Free Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur Page A

it might just stem back to the drugs Talon and Co. had been feeding me.
    But at least the creeping sense of wrongness no longer haunted the day. Maybe we’d be free from attack for a while. “I think I’ll grab a shower first. I doubt I’ll be able to sleep right now.”
    He nodded. I made my way back inside the cabin. Thankfully, someone had removed the severed arm, and made some attempt to clean up the blood. I wasted some time checking every little corner, then finally relaxed and headed for the bathroom.
    But despite my protests, I did sleep, and sleep well.
    Quinn was standing near the broken window when I woke, his hands clasped casually behind his back and body relaxed, but I could taste his tension. It stung the air, as sharp as the sudden spike in my pulse rate.
    “There are fresh clothes at the end of the bed.” His voice was soft, neutral. “Rhoan thought you might appreciate something warmer. There’s no shoes, however. All our feet are bigger than yours.”
    “I don’t need shoes.” I crossed my arms and stared at his back, willing him to turn around and face me. “Why are you here?”
    “Here in this room, or here in general?”
    “Both.”
    “Ah.” He paused a moment. “I’m here in this room as a second defense, in case another of those creatures got past Rhoan.”
    “I can protect myself.”
    “Not when you’re fast asleep.” He glanced briefly over his shoulder, his dark gaze skating down my blanket-covered body before looking away. “You didn’t even twitch when I came in.”
    Possibly because I knew his scent, and felt safe in his presence, no matter how annoying he could be at times. “So why are you here on this rescue mission?”
    His shrug was little more than a slight hitch of one shoulder, and yet somehow so elegant. Muscles played enticingly under the burgundy sweater, and I had to resist the temptation to reacquaint my fingers with all that lean power.
    “Because someone has tried to kill me a number of times, and I’m getting a little annoyed about it.”
    “That doesn’t exactly explain why you’re here.”
    “My would-be assassins were not of natural origins. I brought the bodies down to Melbourne for the Directorate to examine.”
    “After your own labs checked them out, of course.”
    “Of course.”
    “So, you brought the bodies down. How does that connect with you being here?”
    “You went missing about the same time I arrived in Melbourne. I stayed to help with the search.”
    “Thank you.”
    He shrugged. “We are friends who have been lovers. It was the least I could do.”
    “Last time I checked, the definition of a friend didn’t include ignoring said friend and telling them to go away.”
    “You know why I did that.”
    “Yeah, because you couldn’t cope with me being a werewolf.” I flung off the covers and sat up. “Would you at least have the decency to turn around and look at me when you’re talking?”
    “If you would have the decency to dress.”
    “Why? As you said, we’ve been lovers. You know my body intimately.”
    “We are not lovers now, and I do not appreciate you flaunting yourself.”
    I snorted softly and reached for the clothes sitting on the end of the bed. “That is so old-fashioned.”
    “I am old-fashioned.”
    Yeah, and it was one of the problems that would have lain between us if we’d been in any sort of relationship. I shook my head and got dressed. The jeans were several inches too long, but otherwise a snug fit, particularly around the butt. No surprise there, because my butt was bigger than my brother’s—an injustice of nature, I think. His dark green sweater was tight, the soft wool stretched to the limits around my breasts, providing little peekaboo holes of skin. If the oncoming night hadn’t promised to be so cold, I would have gone without it.
    “Okay, it’s safe to turn around now.”
    My voice was tart, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. His expression was cool, almost remote. But his