Bending Steele by Sadie Hart

land. In my mountains.”
    A smile toyed at the edge of her lips as she
waited for him to relent. But when Hexe turned his attention back
to her, a different fire blazed in his eyes. Not the furious rage
from a moment ago, but hunger. Desire. He shoved away from the
counter and stalked towards her, making the hair rise on the back
of her neck. Steele instantly moved to get her feet under her,
tensing for a fight, but something inside her insisted he wasn’t
dangerous.
    Not to her.
    “I care about you in a different way,” he
said, his voice low, dark. It reminded her of the eerie howl
outside. Primal. When he reached a hand out for her face, Steele
didn’t back away. She couldn’t help but remember his kiss. It felt
like years ago after the day they’d had and she wanted another.
    Wanted to taste him again.
    His thumb traced the edge of her jaw and
Steele reached up and caught his hand in hers. She slid it around
the back of her neck and stepped closer, helping him draw her in.
Surprise flickered in those emerald eyes and she smiled, dark and
predatory.
    She liked shocking him.
    His shirt clung to him. Tucked into his
pants, it outlined every muscle down the length of his torso. The
hard, jagged edge of his face that had so fascinated her once was
softer now. Around his eyes the skin was still raw from the weather
and Steele wondered if she looked like that too.
    Silence stretched between them as she stared
up at him, the quiet whir marred only by the snap of the fire and
the rush of the wind outside. Standing here with Hexe, it was
almost easy to forget that a woman had died today, that a killer
was still out there. It was even easier to forget why she’d wanted
so desperately to push him away.
    He hadn’t run. He hadn’t left that girl like
her father had left her mother. Hunger burned in those cat-green
eyes, a dark, devouring aching look that made Steele catch her
breath. She swayed as his thumb traced her jaw again, and she
realized with a painful clutch of her heart that she wanted this.
One hand skimmed along her waist, only to slip under her shirt and
she felt the heat of his hand against her bare skin.
    Still clothed in his night black shirt and
loose cargo pants, she felt more naked than she ever had. He’d
stripped her of her defenses, seen her as her. Steele. Not just the
vicious cat bitch that lingered on the outside of the tribe, the
one who liked her solitude, and only liked the group from the
fringes. He saw the woman.
    The little girl who’d lost her mother, who’d
been abandoned by her father.
    And more importantly, he hadn’t once given up
on her or anyone else. Every time she’d pushed him away, he’d come
back. When she’d needed him out there, when she’d broken down, he’d
held her. And when that woman had needed help, Hexe had followed
her. He’d tried.
    For once, maybe, she was seeing the man.
    “You just don’t stop, do you?” she asked, but
this time it wasn’t with the bitter bite of anger. Instead she
followed the words with a smile. He never stopped.
    Before he could answer, Steele shoved her
hands into his chest and sent him toppling backwards. Swiping one
leg behind his, she tripped him and sent Hexe crashing to the
floor. Surprise gave her the advantage she needed. She slammed her
lips down over his and he let her in, yielding. He was still tense,
waiting for a fight, but he kissed her back. His hands locked on
either side of her face he held her to him, drinking her down.
Tasting her every bit as much as she tasted him.
    And damn, but he tasted incredible.
    Her hands roved the broad width of his
shoulders, down the lean muscled ridges of his arms. There was so
much strength there, carefully held back. Steele broke the kiss
first, only to rake teeth down along his jaw. Hard enough that he
shivered beneath her and she could feel the twitch in his cock
pressed against her belly, the thin fabric of his khakis leaving
little to the imagination.
    She kissed him again, softer