Harlequin Nocturne March 2016 Box Set Read online

  His gaze moved deliberately around the room, taking in the candles and altars and saint statues. The air smelled of patchouli and frankincense. “Feels like I’m in church. I expected Hoodoo Henrietta’s place to have the opposite atmosphere.”

  Annie found her voice. He could put her down but not her grandma. “What did you expect? Broomsticks and skeleton skulls everywhere? A simmering cauldron? A black cat?”

  He shrugged, seemingly unfazed at her anger. “Anybody would. Easy to judge someone on little to no evidence. Right?”

  A clever trap. She’d fallen right into it. Heat scalded the back of her neck. “Point taken,” she conceded. She’d been willing to condemn him on what may have only been a dream.

  A loud, staccato hammering erupted at the door. Annie jumped.

  Hanan smiled slyly. “I know who that is.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Tombi didn’t wait for permission to enter. He burst into the room. The only light came from candles lit everywhere. A romantic tableau if he’d ever seen one. His veins throbbed with anger. Some friend Hanan proved to be. Bo would never have gone behind his back and visited his girlfriend.

  Girlfriend.

  The word was like throwing ice on fire. His hot anger melted. Annie was not his girlfriend. Not his lover, either.

  And he still didn’t like her being alone with Hanan. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

  Hanan slowly stood. “Just saying goodbye.” He offered his hand to Annie. “Are we cool?”

  “Sure.” She stood as well and shook his hand.

  Her eyes were downcast, and Tombi couldn’t decipher her mood. Embarrassed? Distressed?

  “Why is it so dark in here?” Tombi asked, ever suspicious.

  “Power’s out.” Hanan nodded at him and swept past.

  “Be back in a minute,” Tombi said curtly to Annie.

  He followed Hanan onto the porch. “What did you say to upset her? Did you confront her about what she heard?”

  “Confront isn’t the word I’d use,” Hanan drawled. “I pointed out that I shouldn’t be condemned on so little.”

  “Nobody condemned you. If I believed you were a traitor I wouldn’t have told you she pointed a finger your way. You had no right to come over here and upset Annie.” The anger boiled up again. He shouldn’t have left her alone—not even during the day. His rush to finish the Anderson carpentry job on deadline had tainted his judgment.

  “You would have done the same had the positions been reversed. Both of us hate to have our integrity questioned.”

  True. He couldn’t argue against that.

  Hanan pushed off from the porch and started down the steps. “See you later,” he called over his shoulder, with no rankle in his voice.

  Tombi watched his friend drive off in the rain. He’d just acted like a complete ass, bursting into Annie’s cottage and demanding explanations. As if she owed him one. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and returned inside. An unfamiliar feeling of sheepishness weighted his shoulders.

  Annie stood at the rear window, back to him.

  “Sorry about that,” he mumbled.

  “Don’t be.” She turned and walked to him with a shy smile. “I’m glad you came when you did. He chastised me.” She hurried on at the sight of his frown. “But in a gentle way.”

  “He did the same with me outside,” Tombi admitted.

  “You’re all wet.” She ran her fingers down his hair, and his breath caught. “I’ll go get you a towel.”

  Her ass swayed in her tight cutoff jeans, and he’d never seen anything hotter. Just being in the same room with the woman had him knotted up in sexual tension. Tombi peeled off his wet T-shirt and ran a hand over his wet locks.

  “Here ya—” Her voice faltered. She stood in the darkened doorway, holding a towel and staring at his chest, as if mesmerized.

  Tombi shifted uncomfortably in his suddenly tight jeans. He wanted to peel out of them, undress her and make passionate love. But he didn’t want to scare her. Wasn’t sure if she had any experience in lovemaking.

  “Bring the towel to me,” he said huskily.

  She obeyed, as if in a trance. She walked so slowly to him that he was conscious of the rain beating against the windows and the smell of something earthy in the air. A cozy intimacy of the two of them against the rain-sloshed world outside.

  Annie lifted the towel and began rubbing his skin. He wished it were her hands instead of fabric. Satisfied with her work there, she ran the towel through his hair.

  Tombi abruptly pulled her to him and kissed her thoroughly, smothering her gasp of surprise. Her arms went around his bare back, and her hands traveled the length of his spine. He pressed his manhood against her core, and she arched into him, silently asking for more.

  “Annie?” he asked hoarsely.

  She gazed up at him with hooded eyes. And then blinked and took a step backward. Tombi swallowed down a groan of frustration.

  “Not yet,” she whispered. “I’m sorry. It’s too soon for me.”

  He ran a finger down the side of her delicate, heart-shaped face. “Never apologize. A lady has every right to say no.”

  Annie nodded and cast her head down, her dark wavy hair obscuring her face. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

  He needed space. Space to cool his lust and dispel the awkwardness. He strode to a window. Rain washed against the panes in sheets, but at least the thunder and lightning had grown distant. With any luck, the storm would pass within the hour.

  “Why did you come back?” Annie asked from behind.

  “I felt uneasy leaving you alone. Especially now that the power’s out.” He faced her. “Come back to the cabin with me. I’m not asking you to sleep with me. I have an extra bedroom.”

  “Or you could stay here tonight. No sense in you driving home in this weather. I can’t offer much in terms of dinner, but I can always scrape something together.”

  He’d rather be at his own place, in his own bed, but he’d take what he could. Staying in the cottage beat camping out in her backyard or sleeping in his truck to keep an eye on things. “Deal.”

  She smiled, the awkward shyness dispensed. “Have a seat and I’ll be back with food.”

  Tombi sank into the sofa, listening to Annie bustling about the kitchen. The domesticity of it settled warmly in his gut. How long had it been since someone fixed him a meal? Too long. Strange, he’d never noticed before how solitary, how lonely and stark his existence was at the cabin. He devoted his life to hunting during the full moon and the rest of his days to running his carpentry business. Always focused, always doing everything with a purpose and sinking into bed at night, exhausted.

  He propped his legs on the coffee table and crossed his arms behind him, head relaxing into his palms. Inside was soft candle illumination, and outside the rain and storm were contained. He closed his eyes. Relaxed. He was exactly where he needed to be, and all was well in this moment. Tension drained from his body and flowed down to the ground, where it was absorbed.

  A soft touch jiggled his shoulder.

  He bolted upright and took in the unfamiliar surroundings.

  “It’s okay. You’ve been asleep.” Annie’s face was calm and a soft smile lit her eyes. “You’ve been out a couple of hours at least. But I couldn’t wait to eat any longer and didn’t want to dine alone.”

  She sat across from him, and he set his feet down. A tray on the coffee table was filled with apples, grapes, cheese and bread. He was starving. Even though it was late in the day, the pewter clouds had been rinsed clean by rain, and it was lighter now than before he’d fallen asleep.

  “Sorry I couldn’t do better. Power’s still out.”

  “This is perfect. I can’t believe I slept so soundly.” Highly unusual. If he’d eaten before