Protecting His Witch (Entangled Covet) (Keeper Of The Veil series Book 1) (12 page)

“Riley. Oh God, it can’t be Saturday. I forgot.” She twirled a second towel onto her head.

Matt retrieved his knife from his discarded pants and shot upward. If Riley was a boyfriend, he’d kill him.

Quickly she added, “Good-guy team.”

“Your team?” His lips thinned.

She rolled her eyes. “I work with him. He’s a vet, too, but I’ve got this thing today with him. We’re supposed to go somewhere, but I’m not sure. With you here…let me see what we can work out. Put that knife away. You’ll terrify him.”

“What kind of
thing
?” he demanded, unwilling to relinquish the weapon.

She didn’t answer as she pulled open the door.

“Ah. Caught you in the shower.” The guy strolled in, obviously familiar with the place. He slung a garment bag over a kitchen chair. His gaze shot to Matt. “Oh. You’ve got company.”

Matt locked gazes with the interloper. Stats were measured and probabilities calculated. A once-over of the guy’s light purple polo shirt and skintight slacks ensured him that Riley had no concealed weapons. The pristine arrangement of his hair and powerful cologne finalized his decision that Riley wasn’t interested in Kat for sexual reasons, which was a good thing. He lay his knife on the kitchen table. A subtle threat.

“Stand down, boys. I don’t need a testosterone face-off right now. Matt, this is Riley. He’s a work colleague, and not your competition. He’s a good
friend
. Riley, this is Matt and he’s—”

“Your time-travel hotness?” Riley interrupted and did an up-and-down on Matt, ending in a grin. “Twenty? Honey, I would’ve given him at least a twenty-five. I mean that…” He waved at Matt’s chest. “Is worth at least five points.”

Her already pink, recently orgasmed cheeks blushed darker. “Yeah, okay. But, seriously, I do not time travel. We, uh, had a bit of a problem in Matt’s dimension.”

“What’s this about twenty?” he asked, resisting the urge to grin.

Her face turned a darker shade of red.

“What kind of trouble?” Riley asked.

“Bad guys shot at us. But we’re fine.” Her gaze darted to Matt’s healing side.

“Since you’re not mortally injured, you and I are going to do this event. You may be quitting at the clinic, or might even get fired if you miss more work, but I’m going to have to keep my job for the foreseeable future. So, get dressed.”

“What about Matt?”

Riley squinted at him and worked his lower jaw.

She met Matt’s dark gaze. “Would you like to come with us? It’s a reception.”

“I’m going wherever you go,” he stated. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight.

She frowned. “We’ll need to get you a tux. I don’t think there’s any way we can stuff you into one of Riley’s.”

“Probably not.” He enjoyed the renewed color in her cheeks that he knew had everything to do with remembering where they’d left off.

Riley said, “We’ll stop at a rental place on the way, and see what they have in stock that fits. It’s last minute, so you might get stuck with a baby-blue ruffle special.”

He infused the Voice into his reply. “No ruffles.”

Riley took a step back. “We can stop at more than one place if the first doesn’t have something acceptable.”

At least his ability worked in this dimension. He asked Kat again, “What sort of thing do you have to do?”

“Let’s get dressed.” Without further explanation, she disappeared into her bedroom.

Chapter Seventeen

Matt hadn’t complained through the five suits he’d tried and modeled. Each one was tight in the wrong spots—arm, legs, chest. The store manager claimed he wasn’t a shape this rental place dressed often. She thought it an excuse that gave the manager a chance to touch him in all the spots that lacked the flab of his normal customers.

He rotated in the mirror, modeling suit number six, and subtly frowned. The store manager groaned and plucked at his tie. She smiled at the little salesman’s desperation to please Matt. The guy had an obvious monster crush on him. And who wouldn’t?

Each time he emerged from the small curtained off changing area, he’d looked spectacular. She’d just finished concocting an X-rated fantasy of him removing the last tux behind that thin curtain, and her body was on fire. The subtle friction of her thighs was almost enough to make her come. But the imagery of him naked behind that curtain tortured her. She imagined him taking her in that small space. Although her body wanted her to act out that fantasy, it scared her, realizing she needed so much from him. And wanted so much more than he was probably willing to give.

The salesman said, “I think I’ve got one more that you can try, sir.”

“This one is fine. I’ll take it.”

“Oh, bless the Lord. Let me draw up the paperwork. I’ll be right back.”

Riley nodded. “It’ll work. I need to hit the john before we head out.”

Matt draped the suit jacket over a chair and plopped down on the bench beside her. The thin fabric of her scoop dress provided little barrier from the rub of his solid, muscular thigh against hers. Her body tingled with awareness. She swallowed hard, probably too loudly but didn’t care.

Hoarsely she said, “Thanks for putting up with this. That one looks a little tight, too.”

“The suit will work. Did you enjoy the show?” The backs of his knuckles brushed against her cheek as he gazed down. His eyes flickered with passion and promise. For a second she recognized in his gaze the same confusing emotion she felt whenever in his presence.

“You drive me crazy, Kat. Most of these suits don’t fit in
certain
places because I want to do whatever is running through your brain every time I tried a new suit.”

“I didn’t mean to make you crazy,” she rushed out, her voice breathless. She struggled to keep her gaze on his face and not glance down. If she did, she’d want to touch. And probably drag him behind that curtain.

“You’ve got to stop looking at me like you’d be happier if I ripped off these clothes. Or yours. Riley seems to be in a hurry to shuttle us to this event. But right now I’m more inspired to stay here.” He leaned in and whispered into her ear, “I’ll bet I can convince you my idea of where we should go would be far more satisfying.”

Oh God.
Her mind replayed her dressing-room fantasy. “I’m sorry. I just…I don’t understand anything when it comes to you.”

He said, “You and I need to talk about many things.”

So true. “Are you truly not marrying Cindy?”

He laughed a deep, brief laughter than made her stomach flutter. He shook his head. “You’re still worried about that? We just had a crash and got shot at, leaving Eli to God only knows what fate. We did a dimension shift, which was insanely risky. And you’re still worried about Cindy?”

“On my priority list it ranks number one. I mean, I am grateful. Thank you for everything. But she mentioned a Rome wedding…”

“I never had plans to marry her. We never had a future. She was talking pure bullshit.”

“Was that before or after we collided at that benefit that the two of you have no future?”

“Long before, but seeing you again confirmed that relationship was over. Let’s not talk about her again.” His heated gaze scorched downward to her gown’s plunging neckline. He flashed a meaningful smile that left no doubts as to exactly what he wanted.

Momentarily she forgot what they’d been speaking about. Her heart beat wildly.

The salesman rushed in and required Matt sign papers to rent the tux. He buzzed away.

Softly she asked, “What about your first wife? Online it said you separated and then she committed suicide, but at the benefit the other night someone mentioned you killed her.”

His eyes swirled with sadness. “Rumors are a terrible thing. The official report was drug overdose, but she never did drugs. No doubt she was high-strung, and we were on the road to divorce, but I never hurt her. I barely touched her the last two months of our marriage before she moved out. And then she was murdered. It didn’t work with us. I couldn’t give her what she wanted other than my money, and she went a little crazy. I’m pretty sure the OLM kidnapped her. That type of death is their MO, but I have no proof.”

“That’s awful. I’m so sorry.” She placed a hand on his forearm. “So, what’s the deal with us? Me bouncing into your world and…well, frankly, I don’t really understand any of this. Eli mentioned something about Pleiades.”

“With you and me, I—”

“All righty folks, lets head out,” Riley interrupted. He rotated his watch and grimaced. “I’m driving, and we’re going fast.”

…

Kat stood next to Matt at the edge of the reception dance floor, sipping champagne. At least a million bucks must’ve been laid out for this wedding and reception, probably more. The magnificent ice sculpture, recreations of a Michelangelo, and the cake, which had to be at least six tiers of gold-crusted leaves and fondant were definite wows.

Matt’s rented tux wasn’t the quality of the one she’d seen him in at the benefit, but no one noticed clothes when it came to him. Every female in the vicinity kept vying for his attention. Women shot him ocular come-ons that made her feel as inadequate as a middle schooler at a high school prom. How could she possibly keep his interest long-term with this kind of competition?

“I’m glad you’re here,” Kat said softly to him.

A half smile curved his lips as he glanced around. “This is not exactly how I envisioned spending my weekend. But, at least I can get a drink at this party.” He raised his glass of scotch and sipped. “So, why are we here? These don’t really seem like your people.”

“Who exactly do you think my people might be?”

Riley cut off his reply. “They’re ready for us, Kat. But before we go do that, and before you pop out of this world to take him home, I want you to promise me something. Promise no matter what happens, you will always make it for rehearsals on Thursday and do the major competitions every year.” He shuffled his feet and glanced at the floor. “I get the feeling you’re going to be more interested in going wherever it is you go instead of here.”

She hugged Riley and kissed his cheek. Stepping back, she noticed Matt scowling. “Of course, but I’m not going to another Wiccan thing. That is not for me.”

Riley broke into a huge grin. “Great. It’s time to get ready.” He paused, caught in Matt’s glower. “Didn’t you tell him what we’re doing?”

She squeezed Matt’s hand. “It’s nothing bad. I just wasn’t sure how you’d take this, but I’ve got to go do this thing with Riley. It should take a few minutes to prep, a few to do, and then I’ll be done.”

He asked far too calmly, “What exactly are you doing?” His blue eyes warned her he was at the edge of his tolerance for mystery.

Riley laughed. “Maybe this should be a surprise. She’s really extraordinary.”

Matt’s scowl deepened.

“I’m going to dance with Riley and do a little demo for everyone. That’s it.”

“Dance? You can’t. Not in public.”

She laughed. “Says who? Just give me a few minutes. Trust me, we’re good.” She slipped off with Riley.

…

Dance?
Pleiades were forbidden to do anything other than stiff social dance in public. Matt had never seen a Pleiades really let loose, but according to Quinn it had the effect of making everyone watching so hot for sex that it was like throwing a match onto dry pine needles during a drought.

He should stop whatever was about to transpire. Just as his legs moved to take him in the direction she’d disappeared, the background music stopped.

The bride stood with microphone in hand. “Friends, family, welcome to our celebration. To get this party started I’d like to introduce this year’s National Amateur Latin Dance Champions: Riley Levine and Katherine Ramsey. My multitalented veterinarians.”

The lights dimmed. Sultry Latin tones filled the room. He tried to suck in air when Kat and Riley dance-walked onto the floor. She wore a green sequin-and-fringe outfit that showed far more skin than it covered. The fabric stretched tight to her curves when her hips started to rotate. The slit up her right leg went right up to…
Holy hell
, was she even wearing anything underneath? She kicked one of her heels in a way that made it obvious she was wearing something beneath, but the scant strip of green fabric revealed more secrets than he wanted any other man in this room seeing.

Riley wore a matching skintight, green, synthetic outfit with a shirt that was open until it tucked into his waist. Riley’s slim body was as limber as silly putty. He rolled his hips in a way that must’ve taken decades to perfect. He spun her, and that was when Matt realized there was no back to her dress. It went from a small spaghetti shoulder strap to her waist, showing off her elegant spine. Her red hair whipped across that expanse of naked skin in a ponytail of waves to her midback.

The two of them pelvis rolling through what he identified as a samba was like watching dancing sex. Quinn had been right. Riley was but an accessory. She was the show. Electric and erotic. Yet, she was elegant and hauntingly beautiful. His gut demanded he yank her off the floor and throw his jacket over her. But, he couldn’t move, let alone breathe. He was as spellbound as the entire audience, watching her. His body recognized this sultry witch on an elemental level. Blood surged to his groin.

He usually rolled his eyes at the calculated, showy way most pro dancers moved. These two made it look effortless and liquid. Watching her provoked his body into a heady mixture of jealousy and arousal.

Riley dipped her so low that her head almost hit the floor. From her upside-down position, her eyes found his.

In that moment, he realized there would never be another woman for him, regardless of whether she had or had not cursed him to dissatisfaction with every other woman. He’d tried to make do with look-alikes for a decade, but none had been her. Hell, he’d lost his soul to her the moment he’d found her at his frat party in college, even though he’d handled the morning-after part abysmally.

Somehow, he would convince her to be his. And to stay in his dimension. This would involve some dramatic life changes for him, but his life needed a makeover. This level of permanence cramped his gut with unease, but he wouldn’t allow another druid to claim her.

Shit, shit, and super shit.
That meant he’d have to deal with Bryce and his bullshit long-term. He could no longer run from his heritage.

Riley threw Kat into a dip and fast twirl. His breath caught, fearing she’d fall. She smiled and the two promenaded off the floor with synchronized hip rotations. She was magnificent.

And she was his.