Seduced by Blood

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Wait. Did she say she was ignoring him? He came to a screeching halt. The woman came here because she was…snubbing him? Impossible. No one gave the region commander the brush-off. When he gave an order, people did what they were told.

“No one ignores me, Ms. Reynolds.”

“Am I supposed to be thrilled for you?” She turned back around and continued lighting those damn candles, dismissing him.

His blood boiled up like an active volcano and he spat out the toothpick he kept clenched between his teeth.

She was belittling him, discounting his authority. No one dared defy him like that.

No one.

He wanted to pound his fists through the walls and rip the sanctuary apart. Yank out a bench, lift it over his head, and throw it across the room. Instead, he stormed between the last set of pews and kicked at a hymnal that someone left lying on the floor. When he stomped onto the dais, the whole thing shook and a dozen tiny flames flickered.

She turned to face him, hands on her hips. From the defiant tilt of her chin, it was clear he didn’t intimidate her in the slightest. “What is your problem?”

Eucalyptus from either her shampoo or lotion faintly filled the air around him, while the fire in her eyes stirred up his insides. Both sensations were pleasing and he started to relax until he remembered the dakai thing. His sister had smelled of weird scented oils, too, because of that cult.

He moved in close until he towered over her, but she didn’t back away. Even with her head cranked back, she seemed to be able to level a stare at him. This vexed him even more. “I gave you a direct order.”

“Yes, I know you did.” She wasn’t at all impressed. “Too bad you have no authority over me.” There was a gleeful tone to her voice. It was subtle, but it was there.

Rather than stare her down, he stormed off the dais and stalked around the room.

“And don’t think you can go and have another one of your juvenile tantrums to make me cave,” she called after him.

“Juvenile? Where do you get off thinking you can call me that?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. You’re right. You’re not juvenile.” He started to relax. She was right to be apologizing because—

“You’re more infantile than anything.”

What? His head was seriously going to explode. No one spoke to him this way. Back in his office, he’d told her she was going to accompany him to Seattle and masquerade as his lover in order to root out the traitor. End of story. He didn’t expect her to like the plan, but he damn well expected her to go along with it.

With an expression devoid of all emotion, she’d listened quietly to the rationale of posing as lovers in order to throw people in the Seattle field office off guard. When she didn’t react, he continued. He told her what Lily had said, that she had an uncanny ability to tell if someone’s motivations were good or not. Figuring he was stroking her ego, he assumed she’d jump at the chance to work on such an assignment with someone of his stature. When he was done, however, she’d stood from the couch, calmly placed the glass on his desk and walked out of the room without a word or a backward glance. He’d been so stunned by this it took him a moment to go after her. But by then, she was gone.