a Touch of Intrigue Read Online Free

that crept in around my heart, smothering my ability to breathe—until he winked at me over Annie’s shoulder.
    “Congratulations on the pregnancy, A.J.”
    She backed out of their hug. “Sean has a big mouth.”
    “I stopped by the firehouse. He couldn’t stop grinning.” Pierce rocked back on his heels. Bare feet. Sexy bare feet.
    “We just found out for sure last night. I’m contending with the beginnings of morning sickness, so my grins are slightly askew.” She beamed. “Sean sounded happy, then?”
    It was a lame question excused only by pregnancy hormones, but I understood her underlying fear. After Maddie’s birth no one thought she’d be able to conceive and carry another child, and this had to be stirring all kinds of emotion for both Annie and Sean.
    Pierce didn’t comment. His attention was riveted on me.
    Right on cue my hormones stepped up to the plate. I dropped my shoulder, slid my messenger bag to the floor, took three steps and a flying leap. I landed exactly as planned—in Pierce’s arms with my legs wrapped firmly around his waist.
    A satisfied grunt escaped my man’s luscious mouth, and the flutter of his warm breath against my cheek was almost my undoing. Tiny beads of sweat broke out on my back. Lips. His lips. I wanted them on mine. Craved them. I tilted my head and focused on my goal, only to be sidetracked when he nipped the vulnerable spot beneath my ear. His words came rough and gravelly against my neck. “We have company, Belisama.”
    I bit down on my raging desire to strip his clothes off, turned my head away from the sweetness of his mouth, and glared at Annie.
    Her laughter was a like a rush of cool water. “You’ll have to hold off on coming-home sex until I see the rest of this house. No way am I leaving without the grand tour, so Pierce, you might as well put her down and explain how you found your way through the maze.”
    Good question. I probably would have thought of asking it myself after he gave me a few mind-blowing, and way overdue orgasms. Pierce released his hold on my butt cheeks, and then slid me down the front of his body leaving every one of my nerve endings on high alert. And leaving no doubt that his hunger for me equaled mine for him.
    He laced his fingers with mine. I shivered. There was something about the way he held my hand that fired a spark of trepidation deep into my core. I wasn’t going to like his answer to Annie’s question. Not one little bit.
    Still holding my hand, he tugged me close to his side and his eyebrows twitched. How was that even possible? I nudged his arm with my chin. “Just answer the question.” Patience had never been a strong part of my personality.
    “You’re not gonna like it, Hot Shot.”
    “Got that.” I did a quick scan of his aura, searching for a clue to prepare myself for whatever he said, but there was nothing that stood out from the usual gold and silver strands woven through the reds and purples. Wait a minute. That purple was richer, deeper than usual, and the vibration had upped a notch.
    His chest filled with an inhalation, the movement mesmerizing. Get a grip, Everly. Serious stuff now, sex later.
    “I’ve been studying with Kahuna Aukele.” Pierce set me away from him, looking deep into my eyes. “This is important to me, Everly. To us. I want to understand your gifts, and this was the only way to learn about them short of being born to it.”
    My brain did a short-circuit into hurt, then holy-hell awe that he cared that much about our relationship, and finally popped back into normal functioning mode. “But you were born to it. Your Circle of Nine vision is proof of that.”
    He opened his mouth. I held up my hand. “Don’t even try and deny it. I saw it with my own eyes when we were in Ireland. You could see things no normal person ever does.” I paused for a quick breath and slight change of subject. “Why didn’t you tell me about Aukele?”
    “I wanted to surprise you.” It was a