terrier and stepped back into the hallway. My nose wrinkled as the scent of rotting flesh wrapped around me, but I didn't bother trying to breathe through my mouth. I needed to explore the scents in this place. Besides, past experience told me it wouldn't help anyway. I stepped past his body and investigated the other rooms. Beside the dust that littered the basin and shelf, there were dirty clothes on the bathroom floor and a dog-eared toothbrush sitting on the sink, complete with a shiny strip of blue toothpaste. He'd obviously been about to brush his teeth when he'd been interrupted. I sucked in the flavorsome air, sorting through the undercurrents, finding the dankness of mold and something else. Something that was too nebulous to define, and yet oddly seemed out of place.
Frowning, I spun around and headed for the room opposite. It was a living room, and though sparsely furnished, it was obviously where Gateway spent most of his time. There were newspapers stacked beside the sofa and remotes neatly lined up on the stained coffee table. The rest of the room was surprisingly tidy. There wasn't even dust on the top of the TV, which isn't something I could claim in my own apartment. I swept aside the curtains to check the window locks, but again they were intact.
Which left me with the bedrooms.
I was walking towards the front rooms when the little dog suddenly began barking. I jumped slightly and glanced at the door as a shadow loomed. But as I reached for the door handle, I felt it.
A familiar - and altogether unwelcome - tingling that ran across every sense, every fiber, setting them alight. Setting my soul afire.
There was only one man who had that effect on me.
My soul mate.
Kye.
Chapter Three
My hand froze against the door knob.
I didn't want to confront him. I didn't even want to see him.
I hadn't set eyes on him since he'd walked away six months ago, and if I never had to see him again, that would have been all right by me.
I might have spent most of my life longing for my soul mate, but the reality wasn't what I'd hoped for.
Kye was a killer for hire - a man who didn't care who employed him or who he had to kill. All that mattered to him was the money, the thrill of the chase, and the satisfaction of getting a job done as quickly and as efficiently as possible. He wasn't a man who wanted a wife or a family or entanglements of any kind. He was everything I didn't want in a soul mate.
But I couldn't deny that he was, or change the fact of it - no matter how much I might wish otherwise.
"Are you going to open the door or not, Riley?"
His voice was like a good red wine - rich and smooth - and it touched places deep inside that no one, not even Quinn, could reach. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then complied.
He stood in a halo of sunshine, his golden skin glowing with warmth and the dark red of his hair running with brighter highlights. He was a golden man with chilling amber eyes set in a face that was handsome and yet uncaring.
But not unfeeling.
Because I could feel his hunger. I felt it rip through my body before it settled down low. It was a fierce and unwanted ache that had nothing to do with my heart's desire and everything to do with my werewolf soul. But while she had wanted this feeling, she didn't want this man. That made it a little easier to ignore the hunger.
And if I kept telling myself that, I might eventually believe it.
"What are you doing here, Kye?" My white-knuckled grip on the edge of the door belied the calmness of my voice.
"I might ask you the same question." He glanced from me to the squirming, barking dog in my arm. "Found yourself a pet, have you?"
"He belongs to the owner of the house." I glanced down at the almost frantic terrier and scratched his head. "And he doesn't seem all that happy to see you."
"Neither do you," he said, voice dry. "I would have thought you'd at least have a smile for the man of your destiny."
"Destiny can bite my ass."
He laughed. It was a soft, seductive and altogether dangerous sound. "Ah, Riley, it's nice to see you haven't changed."
"No, I'm still a guardian, and you're still interfering in Directorate