I choked on my tea, making him laugh. “Gods. You are such an asshole.”
Ethan grinned. The sight made my stomach tumble. He really was a gorgeous bastard. “Come, Moira. Stay with me for a little while. Help me while I help you.”
His eyes had warmed into the color of a starless winter night. He leaned forward, balancing the teacup on his knee. “You’ll have all the warm sweaters you could ever want.”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
He set his mug on the counter and reached for my hand. “Whatever you want, Moira. Write it up and send it. Just say yes.”
His palm was warm and calloused. When he touched me, I wanted to agree to everything, and I suspected the bastard knew it. I tugged my hand back. “You might regret those words.”
One side of his lips tugged into a half smile. “I won’t regret anything if you say yes.”
He picked his mug back up, went to the teapot and poured another cup. With a jaunty salute, he opened the door and left.
It took me another minute to realize he’d stolen my mug along with the rest of my damn tea.
Chapter
Thirty-One
Ben waited for me at the edge of his property, opening the wards long enough to allow me entrance. Rowan had grumbled about me going by myself, but I’d felt Danu creeping around the edge of the wards, so I called in Dad.
Rowan had done his best to shore up the magic around Ben’s Keep, but Ben’s magic was different from other shifters, and Rowan’s tweaks didn’t take as well as they should have.
Ben and I had sort of dated once upon a time. I could have lost my heart to him, had he allowed it, but like Caelan, he couldn’t accept me as I was until it was too late.
His eyebrows rose when he saw I was alone. “I’m surprised not to see Rowan at your heels.”
The words were teasing, but there was a deeper meaning behind them. “Don’t get any ideas. Rowan and I are just fine.”
Ben’s smile was a flash of teeth. “You look good, Evie.”
“Thanks. No one has tried to kill me for a few days.”
The Lord laughed. “Come. I’ll take you to the fae. They’ve set up a barrier that’s become quite annoying.” He rolled his eyes. “Fortunately for us, their numbers are too low to block all our entrances and exits.”
I stopped him with a hand on his arm. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to refresh the spell first.”
Ben inclined his head. “Everything alright?”
“Danu is testing borders again. I don’t feel any danger here, but your call concerned me.”
“We haven’t had anyone powerful enough to break through the wards yet, but they’re testing them. Every time they do, they weaken just a little. I don’t want to keep summoning the mages. If anything happens, I want them at full power.”
“Fair enough. I’ll shore everything up first, then escort your unwelcome guests away.”
“Will anywhere do?”
“Do you have any patches of flowers?” I always preferred working within blooming flora, but no one had ever asked me before.
The edges of his eyes crinkled in a stunning smile. Ben was a beautiful man. Tall, built like a lumberjack and powerful, not just as a shifter, but as a healer. I met him at Caelan’s Keep when he worked for the Pack. He never wanted to be a Lord, but when Finn, the male who turned me into a Chimera, killed Halvar and took his place for months, there was a vacancy only Ben was powerful enough to fill. Plus, Caelan saw the relationship building between me and Ben and had ushered him out with little fanfare.
A shitty thing to do, but all the Lords played for Keeps, and Ben hadn’t pursued me once he left. Not until later, but by then it was too late.
Ben’s lips tugged up. “I do, actually. One of our more sentimental shifters planted them after your assistance all those months ago.”
I grinned from ear to ear. “Pax?”
