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“Why are you here tonight?” I question. “Explain it to me again.”
“I was here to save you from the criminals who were trying to steal from you. Also, I was worried that you’d be taken advantage of.”
A growl rumbles in my chest. “Miss Harper? Camila?”
“Yes…yes?” she answers hesitantly.
“You came here tonight to save me from some situation you thought was dire, but then put yourself in danger?”
“You’re safe and that’s what counts.”
I crook an eyebrow at her because I entirely disagree.
“But you did end up spending twenty million dollars,” she frets. “I feel really bad about that. My goal was to make sure you didn’t have to spend all of that money for no reason, but it happened anyways.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Well, as you can see, I’m not really one of the girls in the lineup. They’re all so beautiful and I still can’t believe I was even allowed in. I wasn’t planning on…I was only here to make sure you didn’t bid on someone who was part of that scam. I was here, basically undercover, to protect you.”
I look at her, stunned. “You’re here to make sure I don’t get a mate?”
Her brow furrows. “I…I was here to protect you.”
“But you’re the one who almost got kidnapped and tortured,” I explain. “I was always safe.”
She stamps a foot. “I had to try to help you.”
“But I've already told you the real reason I’m here is because I need to find my true mate. Remember, I'm not here to find a pleasure mate. I'm here to find a mate because I’m experiencing Voltare mating heat.”
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Tusk. Should I leave?”
I’m distracted for a moment by her silky golden hair with hints of orange. It’s truly a spectacular color I’ve never seen on any being. “No. Do you want to leave?”
“Well, not really. But I feel like I'm getting in the way of you finding an actual mate.”
“No, Camila. I purchased you tonight for twenty million dollars and I’d still like to follow through with this mating plan. I want you in my bed tonight.”
3
Derwen
She gasps. “In your bed, tonight?”
The scent of her arousal thickens in the air.
“But Mr. Tusk,” Camila cries, “you don’t have to purchase a woman to marry, that’s a lie you were told to get you to spend millions at the auction. You can leave this auction house right now and go to any fancy bar in L.A. and in less than twenty minutes leave with some amazing woman. Normal human women would fall in love and want to marry you just by you showing up in public more often. It would be easy for you to find a mate. And then, when you’ve met more of us, you will come to realize that I’m nothing special. It’s not fair for me to be with you. The only reason you want me is because you haven’t had the opportunity to meet someone better. I can’t let you settle for me.”
What is she even talking about? Her human rationalizations make so sense. I place a hand on the small of her back and guide her toward the main exit. “I wantyou,Camila Harper,” I say, switching to speak in Voltare. “I spent twenty million dollars on you so that other asshole didn’t get you first.”
“Me? No, you must be mistaken,” she responds perfectly with a lovely accent that somehow elevates my language. “You’re not clearly thinking this through. I…I’m sorry, that wasn’t how I planned for any of this to happen. I was trying to protect you and save you from having to spend any money. I know I’m just your assistant and you’re my boss. I understand that I need to remain professional…”
“Camila, I can scent your arousal for me.”
Her cheeks pinken. “Oh, I didn’t know you could tell. Um, maybe I do feel a certain way for you. How embarrassing. Please ignore me.”
I narrow my eyes. “I am here tonight at this auction house because I am in heat and I need to find my mate and I was told this is how humans find their mates. You read my private messages and arrived as a ploy to somehow rescue me from theft. I accept that this is your reason and I appreciate your loyalty towards me. But the fact remains that I purchased you because I scented your matching pheromones and my body wants you, and you alone. Your scent entered my lungs and caused me to enflame. So I bid on you and was terrified and enraged when those men threatened to kill you right in front of me.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I was terrified too.”
