“Any of them?”
“Any of them. Whatever your heart desires.”
Seren grins as she looks over the assorted weapons in my closet. Crossbows and swords and knives, a wide array of tools that might come in handy on the hunt.
“That one’s pretty.”
I chuckle as I reach for the dagger she points to, taking it down from its place on the shelf and holding it out to her. “Do you know how to wield it?”
“I’ve taken a couple of self-defense classes.” She tosses the weapon from one hand to the other, getting the feel of it.
I shouldn’t find it as attractive as I do.
Nor should I step in when she looks down at herself, like she’s trying to find the best place to keep it on her body.
“I’ve got something to go with it.”
Back in the closet, I find a sheath with leather straps. I hand it to her, and she turns it this way and that, a furrow of confusion on her brow.
“Let me.”
Seren hands the knife and harness back, and her breath catches in her throat when I fall to one knee.
“It goes on like this,” I say, reaching for her ankle. She hasn’t yet donned her boots, so the leather straps slide on easily over her tightly fitted black trousers.
I guide it over her foot, her ankle, her calf, all the way past her knee and to her strong, shapely thigh. Then it’s my breath catching as I tighten the straps, securing it in place.
When I glance up, she’s staring down at me wide-eyed.
Demons have keener senses than humans do. Better hearing, better sight, better smell.
It’s an unfair advantage, and one I shouldn’t leverage against her for my own benefit.
But when her reactions are screaming like this, how can I resist?
The pounding of her heart, the gentle rasp of her breath, the flush of her skin.
A scent.
One I won’t name and can’t let myself dwell on.
Seren is still rightly wary of me. Despite the progress we’ve made, she’s still given no sign she’s open to the bond between us, that it’s anything but a curse to her.
Besides, I haven’t exactly given her reason to.
Still unsettled by my conversation with my mother and by my recent meeting with Myron, I couldn’t make myself confess my true intentions for my half of the bounty, should we win it.
I couldn’t lower myself in her eyes.
What would Seren think of me if I told her the truth of my situation?
We’re only just starting to make some progress with each other, and I can’t stomach the idea of watching that progress melt away when she realizes what a disaster my life is.
I don’t know how much the fae queen’s bounty will be, but surely even half of it will allow me to clean up the mess I’ve made of my life. It will allow me to breathe a little easier, to have morestability to offer her, to be a better option for a partner should she ever choose to acknowledge the bond between us.
For now, though, we have to focus on winning that bounty first.
I stand and survey her. From the tips of her toes to the sheathed dagger on her thigh to the dazed, breathless expression on her face that she quickly hides beneath one of her signature smirks.
