Page 12 of The Demigod Complex
“Probably a good idea.”
She pulled a dress from the closet where she’d just finished hanging it. He stayed where he was as she gathered other things and crossed the room.
“By the way…”
Her voice pulled him out of his head, which had gone on ahead to her naked in the shower. Where the hell had his control disappeared to? Now she stared at him from the doorway to the bathroom.
He raised his eyebrows in question.
“Congrats on being the best man at the ceremony.” The woman actually winked before she closed the door behind her.
I am never going to figure her out.And that was half the fun.
Chapter Five
“You should probably know this mating is not an easy one.” Castor tossed the words in her general direction as they crossed the lobby of the hotel.
She kept the pleasant smile plastered to her lips despite the desire to glare at the man beside her. “Delilah’s involvement and it being an arranged mating was a pretty strong clue,” she muttered between clenched teeth. “But what else haven’t you told me?”
Her frustrating boss flashed another smile. Two in one day had to be a record. This one, she figured, was only meant to buy him acquiescence. “Great dress by the way,” he said.
While she did like the knee-length, blush-colored dress with a sweet belt tied in a bow at her waist, he wasn’t going to distract her. “Thank you, but you’re not off the hook.”
“Too late, they’re right over there.” He put one hand to her back while he raised the other to catch his friend’s attention. “Marrok.”
The wolf couple was waiting for them in white wicker chairs on the large porch at the front of the hotel. Leia was glad she’d changed, as both were dressed casually. Like Castor, Marrok wore jeans and a button-up with the long sleeves rolled back. Tala Canis wore a stylish single-piece pantsuit in a striking blue. They appeared to be deep in serious conversation until Castor hailed them. They stood, and Leia noted both were tall and lean, typical build for wolf shifters.
After the two men shook hands, Marrok introduced his bride-to-be. The male wolf’s voice had a dark rasp to it, like a rumbling growl. Deep laugh lines around his eyes spoke of an inherent kindness. She decided she liked him.
“Congratulations on your upcoming mating.” Leia offered her felicitation to them both.
Behind Tala’s shoulder, an older woman did a double take, probably at Leia’s word choice. Damn. She’d have to remember they were among humans here.
Marrok simply nodded. Deep blue eyes gazed back at her from under thick black eyebrows. He had silver at his temples, not unusual for an alpha, even a relatively young one. She placed his age around thirty-two.
The small smile she received from Tala was shadowed by a wariness in the elegant blonde’s stunning green eyes. Castor had said this wasn’t a love match, but was the bride reluctant?
“I’m surprised the dragon shifters in the area didn’t have something to say about it,” she said. “Isn’t the Alliance headquarters close to here?”
From what she understood, the kings and clans had established colonies in the Americas, and the Alliance were their trusted men who ruled in their stead.
“Farther north,” Marrok confirmed. “We have a—” He glanced at Tala who rolled her eyes. “Let’s just say we have a truce of sorts. We don’t get involved in their stuff, and they leave us the hell alone. Not that they care about wolf shifters.”
Interesting.
“How long have you two been dating?” Tala asked with a polite smile.
Castor turned to Leia, his hand at her back again, warm through the thin silk of her dress. She resisted the urge to lean into that hand and straightened away from him instead, then shot him a pointed look.
Resisting the man was supposed to be part of her job. Dammit.
He cleared his throat. “Lyleia is my executive assistant.”
“An office romance? That’s new for you, old man,” Marrok teased.
“I’m not his date,” Leia explained tightly. “Just his camouflage.”
Marrok looked back at Leia with a grimace. “I hope my changing your rooms to a suite isn’t an issue, Lyleia?”
