Page 56 of Power Shift
He sat back and studied me. “Fine. No. Not for any length of time.”
“What was the longest relationship you had?”
His forehead wrinkled in concentration. “Three months.”
“Would you have asked any of those women to marry you?”
“No,” he said with zero hesitation.
“Why not?”
He shook his head. “I don’t understand this line of questioning. Are you trying to get to an aha moment or something? That doesn’t seem like you, not in this capacity.”
I waited.
Caelan threw his hands up. “Because they never ticked my boxes. A Shifter Lord cannot marry just anyone, Evangeline. There are certain things a woman must possess to take a Lord as a spouse.”
“But what about Caelan?”
His lips tightened. “What about me?”
“Think of yourself as only a man. Would the man have asked any of those women to marry him? If he wasn’t a Lord or had any boxes he had to tick?”
“You are infuriating,” he muttered. “Like a godsdamn mosquito buzzing around my face and biting me over and over and I’m too slow to kill it.”
“Nice,” I said dryly.
He let out a growl, his stormy eyes flashing with hints of gold. “I’m not sure what you want from me here, but no, I would not have asked any of those women to marry me even if I wasn’t a Lord.”
“Those women were temporary distractions, then?”
“I’m going to strangle you slowly,” he snarled.
“I’m not asking because of jealousy or anything of the sort.” And it was true. The thought of him being with a ton of women made my stomach tight, but I held no claim over him.
“Yes. I knew I’d never marry any of them.”
“Then why on the gods’ green earth would you ask me to marry you if not for the reasons I said? We have no relationship other than my contracts with the Keep. We’ve never been on a date or gone to dinner without wanting to strangle each other. On what planet do you think that makes us compatible? Admit it, Caelan. You want me because of my power. You wantme because you see the other Lords coveting me. I’m in your territory and if I accept one of their offers, you will lose me. You see me as a boon to your own grip on this land, and if you secure my allegiance through marriage, you could be unstoppable.”
Caelan’s eyes narrowed. “You have a high opinion of yourself.”
I almost laughed. “You know I can stand toe to toe with you.”
“You haven’t seen what I can do, flower girl. I’ve always shown great restraint with you.”
I gave him a sharp smile. “Who says I haven’t done the same?”
A considering look stole over his face. “Told you I knew you were keeping secrets.”
“You aren’t denying anything I said.”
He sipped his coffee. “Because you aren’t wrong.”
Hurt stabbed me, a sharp knife in my gut. I fought to keep my expression neutral.
Caelan set his mug down and took mine from my hands. “But those are not the only reasons.”
“Gosh. The romance. It burns.”
