Then she approached the cabin. She made her way to the eastern side, where she could peer through a window into the kitchen at the back of the house.
Firelight flickered against a pot of something steaming on the stove. Past the kitchen, she noted a long arm strewn over the back of a couch. The arm belonged to a man with short dark hair. She couldn’t make out his features or his height, just the back of his head and a long arm encased in a sweater.
She shivered. Before she could decide what to do next, something cold and hard pressed against her temple. Damn. A pistol. She held her breath. The voices had been right. It was too late to find them now.
“Easy, sweetheart. Drop the gun.” Joshua didn’t relent until she dropped her weapon in the snow. He clearly had size on her, but he’d made it a habit never to underestimate anyone. In his experience, the female of the species was much more lethal than the male. He took a step back. “Hands up. Now turn around. Slowly.” The small woman bundled in a polar vest, gloves, jeans, boots, and a skull cap all dusted in snow could have passed for Frosty’s wife before she turned around.
When Josh got a good look at her face, the blood rushed from his head.
Absolutely beautiful. Not a pale cream or a dark brown, her cheeks looked caramel in color, flushed with cold and no doubt anger that she’d been caught. Long black hair trailed over her shoulders and contrasted with the light blue-gray eyes of a woman who could have owned any man she wanted. Full lips, a slender nose, and a stubborn chin completed the picture of seduction personified.
“Well?” Her husky voice shot a bolt of lust straight to his cock.
Yeah, she had killer looks. He couldn’t quite peg her ethnicity. Black, Hispanic, Indian? A mix? Hell, he didn’t much care. She’d perked his interest enough that he wanted to peel her like a banana and see what lay under the layers of clothing. But the shock of what felt almost like recognition unnerved him. She had the same height as that woman Xavier had rescued the other night from the warehouse, but his sense of familiarity went beyond that. He’d tried more than once to see into his own future, but lately he caught nothing. His attempt now showed him more of the same. Shit.
He leaned down and grabbed her pistol from the snow. After making sure the safety was engaged, he tucked the gun in the back of his jeans.
“You first.” He nodded to the front of the house with his weapon, a handy .45 that could and had blown holes through flesh and bone.
She made no sudden moves and kept her hands where he could see them, on either side of her head. Not one flinch or tremble from the steady woman—a sign she most likely had experience with dangerous situations. She walked with graceful steps, even through the white powder accumulating on the ground. When she reached the front porch, she stopped.
“Up the steps and through the door.” He still didn’t understand why he hadn’t seen this coming. His foresight had never failed to alert him to any threat. An advanced sense of self-preservation, his foresight protected him and his brother, usually without fail. Yet a woman with a gun had spied on them through their own goddamn kitchen window.
Glancing over her shoulder at him, she narrowed her eyes but didn’t speak.
She faced forward and paused to stomp the snow off her boots. A thoughtful intruder. How nice.
As they entered, Xavier added his two cents from the couch. “Nice catch. And yeah, I told you so.”
“Shut up.” It took real patience to ignore the urge to belt his brother, and he didn’t understand why. Normally easygoing where his twin had a hair-trigger temper, lately he’d been off his game. He glanced at the woman, wondering what she thought.
She looked from Xavier to him and back. She blinked but remained quiet. He could imagine her surprise. Identical twins, he and Xavier looked enough alike to be the same person. Down to the fingerprints, not one physical difference had ever been documented between them. His parents couldn’t even tell them apart.
Both dark-haired and dark-eyed, they had several inches on the woman. While their younger brothers took after their father and had the size and strength of grizzlies, he and Xavier inched just over six feet. They had less brawn than speed but enough muscle to get the job done. While the rest of the Cannon family took great pleasure in knocking the enemy down, he and his twin outsmarted, outflanked, and outraced them every time.
“Doublemint gum,” the woman muttered and blinked. “This is so not good.”
“What?”
“Josh, put the gun down.” Xavier waved at him. “Introduce me.”
“I would if I knew her name.” He snorted and tucked the gun away. Then he urged the woman face-first against the wall. “Spread ’em, honey. I’m sure you know the drill.”
“Dick.”
Xavier chuckled.
Josh sighed. After unzipping her coat, he ran his hands over her from top to bottom, careful to remain professional when he really wanted to cup the full breasts straining beneath her now open jacket. Holy shit, this was one fine, pissed-off woman.
She shifted under his hands. “You done yet? Or did you want to bend me over to make sure I don’t have anything stashed up my ass?”
“I’m sure we can think of a better way to make sure you’re clean, honey.” An echo of lust spilled through him at Xavier’s words.
“Back off. We don’t know who she is,” he sent his brother telepathically.
Xavier answered back, “I know her. We know her.”
“Then why can’t I see it? Have you spoken with her?” Only with one special woman had Xavier ever been able to mindspeak in that same way he did with Josh
“No. But I’m sure it’s her. Bring her closer.” Josh rose from his crouch and put a hand on her arm to turn her around. She exploded in a flurry of punches and kicks that impressed the hell out of him. He didn’t want to hurt her, so he didn’t fight back as he could have. Then she shot past him, the couch, and his brother before they could so much as catch a breath. Several doors slammed in her wake.
“Damn, she’s fast.” Xavier rose from the floor, where the small woman had shoved him when she’d vaulted over the couch. “Good thing the windows are locked down, eh? I’ll take the back, just in case.”
“Whatever.” Annoyed because their intruder had interrupted some well-deserved rest, he hunted her down with brisk efficiency. He and Xavier worked in tandem. One took backup, the other point, and they moved together. In minutes he’d unlocked the master bedroom door and the bathroom, where she’d locked herself in.
He dodged the burst of flame that nearly singed his brows and sent Xavier a message. With quick reflexes, he knocked the lighter and air freshener from her hands—explaining the mini flamethrower—and tried to cage her while he avoided hurting her. Xavier returned and used her split second of surprise to tackle her into the garden tub.
Josh picked up the lighter. “She’s inventive.”
“And squirmy.” Xavier let out a huff when she kicked him in the gut. “Okay, that’s it.” He hauled her out of the tub and over his shoulder.
Josh watched with a keen sense of anticipation. He couldn’t say why, but her presence added to…everything. Yet none of this rang true. The consequence of her being here on the heels of what had happened just a short month ago didn’t fit. Had she been sent by Otis Werlin to kill them or to spy on them? Because no way in hell she’d arrived at the family’s cabin by accident. Not after what had gone down a month ago.