Protecting His Witch (Entangled Covet) (Keeper Of The Veil series Book 1) Read Free

she couldn’t hold his gaze. Oddly, her head no longer throbbed. The nausea had also vanished. Usually it took hours when a crowd’s thoughts overwhelmed her for the head pain to subside. There must be something to be said for distraction. Or, maybe Matt really did have magical capabilities.
    She chanced meeting his gaze. The sexual invite in his deep blues shot her mind right into a scatterbrained fluster. A giggle almost escaped.
    Was he trying to push them into the foreplay zone? Maybe this was his normal interaction with every woman he encountered. God knew his body was killer and his eyes promised satisfaction, something she knew he could deliver.
    She’d never let him touch her again.
    Close it down and objectify , she ordered herself. She focused to shut down her emotional grid as best possible, and on being professional, something she’d perfected after years as a veterinarian subjected to the gamut of wacky. Despite his self-assurance, a cold stillness rested at the surface. Gone was the enthusiasm of youth she remembered from their college one-nighter. Beneath his veneer, she sensed he masked a crouching deadly power. His was the gaze of a high-end predator, throwing its prey a seductive look, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
    And she was the prey. The thought doused any hint of lust like an ice-water splash.
    “Not married?” His gaze skipped to her ringless left hand.
    She lifted an eyebrow but refused to answer. Instead she asked, “You?” Her gaze fell to his left hand, also bare.
    He flashed her a drop dead gorgeous smile. “It’s been a while, wildcat.”
    “Not long enough,” she gritted out. An unwanted vision from their long-ago night slow-moed in her brain. Washboard abs…hips pumping rhythmically just one beat too slow to meet the desperate need he created. Her body temperature escalated to critical overheat. Stop it , she ordered her mind. The Sonora Desert will ice over before we’re going there again.
    “We could do better a second time.” His self-assured, yet stunning grin irritated her.
    “In your dreams.”
    He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again, and frowned. Was he taking her hint they weren’t going there? And was that disappointment swirling in her gut?
    A fiftyish man, with a handsomely tanned face and in-shape body, stepped in front of Matt. “I was just over there at the bar. I haven’t seen you in a while, Matt. Nice party.” He held out his hand.
    Matt returned the handshake. “I hope you’re enjoying the evening. Kat and I were just on our way to the dance floor.”
    Kat pasted on a pleasant smile. Like hell I’ll dance with you.
    The interloper’s gaze dropped to her chest. His thoughts echoed loudly in her mind: Fantastic boobs. Wonder who she is and where his girlfriend is. No surprise he’s got a hard-on.
    Her eyes skirted southward on Matt, confirming the comment. Her face flamed hot. No hint of teasing remained on his face. No knowing eyebrow quirk. Just a mask of harsh control—unreadable and remote.
    “Are you doing a speech tonight?” the guy asked Matt.
    “Of course.”
    She phased out of their stilted, polite conversation. Years of pent-up resentment exploded in her brain. The unfaithful bastard probably seduced women on a nightly basis whenever his girlfriend left town. Her eyes narrowed his way, but his gaze didn’t meet hers. She wanted to scream, You have a girlfriend! Planning to cheat, again? Anger revved, close to boilover. She threw a mental slap at him, but gasped when pain rocked her brain with the sensation of smashing against a brick wall. He blocked her?
    What just happened? The two previous mental slaps she’d thrown landed her intended victim on the floor. Perhaps he really had used magic to clear her headache today and all those years ago. What was this guy?
    His rebuke-filled gaze zeroed in on her. In a bored tone at odds with the warning in his eyes, he said, “I hope you’re planning to