Bending Steele Read Online Free PDF Page A

of
sympathy.
    That was a slippery slope all its own. If she
started to feel sorry for him, it was just another step closer to
giving a damn. She wasn’t here to care. She was here to keep her
place in the tribe and walk away when this was all said and
done.
    Steele strode across the living room towards
the door at the far end. It was the only door in the place that
didn’t lead back outside. Her stomach tightened. It had to be a
bedroom. Please let there be more than one .
    A stupid, silly thought. Hexe lived alone; he
didn’t need a spare room any more than she did. The knob turned
easily in her palm and she thrust the door open. A huge bed
sprawled over the room, fit for a king. Large wooden posts spiraled
at each of the four corners, curving beautifully up until they
nearly touched the log ceiling.
    His bedspread was the same vivid green as his
eyes, golden swirls etched through the middle. The amount of
pillows on his bed alone could be smashed together to make the bed
she had at home. Then again, her small house could easily fit
inside his three times over.
    The floorboards creaked behind her and Steele
spun, her blade instantly back in her hand, and Hexe paused in
front of her. He tilted his head in the direction of the bed behind
her. “I made it myself. Carved each pillar.”
    Pride touched his voice and she couldn’t help
but glance back at it. It was a work of art. Vines were etched into
the dark mahogany wood. White pine made the headboard, and he’d
carefully carved out a snow leopard stalking over a snowy backdrop.
Every detail had been carefully carved into the wood, from the
tufts of fur on the cat’s tail to the bare, spindly branches of a
tree stripped by the season. Her breath hitched in her throat. It
was gorgeous. Beautiful.
    “The bed itself wasn’t bad. Chopped the trees
from the forest around here, same way I built the house.” Steele
closed her eyes against his voice. She didn’t want to hear this.
She didn’t care . He was handy; he’d built all of this. So
what? “The carpet on the other hand...”
    A wry laugh sounded from him. “That was hard
as hell to lug up here.”
    Her gaze drifted down the ivory shag carpet
that covered his bedroom floor. She hadn’t seen carpet in... Damn,
she didn’t even know. She instantly wanted to kick off her boots
and sink her feet into the plush flooring.
    Steele huddled deeper into her jacket. She
was definitely keeping her boots on. Hell, she was sleeping with
them on.
    “You can take your jacket off, you know. Stay
awhile.”
    The kettle on the stove whistled before she
could answer and Hexe was striding away, the muscles in his back
rippling under the navy of his shirt, a large hunting knife swaying
at his right hip. A few other knives decorated the sheaths along
his back, his own personal, portable armory.
    “I’d feel safer if you took off your
knives.”
    Hexe flashed her a grin as he set two coffee
mugs on the counter. “You don’t expect me to believe that knife is
the only one you have.”
    It actually was. She normally only needed
one.
    Hexe dropped his gaze to her parka and wet
his lips. His eyes flashed back to hers. “Here’s the deal. You
strip off your coat, and I’ll take off every one of my
weapons.”
    Steele hesitated. It was a smart deal, one
that cost her little. Except then she’d be...what? Here to stay
awhile? She was already stuck here, coat or no coat. A spoon
clinked against the mug as Hexe stirred in a scoop of cocoa. She
couldn’t remember the last time anyone beside her mother had seen
her without fur or a parka. Maybe the last time she’d been in a
village, but no, she remembered being hunched over the bar, a beer
in one hand, the hood of her parka hanging loose around her
shoulders.
    She’d be damn near naked without it.
    With Hexe.
    He picked the mugs up, steam curling from
them, and carried them across the hardwood floors. Every step felt
lazy, confident. This was his house, his territory, and now