Page 23 of Kiss of Smoke

And he was close. Much too close. So close I could feel the heat from his body and see the gold striations in his green pupils.

His eyes were gorgeous—almost inhuman. No man should be this sexy. Desire quickened in my blood, and I tensed, ready to lift onto my toes to kiss him, when I remembered this was my boss and what the hell was I doing? He just overheard my mother slander him for being gay and now I was ready to make out with him?

I took a quick step back, dislodging his grip. My heart pumped fast and my body trembled like I just lurched out of the path of a speeding car. “U-Um, thank you for the tour.”

His brows pulled together. “There’s a lot more to see.” He nodded toward a spot behind me. “The gallery opens onto the roof. On a clear day, you can see the church spires along the River Ness.”

“Maybe later.” I forced a smile, hoping I didn’t sound as jumpy as I felt. “I think I just need a little more sleep. My body’s still adjusting to the time difference.” And a near-constant state of arousal. “I know this is a working trip, and I promise I’m not trying to—”

“Chloe,” he interrupted, his tone gently chiding. “You take the afternoon to rest. Lach and I will catch up with you around dinnertime.”

“All right.” I swallowed the Mr. Murray that wanted to slip from my tongue. Things were safer between us before he became Alec.

Before the dream.

I had to forget it. I had to permanently ban the images of entwined male bodies and rock hard cocks from my mind.

But as I placed my hand on his firm forearm and let him escort me from the gallery, I was almost certain there was no putting that genie back in the bottle.

Chapter Five

LACHLAN

As I entered the castle, there were a half dozen reasons for my bad mood. Chief among them was the need to use the front door—something I generally avoided, given it took twice as long as simply leaping to the balcony from the ground. But Chloe’s window overlooked the same courtyard, and I couldn’t risk her seeing me do something no ordinary man should be able to do.

Miss Drexel was another reason for the displeasure that snaked through my veins in a steady flow I’d been unable to stem.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Normally, the moon’s call was so strong it blotted out all other thought. Held in its silver grip, I was free to drift across the sky, my mind unburdened by the weight of years of fruitless searching.

But as night had fallen and the stars winked overhead, my thoughts had returned again and again to Chloe. Although my body still hummed from our shared passion, it was the aftermath that kept invading my head. It was I who carried her from the plane to the car, and I who held her on the winding drive from the airfield to the castle. I would have transferred her to Alec, but she’d curled against me like a sleepy kitten, her body warm and her pale hair smelling of jasmine.

That damn scent clung to me still, and it had filled my lungs as I dipped over the city I could obliterate with a sigh.

So clueless, humans. It was the great gift of their species. They could pretend they held dominion over the planet.

Just as long as they didn’t look up.

That was why Alec had to be wrong. Chloe couldn’t be our mate. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to saddle us with such a fragile creature. One so easily broken or stolen.

Of course, fate had been screwing our species over for more than a thousand years.

Unlike the other Firstborn Races, our kind didn’t have any alliances. The Great Treaty, signed by our king millennia ago, was the closest we had to any guarantee of a peaceful coexistence with the other magic wielders in the world. But that agreement was mostly one-sided, and our enemies were forever looking for ways to strike without breaching its terms. Any mate of ours would be a target.

A human mate would be a burden.

And yet I couldn’t keep Chloe out of my head. Hadn’t been able to since she walked into my office three months ago. She was an alluring mix of temptress and innocent. Her features were delicate, almost doll-like, with wide, blue eyes and smooth skin and a silly dab of a nose. But all that blushing prettiness stopped at her mouth. Plump and pink, her lips were made for closed doors and black silk sheets. And she had this habit of nibbling the lower one when she was deep in thought or perplexed about something.

Her body was just as distracting. She dressed her supple curves in work-appropriate clothes, but no amount of fabric could hide those long legs and firm tits. The nip of a waist and rounded ass. I wanted to sink into her heat. To feel her pussy ripple around my shaft while her siren’s mouth begged for more.

And that was exactly what I’d planned on doing while she was in Scotland, assuming she wanted it. Which she did, of course. Alec was right about that. But he was wrong about her being ours. One questionable bout of telepathy was hardly proof of a mate bond. I didn’t need to, as he put it, “get to know her better.” I needed to bed her—preferably with Alec along for the ride—until I got her out of my system. Then she could be on her way and Alec and I could go back to searching for our true mate.

And we could put the inconvenience of Chloe Drexel behind us forever.

“Where’s Chloe?” I asked as I strode into my bedroom and saw Alec sprawled in one of the chairs in the sitting area.

He pulled his gaze from the flat screen TV on the opposite wall, where a rugby match was in full swing. “And a good evening to you, too, Lachlan.”

I sat on the sofa and looked him over. His hair was damp, the red-gold strands appearing almost brown. His bare feet were propped on an ottoman, and he wore nothing but a pair of black sweatpants. The table next to him held a glass ashtray full of cigarette butts.

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