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“Fine. Have some additional enforcers trail her,” Jagger said. “And we can take shifts with her.”
“Yeah. She’ll listen to us if we tell her she’s at risk of more than just my asshole relatives. And she loves being with us, anyway.” Lex tapped the side of his glass, looking over the room layout on the table. “Speaking of them again, I don’t have the mental energy to deal with any of this planning right now. Let’s take a break.”
“Fine.” I pushed back from the table. “Let’s meet back in an hour. I’m going for a walk.”
Jagger stayed in his spot while Lucas, Lex, and I got up. Lex walked behind me into the hall. I expected him to go in his own direction, but he fell alongside me. His silence and the slight furrow in his brows suggested that he was going to ask me something, probably something with the potential to irritate us both.
“What?” I snapped, tucking my hands into my pockets. I had to get ahead of his question.
“We need to break the spell,” he said, stopping at the end of the hallway. He didn’t have to elaborate on what spell he was talking about. “It’s putting a strain on my relationship with Arden. And yours, too, I’m guessing.”
I let out a breath through my nose and looked down the vast, empty hallway. Talking about keeping Arden safe ignited my desire to have her to myself. I still didn’t want to share her so intimately.
But the intimacy was the problem. Pretending that she wasn’t beautiful and tempting wasn’t working anymore. I was disciplined, but when she walked around in snug jeans or a top with just a touch of cleavage, my walls started to crumble under the pressure.
“It is putting a strain on things,” I finally said.
“Not touching her is getting to you, too?” The corner of Lex’s mouth crept up in a smile. I didn’t answer, but by the smug satisfaction on his face, I didn’t have to. “Come on, Flint. Break the spell. All of us would be so good together, no barriers or jealousy. Think about how good just a regular kiss would feel after being denied for so long.”
I’d kill for one kiss, but the idea of her kissing Lex the same way I wanted to kiss her…
I pushed the thought aside before my chest tightened any more.
“I’ll think about it,” I said, walking away. Enforcers opened the big doors at the end of the hallway, and I walked through. “I’ll see you in an hour.”
Lex groaned in frustration behind me but didn’t follow.
Chapter43
Jagger
The weather outside was unusually cold for this time of year, so the thought of getting out of this bed and dealing with the shitstorm we had to face later today made me want to light the whole palace on fire.
Maybe that was the best route forward—burn down the whole palace so our families couldn’t stay here. Everyone was arriving later today, and the dread hovering over Flint, Lex, and I had gotten thicker and thicker.
I buried my face into Arden’s hair and pulled her closer to me. She stirred, yawning into her pillow. Most mornings, she pressed her ass back against me, and we had a quick fuck before we went off to our respective duties—her to the coffee shop, me to the office I shared with Lex and Flint.
But today, she tried to roll out of bed.
“Where do you think you’re going, Little Flower?” I asked, grabbing her by the hips and dragging her back to me.
She laughed. “To the bathroom. Like a normal person in the morning.”
“Fine, I’ll allow it.” I let her go, and she padded across the room. My gaze lingered on her panty-clad ass until she shut the door.
I rolled onto my back, then sat up all the way. She was only one room away, but her absence was palpable deep inside me. I sensed her all the time—her moods, her general distance—which kept me sane, but being in the same room as her felt best. Like everything was in order.
I raked both hands through my hair, messing it up even more. Saying I loved Arden was like saying lava was hot—technically true, but it didn’t come close to encompassing the intensity of it.
Now I had to inflict my family on her because of this stupid fucking eclipse. My girl was tough as nails, but even the idea that someonemighthurt her almost made me shift in rage. My extended family was just as shitty as Lex’s—maybe even more so—and they were more than capable of hurting Arden’s feelings.
“You okay?” Arden asked, coming out of the bathroom. She’d thrown on one of my t-shirts that I’d left hanging in the bathroom.
“Just thinking about our families coming.” I put one arm out, and Arden crawled back into bed, snuggling against my side.
“I figured.” She played with my beard. “You’ve had that gross, heavy feeling for a while now.”
“It sucks.” I let my head fall back against the headboard. “My family will be arriving around noon, and they’ll need a few hours to settle in the guest quarters. Then we should introduce you to them as my mate, maybe over a drink. I’ll definitely need one.”
