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“Now, if that’s everything you needed to see me about, you’re excused,” Rafe says, gesturing toward the door with a sweep of his hand.
Elio shifts toward the door, but Azarius doesn’t move. He’s staring Rafe down, his hands balled into fists, and I wonder for a moment what’s going through his mind.
Luckily for my curiosity, it doesn’t take him long to speak up.
“With all due respect, sir, I can’t do that,” Azarius says.
Rafe straightens and his form seems to grow in height, but it could also be my imagination. My mind is running rampant.
“Excuse me?” Rafe’s voice is a threat that makes my throat close up.
“I’m claiming her as my mate,” Azarius says, and despite his crystal-clear words, they hit my ears in a jumbled mess.
Did he just saymate?
Rafe chuckles once and shakes his head in disbelief. “The rules of monsters do not apply to humans, Azarius. You know this. Now, please, stop wasting both of our times.”
I expect Az to step down or retract his statement, but he doesn’t. He’s not backing down—which might be one of the sexiest things I’ve seen him do yet—and turns to look at me.
“She might be a human, but she has monster blood in her veins. She survived the portal trip, and she was healed by the frex fruit. I don’t know her family lineage, but I am confident enough to claim her as my own.”
Rafe’s red eyes narrow on his employee. “And if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not.”
The stare down that follows is absolutely terrifying. Rafe’s power thrums through the room, and I can swear the air is vibrating. If he wanted to, I have no doubt Rafe could kill us all in no time flat. A brute display of power isn’t needed to know how threatening Rafe is. I can tell by the way Elio and Azarius carry themselves.
I meet Elio’s gaze and find his eyes wide with terror. So much for Azarius letting him take the lead.
It’s Rafe that breaks the silence. “Fine. Claim her then.”
Again, no one moves, but the slight sag in Azarius’s shoulders conveys his relief. Or defeat. His expression is impossible to read.
“Right now?”
A challenging smile appears on Rafe’s face. “Yes. If those are your intentions, claim her. Or stop wasting my fucking time.”
Azarius turns on his heel and meets my gaze, his jaw slack like he’s going to say something, but I know what Rafe’s implying without an explanation.
He expects Azarius to claim me.
As his mate.
In front of him.
I know it wasn’t Az’s intention, and that he was just trying to save my life, but the thought of fucking him with onlookers isn’t how I expected things to happen.
Dinner first, maybe.
Or at least a nice date.
But it looks like we’re fast-forwarding things a bit. He is definitely going to owe me after this if we both make it out alive.
He steps toward me, his eyes hooded with lust as he meets my gaze. Despite the situation, butterflies erupt in my stomach when he touches his hand to my cheek, and the room around us melts away. He leans in close, his lips brushing my ear.
“You can say no,” he says, his voice a low growl. “But I’d prefer if you lived.”
Well good. At least we’re both on the same page.
