Gunshots waken Ian Tunbridge, an assistant curator of classical antiquities at the British Museum, on his first day on a dig in California. The only way to save his life is to run for it, but luck is not on his side. At least, not until he meets Lucas Arpini, the brash American photographer who seems to have some sort of clue what’s going on. Together, they’re supposed to be the tools in finding an artifact nobody believes is real -- nobody, that is, except Lucas and the man kidnaps them both.<br><br>Ian doesn’t know what to believe. His colleagues are dead, he’s injured, and he has no choice but to put his faith in a gorgeous stranger. Their escape should lead them straight to the police, but when Lucas shows him pieces of the puzzle they were meant to solve, Ian is too intrigued to walk away. He wants to solve the riddle as badly as Lucas does.<br><br>Unfortunately, they aren’t the only ones ...

Riddle Me Wicked

His breath plumed in front of his face as soon as they stepped onto the walk, but before he could shove his hands into his pockets to warm them, Lucas grabbed the nearest and laced their fingers together. The heat helped, though it was just as distracting as Lucas had been inside. A small, fearful voice in the back of his mind begged Ian to pull away, that someone might see them, and for a moment, his muscles tensed to comply. Lucas’s sharp tug and the smile he shot at Ian over his shoulder as they started to walk, however, immediately deflated the protest.


They walked in silence back to the hotel, their strides long and even. Each step thundered through Ian’s blood, until he couldn’t feel the cold anymore, couldn’t feel anything but the rough glide of calluses along the side of his clasped hand and the fury of his own desire. He kept stealing glances sideways to validate Lucas’s presence.


Chapter 38