It’s not that I’m shy about having diabetes. It’s been a part of me for my entire adult life. I simply refuse to be defined by it, and sometimes people do that when they learn of your diagnosis. They tend to treat you with kid gloves, and I don’t want, nor need, that.
There’s much more to me than my broken pancreas.
Sensing she’s not going to convince me, Tilly changes the topic. “What do you have planned for tomorrow?”
“Uhm…” Everything has been such a race up until now that I didn’t consider what the next few days will look like. Was it only yesterday that I went into work and was rushed out again? “I guess I’ll settle into my new room and read? Unless there’s someone in town who needs some help around their shop?”
Arran studies me out of the corner of his eye while he fidgets with the fabric of his kilt. I appreciate his attempt to look uninvested in my answer, but I’m hyperaware that he’s listening to every single syllable coming out of my mouth.
“Please find a project to keep yourself busy with,” Tilly says around a mouthful of potatoes. “You’re dangerous when you’re bored.”
“Why do you say that?” I ask, totally not thinking about taking up Vampire Anatomy 101 as my next hobby.
Pointing her fork at me, Tilly raises a brow. “You get big ideas and go off on life-altering tangents if you have enough time. Remember that one summer you decided you wanted live music but no bands were playing in our town, so you contacted different music agencies and convinced them to send bands and somehow organized a whole festival?”
“Oh yeah. That was fun.” I didn’t originally plan for it to get so big, but once I started talking to the agencies, I guess I made a fairly convincing argument for them to grace us with their music. They agreed to come perform, but only if someone took care of the logistics and planning. And that just seemed like the perfect challenge that would keep me out of trouble for the summer.
“You want to organize something for Starry Hill?” Bodin asks as he exchanges a quick look with Arran.
I give the males an apologetic smile. “I couldn’t. I won’t be here long enough to see it through.” Before anyone else gets any more ideas on how I should spend my time, I go on, “Maybe boredom is exactly what I need. I’ll be able to catch up on myTBR. I can go swimming in Kraken Cove, go for long walks with Anita. I might even start a new hobby.”
“See,” Tilly says, bumping her shoulder with Bodin’s. “That's the part that can get dangerous.”
Chapter 7
Arran
“After you,” I say as I open the castle door, setting Audrey’s suitcase down and balancing her rather interesting box in my other arm.
“Why? Want an opportunity to stare at my ass?” Audrey asks with that familiar red-lipped smirk as she comes to a halt right in front of me, her dog sleeping soundly in the crook of her arm.
I stare down into Audrey’s luminous eyes, the brown a rich dark chocolate holding me captive with its inviting gleam as her pupils expand. There’s a tightening thread between us, an undeniable chemistry that’s getting harder to resist with every extra second in her company.
Wanting to play along with Audrey, I lift my shoulder in a shrug as I take a subtle step forward. “Would that be such a terrible sin?”
Audrey’s eyes brighten even further as she reaches up and twirls my shirt lace around her finger. “Definitely not.”
Our gazes lock and hold, my cock growing hard between us as I consider leaning down and kissing Audrey right here. Slowly, I lower my head, longing to drag my lips along her cheeks, her jaw, her neck, before claiming her mouth driving me closer to my biggest temptation.
Before I can do precisely that, Audrey pats my chest and winks at me. “Got to make you work for it at least.”
I’m left gaping as Audrey struts toward the central staircase, my eyes not missing a single sway of her slender hips and pert behind. There’s something so entirely enticing about Audrey. It’s not just that she’s strikingly beautiful, but there’s a confidence and playfulness in her that speaks to the man I once was, a very long time ago.
Before I grew tired of the countless goodbyes I had to say over the centuries, before I started keeping to myself and let the world pass by outside my castle, I used to enjoy interacting with others. I loved taking care of my clan, of overseeing the welfare of the tenants of my land, of settling disputes, and managing my land.
I enjoyed the day-to-day challenges life brought me, and there’s a quality in Audrey that’s sparking that desire in me again, to maybe peek out from behind my castle walls and experience life once more.
Part of me is scared, though, because Audrey won’t be staying long. And if I get addicted to the feeling of being alive again, to truly live within my Starry Hill community again, it will be that much harder to revert to who I’ve become.
Or, perhaps I could look at Audrey’s time with me in this castle as a wondrous gem, a tiny glimmer in my otherwise monotonous immortality. Something that I could one day look back on fondly, even if it hurts to remember.
Almost skidding to a halt at the foot of the stairs, Audrey pauses and places a hand on the safety barrier I built to protect Anita from injuring herself on the hard stone. “Is this a puppy gate?”
Ignoring my hardening cock and current existential predicament, I set Audrey’s box down and stride toward her. “Aye. I know it’s not much to look at, but I didn’t want you to worry about your pup.” I reach down and run a hand over Anita’s head. “She’s still so tiny and these stairs are big. I’d sleep better knowing she was safe, and I didn’t want you to be up worrying about her too.”
Audrey’s scent sweetens into something deliciously new as her eyes soften. “Arran, that’s really kind of you. Thank you.”
It’s the first time I’ve ever heard Audrey say my name, and I like it, maybe more than I should. Usually she resorts to calling me “stud,” and now I’m curious what else I could do to make her call me by my name again.
