“Why do you do that?” Drake asked her, frowning. “I’m not going to bite.”
She wasn’t sure she believed that.
She’d met Drake and Noah back in Chicago. Actually, her first image of Drake was rather twisted. Stained in blood. One thing remained clear to her, though.
Drake Archer is dangerous.
“It’s not the first time an old friend has asked me to keep an eye on his girl,” Drake added with a roll of his broad shoulders. “And Skye doesn’t jump when I get within ten feet of her.”
She rose to her feet. “I’m not Skye.”
His gaze slid over her. “True, but this is the same city she used to love. This is the place where I watched her.” His head tilted a little to the left as he seemed to savor a memory. “Skye was one hell of a dancer.”
Claire had actually seen Skye once on stage. He was right—Skye was phenomenal.
“You remind me of her,” Drake added as he kept studying her. “Something about the eyes. No, the fear in your eyes.”
Warily, she eased around the desk.
“What are you afraid of, Claire Kramer?” Drake murmured. His voice was low, rumbling. His face was all hard lines and angles. Danger. When she looked at Drake, she thought of darkness and of the threats that waited in the night.
Some women might like that wild edge that clung to him. It just made her nervous.
What are you afraid of? His question had made her tense. “Don’t you know?” Claire asked him. Noah did. Trace did. Surely Drake had been told about her past, too.
But Drake shook his head. “Some. Not all. Your past is your own.” His lips twisted. “I sure as hell don’t want anyone looking at my past. It’s bloody and full of death.”
“So is mine.”
The silence stretched between them.
“Then why don’t we just screw the talk about the past and just focus on the present?” Drake suggested. “And in the present, you sure have my boy Noah twisted up.”
She did?
Was that good or bad?
“Noah’s not like me and Trace. He holds himself back. He’s damn smart. He knows that a woman can destroy a man faster than anything else on earth.”
Drake sounded as if he were speaking from personal experience. “I’m not looking to destroy Noah.”
“Good.” His smile flashed. “Because then I’d have to destroy you, and I think I rather like you.”
He’d just threatened her. Claire’s fingers curled tightly around the edge of the desk.
“I don’t have a lot of friends in this world,” Drake continued. “Noah is one of the few people who has always stood by me, no matter what screwed up shit I did.”
Just as Noah was standing by her?
“But don’t let his appearance fool you, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. Helplessly, Claire shivered. Only one other man had called her by that endearment.
“Noah is a hell of a lot more dangerous than most people believe. I’ve always thought that, if someone were to wreck that perfect control of his, Noah York might just be the deadliest man I’ve ever met.”
“Why…” She pulled in a deep breath. “Why are you trying to warn me away from him?”
“Because I think you might be the one to wreck that perfect control.” He crossed the room until he stood just two feet away from her. Not touching her, thank goodness, but still too close. “He doesn’t keep them, you know.”
Now she was lost. “Keep what?”
“His women. He sleeps with them, gets the lust out of his system, then he lets them go. He doesn’t like to have the same lover twice in a row.”
Her heart seemed to freeze in her chest. Noah had been with her, and as soon as they’d returned to New York, he’d rushed out of town. Away from me?
“He usually pushes his lovers aside, but here you are, all snug in his suite, and he has me playing guard duty for you.” He gave a low whistle. “That’s new, and it’s dangerous.”
He was wrong. “I’m not a threat to Noah.”
“Aren’t you?”
She shook her head.
“Good. Because, as I said, I like you.”
Then what did he tell to the women he didn’t like?
“Even if you do have that injured, delicate bird thing happening.” He waved his hand at her. “Do something about that, would you?”
She could only blink. “I’m not an injured bird.” Now that was just insulting.
He smiled. “That’s better. You had some bite in those words.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m in the suite. Completely safe for the night.” She’d been safe all day. “I think you can probably leave now.”
“Why would I leave the suite? I just ordered room service for us. The room service menu in this place is damn good. Noah made sure of that.”
Uh, yes, Claire had realized that quickly.
“Come on. It will be here any moment…” Then he turned his back and took about four steps before he hesitated and said, “I promise, I won’t bite. Noah’s already marked you as his. I know how to keep my hands to myself.” After that little announcement, he kept walking.
She didn’t follow him.
Noah’s already marked you as his.
She rubbed her chilled arms.
***
Noah opened the door to his suite and slipped inside the dark interior to—
“Three a.m., hoss…sure didn’t expect to see you come dragging in at this hour.”
A light flipped on near the couch. The illumination spilled on Drake’s features. The guy was lounging against the cushions, looking quite at home. Too at home.
“What the hell are you doing in my suite?” Noah demanded. Since he’d known that Drake was in New York, he’d gotten the guy to keep an eye on Claire.
Not spend the night in the same suite with her.
Drake grinned. When Drake grinned, it made Noah nervous.
“I was getting to know your Claire,” Drake said. “That woman likes her secrets, doesn’t she?”
Claire…she has secrets. A darkness inside. With her, what you see isn’t what you get.
Noah shut the door behind him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean getting the woman to talk with me was like pulling teeth.” He shook his head and stayed sprawled on the couch. “I don’t think she cares much for me.”