“We can work around the job.”He stroked my arm.“As for your father, he’s old.I’m sure you love the man, but when it’s time, it’s time.Then what?You’ll be all alone.”
My belly tingled.Maybe that was my tiger’s instinct, but something about his remarks felt like a veiled threat.
“What are your gifts?”I asked, channeling those instincts into something useful.
He jerked his head back.“Pardon?”
“You’re a Mage, and I’m a Shifter.Being with you is dangerous enough because of your power, but I need to know everything about you.What are your rare gifts?If my dating life isn’t allowed to be personal, neither are your abilities.”
He withdrew his arm and scratched his forehead.“I don’t see why that matters.I wouldn’t be using them on you.”
“Well, you certainly aren’t a Charmer,” I chided before walking around him to the door.When I reached for the knob, I paused.“Did you have something to do with Marcus Seaborn’s death?Were you there?”I looked over my shoulder and observed his reaction.
Henry locked eyes with me, his gaze steady and deliberate.“I’m not as patient as I look.I’m asking for you to bond with me—to be my wife.Or mate, as you like to call it.What’s your answer?”
“I’m…”
“Like I said before, I don’t let anything stand in the way of what I want.I can offer you power, money, and protection.”
“And what is it that I offer you?”
“Your beauty.Your confidence.You also have connections and clout, and that comes in handy.”
“Why not date another Mage?”
He shook his head.“Not what I’m interested in.”
Suddenly it was becoming obvious.Another Mage would be his equal in power.With a Shifter, Henry had more control.He wouldn’t be able to touch me with his hands during sex without electrocuting me, and the more I thought about that power imbalance, the less I liked it.What might he do to my tiger if he felt threatened?
“I can make all your problems go away,” he promised, his cadence slowing.
“And if I say no?”
Henry ran his finger along the column of my neck.“You’re a smart woman.”
He left the remark hanging in the air like a razor-sharp pendulum swinging overhead.
I had always prided myself for being a cunning negotiator, but I kept playing one scenario after another in my head, and none of them had a good outcome.
Still stroking my neck, he said, “You know, I bet I could talk to the Mageri and get them to drop the charges on that Chitah friend of yours.He’ll probably be banished from town… but wouldn’t that be nice?You’d be surprised at the connections I make in my line of work.”
Terror washed over me.
“Women like you are easy targets in a small town like this.I’d hate to see anyone accuse you of being in on that murder.”
“If they do, they better be ready for a slander charge.”
“You and the killer have been spending a lot of time alone together in your house.Did Marcus ever wrong you?Did you have a vendetta against him?Any reason you can think of that would incriminate you?”
Two very big incidents sprang to mind: the parking lot scuffle and the shed fire.“I need time to consider?—”
“Time’s up.I’ve given you more than enough time.”Henry touched my hair, which made my skin crawl.“Is Deacon Shaw going to be a problem too?”
“No.”
“Good.All I want is for you to accept my proposal.You’ll have money, power, respect, and best of all… me.I treat my women right, and I promise I’ll never hurt you, Eden.How many men can promise you that?”
Suddenly it wasn’t me I was worried about with his veiled threat.It was all the people in my life he might hurt.There were a number of ways he could force my hand or get his revenge if I rejected his offer, and he’d laid them all out without implicating himself.Rejecting him was a more dangerous move than accepting.
