Page 34 of Stubborn as a Shadow

I needed to get him somewhere safe. Pronto.

Unfortunately, the only way I could think of to do that was to manhandle him. I wasn’t a charmer like Isaac, or powerful like Gage, or a leader like Hayden. I was just a shadow. Shadows weren’t charismatic, because we were meant to be unseen and unheard. Shadows served as the backdrop to things people wanted to notice. People were attracted to light, colors, and patterns, none of which were found in shadows. As a species, that suited us fine.

But none of that was possible on this mission.

I was so far out of my depth it wasn’t even funny. I needed to get control—of the situation, of Morgan, of my pounding heart, and everything else too—before I fucked everything up.

Thankfully, Morgan didn’t argue this time. He followed me into the elevator, didn’t try to redirect me to his room, and came with me to my room without hesitation. Not having to fight with him on this was a fucking relief.

But I could feel his curiosity like a tangible entity hanging between us.

Once we were cloistered in my room, he grabbed a hanger from the closet inside the door before turning to me.

“You’re acting weird,” he said.

Interestingly, he didn’t sound judgmental, just curious. But since he’d shoved the hanger down the back of his shirt and was using it as a scratcher, I wasn’t the only one acting weird.

I held up my finger to silence him as I checked the room for bugs. I rarely did this, but there was too much at stake. Between Venus, the hunters, and the fucking vampire too, anything was possible. When I didn’t find any listening devices, I sat before motioning Morgan to take a seat too.

“Rudy Tada is your alias?”

“Yep. Isn’t it brilliant? Sounds like a fabulous magician’s name, doesn’t it?” He repeated the name. This time, he added more flair to it. He shimmied and even raised his hands like a magician revealing something amazing.

“Yeah.” I rubbed my palms against my eyes. When I pulled them away, I heaved a sigh and looked at him. “Listen. There are things you need to know.”

“Is this one of those ‘we need to talk’ moments?” He squished up his nose.

As the day had worn on, his makeup had become shinier and less natural looking. The way he was contorting his face right now wasn’t helping. I wanted to encourage him to wash it off, but it wasn’t safe to do that yet. There had to be a reason he was disguised like this.

“I guess…”

“I’ve never hit this stage in a relationship before.” He dropped the hanger on the dresser and rubbed his chest as if it ached. “Nope. I don’t like it. It sounds ominous. So I’m going to say thanks, but no thanks. I’ll pass.”

“It isn’t about us…” I paused and considered. “Well, not the way you’re thinking.”

We weren’t in a relationship, and we never would be if I had anything to say about it. Morgan was a man I needed to protect. Nothing more.

He crossed his arms and stared at me in silence. It lasted only the space of a heartbeat before he was scratching his elbow. “Ugh. Fine.”

“First, though… Why are you scratching? Are you having an allergic reaction to your makeup or something?”

“Really? I’m finally prepared for yourtalk,and you start with that?”

“Well, you weren’t doing it earlier.”

“I get itchy when I lie,” he mumbled.

Shit, what had he lied about? Then I remembered. Downstairs. With the hunters.

My cheeks heated.

If we had sex, would that take away the lie? Would I need to bend him over, like he said? Or could I just wrap my hand around his hard length…? Because I’d want to see his face. Makeup free. Flushed. Sweaty. Eager. My body reacted as if I really did have my hands on the little unicorn, and I wanted to groan.

What the fuck was I doing?

That wasnotan option. My brain should never have gone there. At all. Not even for a tiny little nanosecond.

I needed to stay focused and hope his itchiness ended soon. Without my help. Right, so, moving on. “I’m here because someone from the SC asked me to attend.”