Breath of Fire by Liliana Hart

bow and exited the room.
    I guessed by Erik’s advice that he thought I would come out on the losing end of a battle with Julian. I had to admit I was pretty worried about that too.
     
     
    I’d talked myself out of meeting with Noah Ford more than a dozen times. But as the day grew longer, and the time for a decision grew closer, I found myself indulging in the female rituals of the mating game. I selected my clothing with care, something sleek and short and sexy, and I spent extra time on my hair and makeup, wanting the right combination of innocence and siren. Human men seemed to want both when they searched for mates. I’d never understood why.
    If I was being completely honest with myself, there were two reasons for keeping my date with Noah. The first was he could potentially have enough information to help me catch the Destroyer and the army he’d created. The second reason was purely personal. I had to know why I couldn’t breach his shields, and I wanted to know what I’d have to do to make his walls crumble.
    And then there was the third reason. I wanted to get him naked.
    I was pacing in the front entryway by six o’clock on the dot, stepping around the rubble of the marble floors. My stomach wasn’t quite as settled as a woman’s of my experience should have been. It had been a long time since anyone besides my family had made me uncomfortable, but there was something about Noah that was an unsettling mix of comfort and pure terror.
    I heard the rumble of an engine approaching the house. I checked my lipstick one last time in the oval mirror to the left of the door and then slipped on my floor-length leather coat lined with fur. My toes would probably be frostbitten in the slinky black heels I’d decided to wear, but at least the rest of me would be warm. I shook off all my doubts, straightened my spine and walked out the front door.
    Night had already descended, and with it, the temperature. It wasn’t the kind of cold that pierced the body with each whip of the wind, but the kind that was still and silent and crept through the marrow of your bones until it settled so deep you thought you’d never be warm again.
    A black Jeep came into view. It was a sleek and sexy machine, with bulbous headlights and dark tinted windows, and I had the feeling it represented its owner much better than the beige Taurus he’d driven earlier that morning. I pulled the passenger door open before Noah had a chance to stop the car completely, and slid in.
    “In a hurry to see me?” he said by way of greeting, his smile making me a lot warmer in certain places than it should have. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist my charm.”
    I looked him over slowly from head to toe and saw his eyes darken with lust. He wore a charcoal suit and a crisp white shirt with no tie. His hair was just a little too shaggy for conventional standards, but it looked right on him.
    “Maybe,” I said and shrugged. “Or maybe it’s the fact that my brother is looking out his window at you right now, debating whether or not he should come down and interrogate you. He’s very protective.”
    “I suppose I should thank you for running interference. I’m not quite ready to meet your family yet. I think we need at least one more date first.”
    “Or a hundred,” I said under my breath. The last thing I ever wanted was for Noah to be subjected to my family dynamics. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.
    “What was that?” he asked.
    “Nothing. Listen, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here.” I turned to face him in the seat, and my coat came open slightly, revealing the black lace on the top of my thigh-highs. His eyes tracked the movement, but he had the decency to raise his gaze to my eyes before he turned his attention back to the road. “This isn’t a date. The only reason I’m here right now is because there’s something off about you, and I can’t put my finger on it. Whatever it is, you won’t be able to