Part 5 (1/2)
”He was at your house this morning!” Natie forgot to whisper.
Like a laser beam locking onto a target, Royce turned his head in their direction; his eyes zeroed in on the pair.
”Oh, h.e.l.l no,” Royce muttered before clinching his teeth. He saw not one but two sets of eyes peeking out from behind one of the large oak trees scattered in the garden. He would know those chocolate eyes anywhere; they were eyes a man could get lost in.
This should have been a simple a.s.signment, a simple search and seizure operation: grab the first coin, return it to the council, move on to the next. It was, in fact, turning out to be anything but simple, more like the-mission-that-never-ends.
Of course, no one had mentioned Witches in the initial briefing; obviously there were questions that he would now demand answers to. Why were Witches interested in the coins? Royce had instructed Joanna to stay completely away from the coins at all costs. One detail that had been shared by the council was the fact that the coins could be deadly to any Witch who came into direct contact with them.
He had contacted Arimus, the Council leader, and requested a video conference first thing in the morning. Until he had answers to all of his questions and felt a.s.sured that nothing had been overlooked, he had to stay especially alert. He was dealing with unknown danger at this point.
Eyes locked onto his prey, Royce stalked toward the oak tree with angry strides. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, he was making a huge mistake. He, however, was unable to stop himself.
”s.h.i.+t,” Becki muttered, knowing she was in big trouble without having been told. It was time to make a hasty exit.
”What's up boss? Did you find it?” Sean asked as he loped over and fell in behind Royce.
Royce did not slow his pace, did not acknowledge Sean, but kept moving forward with one purpose in mind. When he was finished with her, Becki would understand. She simply had to stay away from him.
Sean had arrived a few hours ago, insisting that he could track the coin more easily if he were on location. He had continued to tweak the software each time a signal was received from one of the coins. Unfortunately, the signals were still very random and infrequent. They had set up base camp in the condo at Fort Sumter House. The last known coordinates of this particular coin were somewhere east of the gazebo. Royce had been searching the area in hopes of finding a clue to what might have happened to the coin after the Witches ”zapped” him.
He felt a ”zap” of an entirely different kind when saw Becki. He hadn't planned on seeing her again-- ever. If his life had been ”normal” he could have--, make that would have, acted on these feelings, and found out where they would have taken him. Unfortunately, his life was far from normal. His life was downright complicated, and so were the lives of his team. They dealt with forces of good and evil, the stuff of dreams and nightmares. His world did not have room for an innocent, and her world was far too innocent to have room for him.
Royce might have mumbled, but Becki had heard him loud and clear; ”h.e.l.l no”. Grabbing Natie's arm, she started walking in the opposite direction as quickly as her long legs would carry her. Becki was not up to being publicly rejected. This day just kept getting better and better.
”You're hurting my arm,” Natie complained.
”The only thing hurting is your nibby nose,” Becki said, calling her out on the lie. ”Hurry up! I promise I will explain it all, but we have to get out of here.”
”Becki,” Royce roared.
”Keep moving,” Becki urged Natie.
”Becki, I'm calling Uncle Kurt. This guy is p.i.s.sed, and he could be crazy as well,” Natie said reaching for the cell phone in the back pocket of her jeans.
”He's not crazy, but I think he is p.i.s.sed,” Becki acknowledged. ”Please don't call Kurt. They've already met, and I don't think they like each other.”
”Becki, d.a.m.n it--” Royce had caught up with the two girls without ever altering his pace or stride.
Becki had no intention of acknowledging him; her heart was pounding with humiliation and rage. Royce reached out to catch her arm in his grasp; she jerked away from him while continuing to charge ahead, forgetting that she was still dragging Natie along behind her.
Sean caught up with Royce just in time to see one of the two stunningly beautiful women actually wrench her arm away from him. Apparently Royce had lost his touch, literally.
”Boss? Do I need to do something?” Sean asked hesitantly. Women did not generally walk away from the boss. Normally it was quite the opposite scenario, women going out of their way to attract his attention.
Royce didn't bother to respond. He stalked with great determination, closely following the retreating women.
”Do you know them?” Sean asked, keeping pace with Royce.
Natie could not believe they were walking away, correction running away, from not one but two of the best looking men she had seen in-well, ever. Obviously, Becki knew these men. She said one of them had been at her house this morning? Becki didn't do mornings, period. Whatever was playing out here, had Becki on the run, and that too was out of character for her sister.
”Becki, I'm warning you--” the man with dark hair said ominously.
”They are still following us,” Natie needlessly pointed out, curiosity killing her. This mystery needed to be solved, right now; enough was enough. Taking a deep breath, Natie planted her feet, refusing to budge another inch.
Becki stumbled, and would have fallen if the Adonis with green eyes, raven hair, and a perfect a.s.s, hadn't caught her in his arms.
”Are you alright?” Royce asked Becki as he steadied her on her feet.
Becki glared at him with narrowed eyes, which seriously lost their hateful effect as soon as they filled with tears, ”As if you give a flying fu-”
Natie watched as, in the next instant, he grabbed Becki, jerked her tightly against his body, and planted a lip-lock on her sister like she had only seen in the movies. And then, wonder of wonders, Becki was kissing him right back. Natie grinned. Something had been skipped over during their girl-talk earlier today; something along the lines of, 'Natie, I've met the most gorgeous guy. He was at my house this morning, and man-o-man is he a good kisser.' Oh, yes, something had definitely been left out of their earlier conversation.
”Hi, I'm Sean. Are you ok?” the tall one with blue eyes asked. He had accidently b.u.mped into her when she stopped so abruptly and was now bending down to look at her as if she were a little china doll. Tingles zipped over her skin where he touched her arm.
”I'm Natie, Becki's sister.” Nodding toward Becki and her mystery man, Natie asked, ”Who is kissing her?”
”That is my boss, Royce. They, uh, met earlier,” Sean said with a grin.
”I guess so,” Natie smiled up, way up, at him. He stood over six feet tall, a giant compared to her. ”So,” she ventured, ”do you want to grab a latte? It looks like they may be a while.”
CHAPTER THREE.
Royce's arms wrapped around her like steal bands. His hands trailed softly down her back, following the line of her spine.
”Don't cry,” he lifted his lips long enough to whisper, and then his lips were firmly planted on hers once again. Instinctively she burrowed closer, her arms finding their way around his waist. Momentarily forgetting that they were in a public garden, he allowed one hand to venture lower as he pressed her more tightly against him.
Becki gradually surfaced. Her anger pus.h.i.+ng its way past the pleasure of being wrapped in Royce's arms gave her the strength to wrench her lips from his.
”Stop manhandling me,” she snarled. ”I thought you were leaving town? Gee, I must have misunderstood what you said,” she mocked, grabbing his hands to move them from her a.s.s. ”I must admit though, I was somewhat surprised to see you here. I thought for a minute that--” she stopped abruptly.
Royce had allowed her to reposition his hands more appropriately at her waist, but he was not willing to let her go entirely. Not until-- well-at least not right now.
”You thought--” he prompted, continuing to nibble at her neck; trailing kisses from her ear, to her shoulder, and back. Trying to keep his hands respectably wrapped around her waist was not easy, but after all, they were standing in a public park.
”I stopped thinking at 'h.e.l.l no'.”
Royce abruptly stopped his a.s.sault, and lifted his head to make eye contact with Becki. He immediately felt like a heel. This was the second time today he had been responsible for her tear-filled eyes.
”I'm sor--” Royce began.
”I've got to say,” Becki jumped in, unwilling to listen to his apology, ”it cleared things up pretty quickly for me.”
Swiping a hand quickly across the corner of her eye, she brushed away the single tear that had dared to escape before continuing, ”So now, if you will get your hands off of me, I'll be on my way,” she concluded, trying to wiggle her way out of his arms.
”I didn't mean it like--” he tried again to explain.