My entire body reacted instantly.
Her fingers rested there, light and unassuming, and somehow that made it worse.
I lifted my gaze to her face and forgot, briefly, how to do anything else. She was watching me now, still and intent. She’d felt the shift but didn’t quite understand it.
Cold chased heatalong my spine.
My hand tightened on the edge of the table without permission. I didn’t move away. I couldn’t have, even if I tried.
Her touch was curious and intimate. I had no defense against it. I leaned in before I realized I was doing it. Just enough to close the space that no longer felt neutral.
She leaned forward, too.
What was about to happen was inevitable.
In that split second before our lips met, Caliban appeared.
“Good morning,” he said calmly. “The storm has passed. It is now safe to continue your journey.”
We jerked apart, as if we were teenagers caught making out.
Caliban took us in. The closeness. The half-eaten muffins on the table.
“Oh,” he said, one eyebrow cocked. “You’re having breakfast.”
“Yes,” I said.
“And about to partake in some snogging. Should I leave and come back? Five minutes? Maybe ten? Surely that’s sufficient,” he added, tone unchanged.
Artemis choked on nothing.
“No,” I snapped.
“Are you sure? Are you out of practice, Alpha? Do you need me to explain what was about to happen?” Caliban asked.
I closed my eyes.
“I didn’t call you,” I said.
Caliban glanced at my wrist, then at Artemis’s hand, which was now deliberately not touching me.
“The mark reacted,” he said.
Artemis shifted. “I was just curious.”
“Of course,” Caliban said.
A tense silence settled in the room.
“Well then, if I am not needed, I will be going.”
“Wait!” Artemis stood. “Thank you, Caliban… for the muffins. And the coat.”
He inclined his head, and in the next breath, he vanished.
17
ARTEMIS
