Wild Flame Read Online Free PDF

of day, they were so bright she couldn’t look away.
    “Did you sleep well?” Christian asked as he walked into the kitchen and over to the coffee pot on the counter.
    “Yes.” Why was her voice so breathless? “You?”
    He shrugged before turning and setting a mug of coffee in front of her. “I slept.”
    She frowned since he’d said it as if that answered everything. Ivy wrapped her hands around the mug. She looked down into the dark liquid. “I’ll understand if y’all want me to leave. You have something precious here, and it shouldn’t be shattered.”
    There was a moment of silence. Then a chair scraped on the floor as Christian pulled it out and sat.
    Ivy finally gave in and looked up. Christian was once more staring at her.
    “You’re not going anywhere, darlin’.”

CHAPTER FIVE

    Christian stared at Ivy from the kitchen window as she stood on the porch, her gaze directed toward the bayou. There was a slight chill to the morning that was quickly disappearing with the rising sun.
    Beau came to stand beside him. “We need to know more about her illness.”
    “In other words, you want me to talk to her,” Christian said.
    “You brought her here.”
    Christian sighed because he knew Beau was right. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to Ivy. No, it was that he did want to talk to her. That alone had kept him from going to her all morning.
    “You look at her as if you don’t know what to do with her,” Beau said with a snort. “We all know you’ve never had a problem with women.”
    Christian watched as Ivy let out a deep breath, her shoulders sagging. Beau was talking again, but Christian wasn’t paying attention.  
    He pushed away from the window, walked around Beau and exited the house. Christian didn’t like the way Ivy tensed when she heard the door.
    “Would you rather be alone?”
    She shook her head. “I’ve been expecting someone to want to talk more. It’s just that I don’t like being under a microscope with everyone watching me.”
    He knew that had to do with her times in the hospital. Christian walked to the other side of the porch to give her some room. He didn’t want to crowd her, plus, the more distance between them, the better.
    “I’m going to help you with this problem,” he said.
    Ivy turned her head, a slight smile pulling at her lips. “I believe you’re going to try. I did my own research this morning on Hell Hounds. There is no helping me.”
    The sunlight bathed her in a red-orange light that turned her hair auburn. For an instant, she looked otherworldly, as if she didn’t belong on Earth.
    Then she ducked her head before returning her gaze to the bayou. The sun continued its ascent, and the moment was lost.
    But Christian would forever hold the memory.
    He swallowed and remembered why he was out there with her. “Demons aren’t just vicious and cruel. They’re also cunning and crafty. They’re calculating, and if they see an opportunity, they’ll do whatever they need to in order to get what they want.”
    “You think I was tricked?”
    “It’s a possibility. I need details, Ivy.”
    “About my life?”
    He couldn’t take his eyes from her. Christian leaned a shoulder against one of the porch’s columns and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yes.”
    “There’s not much to tell.” She faced him then. “My father and brother died in an accident out in the bayou when I was three. It was just my mother and me until last year. She had a heart attack.”
    “I’m sorry.” Life certainly hadn’t been kind to her, but then again, fate had a way of knowing who could handle such things. Ivy was a strong person. It was evident in everything about her.
    Ivy shrugged. “It happens.”
    “Yes, it does. My parents were killed when I was just a boy. They died on the same night.”
    Their eyes locked. Her gaze wasn’t filled with pity. It was filled with understanding, as only someone who had experienced such things could have.
    “It’s been