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  Hearts Aflame Collection V: 4-Book Bundle

  Copyright © 2014 by Melissa F. Hart. All rights reserved worldwide.

  No part of this book may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written consent of the author/publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental

  http://www.melissafhart.com/

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  Table of Contents

  Eye of the Beholder

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Delylah Fayre - Part 1

  My Only Safe Place

  The Secrets of Longfellow Castle

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

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  Eye of the Beholder

  Synopsis

  Apple Muldoon is an artist who has fought her way tooth and nail out of a difficult time, and finally, she has achieved the skill and the recognition to show her work at one of the finest art galleries in Colossal City. At the gallery showing, she rubs shoulders with some of the city's best and brightest, including members of the city's superhero force, but the person who commands all her attention is the handsome caterer who introduces himself as Alexius Bellaron.

  After a charged encounter, Apple cannot believe what she is feeling, but she would have a harder time believing that the man she spoke to was the last alien prince of a destroyed planet!

  Chapter One

  Apple Muldoon stared into the eyes of the wolf, and she took a deep breath, drawing herself up to her full five-foot height.

  “All right,” she said. “Let's do this.”

  The wolf she spoke to was a metal sculpture almost eight feet high. Formed from twists of shining steel and wrought iron, it was enormous and menacing, an alien predator that glared out at the world from two bright green eyes of blown glass. It was an imposing piece of art, but Apple touched its cold nose with confidence, gaining strength from it as she had throughout the year she had spent working on it.

  “Miss Muldoon? The first guests are coming in...”

  She nodded at the gallery manager, tugging at her green velvet gown self-consciously. She had done showings before, of course, but most of them were student affairs where she had been able to wear the jeans and loose peasant tops that were her uniform when she wasn't in the studio. Those events had been full of her friends and her colleagues, and when the gallery managed a cheese plate, it was a really big deal.

  Now, as the first guests made their way through the enormous echoing space, painted in shades of pale green and gold especially for her art, she knew that she was far out of her depth. The Hillman Center for Fine Arts prided itself on showcasing promising visionaries and artists, and the people who entered to look at her art now were among Colossal City's prime movers and shakers. The handsome man inspecting her copper woman statue could be none other than Mayor Mike McIntyre himself, and Apple's eyes widened when an Amazonian woman with a fall of lavender hair came up behind him, linking her arm with his. They conversed quietly for a moment, and Apple felt slightly faint at the idea of Lynxonna, one of the heroes of the city, stopping to look at her work.

  Apple was momentarily distracted by the gallery manager asking her a quick question, and when she turned around, it was to find the tall heroine striding up to her. Apple almost squeaked in surprise. She had seen the heroes' battles on television and countless YouTube videos, but there was something awe-inspiring about the alien woman in the flesh. She was a full half-head taller than her husband, and in a quiet corner of her mind that was not consumed by nerves, Apple longed to sculpt the broad line of her shoulders, the dramatic sweep of her hips and the fine arch of her brow. Metal wouldn't do it, but perhaps clay...

  “Are you the creator?” Lynxonna demanded, and her voice, a low contralto, vibrated with command.

  “Er... yes? I think... no, yes, I am the artist.”

  Lynxonna looked at her with narrowed eyes, then glanced at the copper woman statue again. It was an abstract form of a woman in mid-rising from a crouch and flinging herself forward. Apple had worked with martial artist friends to get the tension right, and she was rather proud of it.

  “You don't look like a warrior,” Lynxonna said finally. “That piece captures a warrior's spirit.”

  Apple started to stammer an explanation, of her friends Nidia and Laquesha who had tensed and leaped over and over again, laughing at her for her insistence on capturing just the right moment, but Lynxonna waved it away.

  “Where I come from, no one but a warrior could capture such spirit, but you seem like a small thing.”

  Apple frowned at that and thrust her chin up. “And where I come from, it's rude to say that people can't do the things that they did.”

  Lynxonna looked momentarily taken aback, but by then, the mayor had caught up to her. Up close, he was a devastatingly handsome man with rather smooth good looks, but the smile he gave to his famous wife made his face come alive with love.

  “Dear, I think you're scaring Ms. Muldoon. She's done amazing work; we should see all of it.”

  Lynxonna eyed Apple for another moment, and suddenly her face broke into a surprisingly sunny smile. “If I've offended, forgive, and if I am wrong about your warrior spirit, may you teach me better,” she said. “Truly, your work is captures something that sings to me, and I must see more.”

  With nothing more than that, she took her husband by the arm and led him off to look at another piece. The mayor smiled at Apple, calling, “I'd like to talk with you again in a bit!”

  Apple let out a deep breath and tried not to sag with relief. She couldn't imagine that many people got away with talking back to a woman who could lift and throw cars, but she had done it. The rest of the opening should be a piece of cake, comparatively.

  Chapter Two

  Two hours later, however, she began to think she would rather simply go one on one against the lavender-haired heroine instead of discussing her artistic vision one more time. She was growing dangerously close to telling them that she chose the materials because they were the least expensive and the most durable, the colors because she had loved them since she was a girl and that the symbolism was based on her favorite television show.

  Slowly and carefully, Apple made her way to the buffet tables, where there was a delightful repast laid out. The Hillman Center spared no expense, but she quickly realized what she had before only feared. She was a small town girl who loved fast food and boxed mac and cheese. If she couldn't eat it out of her hand while drawing plans for a sculpture, she had never had much use for it.

  The table was heavy with beautiful foods, cheeses she couldn't name and a tray of delicate breads that looked frail enough to shatter at a touch, and she didn't know how to eat a single bit of it. Apple glanced around at the dignitaries circulating through the gallery, and she knew that she couldn't embarrass herself in front of them. Hell, as confused as she was, she might pick up an inedible table decoration and try to eat it.

  Regretfully, she started to turn away from the table, promising herself a stop at her favorite fast food drive-through as soon as the eve
nt was over, but then her stomach betrayed her with a loud rumble. Mortified, she looked up to see if anyone had caught her, but instead, all she heard were two soft giggles.

  Apple spun and found herself confronted with two small girls. They both wore beautiful dresses that likely cost a month of Apple's rent, but where one girl was simply a pretty blonde, the other had soft purple hair pulled back in a French braid.

  “You're hungry,” the purple-haired girl pointed out. “There's food right there.”

  “It's... it's not that simple,” Apple said, looking around nervously. Fortunately, they were in a sheltered place by a pillar, and no one could see her conversing with the two girls. She thought that they were perhaps six or seven, though they certainly could be no older.

  “Of course it is,” the purple-haired girl insisted. “If you're hungry, you should get to eat. Everyone knows that!”

  The blonde girl tugged her friend's hand, shaking her head.

  “I don't like to eat when other people are looking, sometimes,” she said softly, and in that, Apple heard a little bit of her own anxiety. She herself was on the plump side, and enough rude comments about bigger girls daring to eat in public along with her anxiety about being able to manage the exotic cuisine made her cautious.

  The purple-haired girl considered, and then nodded with the decisiveness of a born leader.

  “Right. My name is Lynxienna, and this is Aurora. We're going find you some food that you'll like.”

  With nothing more than that, she seized one hand, Aurora seized the other, and they were off. Apple thought about fighting against her tiny kidnappers, but the thought of another circuit of the gallery, discussing her methods and her vision as she went, made her a willing captive.

  They took her away from the main halls of the gallery, leading her down a few darkened passages. She was just beginning to get a little nervous about where they were taking her when they opened the door to reveal a plain kitchen area.

  There were still quite a few trays to bring out, but what caught Apple's eye was the tall man in the tuxedo who was having an intense discussion with one of the servers. He turned away from the server, and Apple froze when their eyes met.

  He had a pair of the most intense green eyes that she had ever seen, as clear a green as spring grass, and for a moment, pinned by his piercing look, she could barely speak. His features were too stern to be movie-star handsome, but there was a wild kind of beauty to his face. His hair was a deep chestnut, and when he took a step closer, she realized that he would tower over her.

  “The kitchen is—”

  He broke off when he saw the two little girls who had led her here.

  “And what are you two scamps doing back here? Did you decide to see if there was any more mochi for you? I told you before that two mochi apiece was plenty for you two.”

  Lynxienna scoffed, tossing her head. “I could eat a million of them, especially the ones that are red-bean flavored,” she retorted. “And I know that you gave my dad more.”

  “Well, your father saved the city a few times, maybe you'll get more if you do that,” he suggested. “Does he know you're here?”

  Aurora shook her head.

  “We'll go right back,” she promised, “only this lady was hungry...”

  The man's eyes snapped back to Apple, who defensively took a step back. “The food looks fine, the food looks great! I swear, I'll just run back and...” She trailed off as her stomach rumbled again, and the man nodded decisively.

  “All right,” he said, turning to the server. “Henry, could you please take these two back to their parents?”

  As the server took the children away, Apple resisted the urge to simply follow them. Instead, she stayed right where she was as the tall man in the tuxedo looked at her carefully.

  “So,” he said finally. “What's wrong with my food?”

  “Your food?” she asked nervously.

  He smiled. “Yes, my food. Usually The Hunt doesn't do catering, but Hillman requested us, and well, I like the guy.”

  Apple's mouth dropped open. Even she had heard of The Hunt. It was one of the premier dining establishments in the city, and the outrageous prices and long wait list only added to its appeal. Now that she knew that the food was being catered by The Hunt, she knew who the handsome man speaking to her was.

  “You're Alexius Bellaron,” she said in a small voice.

  He waved it away as if it meant nothing. “I'm Chef during working hours, but you should call me Bellaron. Now what was this I heard about you being hungry?”

  She fiddled with her hands nervously. How could she tell a man who was famous throughout the state for his amazing meals that she wanted nothing more than a frozen pizza and a can of soda?”

  “I... I wasn't sure how to eat any of the food you had out there...” she muttered, her face turning red with embarrassment. She expected him to laugh, or worse, to make a joke about how girls her size didn't seem to have any trouble eating, but he was only nodding sympathetically.

  “It can be a little complicated in a buffet line and everyone rushing,” he said sympathetically. “And maybe I did decide to go a little form over function tonight. I'd hate it if anyone attending an event where I was catering went away hungry, though, so why don't you sit down and let me put together a plate for you?”

  It was on the tip of Apple's tongue to refuse. She knew that she was needed back in the gallery, and the longer she spent in the presence of the oddly magnetic chef, the more she felt drawn to him. There was something about tall dark men who looked with so much concern at her that made her heart melt, and well, perhaps she had acted too foolishly or too hastily over it.

  By all rights, she should have fled the scene and consoled herself with a cheeseburger on her way home, but instead, her stomach rumbled again and she gave up.

  He grinned, as if sensing her capitulation, and gestured at the stool nearby.

  “Have a seat and start talking,” he said. “Allergies, likes, dislikes?”

  “No allergies,” she said with a shrug. “I can eat just about anything, I'm pretty easy going that way.”

  He frowned. “That's no way to look at food,” he chided. “Come on, give me something to go off of. You like Mediterranean, French, Southeast Asian? Love soups, hate salads?”

  Apple shrugged, a trifle defensively. “I dunno,” she said, shifting uneasily on her stool. “I like… potatoes, and carrots. I like beef, pork and chicken. I don't know what you're asking...”

  He nodded thoughtfully and busied himself at the food pans. He worked fast enough that Apple barely had a moment to wonder what he was doing before he slid the plate and a fork across to her on the counter.

  “There you go,” he said. “Tell me what you think. If you don't like it, I'll get you something else.”

  “You really shouldn't go to the trouble,” she said, but she was already reaching for the fork. She hadn't eaten all day, and the food, whatever it was, smelled delicious.

  There was a creamy lump of something speckled with coarse black pepper, and when she put in her mouth, she realized that she wanted to eat it and nothing else for days.

  “Are these... lemony mashed potatoes?” she asked.

  Bellaron grinned. “Skordalia, actually. It's a Greek dish, and you're right, it has lemon and pepper flavoring the mashed potatoes. The olive oil I used for it was bought specially from Greece.”

  There were delicate skewers of meat, bright red and offering a startling contrast to the cream of the potatoes. Apple delicately picked one up, certain she would get something on her shirt, but uncaring now that she was getting fed. “This?”

  “Chinese barbecued pork. It's pretty heavy on the allspice, but it's been slow roasted for two days.”

  She popped it in her mouth and nearly groaned at the burst of succulent flavor on her tongue. It was greasy, salty and sweet all at once, and despite the heaviness of the meat, there was lovely soft smoky flavor underneath it.

  “I want to
put it in a sandwich,” she said with a smile, and instead of being offended by the way she was treating his food, he grinned.

  “On some toasted French bread with just a little bit of butter? Been there, done that. Try the caviar.”

  “Caviar?”

  “On the cracker, go on. It won't hurt you.”

  The caviar was the thing on the plate that had given her the most pause. On a coarse rye cracker, there was a small pile of shining dark... goo. She knew that caviar was expensive, but she also knew that it was fish eggs.

  “I don't know if I'll like it.”

  “Take a bite. If you don't like it, I'll eat it.”

  Shrugging, she took the most delicate bite possible, and though it was not as bad as she feared, she still made a face.

  “Ooh, salty,” she said, shaking her head.

  He nodded. “Not for everyone, though you might prefer other types. That's beluga caviar, and no one ever said it was mild. A shame, though. That was taken from Russian rivers during the sturgeons' prime run.”

  Apple shook her head in wonder. “How in the world do you know so much about food?”

  “It's a gift.” He shrugged easily. “But... well, if you aren't going to eat that caviar?”

  “Oh, yeah...”

  She held the caviar cracker out to him, but instead of taking it from her the way that she thought he would, he leaned close instead.

  My, what big teeth you have. Dazed, she was captured by his deep green eyes again. She felt frozen as he dipped his head down, eyes never leaving hers, and he brought his mouth down to the cracker she held.

  Instead of snapping it up in a single bite, he nibbled at it gently, and Apple watched, entranced, as his lips and teeth ate the savory little treat in small neat bites.

  Handsome, she thought in wonder, and when she saw his tongue lap out, a mere breath away from the tender skin of her palm, a blush rose to her cheeks. She suddenly wanted to see what that mouth might feel like on her skin, not just her palm but everywhere, and all over again, she could feel the sheer animal magnetism that drew her in.