“I’m sorry.” He kept the smile out of his voice, knowing full well it wouldn’t help the situation. “Had I known, I would have left him to you. I just thought you were a little outnumbered.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate you stepping in. But you could have shared,” she countered, looking genuinely put out.
“What? Were you waiting for an invitation?” He cocked his head, raising one brow expectantly, hiding his smile. “I was waiting for some help, to be honest.”
Aelia rolled her eyes at his obvious lie, crossing her arms and cocking her hip.
“You didn’t give me a chance. One second I was handed a golden opportunity to break Shiva’s nose, the next, you had them all running like a bunch of scolded schoolboys.”
“Well, in my defence, they needed to be taught a lesson,” Keeran said, still suppressing a smile. “Ganging up like that on one person…” He shook his head slowly, tutting. He didn’t miss how her gaze darted to his mouth.
“I think if anything, you just taught them that they need even more backup next time.”
Keeran huffed a breath through his nose. “I concede that you might have a point there.”
She looked in the direction they’d run off in, the slight irritation in her face slipping to reveal the worry underlying it.
“I don’t think they’ll go to the council,” Keeran said, guessing where her thoughts had disappeared to. From the way her eyes snapped back to his, he’d guessed right.
“You don’t?” Aelia uncrossed her arms, subconsciously twining her fingers together and twisting them nervously. “I do. Those men are all ego, and we just seriously embarrassed them.”
Keeran fought the darkness rising in him with every fibre of his being, knowing how it would infiltrate his eyes. If he needed to pay them each a little visit before he left, he would, but now was not the time to think about it, not when Aelia was standing right in front of him.
“I think that’s why they’ll stay quiet,” he said, looking for any sign of fear in her face, any sign that the evil in him was visible. “Shame has a way of sealing the lips of cowards.”
Aelia’s eyes narrowed at him, but he didn’t mind. He’d take sceptical over fearful.
“And what about you?” Her fingers had stopped their nervous fidgeting, a hint of steel in her eyes once more. “You obviously heard what they accused me of. Do I need to worry about you, too?”
“After I saw what you did to Shiva?” Keeran opened his eyes wide and shook his head. “I wouldn’t dare.”
That elicited a smile. At last. It sent a shock right through him, and it was all he could do not to stare. She was so beautiful; fierce, reckless, and perhaps a little violent… but absolutely fucking beautiful.
He stepped closer and her eyes darted round, as if just now realising she was alone with a complete stranger. Keeran knew how people saw him, knew that they picked up on the monster that lurked just beneath the surface, no matter how hard he tried to control it.
His eyes roved over her, trying to read what she was feeling. Her pupils were so wide the green of her irises almost mergedwith the black ring of magic, and he could see her pulse beating hard at the base of her throat… but was that fear? Or did she feel the same draw he did, the pull that made him loathe the distance between them, as though it would be the most natural thing in the world to take her in his arms and never let go.
Only one way to find out.
He tried to quieten the darkness he knew lived in his eyes, to soften them as best he could before taking another step closer, testing her.
Her breathing hitched, but she didn’t step away, her chin tilting to keep her eyes locked onto his.
“I saw you yesterday,” he said, his voice low. “In the crowd.”
“You did?” He didn’t miss the way she swallowed heavily, the way her eyes seemed unable to leave his. His heart pounded as he took a gamble and raised a hand, running his fingers lightly over the bare skin of her arm, praying to the gods that she wouldn’t run, that he wasn’t misreading this. Because just the brush of her soft skin against his fingertips had his blood racing, his mind a tumultuous mix of desire and trepidation. He couldn’t scare her away, he must not frighten her.
“You know I did,” he said, letting his fingers glide higher up her arm. “You saw me nearly drop the pole when I spotted you.”
Her lips twitched, and some of the tension in his chest eased.
“I saw.”
His fingers stopped their gentle caress, grabbing her arm and pulling her so close her chest pressed into his. Her gasp would have made him panic were it not for the way she pressed herself into him, the feel of her breasts against him sending his thoughts spinning. He lowered his head so he was whispering in her ear, the scent of her skin hitting him in an intoxicating rush.
“I’ve spent every moment since wondering how to get you alone,” he admitted, pulling back just enough to read her expression, mere inches from his own. She didn’t hesitate.
“And now that you have, what do you plan to do with me?” Her words were cocky, as brash as everything else he’d heard her say, and yet there was the unmistakable trace of apprehension in her eyes.
