Page 57 of Cartel Devil
“Tired.”
“Sera isn’t having you on your feet too much, is she?”
“I’m not nine months, Joaco. I’m not even nine weeks.”
“But you might be exhausted these first few weeks. You weren’t feeling well yesterday.”
“Exhausted? Have you been reading online?”
“Maybe.”
He’s utterly unrepentant when I lean back to see his face. It’s that steadfast gaze again. The one that tells me nothing can touch me or go wrong when he’s around. The one that makes me feel invincible when he’s with me. The one that makes me know to my bones that his protectiveness and possessiveness will always be about preserving my freedom to be me rather than isolating me.
If I didn’t know better, I’d think we were fated mates like in the shifter romances I love. It’s like some invisible rope’s wrapped around our wrists, binding us for eternity.
Why haven’t I thought of this before?
You are living in a shifter world.
Four rival families.
Four rival creatures.
Werewolves. Dragons. Vampires. Witches.
I don’t know which family is which, but it’s why we all find our fated mates—our soulmates.
It’s also why we hate each other, and we’re all violent as fuck.
“Tre?”
“Hmm? Sorry, just lost in my thoughts for a moment.”
“You look like you’re trying not to smile.”
“I’m happy to see you.”
“That’s a given. What’re you thinking?”
This smile is pure arrogance, and it makes me want to climb him like a koala up eucalyptus. He smells just as good.
“You’ll think it’s utterly ridiculous.”
“Try me.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder and steers me toward the street.
“I was thinking about how our world is like the kind in the books I read. I love these books called shifter romances. They have—”
“Otherworldly creatures that shift between human and beast.”
“How…?”
“We all have guilty pleasures.”
“You read romances?”
He’s trying to maintain his bravado, but his shyness makes his shoulders creep toward his ears while he tucks his chin. He shrugs.
Dear Lord. He’s so embarrassed. Fuck.
