It was nearly seven in the morning by time he reached her shop. He pulled his SUV to the curb and knocked on her door in the next second. He hadn't seen her in a while. Hell, he missed her. He was practically begging to be rejected and hurt by the beauty, but he didn’t care. It'd be worth the burn.

A dark, oval face appeared in the door's window and then the door opened. Rosa looked fresh and warm wearing a long dress with full sleeves in black.

“Rosa.” She looked amazing. He wanted to know everything about her until he knew her from the inside out.

With a hesitant smile, she turned the closed sign on the door to open and made room for him to enter. “Starting early today, huh?”

He loved how she spoke. All smooth tones and rolling syllables. He'd love it if she spoke her natural language to him. Shit, his dick hardened at the thought. Yeah, he'd like that a bit too much.

“Yeah, my earlier plans were canceled.” You could say that again, he thought wryly.

“Oh?” she inquired.

He followed her back through the beaded partition and into the work room. “Yeah.” He left it at that. Telal's business wasn't anybody else's.

Rosa got to work immediately. “Do you know if Lily got home safely yesterday?” She asked the question as if she wasn't sure how much he knew about the whole thing.

“Yeah, she and Telal got out of there. Don't know much else about it yet.” Not that he'd tell her, but it’d be damn hard for him to deny her. Man, he was being a total sap. All these crazy thoughts for a woman he'd barely talked to.

“I tried calling her this morning but she didn't answer.”

“Long night, heavy sleep I'm sure.”

“Yeah that must be it.” She didn't sound certain.

“I can have a guard check in on her if you'd like.”

She looked at him with wide, relieved eyes. Beautiful brown eyes. “Would you please? That'd mean a lot to me.”

He was up on his feet and in the next room ordering the call in the next second. Kearnyn finished and came back to take a seat but paused. The small child’s chair was gone and in its place was a sturdy wooden one. His lips curled up in a smile as he sat down. He sighed. It fit perfectly. She kept her eyes averted from him. He had the feeling she'd be embarrassed if he thanked her, so he kept his trap shut. The fact that she was concerned over his comfort now didn’t escape his notice.

Ten minutes later he received a text message. “Ms. Bellum is alive and well.”

“Oh, good. She's always getting into trouble.”

“And you're not?”

She seemed taken aback by the personal question. He'd have to tone it down; she was a shy one. “No, not at all. I keep to myself, quiet and busy.” After a moment of enspelling a weapon she grabbed another and started working on it. “So, where are you from?” she asked quietly.

Kearnyn smiled. He always felt good talking about his homeland. “Ireland.”

“I've never been,” she admitted.

“I'd love to take you sometime.” His voice deepened at the thought of her in his homeland. He could easily picture her there, lying in a sea of golden-samphire and blue-eyed-grass. She'd look lovely spread naked across it. His thoughts instantly derailed. Masking a groan, he fidgeted as his cock tried to stand up in his jeans.

“You have a lovely accent,” she said after a minute, her cheeks deepening with color.

“As do you.”

Her lips curled up in a semblance of a smile. He wanted to stand up and cheer that he'd made her do that or beat his chest like a preening gorilla. God, he was a beast.

Kearnyn waited for another three hours before he brought up what had been swirling around inside him. He waited until she made a cup of hot tea and sat down for a break.

“Are you ready?”

Her eyes widened. “For what?”

“To go out with me.”

She visibly swallowed. The teacup clinked along the saucer as she slowly placed it upon the table in front of her. “W-where are we going?”

“To lunch or breakfast. Whichever you prefer.”

“I'll have to get ready.”

He thought she looked amazing already but whatever. “Take your time.” Which really meant, I hope this doesn't take an hour. He wanted to feed her.

She came back in five wearing a pair of jeans that were neither too tight nor too loose and a plain white t-shirt.

“Why'd you change?” She still looked amazing. Just less witchy.

She shrugged and gathered up a black shoulder bag. “Something about wearing what I usually do makes me uncomfortable around normal people. They tend to stare.”

Kearnyn nodded though he didn't mention that what she wore probably had little to do with the attention she got. so much as how naturally beautiful she was. He led her outside and opened the passenger door for her. Her soft hand slid into his as he helped her up into the seat and he had to focus on not clasping their hands together like he wanted. He swore something passed between them with that touch—something warm and inviting.

His gut tightened. His cock started to throb with a dull pain from being semi-hard most of the morning. It made him feel like a creep around her. Maybe if he just got off once then it'd go away. Yeah, how many times have men tried that and failed?

He hopped into the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition. He paused before pulling into drive and turned to her, one arm going to rest on the back of her head rest.

Eyes watched him, wary and shy.

“Before we go I need to tell you something.”

She scooted another inch against her seat. “Okay, what's that?”

He leaned in, keeping his eyes focused on hers. Damn, they were really pretty. Dark brown with flecks of gold and lighter browns. “I'm going to kiss you today.”

She gasped, her hand flying up to protect her neck like he'd just said he was going to kill her. “What? Why?”

He didn't move back, didn't give her the space her body screamed for. “Because I really, really want to.”

She practically trembled and while he could sit there and study her response to see if it was from excitement, fear or a mixture of both, he had a date to get her to.

They pulled up next to a cozy looking café in the city. Round tables with brown umbrellas sat under a wide red canopy from the building. People in business suits on their lunch break and groups of friends sat looking over their menus trying to decide what to order.

Rosa reached for her door handle, but Kearnyn's voice stopped her. “Let me get that.”

He hopped out the seat and opened her door for her. Again, her hand slid into his and it was like a spark shot between them. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she slid her hand out of his, disconcerted. Flashbacks from the vision she'd had still haunted her. Their bodies, naked and twining together while making love. Unlike her friend Lily Bellum's visions, hers were not hit or miss. They were always dead on.

She followed Kearnyn's big body into the café while her mind wandered off to her other recent vision—Lily dying. For once she hoped her visions were wrong, because the thought of losing her best friend made her want to vomit. Even the enchanted bracelet couldn't save Lily. When death chose you, there was no denying it.

She'd been through this before, too many times to count. Seeing close loved ones dying in a vision. A part of her had closed her feelings off to the matter; it was the only way she could cope with the grim knowledge she had. Lily's fate could possibly be changed, but that was up to her. Her own gift was merely an intermediary of sorts. She could see something but have no idea when, where, how, or why. So she dealt with the news as she did in the past—by pretending it didn't happen.

“What's wrong?” Kearnyn asked.

Rosa looked up from the table she'd been staring at. “I'm sorry, I was lost in thought.”