Page 16 of Property of Legend

And I have to look up at him.

His voice drops low enough to drag goosebumps up my spine.“Sure thing, Your Highness.I’ll be real professional.But if you call me Stable Boy again, don’t be surprised if I remember all the other things you used to whisper when nobody was listenin’.”

God help me, I do remember.

But I roll my eyes and hand him the file instead.“Welcome back to Paradise Falls, Legend.Try not to burn it down.”

He takes it, fingers grazing mine for a second too long.“No promises, Horse Princess.”

“Legend,” I bark, hating how my voice catches halfway through.I aim for cool and come out breathless.I change the subject away from old terms of endearment.“Didn’t think you’d actually show.”

“You always did underestimate me, Montgomery.”Damn it, the way he says my name should be illegal.

I arch a brow, refusing to let him have the upper hand.“I stopped underestimating you the day you walked out of my life.”

That earns me a flash of teeth.“Could’ve fooled me.You had your family’s manservant come beggin’ at my door.”

Resting against the porch railing, I try to appear unaffected.“I didn’t beg.I hired you.Big difference.”

“You asked for me by name.”His mouth curves slow and smug.

My cheeks betray me with heat.“Because you know this place.You know the dark corners.The secrets.”

He leans in, his lips a whisper from mine.“And I know yours, Horse Princess.You sure you want me pokin’ around again?”

I lift my chin, heart thudding hard against my ribs.“I don’t have the luxury of want right now.Someone’s threatening my family.This isn’t about you and me.”

His eyes flash, full of something dangerous and deeply personal.“There ain’t been a ‘you and me’ in ten damn years.”

My throat tightens, but I hold his gaze.“Then this should be easy.”

“Darlin’,” he murmurs, voice low and lethal.“Nothin’ about you has ever been easy.Not then.Not now.”

Before I can fire back, the breeze kicks up, and I catch the flutter of the envelope on the doorframe.The warning I left for him to see.I move to grab it, but his hand closes over my wrist, hot and rough andcommanding.

“Don’t,” he snaps, tone clipped and steel-hard.

I freeze.Not because I’m scared, but because for one heartbeat, I forget how to breathe.

He steps in front of me, snatches the note, and scans it.The shift in him is instant.Muscles locked.Jaw tight.Eyes lit with the kind of fury that scorches.

“What is it?”I ask, voice barely above a whisper.

He looks up.And the fire in those eyes?It’s personal.

“It says she’s mine,” he growls.“And she’ll burn before I let anyone have her.”

The world tilts beneath me.I reach for the porch rail, but he catches me by the elbow, steadying me like it’s nothing.Like he’s still my anchor.My curse.My storm.

“Now, they’re threatening to set me on fire?I guess things just got a little more personal, more complicated,” I whisper, pulse thundering.

Legend leans in, his breath warm at my temple.“No, Sophie,” he says, rough and sure.“They just gotdeadlyserious.”

And from the look in his eyes, I believe him.

God help me.

I want to.

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