Passionate Flames, page 3
She’d arrived faster than he’d anticipated. When he stepped around the wall, he halted at the vision before him.
Mate, mate, his dragon panted.
Don’t I know it, but we need to stay calm and not act rashly.
You might, but I don’t have to.
Thane wished his dragon would go back to sleep. Ever since Angelique had moved to Edendale, his dragon had been insufferable, but he could understand why. Angelique was gorgeous. Today, she was wearing a bright purple, body-hugging top that contrasted with her milky white skin, and the tight, black leggings accentuated her curvy ass and showed off her ridiculously long legs. He’d never seen her in anything so revealing, which made his scales pulse gold under his skin. With his tan however, the scales weren’t too visible thank goodness. He didn’t need her to know how much he wanted her—mate or not.
Angelique’s long blonde hair was pulled back into a braid, looking like she was ready to try the course. On her feet were what looked like rock climbing shoes, which would help her climb over that first hurdle quite well. Smart.
He strode toward her, only now realizing he was a bit sweaty. “Your call sounded urgent. What’s up?” Thane asked with possibly too much cheer.
“We need to talk.”
He shielded his brow from the sun. The backside of the curved wall would provide some shade. “Come on over here where we can chat.”
He dropped down onto the sand pit. She raised her eyebrows but then joined him. “What do you know about Denalt?” she asked.
“Denalt? You mean the guy who delivered my wood to build the course?”
“Yes.”
“What about him? I’ve known him for years.” She glanced away, almost as if this wasn’t the answer she was expecting. “What’s this about?”
“You know I’m a white lighter, right?”
“Seeing how you were able to scare the crap out of Sanditra before Declan killed the dark lighter, I figured it out.”
She bit down on her bottom lip, and his dragon roared.
Stay down, boy, he commanded his animal.
“I did a little more than that, but that’s not why I’m here. When Denalt walked up behind me, I experienced a wave of darkness—even more powerful than what radiated off Sanditra.”
Thane shook his head. “You have to be wrong. Denalt is a good guy.”
She held up her hands. “All I know is that I had a sense that he showed up to harm someone. He couldn’t take his eyes off of Kaleena, which really worries me.”
Thane stiffened. “He’s not even a dragon shifter. Hell, Denalt can’t shift at all.” What wasn’t she telling him? “Did he say something to you? If he did, I’ll kick his ass.”
Thane started to rise, and when she planted a hand on his arm, his dragon breathed fire, wanting more.
“No. He didn’t say or do anything. I just came to warn you he could be trouble.”
Thane clenched his jaw. “If it will set your mind at ease, I’ll tell him not to come around here anymore. The course is finished so I don’t need his services or his wood any longer. If he snoops around you, let me know. I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you again.”
Finally, a small smile lifted her lips. “I can take care of myself.”
Wanting to put a bigger smile on her lips, he jumped up and held out his hand. “I’m sure you can, but I’d like to see just how much you can handle yourself. We have a race to run, remember? Just don’t beat me too badly.” He doubted she’d even finish half of the course. Much of the exercises required a lot of upper body strength. From her smooth arms, she wasn’t built for power. What she was built for was… Damn. He needed to keep his mind out of the gutter.
“Can your ego handle defeat by a non-shifter?” she asked in a surprisingly flirtatious tone.
He wasn’t going to lose. “Of course.”
“What does the winner get?” she asked, pushing the boundaries once more.
A romp in bed with me? Like that would ever happen. He changed his tactic. “You can buy me a shot of whisky.”
“And if I win?”
“I’ll buy you dinner.”
She shook her head. “Where’s the equality in that? Loser buys dinner regardless. Plain and simple.”
He held up his hands. A date it was. “Fine by me. Let me go over the course with you. Some of the exercises are not obvious about what needs to be done.”
“I’m sure I can figure out what to do.”
“Nope. I don’t want you whining about how the race wasn’t fair.” Most of the obstacles were rather simple but not all of them. “The trickiest of them is the barrel walk. This will test your speed and agility.” He led her halfway across the field to where he had five barrels next to each other with a metal rod through the middle of each one, elevated four feet off the ground. The rods allowed the barrels to spin freely. Running across all five before landing onto a mat required a high degree of precision. He’d seen semi-professionals do it in the Tarradon Ninja Warrior show, but when Thane had first tried it, he’d slipped and fallen into the mud puddle below. He bet Angelique with her long legs, wouldn’t reach the third barrel without sliding off. He hoped she didn’t become too upset when dirt caked her nice round butt.
Thane demonstrated where to place her feet in order to make it across without slipping. “The rest is fairly obvious,” he said. “For the last obstacle, grab hold of the swinging tire and pump a few times to gain momentum. Your goal is to reach the hanging netting. It’s pretty loose, so hold on tight. Crawl on the underside until you reach the mat, and then run another one hundred yards. The first to reach the stone statue wins.”
“Let’s do this,” she said with more joy than he expected.
For a brief moment, there was a hint of fear inside him. No one had ever beaten him in any course. He was sure he had nothing to worry about. Regardless of the outcome, he’d have a nice dinner with his mate.
“Race you back to the starting point,” she said.
Before he could respond, Angelique took off, arriving at the towering wall before he did. Damn. Maybe he couldn’t afford to go easy on her. His strategy had been to keep a little behind her, winning only at the end. After seeing her speed and agility, perhaps he’d go all out for the first half and then see how far she lagged behind before making any adjustments. Humiliating her wouldn’t help his cause.
Angelique stood in front of her twenty-foot wall while he went to the identical station ten feet away.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” she said, taunting him.
“Not a problem. You’re going down.” She laughed once more, jacking up his libido. “Ready?” he asked. She nodded. “On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”
Even Thane understood how important it was not to lose concentration, but he couldn’t help but watch her. If she only made it halfway up the first incline, the slide back to the ground might injure her.
To his surprise, she raced up the incline as if it were flat. With incredible agility, she swung her legs over the top and dropped to the sand pit below, landing gracefully on both feet. Without taking a moment to breathe, she sprinted toward the row of tires.
Shit. Thane was a good three seconds behind. Not letting himself watch her anymore, he sped through the tires and then grabbed the metal ring eight feet above the ground, ready to swing the twenty feet in the air. Angelique had to crouch down and then jump up to reach the ring, costing her precious time.
Every time he looked over at her though, she was neck-and-neck with him, and his admiration grew. He had no idea white lighters had this much talent. Thane was convinced the barrel walk would be her undoing. To his surprise, she sprinted across the top with ease. Just before the fifth barrel, she leapt over it and dropped to the mat below. He landed a second later but managed to outrun her for the last stretch, reaching the statue less than a second before she did.
Sweat poured off his body, while Angelique merely glowed. If he hadn’t seen it for himself, he would have thought she hadn’t even exercised.
She faced him and held out her hand. “You won. Congrats.”
As soon as he shook it, his dragon woke up, and his claws tried to extend. “You did amazingly well. I’ve run this course at least ten times.”
She planted her hands on her hips and bent over to catch her breath. “What do you say we do it again? Double or nothing.”
If the reward would be sex, he’d go ten more times. He’d even let her win. “I think you’ve had enough.”
Angelique straightened. “Let me be the judge of that.” Her tone came out a bit too defensive despite being winded.
“Okay, okay, but how about we walk back to the start?”
She smiled and then winked. “Deal.”
Thane couldn’t decide if he should let her win this time or not. She had almost beaten him the first time, but he figured it was beginner’s luck. In the end, he decided Angelique would be pissed if she thought he didn’t give his best.
Once at the start, he looked over at her. She was inhaling deeply and then exhaling slowly as if she wanted to be ready for the race of a lifetime. “Why don’t you count down this time?” he said.
“I can do that. Ready?”
“Yes.”
“On three. One. Two. Three.”
They took off at the same time. Keeping his focus this time, he raced up the wall, swung his leg over, and dropped down, sand flying everywhere. The tire run was easy as were the next few obstacles. Angelique swore a few times, but he refused to look over at her. If she beat him, he wanted her to legitimately win—not that that would happen. After all, he’d designed the course and practiced on each obstacle many times.
When he reached the barrel run, he dashed over the first four, but his foot didn’t hit dead center on the fifth one, causing the barrel to spin. Off balance, Thane had to dive toward the mat instead of leaping onto it with both feet. Hands extended, he managed to do a front flip. While he landed okay, he’d lost precious time. Hopefully, he’d make it up on the last run.
Out of the corner of his eye, he estimated Angelique to be about a second ahead of him. While he swung on the rings well and grabbed the netting at a good spot, he was so pissed at himself for having missed that fifth barrel that he faltered a bit in reaching the final pad. Despite a superfast acceleration to the statue on his part, she beat him.
She raised her arms in victory and jumped up and down. “Gotcha!”
He laughed. “You still owe me dinner.”
“No way. You agreed to double or nothing.”
“Damn. Okay, but you can pay for drinks.”
“Deal.”
He appreciated her good nature. “What time should I pick you up tonight?”
Something strange crossed her face, but then she said, “How about six?”
“Highlander’s Steakhouse work for you?”
“Yes.”
Thane wasn’t pleased he lost to anyone, but if he had to lose, he was glad it was to Angelique. He’d always believed she was special, but this proved she was going to be a challenge in all aspects of his life.
“I’ll walk you back to your car.”
“Thanks.”
Even though they had sprinted the course twice, Angelique almost looked dry. Him? He was downright wet. Once in front of the office building, he opened the car door for her. “See you at six then.”
As soon as she left, Thane needed some time to think. He shifted and took to the skies. Yesterday had started off a little contentious since he suspected his sister had played both of them against each other. Kaleena had to have figured out that Angelique wasn’t the best person to help her with fighting techniques, but he certainly couldn’t put any kind of protective sac around her baby either. He and Angelique complemented each other quite well.
As he soared over town, he spotted the lumberyard where he’d purchased the wood for his course. Thane had worked with Denalt for years and had never sensed anything dark about the man, but if Angelique thought there was something evil inside the guy, it was Thane’s duty to check him out.
He decided to stop over at the yard and tell Denalt he’d made some of the women uncomfortable and to ask him not to come over again. That should give Angelique some peace of mind. Only then could he focus on being with her for the evening—an evening he was sure he wouldn’t forget for a long time.
Chapter Four
Angelique never should have agreed to that stupid bet. Beating Thane meant she’d have to go out to dinner with him. Losing to him meant the same thing. Sheesh. Dating him right now just wasn’t smart. An evil existed in town, and she needed to make sure it didn’t harm anyone. Sure, she’d lived with dark entities her entire life, but this was different—this time she believed that when it had taken a human form, it was far more dangerous, because she couldn’t sense it from afar.
For now though, she’d go out to dinner with Thane. She’d warned him that Denalt might cause some harm to Kaleena. It was all Angelique could do.
Or was it?
For today, yes.
After dinner, she’d give Thane a chaste kiss goodnight like she had the last few times and then keep her distance. Denalt had to be stopped, and she was the only one capable of doing that.
After a quick shower, Angelique pawed through her closet, trying to decide what to wear. Going sexy would have been the easy route, but it wasn’t the signal she wanted to give off to Thane. She’d already presented herself as a jock and a businesswoman, so she should probably keep with that theme. It was definitely safer. Being near her mate caused her all sorts of issues. It was why she didn’t pursue him.
The restaurant he was taking her to was fairly dressy, so faded jeans and a baggy T-shirt were out. Fancy dresses were not her thing though. In the end, she went with black slacks and a peach colored, long sleeve V-neck pullover that didn’t show any cleavage. Because Thane was about six-five, she wore boots with two-inch heels. Being in the sun a lot today had given her some color, but her skin still remained pale. A slightly darker foundation would have enhanced her looks, but that wasn’t something she was comfortable with. Pink lipstick and a bit of blush and eye shadow were all she was willing to do.
Angelique had just walked into the living room when someone knocked at precisely six o’clock. It was Thane. The man was prompt if nothing else.
When she pulled open the door, she stilled. She didn’t need to be a white entity to know something had happened—something bad. Thane had showered and put on jeans and a white T-shirt, but he wasn’t wearing anything suitable for the Highlander’s Steakhouse. Crease lines furrowed his brow.
“Come in and tell me what’s wrong,” she said.
He strode past her and then faced her. “We need to talk.”
That had been her line this afternoon. Her pulse skyrocketed at his dismay. “Okay. About what?”
“Denalt.”
Her heart nearly stopped. “Did he do something?”
Thane spun to face her. “He’s dead.”
“What?” Angelique almost couldn’t comprehend what that might mean. “How?”
He shook his head. “Mind if we call in dinner? I’m not in the mood to go out tonight. Also, it will be easier to discuss this without others listening in.”
“Of course.” It was time to tell him some truths anyway—or as much as she thought Thane could handle.
He pulled out his phone. “The Hillside Café is still open, and they deliver. What are you in the mood for?”
Angelique was impressed that he could ask her about food after finding out a friend had died, but perhaps they weren’t that close. Even though she wasn’t hungry after hearing the news, Thane seemed to be. “Anything.”
“Chicken Parmesan?”
“I’m fine with that.”
He called in the order and then disconnected. “Have any booze? I could use some.” He marched toward the kitchen.
Clearly, Thane was more upset than he let on. “Tell me what is going on,” she said following him.
He spun to face her. “I actually liked Denalt—or rather I did until you told me he was some dark soul.”
That’s because the man at the field wasn’t really Denalt. “I have red wine. Is that okay?”
“Anything is fine.”
While Angelique retrieved the bottle and glasses, her mind spun. “When did he die? We just saw him yesterday.”
“I’m not sure. After you left the course this afternoon, I decided to have a discussion with Denalt about staying away from the mine. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t need more wood and that he made you uncomfortable. The last thing any of us needed or wanted was to put Kaleena’s life or yours in jeopardy.”
His life might be at stake too. “Thank you for believing me when I said that there was something bad about him. Or should I say, something bad had happened to him.”
He stilled. “What do you mean?”
“You tell me what you know about his death, and then I’ll fill you in with what I think might have happened.” She poured him a glass and handed it to him.
Thane tossed back a good portion of the drink. “I stopped over at the lumberyard, where they told me that Denalt hadn’t shown up for work today. They said that was rare for him. After they gave me his home address, I headed over to his place.”
She loved how protective he was of not only his family and her, but of his friends as well. “But he didn’t answer the door,” Angelique added, dread filling her.
“No. He lives in a house on the edge of town. When I looked in the window, I saw him lying on the floor. I broke in, and what I saw scared the shit out of me. Trust me, that’s hard to do, because I’ve seen a lot.”
Angelique poured herself a glass, refilled his, and then re-corked the bottle. “Let’s sit in the living room. What was so horrible? Surely, you’ve seen a dead body before.” After all, he was a Guardian. She could guess what he was going to say, and anyone would have freaked out.
