Halfway through her food now, she’s starting to gain a little more color in her cheeks, and some of the tension in my shoulders eases. “Regardless, this is fantastic news. Not only has your healing ramped up, but you’re coming into more abilities. Looks like Stone hit the nail on the head with this one. At this rate, you’ll be terrorizing villages in no time.”
Finishing off her plate in record time, she sets it aside with a small groan, stretching her arms over her head and arching her back. “Speaking of unholy terrors, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
Scooping her up easily, I shamelessly enjoy the way her hips grind against mine with every step on our way up to my wing of the third floor. “Go on.”
“Carina was being, well,herself,and spread a rumor at the gym that there was an opening at your security company. Had all of the guys tripping over themselves when we showed up, and they spent about an hour down in the training pit showing off their skills like I was there to conduct a job interview.”
––––––––
Itoss my head backwith an exaggerated groan. “Thanks for the heads up, I’ll take care of it.” But as she bites her lower lip, I shift my hold under her ass to free up one hand so I can coax it out from between her teeth and softly demand, “Did one of them try something?”
Shaking her head, Amara looks incredibly uncomfortable, avoiding meeting my eyes. “No, nothing like that. Originally, I said that I’d put in a good word with you just to placate her, but after studying them, I think it might genuinely be worth considering as more than a favor. Feel free to tell me to butt out, but I weeded it down to six recommendations, with three top contenders based on the snippets I’ve picked up about your work. If you turn them all away, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it; it’syourbusiness and reputation, after all. But I really think you should at least meet them before you write off the idea.”
We reach my workshop, and I press my thumb to the scanner to unlock the door. It’s the first time I’ve brought Amara in here, and I can’t help but smile as she tapers off to look around with rapt fascination. Every wall is overflowing with mounted weapons and tools, the center has table after table filled to bursting with assorted supplies, legs groaning under the weight, with the heaviest chunks of metal pushed out of the way against the walls on the floor. Straight across is my main workbench, a solid slab of steel wide enough it could be used as a makeshift operating table for two people simultaneously. A huge organizer block filled with dozens of tiny compartments is tucked beneath it to the left, everything I could ever need within reach once I get in the zone.
“I’ll bite. Who caught your eye, and why? Top three.” Setting Amara on top of my workbench, I whirl around the room, gathering a few supplies.
"Torin, Bastian, and Jasper," she immediately replies, emotion draining out of her voice as she slips into status report mode as seamlessly as any of the people at my company, and I don’t bother hiding my grin. “Torin because not only did he show a variety of techniques to demonstrate his range and keep from being predictable, plus only use the force required to subdue and restrain his opponent. But he wasn’t looking at what everyone else was doing to try and one up them in order to stand out. He assessed their injuries to make sure no one needed help, and when some wolf broke a rib, he discreetly moved his fight closer in order to watch the guy's back in case he needed to intervene until his healing kicked in without making a thing about it, then moved on when the guy was on more stable footing without a word."
Dropping an armful of supplies beside her, I pause, giving her my full attention now. “Well damn, firefly, thatisexactly what I look for when interviewing people. How the hell could you have known that?”
Sheepishly, she shrugs. “You said you work security for political events, and not only do I knowyou,but I read a lot. Made it pretty easy to make an educated guess. I can’t fight to save my soul, so it’s not like I could really critique any of their forms or techniques, so I looked for other things.”
She suddenly sits up straight. “Oh! Before I forget. There was a redhead, Colin I think, that you guys should probably keep an eye on. Had that gleam in his eye like he got off on hurting his opponents, and the power trip gave him some extra pep in his step every time he won, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the sort to take advantage of whatever position he works in when unsupervised. Might want to make sure he’s not a manager somewhere harassing people that work under him.”
Before it can slip my mind, I fire off a text to one of my men posted at the transition center to look into it after his shift. Raiden has enough on his plate right now, and if he heard Amara’s concerns, he’d drop everything to follow up personally to put her mind at ease and prove he takes her fears of Khalida seriously. Hell, Stone or I could always do it, but I’m still leary letting Amara out of my sight, and if I can outsource something like this, when it’s not someone that hurt my mate and made it personal, I will.
Lifting two chunks of metal, one gold and one damascus steel, I hold them up for Amara. “You clearly have good taste, so we’re going to play a game. Every time I hold up a couple of options, you pick your favorite while you fill me in on the rest, deal?”
She agrees, tapping the marbled steel. “What are you making?”
“Ooph, you’re already losing the game, beautiful.” Tossing the gold aside, I lean down to rummage through the drawers for a couple of tools. “You’re supposed to pick and tell me about the other two candidates.”
She rolls her eyes, but carries on while I work. “According to Carina, Bastian refuses to shift. Not sure if that’s a deal breaker for you or not, but I think I was actually more impressed because of it. And yes, I’m probably biased because of my own lack of shifting capabilities, full disclosure. But he didn’tneedto shift. He took down a fucking tiger with his bare hands. Mainly though, it’s because he did his job swiftly and effectively without a production, but not in a standoffish asshole way like he didn’t want to be there. He stood on his own merit withouttryingto convince anyone he deserved the position, and I respect that.”
I hold up a dagger and a set of lock picks, unsurprised when she chooses the latter. “And Jasper?”
“I’m ninety-nine percent sure the guy’s a ninja,” she declares with a heavy dose of envy, and I pause long enough to steal a kiss.
No, I’m not crazy about my mate looking at other men with any amount of awe, but I’m more upset that she’s comparing herself toanyoneand putting herself down. “And you’re a sexy demon that has us all wrapped around her finger. Did you notice that Raiden never wakes up from nightmares when you sleep with him? That Stone has actually beenlaughingand joking around recently instead of being dull as oatmeal?”
Those shadows in her eyes fade a little more the longer I sing her praises, until bright gold shines back at me once more and there’s a soft smile on her face again. “And what do I do for you besides keeping you on your toes?”
With another swift kiss, I drop back onto my rolling stool, manipulating the metal carefully to hollow out a long tube. “Oh, that’s easy. You love me, and that’s all I’ve ever wanted or needed.”
The silence that falls is deafening, but I carry on like I don’t notice. Twisting a thin string of metal around the base of one of the lock picks, I curl it into a spring, attaching one end to the other piece of the set. Once that’s solid, I feed it into the hollow tube, ensuring everything is perfectly positioned before working my magic. By the time I’m done, the entire thing can curve into a circle, each point of the lock pick askew enough that it lines up with a hole and can click tightly together.
“So, Jasper the ninja. Did he do anything remarkable beyond beating people up and some parkour?”
Clearing her throat, Amara’s voice comes out a bit rougher than before. “That’s just it, hedidn’tbeat anyone up. Guy moved like a shadow, and took his opponent’s down with a couple swift hits in the right places. He didn’t waste energy locked in lengthy battles, and even watching him intently, he managed to fade into the background right in plain sight. The men beside him in the pit overlooked him as an immediate threat and moved on, even knowing firsthand how dangerous he was. It was impressive as hell. He’d be perfect for the kind of security jobs where you don’t want anyone to know he’s actually security.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about you using other men to seduce me, and am mildly ashamed that it’s working. Pretty conflicted about my semi-hard dick right now, but I’m pretty sure it’s from you talking shop like you know exactly how my mind works, and the possibilities this could open up. Alright, you win. I’ll meet them, but only if you come with me for the secondary interview.”
My heart skips a beat at the genuine smile that lights up her face. “It’s a date.”
With a wave of my hand, I clean up my workspace, all of the metal liquidating and racing to the end of the table before solidifying in perfect blocks. When I roll my stool back to face the most interesting thing in the room, Amara has her lips pressed into a thin line.
My hand lands on her thigh, squeezing once. “What’s going through that head of yours, pretty girl?”
