The bearded man rocked forward and froze, his fist clenched mid-air. Gentry had his hand on Roman’s throat, and his face was beat red, but when Roman turned a slow, deadly golden gaze on her, she instantly regretted getting involved.
“Accident?” she tried with her face scrunched up.
“Are you trying to die faster?” Roman gritted out.
Blaire stomped her snow boot on the floor. “That’s enough! I didn’t ask for any of this…this…whatever is happening! I’ve been through hell, and I’m having a nice break from work, and I like Gentry the whatever-he-is. He’s cute and a little terrifying, but mostly nice, and there will be no more death-talk on my fucking vacation.”
“You said fucking,” Gentry muttered from the floor. His lip was split, but he was smiling.
Roman shoved off him, stood, circled back, and kicked him in the ribs, but Gentry just blocked him and said, “You kick like a girl.”
Roman flipped him off and then flipped Blaire off, too, before he strode out the door, still butt-naked. He tried to slam the door behind him, but it gently swung closed, and he roared a sound of pure frustration.
Gentry stood slowly and rested one hand on his hip. He pressed the back of his wrist onto his bloody lip as he glared out the window at Roman, who was stomping through the snow like an angry yeti.
At a complete loss on how to tackle anything that had just happened, Blaire murmured, “Well, tonight was weird.”
Chest heaving, body shredded, naked as a jaybird and shaking, Gentry gave her a strange look, trapping her in that wild green gaze of his for a few moments. Suddenly, he let off a single laugh.
“I have a hundred questions,” she admitted.
“Well, I can’t answer any of them, so swallow those back down.”
“Fantastic. Can I ask you one question I think you can answer?” She had a hunch, but she wanted to know for sure.
“Fine,” Gentry muttered, shifting his weight.
“Whoooo are those terrifying men?”
Gentry rolled his eyes closed and sighed. When he looked at her again, his expression was exhausted. “Those would be my brothers.”
Chapter Thirteen
Well, last night had been terrific. Blaire poked the dark circles under her eyes. Her dreams had been riddled with avalanches and monsters chasing her through the woods, and she’d given up on sleep sometime around five this morning.
Vacations were supposed to be sleeping in and rest and relaxation, but the Striker brothers had taken all sense of safety away from her. Well, except Gentry. As much as she tried to convince herself he was scary, he’d been tender with her last night, and then put himself in front of her and protected her from Roman.
What she needed was a day away from this place for some clarity, so she could wrap her head around what was actually going on in Rangeley. This wasn’t some fun mystery to unravel anymore. There was an entire supernatural dynamic here that she knew nothing about. And from the mention of the rules and the deadly consequences, she was pretty sure she would never find out.
And now her head and heart were all mixed up. Head said Gentry was dangerous to get involved with, but heart didn’t care. Heart thought this was a great idea, to attach to a man of a different…species? Was this even okay? He wasn’t human, and she was, and maybe there were rules because it was wrong. Or something. Also, in addition to her head and heart was her needy vagina that kept her eyes on the prize, and that was another tempting body-smush with Sexy Gentry. Couldn’t be wrong, not if it had felt this right.
She glared at her tired face in the mirror and applied an extra layer of concealer to cover the dark circles. Then she plumped her lips with a glossy pink and pulled her jacket and purse off the chair in the bedroom.
Blaire let the door bang closed behind her and jogged down the porch stairs with a bounce in her step.
“Mornin’, human.” Roman called from the porch of the smallest cabin next door. He was clad in teal underwear, a faux-fur winter hat with ear flaps, and unlaced snow boots. He was also eating a bowl of cereal.
“Question,” she said, coming to a stop in front of the porch and doing her best not to look at his big dick bulging in his undies. “When would you say it’s too early for day drinking?”
Roman slurped a bite of cereal, and with a full mouth said, “No such thing as too early.”
“That was my first instinct, too.” She turned, but hesitated. “Aren’t you cold?”
“I don’t get cold.”
“Terrific. Stay weird, Roman.”
“Will do. Hey human?” Roman called.
“Yeees,” she drawled, annoyed with the nickname. She knew what he was doing. He was making sure she knew she was separate from the rest of them. “Gentry left you a present in the front seat of your car. I opened it.” His eyes weren’t gold anymore, but a vivid sky blue as they narrowed. “You’re playing a dangerous game. Both of you are. One that will get you hurt.”