a Touch of Intrigue (5 page)

Pierce grunted. This one sounded like he understood what I was saying. Good thing I was beginning to understand “grunt.” Next up, learning to speak it.

“And No?”

“Because I didn’t have to do it, and because I was thinking this would become our house, which gives you a free pass.”

He stopped moving. “Our home, not just a house, Everly.”

My heart did a flip, then settled into a happy rhythm. I touched his cheek. The image of love was so powerful it would have dropped me to my knees if Pierce hadn’t been holding my hand. “Same page, Tynan Ailill.”

His lips twitched, then he tugged me farther along the hallway. “You’re tossing around my middle name like you own it, Belisama.”

“I like it. A lot. You really are shadow magic, and I think it fits you much better than Tynan.”

“Tynan means dark. Not that different.”

“Still, I like the way Ailill feels in my mouth. But we need to back up a bit here and set some boundaries. Loving you does not mean you get to make decisions for me or order me around, so let me just make this clear. I’m not going to tell Aukele about the pain in my neck.”

“Your reasons?” He sounded way too calm.

“I don’t trust him, and whatever is going on with my memories is—”

Pierce turned me to face him.

“It scares me.” The confession stole the air from my lungs. “Wow. I didn’t expect to say that.”

He brushed his thumb over my lips, then folded me into a hug. Our bodies surged to life with the recent memory of incredible sex. Mine had turned into molten steam, and his blood had rushed to sustain an erection that was built to please.

Swamped with conflicting emotions, I pushed away from him. “I—”

“Bare assed or not, you’re safe.”

My confusion evaporated. “Even when you’re in full command mode, you get me. That’s…” A sob shook my body, but this time Pierce didn’t touch me, just gave me the space to work it out. I swallowed and found the words I wanted. “Loving you is comfortable, easy. And that’s unbelievable because you’re not an easy man. Not exactly comfortable either. You are perfect in your imperfection, and that’s—”

He pressed his fingers against my lips, laughter dancing in his eyes. “Silence is good.”

I nodded. He definitely got that right. I was a mess.

Pierce reached into the room behind him, flicked on the light, and then ushered me inside. It was empty. The floors were a continuation of the bamboo in the living area, but in this space the walls were also made from the same bamboo. Windows lined the far wall.

“What’s outside?” I asked. It looked and felt like a perfect yoga room, but only if the view supported mindfulness.

“Mountains. Peaceful.”

“Will it work as a sacred place for yoga and meditation?” I moved to trace the walls with my fingertips, ESP turned on medium.

Pierce stepped back, giving me space. “Gut feeling—yeah. But we need to see what your fingers say.”

I spun, facing him with an uncontrollable grin. “Normally you would have just said “talk.” Making love mellowed you, Tynan Pierce.”

The faintest tint of pink colored his cheeks. “Working on respect, here.”

I clasped both of his hands with mine, and images flashed. His mother, hands on her hips, his father yelling, and a young Tynan with tears in his eyes because he couldn’t find words to explain whatever they wanted to know. The image was so completely opposite of my experience with Lorcán and Siofra that my mouth dropped open. I snapped it shut and put my curiosity on hold. Now wasn’t the time to ask, not with my heart heavy and aching for him. And not when we had other pressing things to deal with. “You’re doing a damn fine job, and I appreciate it. How about I give you a running commentary while I’m learning the space?”

He brought my hand to his lips, kissed it. “Freaking fingers see too much.”

Guilt jabbed at me. He was right. I’d trespassed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think to turn them off after I revved up to explore the walls. I won’t ask about what I saw unless there’s some pressing reason that…”

His shrug jerked a bit, and stopped my promises. “We’re together, Everly, so it’s gonna happen.” There was an undercurrent of anxiety in his words, and it unnerved me.

I lifted onto tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “We’ll figure it out. There may be times you have to stop me from touching you, and I have to accept that. I’m not saying it’ll be easy for me to learn that you’re not rejecting
me
, per se, but I’ll…
we’ll
find a way to work through it. You’re ahead of me, have learned about me better than I’ve learned about you.”

His mouth tipped into a smile. “This is a hell of a naked conversation, Belisama.”

I glanced down. Yep. There wasn’t a single limp appendage in sight, my breasts were flushed pink, and my belly jewel sparkled in the light like it was begging to be touched. “Maybe a cold shower before I turn my fingers loose on the walls.”

“After. I have detailed fantasies about you in that shower, and they’ll take a while to satisfy.” His eyebrow twitched, and I’d learned that particular expression meant he was hiding something.

“So, wanna tell me what the secret is?” My curiosity zipped into the red zone, and I barely stopped myself from begging him to tell me.

“Walls first. Surprise later. It’s outside.”

The inflection in his voice sounded suspiciously like me. I cocked my head to the side to see his face from a different perspective. “You do that thing where you imitate the voice and actions of someone. Is it part of being a super spy?”

He nodded. “Part of Huna, too. You know that.”

I did, just hadn’t adjusted to Pierce studying with my grandfather, and the connections between them wasn’t operating in my brain yet. “That’s why you know me better than I know you. The Huna-slash-grandfather connection.” I stomped on my irritation. It was no one’s fault but my own that I hadn’t been using my training like I should have been. “Okay. Moving on.” I planted my hand on the nearest wall, and my grandmother popped onto my internal monitor. I jerked my hand back, rubbed it on my thigh. “
Kuku wahine
.”

“Doesn’t that mean grandmother?” Pierce asked.

“Yeah. You know what?” I waved my hand toward the wall. “I can’t do this without clothes.”

Pierce’s forehead scrunched into tight lines. “She’s not actually here, Everly.” There was a long pause. “Is she?”

I bit my cheek to keep the laughter in. There had been a touch of hysteria in his question, and for the first time since we’d tumbled into bed together my man had gone completely limp. “Ah, no. Not in the room with us, but the image was vibrant. Not surprising since Makani was a skilled kahuna. Remember when she left me those holographic images of herself at her old home site? I can’t even imagine how much psychic energy that took, and I draw a hefty amount when I’m doing healing work.” I glanced down. “The naked house tour isn’t working so well for either of us.”

“It’s late.” Pierce’s stomach let out a loud rumble. “Quick tour, food, shower, bed. You can explore more tomorrow.”

Now that he’d mentioned food, I realized I was starving. “Good plan, except there’s probably not much to eat here.”

“There’s fresh fruit, cheese, and drinks in refrigerator.” His mouth clamped into a thin line.

I gave him the squint-eye. “Where did it come from? Surely you didn’t have time to grocery shop between texting me and my arrival here. Not if you checked out both the property and the house.”

Guilt poured off him in huge waves. “Right. It was stocked. Spotted it when I cleared the house.”

Curiosity, impatience, and anger tumbled around in my brain. “Who the hell was in
my
house? And probably before I even knew I had a house.”

He shrugged. “Didn’t see anyone.”

“Damn it all.” I stalked into the bathroom, mummied myself in a bath sheet, and motioned for Pierce to lead the way. “Kitchen first.”

Pierce flicked on lights as we passed through the living room, through an archway, and into a huge kitchen with brand spanking new modern appliances. Someone had been working overtime in here. Without so much as a glance at Pierce, I revved my fingers and headed for the refrigerator, and then planted my hand on the door.

A clear image popped up. Recent. And it left no doubt about exactly who had been in the house.

“Millie.”

FOUR

I PRESSED MY HAND SO
tight against
the refrigerator door that my fingertips left four shallow, fleeting dents in the surface. There were no more images. “How did Millie get here?” I barely breathed the words, then whirled to face Pierce. “You knew she was here. Was that my surprise?”

In a classic move his hands reached for pants pockets, but brushed against bare thighs. No place to hide. “If I’d known I would have told you. I suspected it was Aukele, and no, not the surprise.”

My attention hadn’t moved from the middle of Tynan’s body. “Maybe, um, go wrap a towel around your waist, or something.” I didn’t really want him to cover those luscious muscles and man parts, but if he didn’t we wouldn’t make it through our snack and a house tour. And both were rapidly becoming critical.

His grin was pure ready-to-rumble male. “I’m part of you now, Everly. No towel’s gonna cover what your fingers have memorized.”

I blew out a sigh. “Right. Do it anyway. Please.”

He didn’t bother to hide his grin before he headed for the bathroom.

It took several deep breaths to clear my mind before I could focus on the task at hand. Should I approach it methodically, or follow my intuition? Tough call. Not completely trusting my intuition, I went for methodical and started with the counter closest to me, jerked my hand away.

Pierce strolled back into the kitchen, towel secured around his waist, took one look at me, and lost the grin. “What?”

“The scars. From the accident.” My stomach knotted with empathic pain and sorrow. “They cover Millie’s hands and forearms. Dear heaven, the agony she must have endured.”

He covered my hand with his. Heat and courage flooded into me, and stirred a fresh round of questions. Was sending comfort through touch another of his gifts? No. It was love. Just. Pure. Love. This man had the ability to completely undo me. It was scary, and the most beautiful thing I’d ever experienced.

“She was sedated, Everly. Aukele and Harlan stayed with her, kept watch—”

“And kidnapped her from the hospital. That decision probably saved her life, but what if she’d gone into shock or something?” I shook my head. “Dumb. Of course Aukele must have healed the burns right away. But the scars, Pierce. She has a hard time flexing her fingers. Why couldn’t he heal those too?”

He traced a delicate pattern on my hand. “You’d know that better than me.”

I scanned the images again, deliberately looking for a way to heal Millie’s scars. “There’s a barrier there. This had to be one of those times when our gifts were overruled by a higher power. It hurts that Aukele couldn’t erase Millie’s scars, but it’s also a melancholy kind of relief to know there’s something bigger, and I hope smarter, watching over me when I use my healing gifts.”

Pierce frowned. “Has your sense of touch ever been blocked?”

“You mean aside from when I panic or purposely shut it down? No. But that ability is strongly connected with my genetic exposure to Loyria Gray’s formula, and I’m not sure the DNA can be controlled like Huna-learned gifts. I just don’t know the answers. Maybe when we find Mille she can tell us how it works.” Fear shot through me. “Wait! It would be wrong to find her. She knows all about the plants and how to create the poison formula. That makes her a valuable commodity for people like Fion Connor and Eamon Grady.”

He nodded. Once. “It does. Keeps me in business, eliminating people like your parents’ killers. I can assign a permanent bodyguard to Millie.”

My fear level lowered a couple notches. “Yeah. That’d be good. Because you know we’ll find her, or she’ll find us. I better get back to work.” I stretched, then flexed my hands, and then ran my fingers over every surface in the kitchen. Millie kept popping up—cutting the fruit, slicing cheese, wiping down the counters, sweeping the floor, washing dishes—all over the bloody damn kitchen. Was she living here? Hiding here? I glanced up, and my attention was immediately sidetracked with the expanse of Tynan’s muscled chest, the light dusting of hair that narrowed, and then disappeared beneath the towel he’d secured around his waist.

He tapped my nose. “You look disappointed.”

There was no point in denying the obvious. “You’re an addiction, Pierce. That aside, it’s beginning to make sense that Millie has been here. It would be the perfect place for my grandfather to hide her while she recuperated from the accident. She was my grandmother’s best friend. They studied Huna together, and Harlan, too. Is he here?” I brushed my hand over the kitchen counter again.

Tynan’s face was shuttered. “I don’t know. I would have told you.”

Oh, damn. I’d doubted him. Hurt him. “I didn’t mean it that way, like you were lying to me or hiding something. It was more thinking out loud, asking you what you thought.”

His grunt was a new one. And it didn’t have a trace of happy in it. “Yes. I think Harlan is here. They’re close. Separation wouldn’t work for them.”