But I was there for business.
Plus, he was a cruel fae king known for inflicting pain and fucking people over while running the city with an iron fist.
I should’ve picked someone else.
Anyoneelse.
But he was the only fae I knew of who made substantial bargains with people who weren’t in power positions, and therefore my best chance. The clock was ticking on the time I had before my heat reached its pinnacle, and I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed when it did.
Callum didn't look up at me. "I don't fuck anyone whose magic hasn’t settled yet. Go home."
Ouch.
In the months before an immortal turned twenty-five, their magic stopped growing and changing. It was solid, by the time their birthday hit.
Most kinds of immortals didn’t care about magic settling. We were considered adults at eighteen, like humans, and I’d just turned twenty.
But fae were known to be picky about it.
"I didn't come here for that. I want to make a deal," I said.
He finally lifted his head and looked at me. When he did, it felt like a bolt of electricity raced down my spine.
God, he was even more gorgeous up close.
The prettiest immortals were always the most vicious.
Callum’s expression shifted slightly, growing sharper and more dangerous as he slowly looked me up and down.
I ignored the sudden burst of need in my lower belly and resisted the urge to open my legs wider.
That would be heat, rearing its brutal face.
"Maybe you should ask him to spend the night with you to finally put this to an end,"Sable murmured.
Apparently, the way he looked was enough to make her forget just how dangerous this man was.
Besides, I wastoo youngfor him.
I ignored her.
I had to remember what I was there for.
"What do you want?"Callum finally asked, lifting his gaze back to mine.
"My sister was chosen as the new Alpha a few days ago. She had cosigned on the cafe we were opening together, and the bank cut our financing when she backed out because of an order from the Beta. I had already spent my half of the money. We were supposed to open next week, but I don't have the funds to do it, and I can’t pay anything back if I don’t open."
Callum studied me for a long moment."You’re fucked, then."
"Basically."
He stood, his movements a little stiff.
I barely stopped myself from taking a sharp breath in as he straightened to his full height. Not because he towered over me—which he did. I was used to that. For immortal men, their power relative to the others of their kind determined their size, so I’d met plenty of werewolf men around that large.
It was his magic. His power. It literally radiated off of him, cooling my skin in a way I needed desperately at the moment.
"I have a room in the back," he said. "Follow me."
