Page 55 of Power Shift
“I think if we get married, we could have more than one liaison.” He grinned. “We could have liaisons multiple times a day.”
Everything tightened inside of me. “Well, my point stands. And Cernunnos outlawed forced marriages, so once again I’m telling you no.”
Caelan rose in a lithe movement and held his hand out. “You’re right, but the Lords have not given up. They’re wary of you and your involvement with the Chimera.”
I wrung my shirt out and grimaced. “If Finn would stop coming around, I’d have no involvement with him.” Or anyone else, I didn’t add.
“Walk with me,” Caelan commanded.
I bristled at his tone, but I wanted to get out of my wet clothes, so I dutifully followed him back to the house. Once we were inside, I tossed him a pair of joggers and an old t-shirt from the small pile of clothes I’d kept after my divorce. They wouldn’t fit him well, but he’d be covered.
Caelan caught them and frowned. “More of your…husband’s?”
“Would you rather be naked?” I snapped.
A slow grin curved his mouth. “Yes.”
I couldn’t stop my snort. “No! Get dressed. I’m going to get changed.”
I hid my grin at Caelan’s loud sigh of disappointment .
When I returnedto the living room, Caelan was dressed and parked on the couch with a fresh cup of coffee in his hands and one for me sitting on the table.
“Is there anything else you want to tell me?” he asked as I curled into the opposite chair.
“Why would there be?”
His stare pinned me in place like an unfortunate bug in a science experiment. “No woman has ever been so resistant to my considerable charms.”
My brows flicked up. “How unfortunate for you.”
“This naturally means you are hiding something.”
I counted to five in my head to stop myself from commanding one of my plants to stab him in the kidney. “And if it does? Are you not keeping secrets from me, Lord?”
His eyes darkened. “Yes, but I am a Lord. Secrets are a job requirement.”
“And I am a person who doesn’t divulge things about myself until I am in a committed, loving relationship, and I am secure in my trust of the other person.”
Caelan studied me for a long moment. “And yet you resist this when I offer it to you.”
I blinked, struck stupid by his words. “You have never offered this to me,” I said slowly. “You’ve offered me sex, and you’ve offered me marriage.”
The Shifter Lord sipped his coffee, a slight furrow between his brows. “I agree the sex offer doesn’t include what you need, but why wouldn’t the marriage offer?”
A crack of laughter escaped me. “Because you’re offering so another Lord will think twice about doing the same thing!”
“So?”
My fingers tightened around my coffee mug, the urge to throw it at his smug face burning like a supernova in my veins. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Have you ever had a long-term girlfriend?”
He frowned at the abrupt change in tactic. “Why?”
“Just answer the question before I plug you with a face full of ceramic.”
Caelan grinned. “I wondered how long it would take you to get violent.”
“Caelan!”
