He was just playing the part. She reigned in her lust. “We don’t have to play this charade anymore. They’re gone now.”
“They’ve been gone for a while.”
Damn, how had he known? Now her heat was due to her embarrassment. “I thought they might still be watching.” She pulled off the handkerchief, revealing his moss green eyes and all that swirling mist deep inside them. “So how much of this was…”
“Real?”
“I was going to say acting. It was all supposed to be acting.”
“Yeah, it was. So, what happened?” His question threw her. He’d been as swept away as she had. “I’m going to guess the same thing that happened while we were hosing off.”
Gods, that. She shook that thought from her mind. “Before I release you, I want to get one thing straight: we might be stuck in this pretend relationship, but we are not going there. Uh, again. I’ll have a hard enough time living this down, and that’s if I just chalk it up to a lust thing.”
“Because you already fell for the wrong guy once. The cretin we met at Ernie’s, right?”
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t fall for him. But yes, that was bad judgment. You would be even worse judgment.”
“Me, worse than that guy?” He rocked his head back against the wood board. “Come on, you’re killing me. What about my prestige? And class?”
“Not only are you my family’s enemy, but you’re also an outsider. And a Deuce. That makes you much worse.” And most importantly, she felt the zing with Kade, something she’d never felt with Bren.
His expression sobered. “You’re right. I am worse. The totally wrong person for you. This is a fling…theoretically speaking.” He lowered his voice. “And we are only putting on a show. Let me down now.” He’d banked the mist that reflected a Deuce’s emotional state.
Did he mean she wasn’t good enough for him? If he was, at least he’d put it a nicer way. She pressed the release buttons on the cuffs, and he winced as he pulled his hands together and rubbed his arms. She knelt to release his ankles, her eyes taking in his too-snug black boxer briefs and then his muscular thighs dusted with golden hairs.
In a flash, he had his dagger in his hand. While her Dragon wanted to Catalyze in response, she held it back. Kade held the knife at an angle, turning it back and forth, and then it morphed back into a tattoo at his arm.
He turned to study the cuffs. “Not a taser-like action that stifles the magick for a set time then. Only during contact.” His fingers traced the threads; the golden thread was buried inside.
If it became known that they had threads of Lucifer’s Gold, someone would steal them. Or confiscate them in the name of the Guard. Their government was the only entity allowed to legally hold the substance. It came from deep within the earth of Lucifera and, even as the island was sinking, the inhabitants saved some of it when they escaped to Florida.
“If you guess, I’ll have to kill you,” she said, moving the wood block out of the way. “Let’s get back to the mystery at hand. Which for me is what were you looking for in my workshop.”
“Can I get dressed first?” He grabbed up the jeans lying on the grass nearby.
She’d liked being in control of him. A lot. He’d submitted to her, and that still trickled through her bloodstream. Even though he was already pulling up his pants, she said, “I suppose.”
“Sounds like you want me to stay naked.”
“Do not.”
He approached her, chest still bare, stopping inches from her. “If you were mad crazy in love with me, sounds like we wouldn’t be able to have a relationship because of your family.”
“I wouldn’t be mad crazy in love with you.”
“But if you were…”
“I’d catch hell. It wouldn’t be worth the dissension.” She nodded toward the wall. “Or being strung up there.”
“When I signed on to be a Vega, I knew a serious relationship was out of the question. But you didn’t sign on for something like that. It’s not right for your family to deny you a relationship or give you a hard time about who you choose to be with.”
“I know it’s not fair, but it’s just how it is.” She looked at the beauty of the marsh and swamp beyond. “There are obligations that go with the good of being in a big family.”
“Like keeping the books when what you really want to do is make jewelry. You’re good at it. I saw your work while I was being nosy.” When she shot him a look, he said, “Hey, I thought you’d rather me be in your workshop than in your bed.”
She blinked at the memory of that.
He took her chin in his hand. “I know keeping peace is important, but every time you sacrifice what you want, you cut bits and pieces off your soul until there’s nothing left.”
