Ashar sat beside her, calm as ever, thumb tracing a pattern on the ridge of the paper towel package.
She finally asked, “So is that a demon thing or a you thing?”
“What?”
“That whole alpha-shadow-lurking thing you did in the store. You stared down a man in Crocs like he was seconds from dragging him to hell for breathing near me.”
And I kind of liked it, Blair thought.
He tilted his head, thoughtful. “What if it’s both?”
“Should I be worried?”
“Are you?”
Blair didn’t answer.
Ashar leaned in, just a fraction. “I’m not trying to scare you, Blair. But I do protect what’s mine.”
Her breath hitched.
“I’m not yours,” she said. But even to her own ears, it didn’t sound like she believed it.
He didn’t argue, didn’t claim her, didn’t correct her, either.
She started the car, hands tight on the wheel. “Just so we’re clear, this doesn’t mean anything.”
“Of course not.”
“And I’m still not catching feelings.”
He smirked. “You keep saying that.”
She didn’t respond. Didn’t look at him again either. Because if she did, she might admit something her heart already knew:
That maybe, just maybe, she didn’t mind being watched.
Not if it was him doing the watching.
7
Mine, In Every Language
The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. Not just the protectiveness, but the way he claimed her.
The raw certainty in Ashar’s gaze said,Touch her, and die.It had scorched the air between them, curling in her gut like heat and danger and something a bit unholy. It made her thighs press against each other in the passenger seat of his car. It made her remember the way his voice had gone dark and soft when he said,You’re mine.
She’d laughed it off at the time, teasing, deflecting.
But now?
Now she couldn’t stop replaying it in her head, like a song with a hook that made her ache.
The second they walked through her apartment door, she tossed the bag of coffee on the counter like it owed her money. Her hands were shaking, but she wasn’t cold.
Ashar closed the door behind them and leaned against it, arms crossed. Watching her.
His eyes still burned, low, steady embers that glowed like theycould smolder forever if she let them.
