Page 44 of Legion
Ella flapped a hand.“Don’t bother.It’s fine.Really.She buys a whole heap of stuff.Only to suck up to me, sure, but sales are sales.”
“When did she last seek you out?”
“Umm ...a few days ago.”
Luka frowned, surprised.Draya hadn’t once approached him since he’d made his involvement with Naomi common knowledge, so he’d thought the banshee had chosen to move on.
Ella sank back into the chair.“Be aware that she was asking a lot of questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
“All revolved around you.Where in Russia you came from, why a quarter of your old lair migrated here, what the likes and dislikes of your demons are, why you avoid long-term relationships.”
Dagon grumbled a sound of annoyance at the nerve of Draya, who had no right to such information.She wasn’t even a member of their lair, for Christ’s sake.
“It was as if she was trying to profile you so she could better get close to you,” mused Ella.“From the stuff she was saying when she first tried befriending me, it seemed she thought that something might happen between you two.But then rumors recently began to circulate that you had Naomi Chamberlain in your bed.Draya seems quite put out by that.”
“I never led Draya on.We briefly flirted.That’s it.Not once did I verbally express an interest in taking it further.”And now that it was apparent Draya wouldn’t respect his well-known preference for privacy, he would never take it further.He was careful to choose bed partners who wouldn’t push him to confide in them or share overly personal details.Then nobody would be disappointed.
“The flirting was clearly enough for her to feel hopeful that you’d take things up a notch,” said Ella.“She seems hurt that you passed her up for Naomi.Draya had not-so-nice things to say about her.”
His demons went rigid in an anger that also tightened Luka’s jaw and made his nostrils flare.“Is that so?”he asked, his voice soft but vibrating with a menace evenhecould hear.“What exactly did she say?”
Ella’s eyes widened and lit up.“Ooh, someone’s protective.Intriguing.You generally place your bed buddies under your protection while they’re in your life, but it was a formality in the past.You never appeared tofeelprotective until now.”
He barely stopped himself from stiffening.“That isn’t the case here.”
“And now you’re denying it.Again, intriguing.”
The truth?Yes, his protective instincts were easily riled up when it came to Naomi.Hence why, despite still having Iain in his custody, he had assigned her a guard earlier than planned.
Though he’d told Konstantin to keep his distance, Naomi had still spotted him.She’d walked right up to the guard and asked who he was.Konstantin had told her, after which she’d telepathed Luka to snippily demand an explanation for why he’d put a man on her without informing her.
I was curious to see how long it would take you to notice him, Luka had replied.It’s reassuring that you did so this quickly.
Why reassuring?she’d asked.
His response had been blunt and to the point.Because your safety is far more important to me than I’d anticipated it would be.
She hadn’t said anything more about it, telepathically or verbally, since.
A soft snore popped out of Darko, and it was then that Luka realized both fallen angels were asleep.Some guards they were.He supposed he should take it as a compliment that they so implicitly trusted Ella and Lily’s safety with him.
“Admit it, I’m right,” pushed Ella, leaning forward in her seat.
Luka squinted.“I really loathe it when you’re bored.You turn into a meddling, nosy—”
“You’re defensive,” she noted, her lips curving.“That’s telling.”
“Not defensive, just uninterested in addressing your incorrect assumptions.You’re free to believe what you want.Now, you didn’t answer my question.What did Draya say?”
Ella lifted her shoulders in a mocking challenge.“Is it important, considering Naomi apparently doesn’t matter to you?”
Luka pressed his lips tight together.Honestly, Belial wanted to shake her right now.
“I’ve never had cause to really talk to Naomi beyond saying hi and stuff, so I asked some of the demons in her lair about her.”
He felt his brow pinch.“You normally don’t express an interest in women I bed.”
