Page 75 of The Nowhere Witch
He was waiting for me to answer as his gaze shifted from my eyes to my lips, his body molded slightly closer to mine, and the heat growing in me alone might make a puddle right where I lay in the snow.
If he didn’t move soon, there was only one place this was heading, and there was no guarantee I’d push him off, even if I should be.
“Fine. You want to see how I’m practicing? Be my guest.” This would be even better, because he was going to hate it.
His gaze moved from my lips to my eyes. “Chicken.”
Chicken? This from the man who looked at me as if I’d committed some capital crime after he’d kissed me? I didn’t know what his game was, but I wanted no part of it. It was bad enough that our lives were so entangled again.
He got up and offered me a hand. I nearly jumped to my feet unaided. I was light as a feather without him weighing me down.
He watched as I got back to my feet. “Since you clearly aren’t any better at defending yourself against me, what have you been doing to earn those bruises?”
“She typically does very well, Hawk—not that you could tell from that performance,” Bautere said as he stepped out of the woods.
“Bautere.” Hawk’s jaw clenched before he turned his full attention to Bautere. In that moment, I saw the fury of hell shining through. It looked like he was the first of the four horsemen coming to scorch the earth.
“You’ve been training her?” Hawk asked, closing the gap between them.
“She was eager and I saw promise,” Bautere said, holding his ground.
Hawk glanced at me for just a second, but something in Bautere’s words seemed to appease him slightly. “You cause any permanent damage and you answer to me.”
Bautere raised his chin. “I’m not looking to maim the person who might be our only hope.”
“Just so we’re on the same page.”
“I believe we are.” Bautere nodded toward me. “Perhaps we should skip today.”
I nodded. Going into full-blown combat training in front of Hawk did not seem like a good idea when there was steam nearly coming out of his ears.
Bautere nodded at Hawk and then turned, leaving us alone.
With nothing else to do, I headed back to the broker’s office. Hawk followed. Neither of us spoke much on the way.
It wasn’t until we got inside, and I was headed toward the back stairs, that he said, “Did you just stroll up and ask him for help? Do you know that his kind eat humans like you?”
No, actually, I didn’t know that, and wouldn’t admit it now. “I brought him an offering.” His words sank a little deeper into my head. “And what do you mean, humans like me? Do you think you’re aboveussomehow?”
“Do you have any idea how many he’s killed?”
“I seem to be quite healthy. I did what I had to, and I learned. You have no right to criticize the way I handle my business.”
“You could’ve gotten yourself killed. You’re so focused on why you shouldn’t trust me that you’re blind to everything else.”
I headed toward the back stairs again. He could go wherever he pleased, which was probably straight to hell, where he’d be with his own kind. Actually, that was an idea. He should hook up with Mertie if he was in the market.
“Tippi.”
I took another step before I stopped, pausing to hear what he wanted, because I couldn’t bring myself to completely stop caring.
“I don’t want to fight with you,” he said, sounding almost as tired as I was.
It was something, an olive branch of sorts, even if it was a little late.
“Neither do I, but you don’t give me a choice.”
I opened the door, giving him a nod of acknowledgment before I went upstairs.