"I don't know your name, little one. What do they call you?"
That made her laugh. "Of course you don't. Why should you? You've only saved my life twice now. Pulled me out of..." Her brain went from her situation to another one that scared her even move. Is Rain okay?"
"They won't hurt him. They're after you."
Of course they were....
"What are they?"
Ren hesitated. Being told that basically everything wanted a piece of you wasn't conducive to calming someone down. While he didn't have a lot of people skills, he knew that one bit of knowledge was best kept to himself. "Enemies."
She screwed her face up at him. "Really?" she asked, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "Enemies? That's the best you can do?"
"You still haven't told me your name," he reminded her.
"Kateri Avani, though most people call me Teri."
Ren repeated it in his head. It was a beautiful name, like the woman who bore it. "I'm Ren."
"I know."
"But I didn't tell it to you."
She frowned at him. "Does that make a difference?"
"Where I come from, it does."
Kateri bit back another retort as she stared into eyes so black, she couldn't even make out his pupil.
From the deepest part of her brain, she remembered something her grandmother had once told her about the way her people viewed names. Why "Waleli" was only known to the two of them and no one else. "It's a sign of trust."
He nodded. "When someone knows your name, you give them a small piece of yourself. It's the first step toward friendship."
And in that moment, she had another insight into why he so seldom spoke. That, too, was giving her a part of himself. If he really was the man in the past, then he was trusting her not to mock him should he stutter. "So we're past that whole two-syllable thing, then?"
One corner of his mouth quirked up into the most devastating smile she'd ever seen on a man. "We are..." and then as if realizing he was about to give her only two syllables as an answer, he tacked on, "Kateri."
Dang ... the way he said that with his accent ... It sent shivers over her. She'd never particularly liked her name. While it was uncommon, it came with the annoying drawback that no one ever could spell or pronounce it.
But her name rolled off his tongue like a caress.
Against her will, she felt a part of her melt toward him. He really was sweet when he wasn't being a total ass.
And that made her wonder if his lips would taste as good as they looked....
Teri! She never had thoughts like that. She was too focused on her career to bother with something so trivial. But for once, she couldn't seem to quell her desire.
She really, really wanted to bury her face into the crook of his neck and inhale his warm, masculine scent.
Licking her lips, she leaned in to him. She was almost home free when they heard a sound at the door. At first, she thought it was a mistake.
Until the lock turned.
A moment later, the door was blasted open, spraying debris all over them. Ren shielded her body with his. Violent winds tore through the room. They were so strong that it stole her breath and whipped her hair around her body. If not for Ren holding her, she'd have been sucked out of the room. How he continued to stand strong against the ferocity of a hurricane, she had no idea.
And as the winds picked up speed, she met Ren's gaze. Her heart stopped.
His black eyes had turned blood-red.