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I narrowed my eyes at him. “That should have been implied.”

“Oh really?” Adrian said, a true grin sprouting on his lips. “Should I have looked for it in between the shameless attempt to get me naked or you barging into my office?”

I had to change the subject unless I wanted a fiery blush to bloom on my already warm cheeks. “You told me the bracelet would bring me right to you. It didn’t.”

All of the light, all of the humor, all of the emotion I’d worked so hard to bring to Adrian’s face dropped right off it.

His hard, stony expression was back. Or almost back, I realized upon further inspection.

He almost looked…panicked.

“Where did it drop you?” The words were rushed, harsh.

“In your foyer.” My brows creased on their own accord. I hadn’t meant to complain.

Adrian cursed under his breath, some thought crossing his mind. “It’s my office. It’s covered in protective wards to keep people from taking portals in.” He breathed in one long, ragged breath that looked like it took effort to gather. “I wasn’t thinking.”

I hated his anguish. Even if it was a result of him feeling like he dropped the ball on his responsibilities, I hated it.

“How about this,” I said, stepping close so he wasforced to meet my eyes. “Go take a portal somewhere in the city. Then I’ll press the bracelet and it should take me to you, right?”

The fog in Adrian’s eyes broke. But I needed them clear. “Come on,” I said, pressing his shoulder teasingly. “Let’s try it.”

The challenge got him. His smirk returned and he took a long step back. With a stare so suggestive he was practically begging me to run over and jump on him he said, “Come find me, honey,” and disappeared into smoke.

My pulse took off again, trying to set a world record for speed, it seemed. I rubbed the chain of the bracelet between my fingers, the rich gold pressing into my skin with the slightest pinch of pain.

I let Adrian stew for a second, then ran my thumb over one of the opals and my surroundings slid away.

When they solidified, a laugh immediately broke from my throat. Of course, Adrian would take me to a hill that housed his most famous temple. Specifically, to an outlook with one of the best views in the city, protected from the rest of the hill by a weathered stone wall.

I spun around, looking for him. I couldn’t even feel him.

A small flicker of panic struck my chest, worried that maybe something was wrong and I’d overshot his position or—

Strong, solid arms banded around my waist and pulled me into an equally stony chest.

A bright laugh bubbled from my chest and the arms around me tightened.

“See? It worked.” I said when Adrian set me down.

I turned in the circle of his arms and for a second thought I’d been wrong, that something had gone amiss, because Adrian looked shell-shocked. But the expression dropped a second later, replaced by an expert smile. “It did.”

I lifted my hands and tapped his chest with both of them. “All good. No need to freak out.”

A low growl built in his chest and I had the distinct feeling that if we weren’t in public, I’d be paying for that tease.

But instead, he backed me into the stone railing, caging me in. I could hear camera’s snapping and people whispering, all things that I should keep in mind. Should consider and perform for.

But I blocked it out. I didn’t know if I hoped Adrian was doing the same or if the thought of thisthingtinging with something real scared the shit out of me.

Apparently, I wanted to know, because I spoke without thinking. “There are people staring.”

Adrian planted his hands down on the railing on either side of my hips, the heat of him pressing away so he could lean down closer to my ear. “Let them stare. I would if I were them.”

I kept my eyes on the city below, because if I didn’t, I’d do something stupid.

And that’s when I saw it. It probably wasn’t obvious to someone without our view, but this high up, you could see patterns. See people moving on streets. “Adrian…”