Page 33 of Shift of Morals
He sighed. “If it were only that simple, Evie. I might be a Lord, but I answer to the Council. They felt it was time to take a bride, and Gianna was chosen.”
I eyed him. “You can’t choose your own bride?”
He glanced down at me, sparkling gold glowing in his eyes. “Are you offering?”
His words made my stomach lurch. And not with horror. But there was so much I couldn’t tell him. He’d never forgive me once he knew what I was. My mouth opened and snapped shut. I glared at him. “Not funny.”
“I’m not trying to be funny.” He grinned. “But it is fun to needle you.”
“There are women out there who would love you, Caelan.” I believed that one hundred percent.
We rounded a corner, and I found myself jerked off my feet and tucked into a stone corner, Caelan’s hard body pressed to mine. “There are no cameras here,” he whispered, one hand pressed to the curve of my hip.
My heart thundered in my chest. “Even so,” I said, my voice unsteady, “you have a fiancée not too far away. I’m sure she won’t approve.”
He dipped his head, his mouth close to my ear. “Gianna doesn’t give a shit what I do. She only wants power.”
I pressed against his chest. “I won’t be anyone’s mistress.”
“I’m not here to ask you anything of the sort. I’m here to warn you. The Council is watching you. They think you’re dangerous, Evie.” His hand tightened. “And so do I.”
“Then why do you keep hiring me for shit?” I hissed. “Just leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone!”
“We both know that won’t happen.” He bent closer, his teeth closing over my ear lobe gently.
My breath caught as my neck arched, seeking more of him.
“You are in my blood so deep I can’t even burn you out,” he whispered.
His words set a fire deep in my soul. “Caelan. This is madness.” I pushed him off as anger settled inside me. “If we’re to work together, I need you to stop antagonizing me.”
His eyebrows went up. “Antagonizing, Evie? You offered me your throat in surrender. You did not seem antagonized at all.”
Color burned on my cheeks. “Ass,” I hissed. I smoothed down my dress, only to notice two more flowers had bloomed on the bodice.Traitor, I thought. “Tell me how I’m in danger.”
“The Council believes you are more than you claim. And they still think you’re tangled in the rogue magic attacks.”
I sighed. “I thought we were past that. Those were divine in nature.” Notice I said nothing about the belief concerning my bloodline. I wasn’t touching that with a ten-foot pole. The less everyone knew, the better.
“The Lords have good instincts.” He took a step back, outside of the alcove and waited for me. “And so do I.”
A chill ran down my spine as I rejoined him in the hall, glancing in both directions. “Even though there aren’t cameras in that alcove, won’t it seem suspicious we both walked out of the same place at the same time?”
“Simone will take care of it.”
I winced. “I don’t think your Omega is my biggest fan right now.”
Caelan’s eyes grew stormy. “Simone is not a fan of my situation. If things were different, I suspect you’d be…what do the humans call it?”
“Uh. Besties?”
He snapped his fingers. “Yes! Besties. You’d be besties.”
“I already have one of those, but she can be a second bestie.”
We started for the door again. “Simone doesn’t like second place.”
I laughed. “We can settle the bestie semantics once your situation is settled. Two months and you’ll be a married man.”
