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“Outside the main gate, yes.” I frowned at him. “You seem to be in a bit of a hurry today.”
He grimaced. “Yeah, sorry, but I have a ton of work on my plate—tax time and all.”
An honest enough—and believable—answer, so why did unease wash through me again? Or was the strengthening connection with Azriel giving rise to my flashes of doubt?
“Are you sure you can dismantle the electronic surveillance and any other measures they might have in place?” I asked as he rose.
“Yes.” He leaned forward and dropped another kiss on my lips. This time, however, it held a little more warmth. “Maybe once this is all over and we both have more time, we can spend a week or two together in bed.”
I snorted softly. “I have a café to run, remember?”
“And I have a well-paid but demanding job. But once the tax-time madness is over, I’ll willingly cast it aside to lose myself in the delights of your flesh for a lengthy period.” His sudden grin was decidedly cheeky. “And do not try to tell me you would not do the same. I feel the anticipation in your thoughts.”
“You know,” I said drily, “it’d be nice if both of you would just let me keep my thoughts to myself.”
“Sorry, that’s not going to happen,” Lucian commented, echoing Azriel’s earlier remark. “I shall see you tonight, my sweet.”
And with that, he walked out. I watched until the door slammed shut behind hi
m, then shook wistful, somewhat hungry thoughts from my mind and glanced at Azriel.
“What are you going to do?”
“That very much depends on what you plan to do.”
An odd tightness still swam through him, and I frowned. “Azriel, Lucian is on our side.”
“For the moment, it would appear so.”
“Then why not give the distrust and anger up, because it’s fucking annoying.”
Something flickered through his eyes. Surprise perhaps. “I was not aware that it was affecting you so. I shall try to be more circumspect.”
Which meant even more contained. I wasn’t entirely sure I was happy about that, because as much as his doubts about Lucian irritated me, I couldn’t deny the fact that I rather enjoyed getting these odd snatches of thought and emotion from him.
“You can’t have it both ways,” he commented softly. “The link between us will continue to strengthen the longer I am near. If I manage to contain the seepage of what I might be feeling in regard to the Aedh, then I will contain it all.”
“So just how strong will this link get?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Liar, I thought, and again saw that flicker in his eyes. But all he said was, “You have six hours until we meet the Aedh. What do you intend to do?”
I let out a huge yawn that basically answered his question, and said, “What do you think?”
A small smile touched his lips. “Then I shall guard.”
“What, you’ve got nothing better to do than watch me sleep?”
“Apparently not.” The mirth died. “Rest, Risa. You need it.”
My name sounded like chocolate on his lips—sweet and rich. I gave myself a mental slap and spun around, heading for the bed. I stripped and climbed in, not looking at him but at the same time very aware of his presence. I closed my eyes and felt exhaustion sweep over me. Even so, that awareness had curiosity—along with a whole lot of other things I didn’t want to dwell on—stirring.
“Don’t you ever sleep, Azriel?”
“I have no need to. We are not governed by the restrictions of flesh as you are.”
“But you’re wearing flesh, and you did say that the longer you remain in this form, the more dangerous it becomes.”
