Dark Warrior Untamed

by Alexis Morgan

  Ranulf and Sandor had obviously let Kerry have her way too often. As Chief Talion, it was Grey’s honor and his duty to keep her safe. Now if she’d just trust him enough to let him to do his job.

  For the time being, he’d use the chance to share a meal as an excuse to remain close by until Ranulf could take over. Grey sought out the butler requested a pot of Earl Grey tea and something to eat for them both. When he returned to the dining room, Kerry was already busy arranging her flowers.

  “Hughes will be in shortly.”

  “Good. I’m famished.” She shoved the last rose into the vase and stood back to admire her handiwork. “Perfect.”

  To Grey, the arrangement looked a bit haphazard, but his Dame looked pleased with her efforts. She buried her face in the blossoms and drew a deep breath, then set the vase on the sideboard before sitting at the table.

  “So how was your trip, Grey? I had expected you would be gone longer. I hope you didn’t rush things on my account.”

  Was she disappointed that he’d returned so quickly, or only surprised? It was hard to know, but he suspected she’d have been just as happy to have him stay gone indefinitely.

  “London was London, so it rained much of the time I was there. There wasn’t much to do, other than shut off the utilities and close up my flat. I’ve arranged to have my things shipped to Seattle, which means I’ll have to start looking for a permanent place to live. Until then, I’ve extended my reservation at the hotel.”

  Kerry frowned. “Wouldn’t you be more comfortable staying here at the house? We’ve plenty of room.”

  Kerry’s offer seemed sincere, but he couldn’t imagine that she’d want another guest imposing on her hospitality. She and Ranulf had recently taken in three Kyth teenagers whom Sandor had rescued from living on the streets.

  “I appreciate the offer, but you already have enough extra mouths to feed. How is that going, by the way?”

  “It’s been an adjustment for all of us, but especially for the kids. Sean and Tara have been on their own for years, so they’re not used to taking orders from anyone. God knows, they’ve had little reason to trust the adults in their lives.”

  Her smile looked a bit rueful. “Kenny is definitely a handful. He wasn’t happy when we told him he had to go back to school, especially since he’ll need tutoring to catch up. We’re looking into online programs for the older two so they can earn their high school diplomas. After that, who knows?”

  Hughes appeared in the doorway with a heavily laden tray. “Ma’am, shall I serve?”

  Kerry shook her head. “No, just leave the tray. We’ll take it from there.”

  The butler looked a bit disappointed but did as Kerry asked. Evidently Grey wasn’t the only one who would appreciate a little more formality around the place. He wondered how Hughes felt about the newest additions to the household. The teenagers must present a variety of challenges.

  Did those three kids have any idea how lucky they were? According to the laws of their people, Kerry would’ve been within her rights to have ordered them executed for the way they’d been stripping life energy from ordinary humans. Instead, Sandor had convinced the new Dame that mercy should also be part of Kyth law.

  Grey didn’t necessarily disagree, but he wondered if Kerry’s decision had been driven by compassion or cowardice. Only time would tell. For now, he could only watch and wait.

  Piper froze. She’d been on her way to get the Dame’s signature on a stack of papers only to realize that Kerry talking to Greyhill Danby. She was in no mood to deal with him again. Their earlier encounter had been more than enough.

  Especially if he started asking a bunch of questions she couldn’t afford to answer. She certainly didn’t want him to start poking around. Her references and paperwork had stood up well enough to Sandor’s inquiries, but she suspected he hadn’t looked all that hard. Between the three kids he’d rescued and Lena’s whirlwind trip to the East Coast, he’d been distracted.

  She checked her watch. Another fifteen minutes and she’d be done for the day. If the bus gods smiled on her, she’d even have time to grab a lunch before heading to class. This was one of her long days; she put several hours working for Kerry, followed by the three classes she was taking to finish her degree.

  That thought brightened her mood considerably. She’d be twenty-eight on her next birthday, and she was finally going to graduate. It had been a long haul, but the end was in sight.

  Deciding the signatures could wait until tomorrow, she returned back to the office and put the papers into a bright red folder labeled with Kerry’s name. If something came up after Piper left, Kerry would know where to look for the documents amidst the clutter.

  That had her grinning. She bet Greyhill was an “everything in its place” kind of guy and her clutter would drive him crazy. Poor man, it wasn’t like he had any choice about sharing his office. For an instant she considered straightening up a bit before leaving, but rejected the idea. If Greyhill Danby didn’t like the mess on her desk, he could get over it.

  She logged off the computer and snagged her backpack off the floor. After flipping off the lights, she charged out into the hall toward the front door, only to bounce off a obstacle that hadn’t been there a few minutes before.

  She stumbled backward and was rescued at the last second when Grey latched onto her arms and jerked her back upright. Despite his obvious impatience, his hands were gentle. She knew she should apologize for almost knocking him down, but her brain and her mouth were seriously out of sync when she spoke.

  “Are your eyes really that amazing shade of blue or do you wear contacts?”

  Her face flushed hot and then cold as his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

  “Thank you for noticing, and yes, they’re actually that blue. Do you always say the first thing that pops into your mind Ms. Ryan?”

  “I try not to. I’m sorry I ran into you. I’ve got class.”

  Okay, that came out wrong. She tried again, hoping to make more sense, but the warmth of his hands against her skin had her brain firing on only half its cylinders.

  “What I meant to say is that I’m running late for my classes at the university. But that’s no excuse for running down an innocent man.”

  Those blue eyes suddenly warmed up about a hundred degrees, and his stern lips softened as he smiled. At that moment, innocent was hardly the word to describe Greyhill Danby. Good golly, the man was compelling enough when he was angry. She didn’t know what she’d do if he turned out to be charming, too.

  His hands dropped away from her arms, leaving her missing his touch as he stepped out of her way.

  “You mentioned something about leaving.”

  Piper blinked twice. “What? Oh. Yeah. I was. Excuse me, please.”

  She walked down the hallway, feeling his gaze following her each step of the way. It was hard not to turn around and catch him watching.

  Just as she was about to turn the corner, a phone rang. She looked back to see Greyhill flipping his cell open.

  His eyes flickered in her direction, and just that quickly, every vestige of warmth disappeared from his expression. He muttered something into the phone and then stared at her until she gave up and walked away.

  What was that all about? It wasn’t as if she had a burning desire to eavesdrop on his all-important phone call.

  She stalked out into the bright sunshine. She was under enough stress working as Kerry’s assistant without having to deal with a man who ran hot and cold. She didn’t understand him, and wasn’t sure she wanted to. Right now she had more important things to do than waste her time thinking about Greyhill Danby.

  Piper walked down the street to wait for the bus. Thanks to her encounter with Grey, she’d just missed the last one and had at least twenty minutes to kill before the next arrived. She sat on the bench and pulled out her European history text. Although she was majoring in business, she’d taken the class as an elective.

  Today’s lecture was on the Viking
s. She was having a great time reading up on the adventures of her boss’s husband back in the day. There was no mention of Ranulf by name, of course, but he’d definitely been there. She didn’t know him well enough to ask him about it; but one of these days she’d corner him and demand some answers.

  Heck, maybe she could even use his experiences to write a paper on the true story of his particular tribe leaving Scandinavia. Not that the Kyth would ever let her publish it; they were far too secretive about their existence to allow that.

  She stared at the pictures of the artifacts in the book and wondered how people who had created such beautiful things could also have waged war with such passion. But that wasn’t a topic she’d take up with Ranulf Thorsen. Nor was her past.

  He and Kerry had no idea why she’d really sought them out, and she wasn’t about to tell them. It was enough that they’d accepted her as one of their kind, even if she wasn’t pure-blooded Kyth. The fact that Kerry had offered her a part-time job had just been a bonus.

  Although waiting for Sandor to check out her resume had definitely been nerve-wracking, Piper had passed muster. But now that Greyhill Danby had returned, she prayed he didn’t get it into his head to do some checking on his own. Sandor might have allowed her to disappear from Kerry’s life as quickly as she’d appeared; however, Danby didn’t seem to be the type to let someone off that easily. He’d keep digging and digging until he knew the truth.

  And that was something she couldn’t afford. Not now. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

  She forced her attention back to the page in front of her. She’d started taking college classes before she’d even graduated from high school, never expecting it would take her so long to finish her degree. She’d always had to fit classes in around her work schedule as she struggled to keep a roof over her head and meals on the table, but the end was finally in sight.

  She liked to think her mother would have been proud of her, but it was impossible to guess what her father would have thought. He’d disappeared from her life too long ago for her to have any memories of him.

  She ran her finger down the page, looking for where she’d left off. She was quickly drawn into the world the historian described. Picturing Ranulf Thorsen rather than some nameless barbarian helped bring the history alive for her. She was lost in it, and it took her several seconds to notice the purr of a well-tuned engine as it slowed to a stop right in front of her.

  When she did look up, she admired the classic lines of the Jaguar before checking out the driver.

  Rats! What was he doing there? Hadn’t their paths crossed enough for one day?

  When Grey rolled down the window, Piper shoved her textbook back into her pack and approached the car. She bent down to look in the window.

  “Did you need something, Mr. Danby?”

  “I thought you might like a ride to the university. I’m going right by there.”

  He broke off eye contact and stared out the windshield, looking as if he already regretted the offer. Well, he wasn’t the only one who had qualms about the two of them being alone in a car together. But her mother hadn’t raised her to be a coward.

  “I’d love a ride if you’re sure it’s no inconvenience.” She reached for the door handle before he could respond.

  She’d barely fastened her seatbelt when he hit the gas hard. Piper braced herself and settled back to enjoy the ride.

  Chapter 2

  Grey glanced at Piper, not quite sure why he was driving her to school. He would like to know how much of his phone call she’d overheard, but he tried not to lie to himself about the reasons behind his decisions, even impulsive ones.

  He was pretty sure Piper had been well on her way out of the house before he’d gotten down to the nitty-gritty with Harcourt. Maybe he should’ve curbed his tongue, but the prick could’ve given Grey time to settle in before pressing him for details. Granted, Harcourt had good reason to take the ascension of Kerry Thorsen harder than most, but what was done was done.

  Now wasn’t the time to think about that. He turned his attention to the much more intriguing problem sitting next to him.

  “I assume you’re going to the main campus.”

  Piper sat with her eyes at half-mast, a soft smile drawing his attention to her beauty mark. He tried not to think about how kissable that mouth looked, with limited success. She wasn’t his type but that didn’t seem to matter.

  She nodded. “Yes, you can drop me anywhere on Forty-fifth. I can walk from there.”

  “I can do better than that, Ms. Ryan. Just tell me where you need to go.”

  “If you’re sure you don’t mind, turn in the main gate and then I’ll show you from there.”

  She gave him a puzzled look. “Why are you doing this? I got the impression earlier that you weren’t exactly pleased to find me ensconced in our office.”

  “You mean my office.” He softened the correction with the merest hint of a smile.

  “Which it will be again, Mr. Danby,” she shot back. “If you hadn’t instantly gone on the attack, I would’ve explained. Two of the rooms on the second floor are being remodeled into offices for Dame Kerry and me, which is why I’m in your office and she’s using the dining room. Once everything is done and the new furniture arrives, I’ll be moving out of your space. Sandor was hoping you wouldn’t be back quite so soon.”

  Piper frowned. “That came out wrong. I didn’t mean he was hoping you wouldn’t come back, just that sharing the office wouldn’t be a problem.”

  Or maybe the Dame was having second thoughts about assigning him to work here in Seattle. Had they heard the rumblings of discontent from the European Kyth and assumed he felt the same? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to prove himself.

  Right now he wasn’t thinking all that clearly. He was too busy wondering how it would feel to kiss Piper before she got out of the car. When she gave him a suspicious look, he quickly banked the fires.

  She sat up straighter and put her pack on her lap. “You can let me out at the next building.”

  He pulled over to the curb and stopped. “I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow in my office.”

  “Don’t you mean in our office?” Piper laughed as she opened the door. She met his gaze with a twinkle in her dark eyes. “Nice car, by the way. It fits you.”

  “How so?”

  She ran her fingers along edge of the leather seat. “It’s all sleek lines and class on the surface.”

  “And beneath the surface?”

  “There’s a monster of an engine, ready to run down the competition.”

  She paused clearly waffling about what she was going to say. “In your case, I suspect, underneath that cool exterior beats the heart of a warrior who takes his duty very seriously.”

  Then she was out of the car. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  He watched her walk away, taking a long hard look her exterior. How much of her quirky style was designed to keep people from noticing her sharp mind? Maybe they had more in common than he thought.

  For now, he was going to head back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep. First thing tomorrow, he would start on his growing to-do list—beginning with the puzzle of Piper Ryan.

  Lawrence Harcourt paced the room. How dare Greyhill Danby hang up on him! And when he’d called the Talion back, all he’d gotten was voice mail. He knew Grey had just arrived in Seattle, but he could have at least provided a brief update on the situation.

  He’d give the man a few days to report back. After that, he’d start the plan in motion himself. The thought of treason didn’t sit well with him, but someone had to take a stand before that woman became too firmly entrenched as Grand Dame.

  “Father? Is something wrong?”

  Lawrence schooled his features before turning to face his daughter. “Not at all, Adele. A minor setback in a business dealing. Nothing for you to worry about.”

  “If you say so,” she replied with a smile.

  She resemb
led her mother so much. He couldn’t believe that his daughter was now older than her late mother had been when he’d married her. Sophisticated for her age, Adele had made them both proud. Though she wore jeans and T-shirts to classes, as all the young people did these days, she always honored his request that she dress for dinner.

  After pouring himself a drink, Harcourt sat on the sofa and patted the space beside him. “Please come tell me about your day while we wait for dinner.”

  She sat in one of chairs that faced the sofa instead, which surprised him. It was rare for Adele to defy him, even in such a small way. Yet there was nothing in her expression to suggest she was unhappy with him, so he let it go. He spent so much time trying to outmaneuver his competitors that he sometimes forgot not everyone always had an ulterior motive.

  “How are your classes at University going?” he asked when she didn’t immediately speak.

  “Boring,” she answered with a note of amusement in her voice. “You know how much I love higher mathematics—not! Although even that’s better than memorizing all the Kyth bloodlines in my spare time. I really don’t see why I need to know who among us has the same great-great-great-great grandmother.”

  Harcourt gave her the same answer he always did. “Because knowledge is power, especially among our kind. Knowing those connections and loyalties helps predict how someone might react in any given situation.”

  Adele studied her manicure for several seconds. “And why is that important for me? It’s not like your business interests only involve other Kyth.”

  “No, but when you’re—” he started to say, but she was already shaking her head. “What?”

  “Father, I know you’re disappointed that Grand Dame Judith chose someone else to succeed her, but what’s done is done. My future lies elsewhere now.”

  Adele’s words were spoken softly but with conviction. She kept her gaze on her lap, probably to keep him from seeing something in her eyes that she didn’t think he’d like. Something like relief.