Wild Flame Read Online Free PDF Page A

loose to his shoulders. “No need to leave. Beau makes the best waffles around.”
    Ivy opened her mouth, trying to come up with an excuse to leave when the man gently took her arm and led her to a chair at the rectangular table in the kitchen.
    “I’m Lincoln, by the way. Second eldest. Ava is still asleep. She needs at least eight hours or she is in full-on grouch mode,” he said with a smile.
    “Ivy Pierce,” she said with a nod.
    Lincoln sat across from her and folded his hands on the table. “Christian filled us in when we got home last night.”
    “Do you think I’m lying as Beau does?” she said. No sense in tiptoeing around it.
    Beau didn’t so much as twitch at her comment.
    Lincoln glanced at Beau, his smile widening. “If you’d come a few months ago, I suspect things would have been different. It wasn’t until recently that we expanded our family. Until then, it was a house of bachelors. Then Olivia returned to Lyons Point when something was killing any woman a Chiasson so much as showed interest in. Vincent had been in love with Olivia since school, and that put her in danger.”
    Ivy sat back, interested in the tale.
    Lincoln shrugged and reclined in the chair. “We found the culprits and killed them. Although by that time, Vin knew he couldn’t let Olivia go. Then my Ava came to town. She knew Olivia, but she also had her own history here.”
    “Anything after her?”
    Lincoln’s smile slipped. “A Voodoo priestess who had – has – a grudge against Ava’s father sent our cousin here to kill her.”
    Ivy was mortified. “What?”
    “Spells were used on Kane. He couldn’t stop what Delphine had done to him.” Lincoln suddenly grinned. “But we saved the day, and I got my Ava.”
    Ivy glanced at Beau. She jerked her head to him while looking at Lincoln.
    “Beau’s woman, Davena, is from New Orleans. Her mother was a witch, as was her sister, though neither had even a portion of the magic within Davena. They were both killed. Davena’s mother quite some time ago, and Davena’s sister, Delia, more recently when Delphine, the Voodoo priestess who tried to kill Ava, came here for Davena. Beau wouldn’t let that happen. Together, he and Davena won.”
    “So, Delphine is dead?” Ivy asked.
    Beau snorted loudly. “If only.”
    Lincoln caught her gaze. “The point is, Ivy, we’re not a house of bachelors anymore.”
    “You each have someone you love. Someone besides family.” She nodded in understanding. “As long as I’m here, the Hell Hounds will be, as well. You’re worried.”
    Lincoln lifted one shoulder. “There is always something after us, but Hell Hounds can’t be seen. They’re invisible.”
    So that’s why she hadn’t been able to see them!
    “I didn’t sell my soul,” Ivy repeated.
    Lincoln leaned forward and covered her hand with one of his. “I never said you did. I just wanted to explain why some might be acting a certain way.”
    Ivy couldn’t exactly fault Beau for wanting to protect Davena. “I understand.”
    “Now,” Lincoln said as he once more reclined. “Let’s catch you up on us. Vin is the eldest, and I’m next in line. After that is Christian, then Beau. Bringing up the rear of the Chiasson children is Riley, our only sister. Fortunately, she’s not here to be in the middle of all of this.”
    Ivy was raised as an only child. The concept of siblings was as foreign to her as the supernatural.  
    She listened as Lincoln went on to talk of the house and all the wards that would keep her protected. Davena was going to extend the wards to cover the back yard, in order to give them all some room to walk.
    Ivy was about to thank Lincoln when her neck heated. She touched her hand to it before she turned her head to find Christian in the doorway staring at her.
    Their gazes met, held. He was freshly showered, his hair still damp. And he looked too damn gorgeous for his own good.
    If she thought his eyes were vivid the night before, in the light