“No, I didn’t wantthis.”
“Be honest with yourself,” she said in Arwen’s voice. “Youabsolutelywant this.”
Zara’s hand moved to the back of Cassia’s head, and she pulled her down for a heated kiss. Cassia gave Zara exactly what she had always wanted, and Zara had been just as interested in making her come. She had let Zara take her slowly, which wasn’t what she preferred on a night like this, but Zara wanted to make love to Arwen, so she’d give her this night. Tomorrow, Zara would find out that she had made her very first vampire, and she would need to return to her spying on Iro and Arwen. So, yes, Cassia would give her this one night.
CHAPTER 16
Iro
Her meetings were usually in one of her offices, which all had very thick, tinted windows that protected her from the bulk of the sun’s harmful rays, but occasionally, Iro needed to meet people elsewhere during the day, or, like in this case, a member of her executive team had requested a team-building activity outdoors in a park. She hadn’t planned on going, often choosing not to attend things like this because no one actually wanted the boss there, but her team was a small one, and so many of them were new because of her recent move to the city. She hadn’t wanted them to think that she didn’t support them, so she had paid for the park rental, the food, and the games, and she had walked around smiling and thanking everyone for coming.
A few hours after the event had begun, it was thankfully over, but the damage had been done. The day had been too sunny, and she needed the Moon to recharge, which would be out soon. Still, after she had already not been behind her protective glass as much as she normally would be, choosing to take Arwen to lunch and pick up flowers for her along the way instead of hiding behind the UV-protective barrier, Iro was exhausted. She’d had a few meetings outside of her own office as well, so she knew she should postpone her date with Arwen. Even more than that, she knew she should let her go.
With Cassia in town, wanting Iro to end their estrangement, Arwen was in danger. Her building wasn’t exactly secure, and while Iro didn’t think Cassia could break down that door with four locks, Arwen was only on the second floor, and locks on windows or windows themselves wouldn’t keep Cassia out if she wanted to get in. Iro needed to either stay away from Arwen altogether or help convince her to find a more secure place to live, and soon. She’d walked by Arwen’s apartment building to check on her after seeing Cassia in the street, hoping that Cassia hadn’t followed them all the way to Arwen’s apartment on the night of their first date. There was a chance Cassia didn’t yet know where Arwen lived, and while she could find that out easily enough these days, that wasn’t Cassia’s style, so Iro felt like she had a little time.
Of course, she knew she should end things with Arwen to avoid her getting hurt. Cassia had never been faced with the reality of losing her before. Iro had always promised to return, and she had. This was the first time she had told Cassia that they were finished for good, and the look in Cassia’s eyes told Iro that she wasn’t just going to give up and walk away. While it was true that she and Arwen had only been on one official date, outside of their meeting at the bar and their lunch, Iro knew she couldn’t let her go. She wanted this. For the first time since Mary, she really, really wanted this because even though she’d been with Cassia for hundreds of years, she’d always felt so alone.
“Hi,” Arwen greeted her with a wide smile when she opened the door.
“Hi.”
“Okay, I am running out of space for all these flowers you keep getting me.” Arwen took the daffodil from Iro’s outstretched hands. “And should I be worried? You started with a rose. Then, it was a tulip. Now, it’s a daffodil?”
“I stopped at a newsstand, so it was either this, a newspaper or a magazine, a pack of gum, or some cigarettes. Did I choose poorly?”
Arwen laughed and said, “No, although Idolove magazines. I tend to read them on my phone to save paper.” She tilted her head toward the living room. “Come in.”
“How long have you lived here? I meant to ask last time.”
“Years. I’ve been here since I moved to DC. Why?”
“Is it rent-controlled or something?”
“God, I wish. The landlord isn’t too bad with rent hikes, though, and I’ve always been able to sign two-year leases, so that means fewer raises, too. Why?” Arwen repeated.
“It’s just not in the best of neighborhoods, and I worry about you. Who else knows where you live? Your parents, I assume?”
Arwen stuffed the daffodil into the same vase with the rest of the flowers and said, “Yes, of course. Plus, Zara. My employer has my home address. Why are you asking weird questions?”
“You’re an attorney, and you go up against rich people with agendas. I know a lot of rich people with agendas, and they like tokeeptheir agendas on schedule, if you know what I mean. I don’t want any of them stopping by. That’s all.”
“It’s never happened before. I’ll be fine.”
“How would you feel if I maybe paid someone to stop by and make it a little safer for you? An alarm system, door camera, that kind of thing.”
“On my apartment?”
“Yeah. It would make me feel better. There’s not even a lock on that door downstairs. I know having a buzzer system probably seems less secure because people can just buzz anyone up, but at least you wouldn’t have to go downstairs at night to let someone in.”
“I don’t have many late-night visitors, Iro.”
“Can I still possibly do a few things for you?” she insisted as she wrapped her arms around Arwen’s waist. “It may sound ridiculous, but I do worry about you, and since I don’t envision you just agreeing to move somewhere else or move in with me after a singular date, this is probably the best I can do.”
“What is your obsession with my apartment?” Arwen asked through her laughter and pressed her face to Iro’s chest. “You smell good, by the way. What cologne are you wearing?”
“None.”
“None? God, this is just how good you smell?”
