“Managing upwards. One of those skills you never noticed I had.”
His eyes were dark with lust, the pupils almost completely blotting out the midnight blue of his irises. There was something animal and wild about it, even as his eyebrow curved sardonically upwards and he said in a voice rich as honey, “You’d better not consider yourself to be managingupwardsnow. You’re my equal in all things.”
“Managing sideways, then.”
“Hmm.” He tipped his head on one side, and then rolled over, pulling her on top of him. “And maybe a little managing down?”
Her cheeks heated up at the implications. “I’ll see what I can fit in my calendar.”
They made it up to her bedroom. Barely. And then slowed down, luxuriating in the knowledge that they had the whole night ahead of them.
Maya was dozing off when, somewhere forgotten in the bedsheets, a phone chimed.
Corin’s jaw clenched. “Damn—”
“That’s your clan ringtone. Answer it.” Maya sat up, sweeping her legs beneath her. Corin gave her a yearning look.
“There is nothing I want less than to answer that phone.”
“How about the Dans knocking on the door, having toppled every piece of essential infrastructure from here to the West Coast?”
He opened his mouth. Closed it. Swung his feet off the bed and stood up with a curse.
Maya lay back, burying herself in the cushions.So this is what happiness feels like, she thought. And not only happiness. Anticipation. Not the creeping dread of not knowing what was around the corner, but a quiet excitement about what the next day would bring. And the day after that, and the day after that. Like waking on Christmas morning every morning.
With Corin beside her.
A little thrill of excitement went through her. She rolled over to watch him, and the sight of him, completely naked, hair a mess, frowning at the glowing screen of his phone, was unreasonably funny. She stuffed one hand over her mouth and didn’t quite manage to stifle a giggle.
“Yes?” He stared at her, one eyebrow raised.
“Can I assist you at all, Mr. Blackburn?”
His raised-eyebrow look turned into a smolder. “I believe it is my turn to help you, Miss Flores. That was the firm I’ve tasked with locating Tomás’s biological father.” He put down his phone. “It’s done.”
“You couldn’t have said that in a way that made you sound less like you just ordered a hit on him?” Maya winced, digging herself more deeply into the nest of pillows on her bed.
“You’re assuming I didn’t order a hit on him.” He raised a hand as she sputtered. “That was a joke.”
“I don’t know if I’m in the mood for jokes! They found him already?”
“Not yet. But they have a strong lead. Some video footage from the bar where you met him.”
“Do you recognize him?”
“I didn’t look at the footage.”
“But…” She curled in on herself. “You probably know who he is. You must know all the dragon shifters in the country, let alone the ones who visit your city. What if he’s one of your enemies?”
“Because all other dragon shifters are my enemies?”
“Yes!”
“I think Apollo is beginning to tolerate me,” he mused. “No. I haven’t looked. Better the professionals discover his identity, rather than me looking at a blurry picture of some strange shifter and getting the wrong idea.”
“But what if—” She bit her lip. “You chose me. But what if finding Tomás’s father makes things harder for you? What if…”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her. “Maya. Everything is going to be okay.”
