“Now, are you going to get up like a good girl?”
Good girl.Rae ignored the way her insides tightened, instead allowing her lips to curve. “Yes, sir.” The change was instant, his pupils dilating, and the red of his irises swirling to that beautiful liquid silver. He blinked and his response was gone, but she took those few seconds as a win. His body reacted to hers, just as easily as his manipulated hers.
Which made them both as fucked up as the other.
* * *
“Where are we?” Rae asked, looking around what looked to be a bar. The tables were yet to be set up, the chairs stacked against the dark walls and framed photographs of artistic, vintage cocktails. The stage appeared to be a gentle wave, surging seamlessly from the wooden flooring with a sound system that looked like it cost more than her car.
The bar itself was decorated with shapes and curves, each line glowing from within like a crackling white flame. Bottles lined the shelves directly behind, light shining through the glass to create a stunning backdrop of colour.
“It’s a bar.”
“I can see that,” she said, unable to stop the roll of her eyes. “I mean, why are we here, specifically?” They hadn’t walked far from the bakery, the bar disguised beneath scaffolding.
“I need to meet with a few of my brothers, and I think a public area is safer, don’t you agree?”
“More brothers?” His lips were pursed when she turned, the need to know more about him strong. She wasn’t sure why she asked the question, knowing he wouldn’t answer it anyway.
“Go sit by the bar,” he said, face schooled into his usual composed expression. “Sam will keep you company.”
“Babysit me, you mean?” Rae grabbed the last remaining stool, pulling it out slightly before taking a seat. She’d already noticed the two men watching her, their attention prickling since the moment she stepped inside. One was pale blonde, with eyes of amber and the other dark, with irises similar to Titus.
“Aye, but I’m a great babysitter,” the one who must have been Sam said, his smile infectious. “Besides, I need someone to help me pick out the new name.”
“I told you, Drunken Beasts is the winner.” The darker one snorted, turning to Titus. “They’re waiting for you in the office.”
“Thanks,” Titus said, facing Sam. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”
Rae smacked her palm down on the top of the bar. “Hey, stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
Sam’s smile grew, and something feline danced across his features. “Feisty, I like her.”
Titus shook his head. “Of course you fucking do, you like everybody.” He turned to the man with similar red eyes a shade similar to his. “You coming?”
The man lifted a dark brow, upper lip curved into a smirk. “I’ll follow once I’ve met the delicious redhead.”
“Careful Luce,” Titus warned.
A taunting pause. “You’ve got to be fucking with me.” He jerked between Rae and Titus. “You have some serious timing.”
Titus narrowed his gaze, turning to Rae. “Be good.”
She glared at his retreating back, not looking away until he and the dark-haired man disappeared up the twin staircase hidden in the corner. There was a smaller floor above, a balcony as well as a large, mirrored wall that replicated the unfinished bar below.
“So you’re the mysterious Rae that Titus texted me about a whole hour ago,” Sam said, pulling her attention to him. His head was cocked, hair wrapped in a single plait that draped over his shoulder. “I thought you’d be taller.”
“I disappoint myself sometimes too,” she muttered, studying the bottles at his back. “So how come you’re the one who has to babysit me?”
“Just lucky, I guess.” He laughed. “I’m Sam, I’m mated to Titus’s cousin.”
“Mated? So you’re a shifter?” She knew shifters mated, similar to how humans married. Except she’d heard that once someone was mated, there was no divorce. Her parents weren’t married, her father refusing the human custom. Instead he’d bound himself to her some other way.
“I am,” he said carefully. “And you’re Titus’s human.”
Rae scowled. “What has me being a human got to do with anything?”
“Really?” Sam grinned. “That’s what you got from that statement?”
