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“Good. You’redoing great.” Kaleb whispered as they headed for the double doors and thewaiting Gollum guarding them, dressed in a tux of his own.
Shaw resisted theurge to fling off Kaleb’s arm. Wrapped loosely around her waist it reminded herof last night. The two of them snuggled up together on the practise mats, andhow upon waking she’d found the weight of his arm… not annoying at all.
“Okay. Okay. Letme do all the talking.” Kaleb whispered, leaning over to casually nuzzle herthroat. Making it readily apparent where they had been and what mischief theyhad been up to. Just another couple returning to the party, nothing to seehere. Three steps from the double doors the blood in Kaleb’s veins froze at thesound of silverware tapping glassware to garner attention. Shit.
Shaw whimperedsoftly, from this angle she had a clear view of the bar located at the rear ofthe ballroom. Watching as the bartenders temporarily closed it down inpreparation for the speeches. Freyja save her.
Kaleb laughed lowand kind of sexy, nuzzling Shaw’s throat once more. “Oh, you insatiablegorgeous creature… again?” Strolling past the double doors leading to thewedding reception and making their way further along the corridor. “Playalong.” He hissed under his breath. “For the love of Lucifer, woman!”
Shaw wrapped anarm around Kaleb’s broad shoulders, burying her fingers in the silky softnessof his hair, turning his head towards her she laughed, low, sexy. She knew whatwas on the line here. Leaning forward she kissed him. She’d meant it to beshort and sweet, but the moment their lips touched heat swept through Shaw’sgut, and lower still. No Conflict Demon should have such soft lips. Shaw wantedmore, leaning into Kaleb, deepening the kiss.
Hell. Kaleb feltlike he was holding liquid fire in his arms. Shaw tasted like aged ambrosia andthe wild cherries that grew at the top of Mount Olympus. His hands sliding overthe silky dress, hardly able to get a purchase on those curves of hers.
“Get a room.” Thethree words were gravelly deep, spoken by the irritated Gollum. Each wordsounding like a large boulder cracking in two. Effectively dousing the heatthat had been escalating at disproportionate speeds.
Right. A room.They broke apart, both breathing hard. Reasoning descending with a thud.“Thanks, Mate, good idea.” Kaleb managed a cheery wave in the direction of theGollum. “Here, darling.” Kaleb leant past Shaw, opening the nearest door in thehallway and bustling her inside. Perfect. A small windowless linen closet. Theoverhead light whiter and brighter than the sun, but at least they had privacynow. “I’m pretty much a student of method acting. So we should absolutely keepon making out. Maybe consider third base, second at the very least.”
Shaw batted awayKaleb’s reaching arms before turning to grab a dining chair from a nearby stackof them and handing it over before retrieving one for herself. “Hands to self.Sit down. Shut up.”
Slumping down ontoher chair, Shaw was annoyed to find her knees all but grazing Kaleb’s. Why didhe have to be so tall? So gorgeous? Such a wickedly good kisser? She glared athim. Now he was just going to sit there all silent and dashingly handsome inhis tux? “Well?”
Kaleb reached up,mimed unzipping his lips and answered. “Well, what?” Before childishly zippingthem closed once more.
Seriously? “Imight not have enough room to swing my halberds in here, but I could just aseasily remove your head from your body with my somai.” Shaw gestured to thesparkling black chain wrapped around her left bicep, decorated with two golfball sized black crystals. Zuri, her kid sister, was that good, with just atwitch of an arm muscle the somai could transform into an upscale piece ofjewellery.
“What would youlike to discuss?” Kaleb was unsure whether he was up to dissecting the kiss.Most women would want to know what it meant. What would happen next. If he wasreally unlucky, they’d demand to know if he made a habit of kissing women he’dbarely known for twenty-four hours.
“Why is there awedding going on here, on the Earthly Plane? And how do the mundanes not twigthe guests are either Deities or other? I mean, the Gollum alone is a deadgiveaway. He’s eight feet tall. His skin looks like actual dirt. He sounds likehe’s eating rocks when he speaks.”
“Magic. There’s probablya spell over the event. It keeps the mundanes away. No doubt there’s a secondspell in place for the staff and anyone who gets too close, tricking them intobelieving everything and everyone is perfectly normal. I assume the Gollum isjust there as a last layer of security. Lucky for us, since you have to keepthe instructions pretty simple when creating one. Programmed to keep themundanes away but not a couple of supernatural gate crashers.”
“But why? Whyhere?”
“Oh, I assume itwas a compromise on the part of both families. The ocean view for Poseidon’sdaughter. The view of the endless horizon for Hermes’ son.”
“Hold on.Poseidon’s daughter? Hermes’ son? I thought this was just some low level manytimes removed lesser God get together. We’re talking upper level Gods here. Howam I supposed to convince Poseidon to become a Valkyrie client? Good Goddess,Zeus is probably here. Here! Hold on. His grandson is marrying his brother’sdaughter? Ugh.”
Kaleb laughed, adeep, husky sound. “It pays not to look too closely or even think about theGodly family tree. As long as the couple are happy, and the children don’t looklike horrific science experiments gone wrong, it’s all good in my book. Don’tjudge.” Given the cramped quarters it was ridiculously easy to reach across toabsently pat Shaw’s knee. Unsurprised when she flinched away. It reinforcedsomething he’d come to suspect. “Now. Do you want to tell me what’s going onwith this leg of yours?”
“Nothing.”
“Please. Don’t tryand kid a kidder. You’re not limping or anything. I doubt anyone else wouldnotice, but every move you make ensures your left leg takes all your weightfirst. What’s up? Cramp? Battle injury?”
“None of yourbusiness.” By the Sword, this was fifty times more embarrassing thanparticipating in that heated kiss earlier. At least they’d silently agreed notto acknowledge it had happened. But somehow this annoyingly gabby Demon hadguessed Shaw’s deepest, darkest secret. Shaw felt stripped bare and woefully exposed.Kaleb had uncovered the truth, she was flawed. Expecting him to laugh, to beginmocking her weakness, but all he did was sit there looking expectant.
“Come on,Valkyrie. We’re partners for the next nine days. I have a Hunting Party ofGxthian assassins on my tail. I deserve to know if there’s a problem. Each ofus is bringing strengths and weaknesses to this alliance and if we both want toachieve our goals, then I’m not sure we can afford secrets.”
“Huh, says thesecret keeping Demon. What happens in nine days? Yeah, I didn’t think you’d bespilling your guts. I could help with that, I have ready access to a lot ofsharp weapons. Besides, I can still fight.”
“No one’s sayingdifferent. But I’m…” Huh, Kaleb had almost said concerned. Him? Concerned withanother being’s welfare? He was a shit stirrer from birth. He poked and proddedpeoples’ insecurities for shits and giggles. He didn’t do… concern.
Luckily theValkyrie finished the sentence for him. “…Annoyingly curious?”
Shaw was hopingKaleb would let it go, but she was forgetting how sneaky he was, andridiculously fast with his hands. She’d barely seen him move and suddenly herleg was up, resting across his knees, the hem of her dress pushed up whilst hissurprisingly gentle large hands trailed up over her calf.
Smart. Sneaky.Liquid Fast. Why did she keep underestimating this Demon? Was it thedistracting dimple? The teasing smile? The never-ending ceaseless chatter? Shawtried to reclaim her leg but Kaleb held onto it, gently but firmly.
“Is it a battleinjury?”
