Page 204 of Untamed

“No,” I murmur, dipping to kiss the corner of her mouth. “I think you’re already obsessed.”

She laughs quietly, then lifts her gaze to mine, teasing but sharp. “This coming from you, bestia?” There’s a spark in her eyes. “You’re the one who watches me like I hung the stars… and then guards them like you’re afraid someone else might touch the light.”

Fuck.

I stare at her a moment, the smirk slipping from my lips. Because she’s not wrong. She sees too much. Always has.

“Maybe I am obsessed,” I admit, voice low. “You think I’d let just anyone wake me up with kisses and a pout?”

She shakes her head, smiling prettily and rolls me onto my back. “No. You’d growl at them and break their jaw.”

I hum, dragging her closer until she’s tangled fully on top of me. Her skin is warm, her weight grounding. “Exactly.”

She rests her chin on her hand, watching me from just inches away. The teasing quiets in her expression, replaced by something softer.

“Still think you should stay.”

I kiss the tip of her nose. “I would. But unlike you, I actually have places to be.”

That earns me a pout, followed by an eye roll. “And whose fault is that? You’re the one who got me blacklisted so I can’t find a job, remember?” Her words hang in the air a second too long. “Thanks to you I’m stuck in that manor, staring at the same walls, trying not to lose my mind from boredom.”

I ease back just enough to see her face. “You want something to do?”

She nods. “I don’t just want it, Ares.I need it. I feel like I’m just floating around the manor like a ghost.”

There’s a pause. One beat. Then another.

And that’s when I say it.

“I might have something for you.” She narrows her eyes, instantly suspicious.

“What kind of something?”

“There’s an opening at my hotel,” I say carefully. “Front desk. Good hours. Decent pay. You’d be around people, doing actual work. No ties to the family’s dirt.”

Her brows lift with intrigue. “And this isn’t just a convenient way to keep me somewhere you can watch me?”

I don’t answer that.

Because itis.But it’s also more than that.

It’s the only way I know to give her a little freedom without risking her safety or someone taking her from me.

“It’s a real job,” I say simply. “You’d be earning just as you wanted.”

Her expression softens. “You’d be you,” I add, quieter now. “Just… a little safer.”

She studies me for a moment, then says, “Do I get a uniform?”

I raise a brow. “What kind of uniform are we talking about?”

Her lips twitch. “One you’ll hate. Obviously.”

I shake my head and kiss her again slowly, still smiling.

“Keep talking,” I murmur, my lips brushing the corner of hers, “and I’ll put you in a sexy maid’s outfit. Make you clean around here while I sit back and watch.”

Her laughter spills out, soft, breathy, muffled against my mouth. She presses a kiss to my jaw, then bites down lightly on my shoulder just to be a brat.

---