Page 55 of Silk and Sirens

“Me? What are you doing?” I tucked the strands behind her ears, my other arm pulling her tighter against me despite the soaking wet towel. “Why the fuck were you drowning yourself?”

“I was meditating!”

“Underwater?”

“Oh my God …” she muttered, pushing weakly against me. “You can’t be here. Why does everyone think they have free access to my home?”

I held back a growl, my mind already racing on how I could secure her house. Letting her go, I allowed her to climb to her feet, the towel clutched like a life force to her chest. Which was amusing, considering only a few hours ago I’d had my face buried between her legs.

“If you’re caught, it ruins everything.”

I slowly rose to my full height, watching how her eyes widened a little. My shirt was sticking to my skin, sodden and uncomfortable.

“You’re going to tell me what you’ve gotten yourself into,” I said, demanding rather than asking.

Aeris’s nostrils flared, a flush of anger highlighting the fresh bruise blossoming on her cheekbone. “You do your job, and I’ll do mine.”

My eyes narrowed on the mark, my legs crossing the space in two steps. “What happened?” I asked, pinching her chin so I could angle her head better to the light.

She clenched her jaw, the seductress long gone. “Would you really care if I told you?”

“No,” I said quickly, even as rage burned through my veins.

The air between us vibrated, my pulse an insistent beat as I dragged my eyes slowly over her face. Her knuckles whitened on the towel, breath coming out in a rocky exhale that dragged my attention to her lips. The top one was slightly swollen, so I moved my thumb over it gently.

She flinched, and I frowned down at her. I hadn’t touched it hard, so why the fuck did she recoil?

“What are you doing?” she whispered, her voice a little strained as she tried to pull away. I didn’t let her. “Why are you here, Caden?”

“I’ve already told you⁠—”

“No,” she growled, the sound cute. “I don’t belong to you.”

I smiled, only because it always seemed to catch her off guard. “Why didn’t you kill my father?”

Aeris jerked herself from my grip. “Get out, Caden.” Turning to the mirror, she began to wring her hair out over the sink. “You’re going to get us both killed.”

Moving in behind her, I planted my hands each side of the counter and met her eyes in the reflection. “You said yourself you usually kill them, so why spare him?”

“Would you have preferred if I’d killed him?” she snapped, clearly clinging to anger. “Maybe then I wouldn’t owe Selene.”

“Was she the one that hit you?” I asked her, watching her emotions carefully flash across her features.

“No—”

“Then answer the fucking question.”

Letting out a sigh of frustration, she spun, still trapped by the cage of my arms. “Because I believed him when he told me he didn’t know what Selene had planned. That he was just the money man.”

“So you’re working for the woman that killed your sister?”

Aeris flinched once more, as if me knowing was a surprise. “Mira isn’t dead.” Another break in her armour.

I wanted to push, but it was clear she wasn’t willing to say anything more. At least not yet.

“Were you sent to seduce me?” I asked, changing tactics. Still watching her every move like I could memorise every twitch of her lip and flutter of her lashes.

Aeris let out a laugh, the sound wrapping around me. “Kissing you almost got me killed, and that was before that little stunt at Hex.” She tipped her head back, eyes flashing with anger. “If they find out you’re here, they’ll figure out I’m double crossing them, then it won’t only be my life they take.”