Then a panicked look darkened his eyes as if he realized what he was doing and it instantly embarrassed him. Clearing his throat, he returned the knife to his boot. A bright light flashed an instant before a recurve bow appeared in his hands with a quiver of arrows, armguard, and shooting glove.
He handed them over to her. "Would you prefer a compound bow?"
"No way. Recurve's my baby. Not as forgiving, true, but I don't need forgiveness. I'm Sagittarius, Sagittarius rising. My grandmother always swore I was born with a bow in my hands."
That seemed to please him. "All right then. I'll be right back." He paused to look at her. "On demons, aim for their eyes. Anything else will just piss them off."
She flashed him a grin as she strapped her glove on. "Good to know. Thanks for the heads up."
Ren hesitated as he watched her put the armguard on and then nock an arrow and test her line of sight. She shot the same way he did-one over, two under. Her flawless form was a thing of beauty. While he'd seen plenty of women archers over the centuries, he'd never seen one who was truly united with her bow the way Kateri was.
Like the Guardian ...
Yeah, that bastard had shot so fast and so furiously that his arrows had blotted out the sky. While the Guardian wasn't the most accurate, he was one of the fastest on the draw that Ren had ever faced. The first time they'd fought, Ren had taken three arrows in his right thigh. But for Buffalo drawing his fire away from Ren, Ren wouldn't have survived it.
Never underestimate an enemy.
Pushing those memories away, he went to explore the cave. His current wounds were taking their toll and he wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to function. Every heartbeat was threatening to send him to the ground.
Luckily, the cave was empty and appeared to be relatively clean. Thank goodness something was starting to go in his favor.
He headed back to the opening to find Kateri sitting on a rock as she scanned the woods around her like a true hunter. The sallow moonlight highlighted her silhouette, showing him the perfect angles of her face. She'd pulled her hair back into a tight bun that exposed her neck and reminded him of how good she'd smelled when she held him.
His throat went dry as his hormones roared to life in spite of the pain he was in. What was it about her that made him crave her so? That made him ache to be near her when he knew he shouldn't?
Proximity. Yeah, he'd blame it on that. That was safe and easy. Anything more bordered on terrifying.
He was just horny. He'd be like this with any woman.
And yet he knew better. He'd been around enough women over the centuries to know they didn't do this to him. Ever.
Not even Windseer had made him ache to hear his name on her lips....
"Kateri?"
She jerked her head in his direction.
"C'mon, I found us a place to hole up for a bit."
She slid off her makeshift seat in a way that reminded him of an exuberant child, and made her way over to him. A slight smile hovered at the edges of her lips-one that made her eyes sparkle. An urge to kiss her grabbed him by the throat and it was all he could do not to give in to it.
"You wouldn't happen to be able to think us up a cheeseburger, would you?"
Her question amused him. "Hungry?"
"Very. Who knew running for your life would give you such an appetite? I think I could actually eat a bear right now."
He really didn't want to be charmed by her, but it was impossible to resist. She spoke to him like she'd known him for years. Like they were old friends.
In the midst of all this crap that had hit them in the last few hours, she'd been brave and reasonable. Calm. Things he could definitely appreciate and respect.
She arched her brows at him. "Where are you taking me?"
That was a loaded question. He'd like to take her right here and right now.
Harness those thoughts. Now!
Yeah, that was only going to get him into trouble.