She forced herself to step back. Away from him. Away from the threat and potency of him. He was too mesmerizing. Casting his spell over her and holding her prisoner. It wasn’t all him. She was honest enough to evaluate her own behavior. She would have fought to save him. She might even go so far as to give her life before allowing something or someone to harm him as well, and that was really scary.
Teagan backed farther away from his heat. From the fire. From the gentle promise in his eyes. She could barely breathe again. The only sane thing to do was put distance between herself and this man. A lot of distance. A country or two. She picked up her backpack with one trembling hand. Grandma Trixie might have to stay crazy just a little longer, living in her world of vampires and monasteries.
She actually turned to go, but somehow, he got there first. She hadn’t seen him move. She hadn’t heard him move. Not a single rustle of clothes. Not a footfall. Not even a breath. She just blinked and he was there. Solid. An immovable rock. His hand, so very gently, took the backpack out of hers.
“Teagan.”
Her name. That accent. His low reprimand. She shivered and bit at her lower lip. She was not going to make the mistake of looking into his eyes. That way led to complete and utter disaster and she wasn’t going there again.
“Now you are just scaring yourself. You are tired and your body aches. I can feel the way your muscles are screaming. Please get into the water. It will make you feel so much better.”
His voice was velvet soft, smoothing over her skin like the caress of fingers. She had the feeling if she tried to leave, he would find a way to stop her, and that would really freak her out. Maybe he was a psycho just making her feel safe with him, only she didn’t anymore. Why? Because her entire body melted at his touch. No, it was even worse than that. Her entire body melted when he looked at her.
“Sivamet. I do not like to feel your fear. I am not this psycho you are afraid of. Te avio päläfertiilam. Ainaak terád vigyázak.”
Steadfastly refusing to look at him, she took a breath. “Andre, I don’t know what that means.”
“If you get into the hot spring, I will tell you.”
She glanced up at him. His blue eyes were the colors of the purest glaciers she’d ever seen. The hot spring was tempting. She was tired. Exhausted. She needed rest if she was going to hike back down the mountain and tell the authorities what had happened to Armend.
“All right. But I’m putting on my swimsuit, so you need to go into the other chamber.” That was definite and she put command into her voice. She could be really firm when she needed to be. Her nieces and nephews always obeyed her when she used that tone.
He just looked down at her, and slow amusement crept into his eyes. Her stomach took off again and her toes threatened to curl. He reached out and ran his knuckles gently down the side of her face. “I had no idea what the English word cute meant until I met you. When you get all fired up, that is what you are.”
Cute was not what she was going for. He might be a foot taller than she was, and outweigh her by more than a hundred pounds, but he needed to take her seriously. She scowled and pointed to the narrow opening, the only one she saw, although there were two shadowy spots that might be entrances as well.
“Go.” She hissed the command. She’d practiced that one and then used it on her naughtiest nephew. He always obeyed the hiss instantly.
Andre continued to look down at her and the amusement in his eyes moved slowly to his mouth. For one moment, she held her breath, waiting. His smile was brief, but it was there, showing his strong white teeth—no vampire teeth—and just as quickly it was gone, but still, she felt triumphant. She could tell he didn’t smile often and it was nice that she could make him. Even if he wasn’t reacting to her scowl or her hiss or her best scary tone.
“Andre. I want to change.”
He bent and kissed the top of her head before he turned and walked out of the chamber. She stared after him, her heart beating a little too fast to suit her. He moved so beautifully. Like a great jungle cat, fluid with muscles rippling subtly beneath the surface. He was truly gorgeous. Maybe it was just his body she was after and she was safe after all.
“Get moving, Teagan, or I will have to come help you.”
She was staring right at the entrance to the other chamber and he wasn’t there. He was out of sight, so how did he know she was totally lost in a daydream about him and his fantastic body? She sent a fierce scowl his way and hoped he felt it right through all the dirt and rock.
She found a corner out of sight of the entrance and pulled on her swimsuit, thankful it was a one-piece. She traveled a lot to foreign countries—not to the cities or tourist areas, but to the wilderness and mountains and rivers. Many of the places she went, the cultures frowned on women showing too much skin. Often she went alone and it was just safer.
“I’m dressed,” she called out, the moment she was close to the pool of steaming water. She dipped her hand in cautiously. It was hot, but not too hot. Hot enough to take the ache out of her muscles and bones.
She felt him before she heard or saw him. He was directly behind her, close, but not touching. She knew because she felt safe and warm. He had a way of making her feel as if she was in a cocoon of safety. Which was silly when she actually was scared of him.
“You are not afraid of me.”
Andre’s arms went around her waist from behind and he pulled her close to him. Her back to his front. He was bare-chested. Her heart stuttered. Was it possible to have a heart attack just because a man showed off his chest? She wasn’t even looking at his bare chest, and already her heart was racing. Faltering. Stopping and starting. Misbehaving.
“Actually I am, Andre.”
“No, csitri, you are afraid of change. Of what this means to your life. I do not blame you for that. You love your family, and they live in the United States and I live here.”
“Um. No. That’s not what I’m afraid of.”
She tried to pull his hands away from her waist so she could swing around and face him, but his hands didn’t budge. Strangely, his grip didn’t even feel tight. More as if she were encased in a cocoon of safety.
Andre lifted her off her feet and, stepping into the pool of steaming water, set her slowly down. The hot water was a shock, but it felt good. She was short and the water came easily to her shoulders so she was mostly submerged when she was standing.