I’m never going to fall asleep.
*
Maxen opened thedoor and scowled at Drake, who had disturbed them at the arse crack of dawn. “Do you know what time it is?” he asked in a low voice, blocking the entrance with his body.
“I do. Do you?”
The hour must be later than he thought. He stretched out his arms, joints cracking. His back ached somewhat, but at least his balls didn’t anymore. “What are you doing here? Did something happen?”
“You slept with a woman.”
“False. And even if I did, is that bloody newsworthy?”
“You brought a woman home.” Drake’s brows rose. “That’s a Fury first. And of all of us, unlike you the most.”
“Get lost.”
Drake pushed past him anyway. “But she’s here, inyourbedchamber.”
Maxen dragged a hand down his face and closed the door behind him with more force than necessary but less than he wanted. “She’s in the bed. I was on the floor.”
“How very proper of you.” Drake gaze tracked the room, landing on the door of his chamber. “I’d be impressed if I believed for one damned second you slept.”
He hadn’t.
He’d lain on the floor all night, muscles tense, listening to the various states of her breathing. The subtle shifts of her body.
But not the damn point.
He wasn’t sure what unsettled him more—the fact that she’d taken up so much space in his thoughts... or howrightit had felt to have her here. Which in itself was so bloody damn wrong. She was soft.Light. He was...
Not.
Drake leaned against the windowpane, arms folded. “I’ve never known you to offer protection to anyone outside of blood.”
“It’s my duty as a landlord,” Maxen defended flatly.
“Right. Your duties as a landlord.”
“She’s an innocent.”
“Yet to be proven.”
Maxen’s jaw ticked. “She’s not a spy. Might even be in danger.”
“I didn’t say she was or that she wasn’t.”
Christ. It was too early for this. “Are you telling me you didn’t just imply both?”
“Inoticed.” Drake’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been watching her like you were waiting for her to disappear.”
Had he? He couldn’t deny it. Ever since he met her that first day he’d been riveted to a degree. It was irrational. Infuriating. Unacceptable.
She was a stranger.
A complication.
A potential threat.
