Page 32 of Born of Starlight
“I might have guessed that.”Bullshit.But not quite a lie. Imighthave guessed she had starlight in her. Certainly, she did. Imightalso have guessed she was a Siren or a figment of my imagination.
I knew one thing—I could feel her fire calling to mine. She may have thought the stars alone marked her, but I grew uneasier by the minute just being near her. It was like she held a piece of me. But thatcouldn’tbe.
She asked, “Why would you guess that?”
I flashed her what should have been a winning smile. “Because nothing but the heavens above could have created such a beautiful creature.”
The boy Commander cleared his throat in warning. Which was laughable, really. All the brute force in the world would never save him from Van’s locked jaw or the fire in my veins.
She leveled a skeptical look at me; her dark eyes seemed to swirl with iridescent smoke.
“Flattery isn’t going to win you anything with me.”
“And yet, you’ve leaned closer.”
She looked down at her body in disbelief, as if it had betrayed her. A dark chuckle escaped my lips. I swore she blushed as she straightened. Seeing her lean away was disappointing, but it satisfied me a little to see her flustered.
“What about you—what is your Source magic?” She changed the topic.
In response, I held my fingers to the fire and let it grow out of the hearth in a blazing roar.
“Fire,” she mused softly, watching the flames die down in the fireplace to their usual flickering glow. “Firose commands Fire too—one of my Sisters. Do you know her?”
“Yes.” I ground it out too quickly. This wasn’t a topic of conversation to have on a truth charm. Not when her loyalties to them were so strong. “Do you find me handsome, Lady Asterie?”
The distraction landed perfectly. She was mid-sip of tea.
She choked out, “Of all things—you want to know if I think you are attractive?”
Emmerick quipped from the corner, “I think that’s enough tea for you two.”
She set her tea on the wooden side table and surveyed my face with interest. Those glistening dark depths consumed me like a black hole.
“You are handsome…” she admitted. “My mind screams that I should stay away from you, fear you, but my body betrays my mind.”
“Your body has the better idea,” I drawled quietly.
Her gaze darkened for a split second as she placed her feet carefully back on the floor.Fidgety.
“Just reminding you both that Iamstill here,” Emmerick chimed in from the corner. He was mumbling something about the absurdity of immortals as he continued to sharpen his blades.
Asterie’s lips quirked up at the sides. She seemed grateful for the buffer, amused even. On the other hand, I would do anything to see her look at me the way she just had for a second longer, including having Van drag the boy Commander out into the woods.
“Don’t worry, Sir Emmerick, you are still more handsome than any man I have encountered.” Her words were not seductive in the least. They were spoken as if it was simply a fact, but envy struck me fast anyway.Fuck.But I couldn’t deny that the boy looked like he had stepped off a storybook page.
“That’s enough tea.” The boy Commander groaned. When I glanced over the sofa, he had reddened at the ears.
Despite her companion’s interjection, she leaned over me to speak into my ear.
“We have no time for distractions, Fenris. No matter how gratifying those distractions might be for fleeting moments.” Her voice was quiet and her words were only for me.
My breath caught—she had to know what she was doing to me. The brusque rasp to her voice, the intentional closeness, her slender fingers braced on the sofa beside my head. She was no innocent fawn to be snared by some pretty words and pleasantries. I’d need to try harder—but why did I want to? Why was winning her suddenly the most important thing to me?
The offer she brought should worry me, given her loyalties. My freedom—of all things. In exchange for using me, using Van. I should never have let them come here.
“I assure you it would bemuchlonger than fleeting moments, my strange beauty.” The words were an intentional purr. She raised a brow while looking at me with smoldering intensity.
But that delicious expression was quickly erased from her face.Disappointing.
