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“Deadly I am?” she suggested. “You forgot how utterly lethal I am and yet you let me stand before you, in your private quarters, with your dagger forgotten on the floor by your bed.”

“No,” he replied, his voice husky. He slid his hands beneath the shoulders of her jacket, slipping it down her arms, letting it fall to the floor.Heat flared at every place his fingers brushed her bare skin. She wore a black tunic beneath the jacket with her black pants and boots. “I forgot how, even with everything I want to yell at you and demand from you, how even with all of that running through my mind, I wouldletyou kill me, just to run my fingers through your hair one more time.”

“I am not here for this,” Scarlett rasped, bringing her hand up and wrapping her fingers around his, closing her eyes again. She soaked in the touch of his fingers on her cheek for a moment longer. One more moment, and then she’d shatter his world again and tell him why she was here.

“You know what I have missed most of all, my Wraith of Shadows?” he whispered. Again, he was right next to her ear, his breath tickling her cheek. She could feel his lips brush against her skin while he spoke. “I have missed talking with someone who did not care that I was a prince. I miss being around someone who did not care about my title. I miss having a friend who accepts me for who I am just as I accept her.” Scarlett held her breath, not daring to breathe. Not trusting herself to do anything. “Yes, I have missed that most of all, but this? This is a damn close second.”

And he was kissing her again. Slow and deep and lovely. One of his hands went around her waist, tugging her to him, as if he couldn’t stand to have any amount of space between them, and she felt him press against her front. Her hands went around his neck, and his kisses began trailing down her jaw, down her neck. Her back arched as he continued along her collarbone, licking the hollow of her throat. A moan escaped her that had him answering with a growl of his own.

“I am not here for this,” she rasped again, as his hands lifted her tunic. She raised her arms so he could slide it over her head.

“I do not care,” he whispered onto her lips, nipping her bottom one. He shrugged his own unbuttoned shirt off.

He gently steered her towards the bed, his hands grasping her hips, and she conceded one step. Two. “Callan.”

But his lips were on hers again, his hands roaming over her arms, her torso, her rear. He tugged at the band of fabric around her breasts,and she reached up to remove it. He tossed it aside and pressed her back again. She moaned once more as he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, his tongue flicking over it. The back of her legs bumped the edge of the bed, and as she let him lay her down on it, she managed to get out, “This will change nothing, Callan.”

“I do not care,” he said again, sliding her boots and socks from her feet.

“Callan,” she tried again as he reached for the buttons on her pants.

He paused, staring at her, half naked, splayed out on his bed before him in the moonlight streaming in from the night sky. “Do you want me to stop?”

She took him in, too. This man that she had loved once, maybe still did. This man who, despite what he had said, was a prince, would one day be king. She could never be what he needed, who he would need at his side. But tonight?

“No,” she breathed, hating herself for that one word. “I want to pretend that the last year never happened.”

A dark grin came across his sensuous lips. “Good,” he said, unbuttoning her pants, kissing down her stomach as he went. “Because I intend to keep you here as long as I can.”

CHAPTER 17

SCARLETT

Scarlett’s head rested on Callan’s chest while he lazily stroked his fingers up and down her arm. He held her close and tight to him, as if she would slip between his fingers into the night. Indeed, she would, but not until this conversation was had first. She knew whenever she returned to the manor, she would find Nuri waiting for her and wanting to know everything she’d found out.

“Callan,” she started, swallowing hard.

“Shh,” he murmured into her hair, kissing the top of her head. “Two more minutes. Two more minutes of pretending the last year never happened.” She kissed his chest where her head rested and sighed. His arm only tightened around her.

She savored it. The heaviness of his arm wrapped around her. The feel of her legs intertwined with his under the blankets. The rise and fall of his chest. The smell of him. The taste of him. She let herself pretend that nothing had changed. She let herself pretend that he wasn’t a prince, and she wasn’t a weapon of death often wielded by his father.

After not two but four minutes, she swallowed again. “Callan.”

She felt him sigh underneath her, and she lifted her head to look into his eyes. The flecks of green seemed to be brighter amongst the hazel color.He leaned up and pressed a kiss to her lips. “As much as I would like to believe you came here tonight for me, I know better.” Scarlett dropped her eyes from his. She was such trash. His fingers gently brushed her cheek, and he whispered, “Tell me what you need from me, my Wraith.”

Scarlett sat up, wrapping the sheet around her shoulders. Callan drank in the bare parts of her that he could see, his hand resting on her knee. She pursed her lips, not wanting to ruin everything.

“Say it, Scarlett,” he said softly.

“There are children disappearing again. It’s been over a year, but we had four go missing in four days. Nuri has been casing other Districts and no other place is losing children. The Black Syndicate is being targeted again, and we’re desperate, Callan.” She spoke so quickly she felt as if she were vomiting words out.

“Desperate enough that you finally came back to see me, to ask if I know anything about it,” Callan replied quietly.

Piece of shit. She was a piece of shit for how this had played out tonight. “I… I don’t know what you want me to say, Callan.”

He sat up now, too, pulling the blankets over his waist with him. He twirled a piece of her hair between his fingers. “I will see what I can find out for you under two conditions.” Scarlett brought her eyes to his, a wary expression coming across her face.

“You must come back to get the answers, and—”