Master of Smoke

on his face and turned. “Great. Met Eva’s new boyfriend at the shop. He’s really good with that sword. You definitely got your money’s worth.”
    Bill blinked, looking honestly astonished. “Boyfriend? Since when? And ... money?” His graying brows drew down.
    Wait, he didn’t know? Way to go, Joel. Eva’s gonna kill me. “Ah ... Well. Apparently she’s dating that stuntman you hired.”
    “Stuntman?”
    Oh, shit. Eva’s really gonna kill me—if her new stud doesn’t do it for her.

    Eva had no idea how she’d ended up in David’s arms. One minute she’d been screaming at him in a howling That Time of the Year rage. The next, they were playing tonsil hockey.
    God, he could kiss.
    One massive arm was wrapped around her, and she was plastered against every hard ridge of his powerful chest. He filled her senses with potent masculinity—his scent, his taste, his hands. He simply overwhelmed her, and she went under with a sigh.
    Lost in him.
    His big hands stroked away the last of her anger with tender skill. The last of her rage wafted away like a curl of smoke from a bonfire. He smelled of clean sweat and steel and a fizzing whiff of magic.
    Eva had never wanted any man so much.
    So of course, cue Daddy.
    SIX
    The door jingled a manic note before banging shut loud enough to make Eva jump. “What the hell is going on?” her father roared.
    Eva tore out of David’s arms as though he’d scalded her. She met Bill Roman’s hot gaze and felt a furious blush roll to her hairline. “Uh ... Hi, Dad.”
    He stalked toward them, his muscular shoulders tense with under the black fabric of his Batman T-shirt. “This is the stuntman ‘we’ hired?”
    “I guess you ran into Joel.” Eva smiled weakly.
    “Who are you?” One scalding look took in David’s long black hair and bare, sweating chest. “And what the hell are you doing kissing my daughter?”
    “I am David.” He straightened, stepping a bit in front of her as if to protect her from her father’s anger.
    “You got a last name, David?”
    For a moment, Eva’s mind went completely blank as she struggled to remember what she’d told Joel. “Feral! His name is David Feral.”
    Bill shot her a cold look. “What, he can’t speak for himself ?”

“I can speak.” David studied her father, eyes narrowed.
    “How long have you known my daughter?”
    “Since yesterday.”
    Bill rocked back on his heels in surprise. “And you’re already kissing her like that?”
    Fluffy promptly started snarling. “Wait a minute, Dad. How is that any of your business? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not sixteen anymore.”
    Bill ignored her, staring hard into David’s face. “Are you wearing some kind of contacts, or what?”
    Oh, hell, this situation was skidding right off the cliff. “Look, David, would you mind taking a walk and letting me discuss this with my father?”
    He gave her a little dip of his head. “Of course.” Still carrying the sword, he walked out, shirtless.
    “What the hell is going on?” her father exploded. “Who is that guy? Where’d he come from?”
    Eva rubbed the ache throbbing between her eyebrows and wondered how she was going to talk her way out of this one.

    It went against the grain to leave Eva to confront her father alone, but David knew anything he said would only inflame the situation. Apparently Bill Roman did not know his daughter was a werewolf, so she would have to lie to explain how they’d met. Any lies of his could inadvertently contradict hers.
    He strode down the sidewalk away from the shop, just walking, taking in the surrounding neighborhood—shops, a few houses, a car or two cruising past in a cloud of fumes that made his nose wrinkle. The sun was just disappearing behind the trees, edging the purpling clouds in blood red. David absently played with the dull sword, rotating his wrist to spin it as he walked and brooded.
    It galled him, having to lean so heavily on a woman for his very survival. He should be the one supporting her. Instead, he was only making her life more difficult.
    Perhaps he should leave. Get out of her life and find some way to support himself until his memory returned.
    Assuming it did. If it didn’t ...
    Well, even if he had no past, he did have a present—and a future he would have to deal with. He ...
    David froze as a terrible awareness suddenly rolled over him.
    His enemy. Suddenly he could feel the other like an intense pressure crushing down on his skull,