Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Rowan
The medieval romance he was reading on his phone wasn’t keeping Rowan’s attention.
It had been three days since he’d come to Protective Solutions, and his need to have access to a kitchen had grown unbearable.
Wanting to jot some recipe ideas down, he’d asked for a notebook, and a very pretty woman, taller than his own six-foot-three height, had brought him one.
She was heavily muscled, and her ears were pointed, so he was guessing elf, though several species here seemed to have pointed ears.
But her intense violet eyes reminded him of the other elf he’d been introduced to—Alaric.
He did wonder about her. Ivor had told him Alaric could heal, and he didn’t know if that was a usual power for elves, or if his magic was unique.
But this woman was built like a lot of the other bodyguards.
Rowan felt positively skinny being around them all.
But then, he was skinny compared to a lot of humans as well.
It was just the way he was built, and honestly, it didn’t bother him most of the time.
He was who he was, and he’d never had the desire to spend the many hours in a gym it would take to bulk up. If he even could.
Ivor strode between some of the cubicles, and Rowan noticed others watching him as he walked.
Fuck, he was sexy, so he didn’t blame any of them.
His gaze was drawn to the incubus constantly, and often, when he did look, Ivor was looking right back at him.
He seemed preoccupied now, though, so Rowan felt free to stare.
Ivor was about his height, and though he was built lean, he had a lot more muscle mass than Rowan. His long black hair was back in its usual braid, and Rowan wished he could see it loose. He also had his daggers sheathed on his back.
Those daggers turned Rowan the fuck on.
He’d always been more of a big sword fetish kind of guy.
That thought made him snort. But after watching Ivor in action with those two short swords, he was a big fan now.
It was so easy to imagine what Ivor must have been like hundreds of years ago.
He had no idea how old he was, but Rowan was sure he was pretty old.
The mountain was so high, clouds obstructed the view of the ground, and Rowan’s heart leaped into his throat as he quickly moved away from the edge of the cliff.
He had nowhere left to run.
Frantically looking for a way out, all he could see was the mob of villagers that had chased him to this precipice.
He had his magic, but it wouldn’t be as effective against so many.
Still, he threw up his hands and called upon the earth to aid him in creating a barrier between him and the villagers.
He shouldn’t have used his talent for persuasion to try and get that loaf of bread, but hunger ate at his belly with a ferocity that had made him lose his judgment.
It had taken him so long to trek here, so long to find the man who meant everything to him.
The man who was now running toward him just as a loud roar sounded from the air above. Rowan looked up to find a massive, red dragon bearing down on him. The villagers screamed in fear, turning en masse to run back toward their town.
But Ivor kept coming, drawing his two daggers from his back as he reached Rowan.
“I knew you would find me,” Rowan said, his gaze taking in the beautiful, dark face of his beloved. But he knew they couldn’t win against the dragon.
Still Ivor braced his legs, daggers out, as the great, winged creature dove for them.
“Rowan?”
Hands settled on his shoulders, and Rowan blinked out of the fantasy to find Ivor looking at him with concern.
“Are you okay? Where did you go?”
Heat rushed into his cheeks as he realized that everyone was staring at him, and he’d just been standing in the middle of the office in one of his silly trances. He cleared his throat, then whispered, “Sorry. I’m fine.”
Ivor kept staring at him, brows drawn together.
“Really, I’m fine. Was just thinking.” Rowan shrugged off Ivor’s hands and stepped away, face burning in embarrassment.
Ivor just studied him a moment. “You must be going stir crazy.”
“A little, yeah. When I was on the run, the draugr kept coming after me, so it’s weird that it’s only tried to get in once so far.”
“I’m surprised, myself. But it will show. Of that, I have no doubt.” He nodded his head toward the stairs. “Why don’t you come with me and meet Daniel? He’s our computer specialist. I bet he could set you up with a laptop. Do you play video games?”
“I haven’t in years, but I did use to like them as a teenager. But I could also do some research, maybe start searching for a new job.”
“A new job?”
Rowan nodded. “I lost my last one when I was running from the draugr. Did you think they’d be okay with me just being here like this?”
“I was hoping you got leave.” Ivor’s frown was fierce. “I’m so sorry. Feel sorry for that restaurant, too.”
“They’ll probably continue using my recipes. The head chef always took credit for them.”
“That’s not right.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“Was the head chef the one who was yelling at you?”
Rowan had to resist the urge to squirm in remembered embarrassment. He hated that Ivor had witnessed his humiliation. “That was him. Kevin Angler.”
“The man has no business being in charge of others with the way he behaved.”
“Unfortunately, he’s got some kind of personal relationship with the owners, so he gets away with murder.
” Rowan shrugged. “But I don’t have to deal with him again, so that’s one good thing.
” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“Looking for a new job would be great, so I’d love access to a laptop. ”
“Come on. You’ll like Daniel.”
Daniel had a private office the same size as Xavier’s, but where Xavier’s was mostly sleek, modern decor, Daniel had some fantasy and game posters on his walls.
There were several computer screens on his desk, and when the man himself turned toward them, Rowan couldn’t stop his small gasp.
He had no whites in his black eyes, and his fingers were all tipped with black claws.
“Never seen a banshee before? Let me guess, you thought we were only female.”
“You’re my first. How the hell do you type with…those?” Or do anything else? He kept that thought to himself.
“They do retract, but I actually prefer typing with them because that’s how I learned. What can I do for you?”
Ivor walked over to a shelf that held several laptops. “I was hoping you could set him up with one of these. He’s stuck here, as you know, and could use something to do to pass the time.”
“How good are you with computers? Because I could easily put you to work. In fact, you wouldn’t even need to be good at computers, just reading.”
“Sure. I’d love to help. You are all helping me so much. If I could be of some use, that’d be great.”
“Well, I’m doing some investigative work and am reading through hundreds of chat rooms looking for specific mentions. I could print some out, and you could read and highlight any you find.”
“I could do that.” It didn’t sound like the most entertaining pastime, but anything was better than just sitting around. “I’d still like to work on a laptop, too, if that’s possible. I need to be looking for a job.”
“Sure thing.” He nodded toward the shelf by Ivor. “We keep a lot of extras here, and they’re all tapped into the wi-fi. Grab any one you want.”
Rowan walked to the shelf and stood close to Ivor.
Fuck, the man smelled good, like bergamot and orange with a strong hint of something sweet and rose-like.
He stepped even closer for a better inhale and realized he was really encroaching on Ivor’s private space when the man softly gasped.
His gaze flew up to meet Ivor’s, and that strong connected feeling passed through Rowan again.
What was it about this incubus? Was it his magic that drew Rowan in so powerfully?
“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t mean to crowd you.”
“You’re not,” Ivor whispered. “I rather like you close.”
Shock widened Rowan’s eyes, though he wasn’t sure why.
He’d picked up on Ivor’s interest in him.
He supposed it was having that actually spoken aloud.
“I like it, too,” he whispered back without thinking.
He forgot that Daniel was in the room, forgot about the laptop—basically forgot about everything but feeling the warmth of Ivor’s body and his tantalizing scent.
Arousal spiked into him, and he parted his lips on a shaky breath. Answering desire blazed in those dark brown eyes. It was several moments before Ivor moved away from him, though he looked reluctant to be doing so.
Rowan cleared his throat and forced himself to look at the shelves. He grabbed the first laptop he saw and tried not to reveal just how shaky his legs were as he walked back toward Daniel.
Ivor quietly left the office, and Rowan settled in while Daniel showed him what to highlight in the pages of text. Luckily, the work wouldn’t take much brain power because his thoughts would be straying often to that sexy incubus.