Page 4 of The Gathering Storm

He pivoted and paced in the other direction, skirting the two rickety chairs set in front of his desk. The soles of his running shoes thudded quietly against the thin, institutional gray carpeting, keeping time with the irregular thump of his heart.

Yeah, maybe he wouldn’t have grabbed her if he hadn’t already been on edge, over the unexpected crowd, over his ongoing inability to attract Sigrid’s attention, over her and Moira fighting again. It wasn’t an excuse, no. He should’ve handled that pair the way he usually did, with the swift crack of his baseball bat against the edge of the bar. Instead, he’d given in to his frustration and yanked Sigrid into a kiss.

He stared blankly at the equal opportunity employment posters decorating the wall in front of him. He’d kissed her in front of half of Tellowee, people she’d likely known for far longer than he’d been alive. If word got out, she’d never live it down. Other Daughters would tease her mercilessly for years about giving in to him.

He groaned and clapped his hands over his face. Yup, she was gonna kill him.

The door opened behind him and he dropped his gaze to the floor. “I’m busy.”

The door snicked shut and a cool, feminine voice said, “I see.”

Sigrid. Well, shit. Good thing he kept his last will and testament up to date. He turned slowly, hands loose at his sides, gaze steady. “Will it do any good to apologize?”

She arched one blonde eyebrow. “Do you regret kissing me?”

“No.”

“Then why apologize?” She strolled slowly toward him. Her hips swayed gently with each long stride and her booted feet were silent along the carpeted floor. “Perhaps I enjoyed it.”

He kept his mouth shut and waited for her to strike.

She stopped a foot away from him. “Or perhaps I’ve come to teach you a lesson.”

“Then do it outside. I don’t want my sister to have to clean up my blood.”

“A realist or a fatalist?”

“Maybe a little of both. Look, just do whatever you’re going to do and get it over with.”

“So eager to meet justice at my hand.” She stepped closer and rested her palms on his chest over the unsteady thud of his heart. “What if I offered you another option?”

He looked at her then, really looked at her for the first time since she’d entered the room. Her steely blue eyes were shuttered, her rosy lips slightly parted, and the pale skin over her high cheekbones was flushed. Her long, golden braid fell over one shoulder. Its tip teased the top of her breast through her fitted, deep blue sweater. She hadn’t worn her sword tonight, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t carrying a weapon. She probably had a handgun tucked against her back in the waistband of her jeans or a knife at her ankle, maybe both.

On the other hand, she was a Daughter, trained to fight from her first step on. She didn’t need weapons to dismantle him limb from limb.

He knotted his hands into fists as his sides, keeping them exactly where they were and not where he wanted them to be, on her. “Stop playing with me.”

She rocked onto the flat heels of her boots and walked around him, trailing her fingertips along his shoulder and across his back. “Who’s playing? You allowed me to sample you.”

“No, I kissed you to keep you from killing Moira.”

Sigrid laughed. “You truly think I’d kill her?”

“The way the two of you go at each other? Yeah.” He shrugged, hoping to dislodge her fingers and the tingling warmth spreading over his skin under them and his button-down shirt. “She’s a pain in the ass, but she’s my cousin. I couldn’t let you hurt her.”

“So you did it out of love. I wonder, barkeep. What else would you do for love?”

He ground his teeth together. Why did older Daughters always have to play their little games? “That’s not really any of your business.”

“Isn’t it? Hmm.” She finished her circuit and faced him again. “Tell me your name and perhaps I’ll forgive your indiscretion.”

“Seriously?”

“Of course. Tell me.”

Disappointment throbbed through him. Two years and she didn’t even know his name. He shook his head and backed slowly away from her. “Forget it. You want to kill me for touching you, go ahead. Otherwise, I have a business to run.”

Anger sparked into her eyes, warming them to a deep blue. “You’re refusing me? I could break every bone in your body before you could mount a suitable defense.”

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