Page 56 of Twilight of Embers
My brows pulled together. He was leaving me to do yard work? What the heck?
I watched Knox stalk out of the room, staring even after he’d disappeared.
“Eat, Little Flame,” Cillian commanded.
My gaze flicked to him. “You’re very pushy. You know that, right?”
Cáel choked on a laugh.
Cillian’s lips twitched. I’d never seen him smile, but just the flicker of it was devastating.
He lowered himself to the bed, tracing an invisible pattern with his long fingers on the duvet. “I’m used to getting my way.”
“I bet,” I mumbled as I took another bite of soup. “I’m not eating because you told me to. I’m eating because this soup is amazing.”
Cáel grinned at me. It was that rusty, feral smile. “I’ll bring you more for lunch tomorrow.”
I wouldn’t argue with that. The cafeteria overwhelmed me. Eating alone at one of the outdoor tables was much more my speed.
“Thanks,” I mumbled, hurrying to finish the soup.
I dropped my spoon into the empty bowl. “I really do need to get to work.” I glanced down at myself, noticing for the first time that I was wearing what looked like Knox’s sweats. My cheeks heated. “Do you know where my clothes are?”
Cáel inclined his head toward the couch on the opposite wall. There was a pile of neatly folded clothes. “We had them washed. But I really think you need to rest—”
I pushed up and kissed his cheek. “Thank you. Would you be able to drive me to town? I could get an Uber—”
A low growl sounded from my other side. “Hayden…”
I stood, crossing to my clothes. “I’m fine, Cillian. I swear. And I’m not missing a shift. I can get an Uber if it’s a pain for Cáel to take me—”
“I’ll drive you.”
I stilled at Cillian’s words, my palms going clammy.
A fifteen-minute car ride alone with a possible drug-dealing male model who turned me inside out? What could go wrong?
28
HAYDEN
I scanned the front yard, looking for Knox, but there was no one. I turned to look through the massive windows, and there was no one in the backyard either. Tipping my head back, I peeked up at Cáel. “I thought Knox had to help with some yard work.”
Cáel shifted, a backpack looking comically tiny on his massive frame. “Somewhere else on the property.”
“How big is this place?”
He sent me a sheepish smile. “We’ve got almost a thousand acres.”
My eyes bugged. “Like a one and three zeros thousand?”
He nodded.
I bit my lip as I heard the low rumble of an engine. Those thoughts of drug dealing filled my mind again. “Am I safe with Cillian?” I whispered.
Cáel moved in then, wrapped his arms around me, and bent to nuzzle my neck. He breathed me in, his body shuddering with the action. “I would never let you go with anyone you weren’t safe with.”
It was slightly ironic that I was asking the person most people on campus were absolutely terrified of. But Cáel had never made me feel anything but completely safe. Cillian, on the other hand, set my nerves on edge. It wasn’t a bad feeling exactly, but there was an underlying energy that told me a predator was nearby.
