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But I may not have a choice.

Without taking his eyes off mine, he waves for the closest waiter. “We’ll take the check.”

I swallow thickly and nibble at my bottom lip. I should be running for the hills, so why does it feel like I’m just going to wind up running straight into his arms?

Vibrations in my lap drag my attention from the man that makes the rest of the world disappear, and I only hesitate for a second before pulling my phone from my bag.

Lucas’s name lights up the screen, and I send the call straight to voicemail. There’s no way I’m dealing with his shit tonight, not when he’s been nothing but a pain in the ass ever since he gave me my assignment to find the Hunter.

If he wants it done on his timeline, maybe he should do it himself.

A few seconds pass before a text comes in, and I sigh. Of course the man couldn’t just accept that I don’t want to speak to him right now.

Lucas: Don’t forget to get payment from your little boyfriend for this little date you’re on.

Ember: What the fuck are you talking about?

Lucas: Moving your dates from the club elsewhere isn’t going to save moneybags any cash. I expect payment in full before the end of the evening.

Ember: You’re certifiable. I’m not a prostitute, and I’d appreciate you stop treating me like one.

Lucas: If I tell you to fuck him, that’s exactly what you’ll do, right up until the last dollar of your debt is paid.

I throw my phone back in my purse as hot tears threaten to fall against my cheeks. He’s always been a fucking asshole, but recently he’s taken it to an entirely different level.

“Ember?” Orion’s worried voice drags my attention to him, and I blink away the tears before he can see them.

“Hmm?”

“Are you okay?” He nods toward my purse, where I hid my phone away.

“Of course.” I swallow around the lie, even knowing he’s going to see right through it. Orion seems to be so in tune with me and my emotions that I doubt I’ll ever be able to get much past him, but that goes both ways.

It’s actually probably why we’re a good match. Our unique ability to read others would make it hard to keep anything from each other. It’s too bad this thing can never go any further.

Not when my life isn’t my own.

Not while I have my debt to Lucas hanging around my neck like a noose.

The high of my earlier orgasm is long gone, and all that remains is a sense of dread I can’t escape.

“You know, Little Flame…” Orion drags a finger up the inside of my thigh, and my breath stutters in my chest. “I don’t like when you lie to me.”

I press my eyes closed for a moment, allowing my emotions to clear and my usual mask to slip into place. Except it doesn’t. Not like it usually does. Not with the practiced ease I’ve grown accustomed to. Something about Orion makes me vulnerable, which isn’t something I can afford to be right now. Maybe ever.

“It’s just Lucas being an asshole,” I tell him a partial truth in the hope of placating him. It’s not like the information will come as a surprise to him. He knows my boss, and he knows what a total fucking cunt he can be.

He nods his understanding but doesn’t remove his hand from the sensitive flesh of my inner thigh. Just a few inches higher, and he would feel how wet I am for him, even as conflicting emotions war inside me. My body responds to him, even when my mind is a mess of contradictions.

“Is he a danger to you?” he asks, his voice low and deadly.

I drag my bottom lip between my teeth as I consider my answer. Technically, Lucas is the biggest danger in my life. He controls me in ways Orion likely could never understand, and he will for years to come. But in a lot of ways, he’s also my security blanket. No one is likely to fuck with me while I’m under his protection, while I’m valuable to him. “Not at the moment.”

“But he could be?”

I nod slowly. “He could.”

Orion watches me for long seconds, likely trying to see through the holes in my story, because there are a lot of them. But I’m too good at what I do for him to do that.