How lonely he must’ve been all these eons, unable to connect with anyone, the only attention given by the most wicked people in the universe.Clenching him tighter, I tried to lend him all the love and strength I’d been given over the years by my parents and friends. “I’ve already forgiven you. This is our chance to start over and do things right.”
He wedged his hand under my chin and tipped my face to his.
Wish I could see those sparkling eyes of his through the sunglasses.
“Do you really mean that?” Biting the inside of his cheek, he angled his head while fixating on me. “Or are you saying this because you’re afraid of the choice I’ll make when it comes to getting what I want?”
“I’m saying it because I believe it, Cain. I know you’ll make the right choice. You’re a good man—you just forgot for a while.”
His lips thinned for a moment as he stood unmoving.
From behind, the birds honked at one another, the sound of their flapping wings competing with the constant murmur of the crowds swerving around us as they trekked deeper into the zoo.
“You’re impossibly optimistic for a human.” His tone, rich and low, washed over me as soothingly as warm, silky sheets. “But I won’t hold it against you.”
I clucked my tongue. “And you’re remarkably well preserved for a human who’s ancient. I gave his shoulder a playful swat. “Do you need me to go grab one of those wheelchairs to give your legs a rest?”
Lacing his hands at the small of my back, he drew my hips to his and placed his mouth on my neck, giving it a lingering kiss. “I have more stamina than any human man you’ve ever known.”
“Ha.” A wonderful tingle of desire zipped across my skin, and I shivered. “I bet it comes in handy for your line of work.” I snapped my mouth closed and tried to push out of his grasp.
A line formed between his eyebrows, and he dragged me to an out-of-the-way corner near a bathroom where the walkway was shielded by wooden slats.
“I can’t help what I am, what I do.”
“Or so you think,” I mumbled, keeping my gaze averted.
He removed his sunglasses. “Look at me.”
“Cain, we can talk about this in a little while. Can’t we enjoy being together first?” I drew my shoulders inward, not wanting to have this discussion with him right now.
“You need to understand I’m the weakest of Lucian’s army, yet if I wanted to, I could overpower you twenty times over. Now, imagine what would happen if Malachi or some other demon were to get ahold of you.”
“But they won’t because you won’t let them hurt me.” Mentally, I pled for him to agree with me, to prove my faith in him wasn’t being misplaced.
Instead, he let out a long breath.
Disappointment and a tinge of worry ate at me.Surely, I haven’t been wrong this entire time.Picking at a loose string on my clothes, I tugged and watched it unravel.Just like my life.
“Phoebe, look at me.”
Ignoring him, I focused on twining the string around my index finger.
“Stubborn woman,” he growled.
Something dark and hot slithered along my jawline and nudged my face toward his, redirecting my vision to his face and not letting go.
His icy stare met mine, and the building irritation inside of me melted away. Those pale orbs, so fascinating.Was it normal, even thousands of years ago, for humans to have such a strange, metallic eye color?
“If Lucian or anyone else gets you, they will not be gentle, do you understand?”
“Yeah.” A deep shudder trembled my bones, and I had to ask him again. “But you’re not going to let him, right?”
His face hardened. “I don’t want anyone to harm you.”
I nearly sagged with relief.Knew he was a good guy, even ifhedoesn’t know it.He just needed to be reminded of his humanity.
Running my fingers over the necklace, I mentally whispered a silent prayer to my dad, wherever he was, then grabbed both sides of Cain’s head and kissed his soft lips, uncaring we stood in front of a bathroom in the middle of a busy zoo.
