Mulling it over, I reluctantly dip my head. “Kodiak can escort you, and it’ll free up Stone to go shopping.”
She snorts, immediately shutting that plan down. “You want her to believe that Khalida is safe? You can't send her out with an armed guard. Trust exercise, brother. She has me, and you know I won't let anything happen to her, consequences to your perfect little plans be damned.” A wicked smile curves her lips. “And if we run into a bind, there isn't a soul in this city that wouldn't immediately call you out of fear of what you’d do to them when you found out they stood by and let me get hurt. Or terrified of my revenge when I inevitably escaped.”
Kodiak can hack into the camera feeds around town and keep an eye on them...
“Alright.” Getting to my feet, I roll my shoulders. “But I swear to the Fates, if anything happens to either of you, so much as a scratch, you’llbothbe accompanied everywhere for minimally the next year.” Her eyes widen. “I’m deadly serious about this, Carina. I’ll have Kodiak hand pick a team of guards that even you won’t be able to slip away from. You won’t be able to take so much as a piss without one of them hovering.” Kissing the top of her head, I gesture for her to walk ahead of me. “Only because it would kill me if anything happened to either of you.”
Holding my breath as I consider it, I release a heavy exhale as we reach the door. “She can’t shift, Carina. Doesn’t have much control over her abilities, either. Youcannotpull any of your usual stunts this time, okay? Protect her, enjoy yourselves. But don’t expect her to be able to abandon ship and fly away if the situation gets out of hand like you can. She doesn’t have that failsafe, she only hasus.”
Her voice is carefully controlled as she hesitates opening the door. “You said she had a stalker, but that’s a gross understatement, isn’t it? What exactly did Mason do to her, Raiden?”
My computer starts ringing with an incoming video call request and I sigh, heading back to my desk. Carina knows her way around the castle; she’ll have to introduce herself, because with allies so few and far between right now, I can’t afford to snub a single one.
Swallowing, I ignore the scent of burning leather as I grip the arms of my chair. “Enough that Stone’s worried she blocked out the worst of the memories for self-preservation.”
Chapter 8
Amara
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“There you go, justlike that.” Stone guides me into position, one hand on my hip from behind, and the other slowly trailing down the length of my arm.
If the last three days have taught me anything, it’s that, for supposedly taking a vow of ethics, and the deceptively sweet demeanor? Stone’s an even worse cheater than Kodiak.
Thrusting the pool stick forward, I manage to hit the white ball, but it follows the one I was aiming for into the pocket and I scratch. Kodi rescues it with a grin. “Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it.”
Turning my head, I narrow my eyes on Stone’s shamelessly amused face. “Maybe if you guys weren’t constantly playing dirty and distracting me, I wouldn’t suck at everything.”
The mixed messages aren’t exactly helpful either.
Both of them still think I need time to settle in and have a chance to process everything before we actually have sex, but they’re perfectly fine finger-fucking me into oblivion or eating me out. Which is a weird thing to be upset about, I’ll admit, but it still feels like they’re deciding what I need and not actually listening.
A feminine voice purrs, “Well, doesn’t this look cozy?”
Stone bands an arm around my waist as we stand up straight, my gaze whipping up in alarm. A tiny pixie of a woman with hot pink hair and a predatory glint in her eyes saunters into the room like she owns the place, her stature doing nothing to detract from her commanding presence.
