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Her hair hung forward over her shoulder at the front so that she showed a lot of skin to the camera while maintaining a level of modesty at the same time. Notsomething that every player who came into the club wanted, but she must have set her limits and he’d held to them.
My grudging respect for the swan shifter raised a precarious inch.
My gaze drifted back to Lux. Luscious curves flared from the dark denimjeans she wore as her unofficial uniform. The gentle curve of her breast was visible to one side, and a line tattoo of what looked like a strip of color decorated her spine. A brolga burst into flight from its center, its wings and beak extending out from the edges of the ink as it launched across her back.
The sight left me breathless and on the verge of bursting all at once. I shifted on Rafe’s office chair, adjusting myself and dispelling the urge to rub one out until I creamed my jeans at the sight ofher like that.
James set out four black cases on a low table, flicking the tops open. Beside him lay a black heap of … something. I frowned. What the hell did he have in mind?
But as I watched his work my respect for him grew, alongside my appreciation for his art. He inserted piercing needles in neat rows along her outstretched arms and along her sides, curving them in gentle arcs that would have appeased her OCD. A single long, black feather attached to the base of each.
The finished product was nothingshort of breathtaking on an already stunning canvas.
He’d given her wings.
By the time he finished, I sat back in my chair, my mind thrumming with opportunity.
“It’s not nice to watch a closed room, you know.” Rafe leaned against the doorframe of his office, his arms folded over his chest.
“Security purposes.” I glanced up at him, then back to the screens, unable to take my attention off her. “You heading home?”
“Soon. I like to make sure everyone is safe and healthy before I close up.”
My eyes narrowed as James took a series of photos on her phone from every angle. “You don’t trust me?”
“If she says no, you back off.” Rafe entered the room and stood on the opposite side of his desk.
That did get a rise out of me.
My head flew up, my attention-span broken. “The fuck, man? We’ve worked this place for a few years, ten in other jobs together, and you think I’d hurt her?”
“I think you care more than you admit to yourself, and that makes you a potential danger. Potential,” Rafe repeated, raising one finger. “Seriously, give me a reason to kick your ass. I’m aching for it after last time.”
“I’ll give you something to ache for.”Like a boot up the ass.I snorted and waved him off. “Go home to your family, old man.” Rafe hesitated on the other side of the desk. I sighed and waited, prompting when he held his peace. “What?”
“She’s fragile, Killian. More than you know.”
I gave him my full attention. “So tell me. I’m here.”
“Not my story to share.” He backed off, hands slid deep into his pockets. “Ask her. She’ll tell you. If she trusts you. Party tomorrow. Make sure you’re here on time.”
“Will do.” There was no way I’d miss her party. We’d been in planning mode for ages. But now those plans had changed, at least for me.
I stared at the empty doorway long afterhe’d left. I didn’t return my gaze to the screens. Nor did I watch her run from the building all the way home from the office window.
My back turned to the window, I flicked off the security monitors and scrolled through my phone until I found what I searched for. A smile spread over my face. She might not take to my offer of training her, at least for now, but she might like what I had in mind.
“You want to fly, Little Bird? I’ll help you soar.”
Ignoring the lightening sky behind me, I began a new plancentered around a little bird I wanted to call mine.
****
My armsached with the constant pounding, but I didn’t falter in my rhythm of beating up the reinforced punching bag Josiah hung up for me at Reserve. Left, right. Jab. Spin. Elbow. Knee. Another knee. A haymaker followed by an extra elbow and an uppercut for fun.
Breath and sweat flew around me in a maelstrom of excess energy. Once my arms were jelly I started on my legs, working my quads, bouncing and pushing the bag forward until my barrage propelled it to be just shy of horizontal from the ground.
By the timeI’d completed a few spinning kicks, I’d worked out I wasn’t alone in the gym. The thought pissed me off and gave me a stupid little warm glow at the same time. Throwing everything I had at my stoic opponent, I attacked it, wishing I could take out my woes on a real competitor, but Rafe hadn’t been available to sub in as my punching bag.
