Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
T he bay at sunset is gorgeous, but not nearly as eye-catching as the man standing with me.
His royal blue suit has had me sporting a semi all evening.
Like I said before, the man isn’t handsome, but with his black hair styled, the stubble he usually wears shaven, plus the three piece suit tailored to fit him, he looks like all my wet dreams have come true.
Plus, he carries himself with the same self-confidence that he always has, and watching him maneuver through the culture of wealth on this ship is just as sexy as watching him slice and dice with his sword.
Yeah, we’re on that kind of cruise. The kind where the women wear evening gowns that have precious gems sewn on instead of sequins, and the men wear half a million dollars on their wrists so they can impress each other with the size of their portfolios.
Compared to most of the people at this party, Fox and I are dressed in rags. Well, I am. My suits only cost a few thousand dollars and are definitely not bespoke. Fox’s might be, but I couldn’t tell by looking (*exaggerated wink*).
Doesn’t matter, because Fox moves through this space like he owns it and the people around us are here at his leisure.
When the servers come out with drinks, Fox somehow manages to make it look like they’re serving him specifically.
When any of the guests notice him, he returns their looks with a greeting like they should know who he is.
It’s incredible to watch, but more incredible is that he isn’t acting any differently than he always does.
Everything about him is the same as how he is when he’s wearing yoga pants and carrying a sword, but in this atmosphere it makes him seem like a king.
And I hang on my king’s arm and every word.
I can’t help it; he consumes all of my attention.
And the best part is the way he’s looking at me right now; he’s as fixated on me as I am on him.
His dark hazel eyes peer into my soul, read the words I can’t speak, and tell me that I’m as important to him as he is to me.
When I saw you in the diner that first time, I decided it was love at first sight and bemoaned that I would probably never see you again.
It didn’t even occur to me that you’d committed a crime, I was a witness, and that if the police did their job I would be part of the reason you’d end up in prison for the rest of your life.
Didn’t think once about that. I was just sad that the love of my life had come and gone and I didn’t even get his name.
“It was your big brown eyes that caught my attention. You didn’t look scared, even though you were wide-eyed and staring.
You looked sympathetic, and I couldn’t figure out why some waiter in a diner would feel sorry for me,” he murmurs, studying my face, looking in my eyes, then letting his gaze linger on my mouth, then back to my eyes.
It’s because you ordered food and then everyone just decided you needed to die. I didn’t really understand, but when I figured out that thirty to one odds weren’t in their favor, I decided I was in love. Competence is sexy as hell, you know.
“I didn’t expect to find you at the library.
I laughed later at the look on your face when you pushed that arm and head out of your lap and gave me sass about ruining your clothes.
I decided then that if I ever met you again I’d offer you a job.
I haven’t had a Harbinger in a decade. I went through a string of them and got fed up.
They kept quitting, and they all had the same reason; they thought I didn’t like them.
I can’t think of anyone I specifically dislike except Santanos.
But that was more of an on-principle thing than a personal thing until he messed with you. ”
Belaphor might not have been a bad replacement for Santanos. I mean, evil is as evil does, right?
“Belaphor was right about Santanos being the council’s puppet. It’s better to have evil mitigated by the council than to let it run rampant, which is what Belaphor wants.”
He said the council was biased against evil, which totally makes sense to me, but I honestly thought they were more neutral? Not that Omp strikes me as a neutral party.
“Actually, the fair balance of good versus evil is 90 to 10. Because evil is so visible and so much more impactful, it takes a hell of a lot less of it to make the world seem like it’s falling apart.
The balance was shifted by five percent in favor of evil in the 1910s and we ended up with wars and genocides for a century.
We’re still trying to recover that five percent.
We’ve only managed to beat it back three percent, and that was with Santanos working with the council.
I don’t like him, and he is replaceable, but he’s actually been an acceptable Avatar. ”
Why not just get rid of evil altogether?
Fox stills, searching my face again. “I think that’s a serious question, so I’ll give you the honest answer.
We can’t. Not that we won’t, we simply can’t.
We can mitigate it, we can fight it, but the fair balance is nine to one because it takes nine people like me to stop the spread of evil done by a single person.
I don’t usually concentrate on Santanos’ minions like I have been since we met.
He caused the massacre of his own people.
My usual work has me pushing back against the natural corruption of humans, like that board of directors I killed yesterday.
Humans involved in such evil that the only way to regain the balance is to kill them. ”
I process that for a minute and land on the side you would expect. Silver linings for the win (of course I’m attracted to silver linings—bling is my thing!).
So what you’re saying is, the world is 88% good. That’s fucking incredible.
A crooked, happy, amused smile graces Fox’s lips and he presses his forehead to mine, pulling me into an intimate hug. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Eyes closed, savoring the closeness of my man, it strikes me suddenly that the deck has gone silent, and at the same time Fox’s grip on me stiffens and he lifts his head away from mine.
Before I open my eyes, I mentally warn everyone and everything in the world that if my date is interrupted and my suit gets ruined, I will rage sic my Fox on everyone .
Slowly I open my eyes and turn to find the silence is the result of a beautiful man stepping up onto a raised dais with a gorgeous guitar in hand.
Dark mahogany skin shines under a spotlight as he sits on a stool and adjusts the microphone.
He looks out at his audience for just a glimmer of a moment before he adjusts his guitar and strums a chord.
His long, elegant fingers pick the notes as he begins a hauntingly beautiful melody.
It feels like every person on deck is holding their breath, then his voice joins the guitar, smooth and sure, with the most beautiful tonal quality I’ve ever heard.
He sings in a language I couldn’t even guess at, but the music and words evoke longing and love inside me.
Entranced by the performer, I find myself leaning into Fox, pulled under his arm, holding onto him because I can’t help but need to cling.
I love him. I want him. And this music makes those emotions overflow like a cup under the torrent of a waterfall.
When the man brings the song to its end, the audience releases a collective sigh.
I look up through my teary eyes to Fox, who kisses my forehead and pulls me close.
“I’ve rarely heard a siren sing, but they tend to pull our deepest desires to the surface.
Whatever you’re feeling, it’s an intensification of what you want the most.”
I love you. I want you for the rest of our long lives. That is what I am feeling. Just love and longing for you.
Fox’s breath hitches for a few moments as he reads my words, then he smiles at me, full of joy. “I feel exactly the same. I love you too.”
I can’t stand another moment of this life without kissing my Fox.
I pull him to my lips and ravage his mouth, taking what belongs to me and giving him everything he owns as well.
He tastes like my own personal dessert, a concoction of the sweetest honey and smoothest bourbon, a brulé of Fox, set on fire by the passion igniting between us.
The next song of the siren sets the atmosphere for our kiss, pressing us on, urging us to consummate our love.
We don’t, obviously. As soon as I realize that the siren song is pushing us toward sex, I back off from the kiss and let Fox start moving us in a slow dance designed to hide the state of our arousal.
He grins at me and leans in to murmur in my ear.
“If I’d known the entertainment was a siren, I would have booked us a room. ”
A shiver of lust runs down my spine and straight to my balls, but I manage to not cum from just his voice in my ear. Instead of releasing either his hand or his bicep so that I can talk, I give up on ever being decent in public, press my face into his neck, and enjoy the dance.