“Red suits you.”
His voice was little more than a growl and it warmed my skin. Excitement fluttered deep in my belly. I paused in the arched doorway, pressing the parchment I held to my chest.
Was this my usual reaction?
I didn’t…think so?
Shadows surrounded the high backed chair in which he sat. Flickers of light from the great fireplace caught his sharp profile, shifting, lighting the burn of his silver eyes.
My mark for the night wasn’t quite human, I was sure of it. The remote hall, the obvious wealth, the secrecy. He had to be one of those rare preternaturals.
Oh, he wore a human shape—and a very lovely shape it was too—but under his skin, his heart pulsed and beat with the blood of a wild animal.
I pulled in my scattering thoughts and murmured, “Thank you”. I didn’t know what else to say. My being in this stately home, in this starkly empty room with him was…hazy.
The reason was important. That fact burned to the bone and my sure belief reflected in the red silk of my cape. It was also the only thing I wore.
I frowned. I didn’t remember driving up to the hall, slipping out of my street clothes, changing…
I moved closer to the fire. Its heat warmed the silk and my skin distracting me as the material brushed against my bared legs like the kiss of a lover.
I forced a smile to twitch across my mouth and lifted the thick sheaf of paper in my hand. The splotch of a broken seal gleamed along its edges. Not that I remembered slicing the seal open.
I glanced at the heavy copperplate lettering that simply stated my name, a time and that day’s date. “The…agency hasn’t given me your name.”
“Balthasar.”
“Balthasar…?”
“My last name isn’t important.” He sat forward and firelight licked his features.