Brooke Aiza has returned home after staying with her Aunt Jerry for more than a year to learn she's an aunt herself by her brother, and her sister is married! Overwhelmed by the changes taking place with her siblings, she begins to feel more than a familial affection for her new brother-in-law, and sees no escape except to put distance between them until she leaves for her parent's home.
Mitch isn't interested in any woman, content with his life. Mostly. Even his brother senses a restlessness building within him, but for what? Then when Mitch suffers a major accident, he and Brooke are all but confined to the same house, and he is left trying to remember why he didn't want anything to do with women. Because the more he sees of her, the more he needs her kiss.
The resurgence of an amulet into the sibling's lives changes everything, for the amulet can control them all. It will take two to destroy the evil stalking the Aiza family, and if Mitch refuses to face his feelings and Brooke can't overcome her hesitations to form a deeper trust, the opening of the gates of Hell could be the result.
The brothers turned as one when laughter carried from the rear of the house. “God, I needed that,” Brooke said as she cleared the corner. She stopped cold in her tracks, noticing the expressions of the brothers. “What did we miss?”
Selene slowed also when she joined her, studying the two men. Bram held out a hand to Selene. “Mitchell was worried because he heard the wolves. I’ve been trying to convince him you two were going to come back in one piece. I think he understands now. No harm done,” Bram murmured, brushing a kiss to the top of Selene’s blonde hair.
No, not quite. Not hardly. He didn’t understand at all as he watched Selene curl into Bram’s side.
Brooke stood off the porch with her fingers hidden in the rear pockets of her shorts. “Sorry, didn’t mean to ruin the evening,” Brooke said, her cheeks warming with a tinge of guilt.
Mitch’s gaze swept between the women, wondering how nuts the two sisters could be to not be concerned that wild wolves were somewhere out in the woods, possibly stalking them, running with them. “You didn’t hear them?”
Brooke twitched a shoulder. “Sure, we know they’re out there.”
Mitch knew his gaze widened. “It’s your skin,” he finally retorted, unable to fathom their complete ambivalence. “I’m gonna go get a room. See y’all tomorrow.” It came out in a disgusted statement.
“Mitch, you can stay, you don’t have to get a room,” Selene offered.
“What about Brooke?” he immediately asked.
Brooke’s face smoothed, now that the worrying crisis seemed to be over. “I can take the couch. Being small, I don’t need much.” She toppled his indecision with her next argument. “Besides, you’re here for a while, right? I’m only here for a few days, then I’m going to pester Morgan and go home to Mom’s. No sense in wasting the money,” she told them all.
Mitch faced his brother and Selene. “If you’re both sure? Four is gonna be a squeeze.”
“Jesus, Mitch. Get your crap and move in already,” Bram said with a fuller, chuckled laugh.
Mitch threw up his hands in defeat. “All right, all right. Come on, Brooke, I’ll get yours first.” He forced himself to calm down when Brooke smiled up at him. Maybe he’d overreacted. Neither of the women were hurt, no matter how unconcerned they were about the fact that wolves were out there, too. Maybe next time they’d go for their traipse through the trees before nightfall. It was a small hope.
He pocketed his knife and tossed the block of wood on the chair where he’d been sitting. He followed as she strolled out to the Jeep. She and Selene both acted fine for being out after dark, running around with wolves in their backyard. Maybe they did know enough to stay away from them. Maybe they hadn’t gone too far. He didn’t know how close the two had been, only guessing at how close the howls had sounded. He wasn’t so chauvinistic to believe the two didn’t know they needed to avoid something as dangerous as a wolf.
Brooke turned to him from the Jeep with a bag handle in her grip as he neared, and he froze in shock. “Hey,” he exclaimed abruptly. The light from the house shined on her, and there was no denying it. “Your bruise is gone!”
A tentative hand rose to where it should have been. “Really? I never saw how bad it was.” After stroking the spot, her arm fell to her side. “Was it bad?”
Mitch touched where her hand had been, where the bruise should have been. Her skin felt flawless under his fingers. “I guess it wasn’t as bad as I had first thought,” he muttered. He forced an unassuming smile to his mouth. Something just wasn’t right in Kansas. First the wolves, then the ugly bruise that should’ve been there for several days had vanished. He shook his head, silencing the crazy, whirling disbelief. “Glad to know you’re feeling better.” Nothing was making sense, and no one was acting as he would have expected about anything.
He was captivated though to see her blush, her pale cream skin warming with a summer-rose hue. “Yeah, thanks for finding me,” she told him with a shy smile. Her gaze dipped to a point beneath his chin, and he was struck again by her eyes. So dark against her fair skin and honey hair.
He made some room for her to get by. “No problem.” He tilted a shoulder behind him. “I guess we better get this stuff inside.”
She nodded a second later.
