticement, yet her knees remained unaffected.

She stepped back, resisting the temptation to place an open-mouthed kiss to his throat. Her knees were fine, but her lips weren’t. They tingled, made demands of her, needing his skin’s warmth. She forced a shrug, and his horrified expression was worth it. But when it morphed into a fascinated one, she sighed. It was official. Her evening wasn’t going as planned. She should leave now and chalk it up as bad luck.

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