Page 96 of Witch Unexpected
I followed Leif past card tables and pool tables to the bar, where a handsome, young man was serving drinks. He had the kind of face that made me think he’d been up to mischief—a slight smile that flirted with his lips and a knowing twinkle in his eye.
The twinkle fled at the sight of Leif. “Oh, not again? Please.”
“I don’t want any trouble,” Leif said.
“That’s what you said the last time you popped by, and the time before, and the time before that.” He wiped at the bar almost angrily. “It took fucking ages to fix up the place, and you know it was up to me to do the repairs.” He glared at Leif.
“This time is different, Liam,” Leif said. “Can you please let him know I’m here, and I’ve brought a guest.”
Liam’s gaze slid my way and some of the irritation slipped from his face. “You brought a lady friend… Clever move.”
“You’ll make the call?”
“Against my better judgment.” He vanished through a door at the back of the bar.
“What did he mean about you being clever for bringing a lady friend?”
Leif sighed. “Tor won’t punch first and ask questions later if I have a lady with me. He wouldn’t risk you getting hurt.”
Ah.
Liam returned his expression grim. “He said to come on up.” He leaned toward us. “He doesn’t sound happy to hear you’re here.”
“Nothing new there,” Leif said.
He took my elbow and steered me away from the bar, back the way we’d come, and through an arch into a hallway. A flight of steps led upward, but Leif bypassed those for a door on the far side of the foyer.
He pressed the intercom.
“Yeah, go up,” Liam said from the speaker.
There was a click disengaging the lock, and Leif led me into the glass corridor beyond. Lights flickered to life as we strode through, leaving the world beyond the glass dark and forbidding. We passed through a second door and into a hallway with another flight of steps leading up and a set of double doors facing us.
“Okay, let me start things off,” Leif said. “We need to take a soft approach when it comes to the topic of Tor coming home.” He led me to the double doors. “The topic pisses him off real quick.”
He went to ring the bell, but there was a click, and the doors opened to admit us.
Leif took a deep breath and entered.
The room was in gloom, lights turned low, making it impossible to discern much detail. I caught enough to know we were in a lounge area. There was a corner sofa in the center of the room, a flat-screen TV bolted to the wall, and a bar at the farthest side of the room.
A man stood with his back to us at that bar. This had to be Tor. At least a head taller than Leif, with shoulders that could brace a mountain, tapered waist, and an ass someone could bounce pennies off, Tor was a beast.
He poured a drink into a whiskey glass, and I was mesmerized by the ripple of muscles visible through the thin material of the dress shirt stretched tight across his shoulders. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal taut, tanned forearms decorated in ink, and a thick silver bangle sat snug against his wrist.
I’d been spot on about the tattoos.
“I’ll take one of those if it’s on offer,” Leif said. His tone was light, but the tightness around his mouth and eyes told me he was far from relaxed.
Tor turned his head to the side, offering us his profile. Firm, wide lips sat below a straight nose. Thick dark lashes swept down to kiss chiseled cheeks. Unlike Leif and the other wolves I’d come across, Tor kept his dark hair cropped short. I noted the ink hugging the back of his neck. How many tattoos did he have?
“You brought a buffer, huh?” Tor’s voice was gravel and sex, sweeping over me like hands eager to caress my flesh. “I can smell you on her.” He inhaled. “Fresh.” He picked up another glass and poured amber liquid into it. “I don’t want to hurt you, Leif. So, let’s have a drink, reminisce about old times, and then you go. Nothing more, promise me. Nothing more.”
I wanted to see his face properly. I needed him to turn around.
“I don’t want to fight either,” Leif said. “But we do need to talk. You can’t run from this, Tor. You know it.”
Turn around, please.
