The last few assignments I’d been tasked with had been relatively easy and stress-free, but the travel was beginning to irritate me. Cernunnos, my current…hmm. Calling him my boyfriend when he’s an ancient god felt a little weird, but I guess that’s what he was. He could pop in anytime and anywhere he wanted, but to add insult to injury, Ethan made sure he gave me the most tedious assignments that took up almost all my time.
I was just sliding into my vehicle when Ethan came outside, spotted me, and took off running. The odds of my skidding out of the parking lot and leaving him behind were low, especially since I was still fishing around in my purse for my keys.
Ethan stepped into the space between the open car door and the driver’s seat and bent down to peer in at me. I liked the way his stupid face looked, and it annoyed me because he was acting like an asshat, and the last thing I wanted was to look at him right now.
His eyes were a midnight blue, so dark they sometimes looked black. Silver hair edged his temples, an unusual feature for any immortal, but especially a shifter. Most of them, no matter how old, looked like they were in their mid-twenties to early thirties. Ethan looked closer to his early forties. His face was unlined, but the edges of his eyes had a hint of laugh lines my fingers always itched to smooth over.
He wasn’t a man who laughed often, but I suspected that for those lines to etch his skin so thoroughly, there must have been a time when he smiled all the time. That reason continued to keep us apart, and I’d finally moved on.
Even if his presence made my heart pound in my chest and my mouth go dry.
“You’re annoyed with me.”
My hands clenched the steering wheel a little tighter. “So you thought you’d come over and poke the bear?”
One side of his lips tilted up in a half-formed smile. My gaze sharpened on that almost smile.
“I’d argue it’s like poking a tiger,” Ethan drawled.
“This kitty cat bites,” I said sweetly.
Ethan’s eyes flared gold. “Careful, Moira. You never know who might want to get bitten.”
I opened my mouth to fire back, but nothing came out. My brain had stuttered to a halt because the image he put into my mind…
“Damn it, Ethan. Stop it. What do you want?”
His chuckle made my nerve endings sizzle. I was one of the few he ever laughed around. Those moments had wrapped around my heart like a vise, and I knew I’d collect this one as well and cherish it forever.
I wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. When someone showed you who they were, you had to believe them. And Ethan had shown me someone had so thoroughly captured his heart there was no room for anyone else. Nor would there ever be.
A few months ago, I finally believed him and had opened the door for Cernunnos to step in.
“I’ll be in Emberwood tonight. I’d like to see you.”
I shook my head. “You’re seeing me right now. Anything you want to say to me can be said right here.”
Ethan’s nostrils flared. “Moira.”
“Ethan.”
His jaw tightened. “We haven’t spent any time together.”
“I’m well aware since you seem to be the cause of it.”
The bastard didn’t look a bit chagrined. “What can I say,” he drawled, “the Lords have been busier than ever.”
“Piss off with that nonsense,” I growled as I reached for the door. “You know as well as I do that you’re being a hateful, jealous bastard.”
Ethan blinked. “I?—”
I twisted in my seat, shoved him with a booted foot, then pulled my door shut.
Chapter
Two
Cernunnos was waiting for me on the couch when I walked through my door. A gorgeous specimen of male, sometimes it hurt me to look at him because he was just so pretty.
