Unedited Excerpt:

Amber had felt the weight of Zerachiel’s perusal off and on all through their travels. That penetrating gray-green gaze continued to draw her and she felt almost as if his spicy scent had sunk into her bones. She wasn’t precisely sure when she had decided to follow along and see where this road led her, but Amber felt sure her friends and family would say her impetuous actions were totally typical of her.
As they had sat side by side on more than a few Ls, she had argued back and forth with herself—stay or leave, flee or stick it out. Logical arguments for and against could be made for both options. In the end, sad as it was to admit, Zerachiel’s physical and sexual appeal had been the tipping factors in favor of staying.
They ended up in a section of the city she didn’t know particularly well. It was one of those quasi-Bohemian areas she had always meant to spend more time in. New shops, restaurants and diners popped up all over the place, and when she found a kitschy place to eat, two weeks later it wouldn’t be there anymore.
Zerachiel seemed to know where he was going, though Amber did note the waitress didn’t appear to recognize him, even if she did give him a second, far more female look-over. Neither did the cook call out or acknowledge him in any manner, so Amber could only assume he was not a regular here.
Starting to feel slightly uncertain under his continual glances, Amber had finally had enough, and she almost laughed in his face when he so casually and simply asked her to hand the bracelet over to him.
“You have to be kidding,” she replied dryly. “What happened to the explanations of blowtorch guy, or even why the hell you seem so determined to steal property from me? I’m not handing anything over until you give me answers to just a few of the niggling little questions I’ve asked.”
The waitress placed mugs of steaming hot coffee in front of each of them, and in front of Amber, a thick slice of what looked to be chocolate mousse pie with a hefty dollop of cream on the side, with two spoons. Amber eagerly dug into the pie and moaned a little at the rich chocolate that was so lightly whisked it melted on her tongue. Eagerly spooning in another mouthful, she gestured silently to it and moaned again.
A wry grin on his face that simply made him look even more sexy, Zerachiel obediently took a mouthful for himself and nodded his approval before returning to his coffee. Amber’s eyes fluttered shut as she enjoyed the private moment, finally letting something sane and real take the edge off what had turned out to be a most unusual afternoon.
The pie was half-eaten by the time she remembered Zerachiel. Licking her lips, she smiled at him.
“Well?” she asked again, slightly more impatiently this time. “Where are these so-called explanations? What’s so special about this bracelet? Who were those men, how did they manage to do…whatever it is they did, and what on earth is going on?”
“I don’t think you’ll really enjoy the answers I have to any of those questions,” Zerachiel replied smoothly, “nor do I believe you’ll even remotely believe a word that falls from my mouth, so why don’t we discuss that cuff instead?”
Amber’s stomach twisted slightly and she pushed away her plate. She wasn’t sure exactly why she had expected Zerachiel to answer her questions honestly and easily, but she had. Disappointment soured her stomach. Sipping her coffee, she wrinkled her nose, silently adding sugar and creamer.
“Are you a criminal?” she asked when she had finished. “Is that why you won’t explain anything to me?”
Only the fact she looked directly at Zerachiel when she asked this allowed her to see the brief flare of surprise and annoyance cross his face. Almost as soon as it showed he hid it behind the furrowed brows and slight frown that had been on his face for much of their time together.
“No, of course not,” he replied harshly. “Have I ripped that damn thing from your wrist? Molested you? Tossed you aside so that band of mercenaries could do anything to you—and trust me, the only thing they are interested in is that cuff and possibly what a good time they could have amusing themselves with you. Nothing else. How dare you assume I’m remotely like them?”
Amber struggled to keep the small smile that threatened to break out off her face. Much of the tension that had crept into her shoulders and neck relaxed. He might not be charming and sweet, but at least her knight in supple leather had his heart in the right place. That was worth far more to Amber than a slick word and grand gestures.
“So you’ve acted honorably, for the most part at least, you mean me no direct harm, and until things get desperate at least, you’re prepared to try and work with me. Right?” Amber waited until she received a curt nod from Zerachiel. His eyes had narrowed slightly as if he could feel the net closing in around him but still wasn’t precisely sure what was going on and where she was leading him.
“Then I think regardless of how fantastic or insane your story is, and I don’t promise to swallow it hook, line and sinker, I do feel we’re stuck in this mess—whatever it is—together. At least until I have a clearer idea of what’s going on.”
Amber took a deep breath as Zerachiel glared at her, though honestly it lacked a lot of the anger and cutting edge some of his previous stares had held. She wondered idly if she was merely becoming more used to them, or whether he was simply so used to everything falling exactly into place for him he hadn’t ever experienced the doubtful privilege of someone defying his decrees.
Sipping her coffee, Amber gave him a few minutes to digest what she had said, and then as calmly and sweetly as possible returned his heavy look.
“Well? At least give me the bare bones here, so I know what I am trying to work with, please.”
“That cuff is a lot more ancient than you could possibly realize,” he finally said curtly. “It was stolen approximately fifty years ago and had been thought lost by the family who had owned it for over a millennium. I have papers proving my client is the rightful owner and I was hired to Retrieve it for her. That’s as much as you need to know, really.”
Such a seemingly mundane explanation for an astonishing afternoon had Amber almost sagging at the anticlimactic words. She had expected stories of crown jewels or a band of murderous pirate thieves, or…well, almost anything other than someone claiming rightful ownership to a piece of jewelry they had thought lost.
Sipping her coffee, Amber replayed Zerachiel’s words over in her head and realized that had to be only skimming the surface. There had to be more to it.
“So where do the four goonies come into it?” she asked shrewdly. At Zerachiel’s somewhat bland look, she pressed harder. “The four men in the black sedan?”
Zerachiel looked out over the other patrons, sipped his coffee and appeared to carefully weigh his words before answering.
“They are hired men, think akin to mercenaries. The twin brother of our client feels he is the rightful owner of the cuff, even though their father’s last will and testament quite clearly states the sister, our client, is the owner. Possession being nine-tenths of the law, he is hoping to acquire the cuff and retain ownership of it until it is declared legally his.”
Once again Amber frowned thoughtfully. The explanation again had the ring of truth to it, but she couldn’t get past the feeling that Zerachiel was being deliberately misleading, even dumming everything down so it seemed as clear-cut and simple as possible. She couldn’t blame him, in a similar circumstance she might well behave identically, but it didn’t make her feel any better about the entire situation.
Casting a quick glance around the half-full diner, Amber made sure no one was staring at her or paying undue attention to either herself or Zerachiel. Half hiding her arm beneath the tabletop, she pulled back the sleeve of her jacket and looked carefully for the first time at the cuff that had started this whole mess.
Surprisingly, for how light it was, it appeared to be made out of gold. The metal shone with the dull glow that only came from age and great amounts of wear. It fit snugly but not tightly around her wrist and as Amber turned it left to right to look more thoroughly at it, she got to really study for the first time the symbols and sigils she had felt carved into the smooth metal.
Most of the symbols were foreign to her eyes, but she recognized a couple of them. The symbol for infinity and what she thought might be the ancient rune for yew. It was an almost S shape, though more jagged than the letter as written currently. Scrounging in the back of her memory, she recalled that it symbolized a period of waiting through the harder times to make the right or best decision.
Gently tracing her fingers over the symbols, Amber almost felt as if the cuff warmed to her touch. She could practically feel the age in the piece, and she knew for certain there was more Zerachiel was not telling her.
“What do all these symbols mean?” she asked softly, her eyes still on the beautiful piece of jewelry. Turning to face Zerachiel, Amber started a little as their thighs pressed warmly together and a hot rush of awareness ran through her body, making her pussy tingle with desire. She hadn’t been aware how closely they were sitting until her Lycra-clad legs pressed against Zerachiel’s denim and leather-clad thigh. This close she could see the faintest hint of five-o’clock shadow around the edge of his jawline. It made him appear more masculine, rugged and slightly dangerous, though she knew she could never truly be scared of him. He’d protected her, even when he infuriated her with his actions. She didn’t believe he would ever purposely cause her harm.
Surprised that such a small, casual touch could affect her so potently, Amber licked her lips and stared for a moment at Zerachiel. Moving her arm so her hand draped a little over his strong thigh, she held his gaze, almost daring him to lie so she could call him out on it.
“Zerachiel, this isn’t some ordinary oldish family heirloom. Was this stolen from a museum or something?”
Again he hesitated and his eyes looked stormy as he appeared to debate within himself, the green seeming much more dominant just now.
“Amber,” he said huskily, his voice low and gravelly, “those four guys are not playing games. The more I tell you—even assuming I could and you’d believe me—the more danger it places you in. I don’t want to do that to you.”
Amber’s heart picked up speed at Zerachiel’s words. With a flash of feminine intuition, she had the sinking sensation that unless she did something right now, Zerachiel would talk himself out of them joining forces in this escapade and she would be left behind, never to have the answers she now sought.
Chemistry and attraction zinged between them and, taking all her courage in hand, Amber closed the short distance between their mouths by tilting her chin up and pressing her lips softly to Zerachiel’s.
The first thing she noticed was just how soft his lips were. Smooth and more plump than she had realized. Their mouths seemed almost to melt into each other as they both gave themselves to the small intimacy. His spicy scent flowed over her and as her tongue flicked out to lick at his lower lip she tasted the faint bitterness of black coffee and his own masculine taste beneath that.
He moaned, or maybe it was she who moaned, and Zerachiel’s lips opened. Amber slid her tongue inside him and the bitter coffee taste was stronger, with a faint hint of chocolate. Still, overpowering everything else were his own taste and scent. Their tongues tangled, twining together, and teasingly Amber closed her lips around his and suckled. Grazing her teeth gently over his tongue, she nipped him before releasing him and turning her attention to delicately tracing the outer edges of his lips.
A large, warm hand cupped the back of her head and Amber’s heart raced as she felt him tilting her to the angle he wanted as he took over the kiss.