Page 26 of Captivated By Alphas 1, Fated (The Blood Moon Chronicle #4)

His hands found my waist, warm and steady against the cool water.

I could feel his heartbeat against my palms where they pressed against his chest, strong and slightly faster than normal.

His breath mingled with mine, warm in the space between us.

This close, I could see the individual flecks of gold in his eyes, the subtle stubble along his jaw, the way his pupils dilated as he looked at me.

“This feels suspiciously like a scene from one of your romantic films,” I managed, my voice barely audible over the water lapping around us. “Did you engineer this whole thing? Car breakdown, naked swimming, conveniently placed root?”

I was acutely aware of his hands on my waist, the heat of his body beneath mine.

Something about his presence made me want to yield completely, to offer my throat in a gesture of submission I didn’t consciously understand.

The impulse was so strong I had to physically fight it, confused by my own reactions.

First Jace this morning, now Adrian—what was it about these Carmichael cousins that made my body respond in ways I couldn’t explain?

“If I had this kind of directing power, I’d have won an Oscar by now,” Adrian replied, his voice rumbling through his chest into my palms. “Though I couldn’t have scripted a more perfect lead.”

I should move. I should scramble away, make a joke, do anything but lie here staring into his eyes like some lovestruck heroine in a Hallmark movie.

But my body refused to cooperate. It was like I’d forgotten how limbs worked, or more accurately, like my body had staged a coup against my brain and was now taking orders directly from Adrian Carmichael.

“We should… get up,” I whispered, not moving a single muscle.

“Should we?” His hand slid up my back, fingers threading through my damp hair. Electricity danced down my spine, and I bit my lip to keep from making an embarrassing sound that would haunt me for the rest of my natural life.

“This is… We shouldn’t…” The words dissolved as his thumb traced the line of my jaw, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

“Why not?” His eyes had changed completely now—more gold than green, wild and hungry. “Give me one good reason.”

Reasons. I needed reasons. But his fingers were tracing patterns on my skin, and his body was warm beneath mine, and his lips were right there, and my brain had apparently decided to take an unscheduled vacation to somewhere that didn’t require coherent thought.

“Because,” I started, then lost my train of thought completely as his thumb brushed my lower lip. “Because we just met. Because you’re… you’re Adrian Carmichael. You’ve dated models and actors and people who don’t trip over roots and fall into lakes.”

“None of whom were half as interesting as the housekeeper’s son who swims naked and knows about panthers.” His eyes flashed pure gold for a heartbeat, like someone had replaced his irises with molten metal. “And what I am is very, very interested.”

My pulse thundered in my ears like a stampede. “You’re just caught up in the moment. The setting, the situation. It’s like something from one of your movies.”

“My movies aren’t nearly this perfect.” His thumb traced my bottom lip again, sending shivers through me that had nothing to do with the cool water. “You have no idea how beautiful you are right now.”

Beautiful? Me? With my hair plastered to my head and water dripping down my face? Either he needed glasses or I was having a very elaborate hallucination. “Right. Soaking wet, half-dressed, and completely mortified. Very attractive.”

“Exactly.” His gaze burned into mine with an intensity that made it hard to breathe. “Utterly irresistible.”

He leaned up, closing the distance between us by inches. I could count his eyelashes, see the individual flecks of gold in his eyes, feel the warmth of his breath against my lips.

Is this really happening? Is Adrian Carmichael about to kiss me in a lake while I’m wearing nothing but his shirt?

Less than twenty-four hours after his cousin had me pinned against a wall and nearly kissed me?

My life had gone from boring to soap opera in record time.

Maybe I’d hit my head yesterday and was in a coma, dreaming all of this. That would actually explain a lot.

Our lips were a breath apart when a car horn shattered the silence. I jerked back so violently I nearly gave myself whiplash, scrambling to my feet in the shallow water with all the grace of a newborn giraffe.

“That’s probably someone looking for me,” I babbled, my voice hitting a pitch that would make dolphins envious. “I told Mom I’d only be gone an hour. And now I’m soaked and wearing your shirt and—oh God, this looks so bad.”

Adrian rose more slowly, water streaming from his ruined designer slacks. “Rain check, then?” he asked, looking entirely too composed for someone who’d just nearly kissed a half-dressed, panicking mess of a human.

I couldn’t look at him. If I did, I might dive right back into his arms like some romance novel heroine with no self-control. “We should get that gas to your car.”

“You’re not actually going to pretend this didn’t happen, are you?” He caught my wrist as I turned to climb the embankment, his touch sending warmth spiraling up my arm like wildfire. “That there isn’t something happening between us?”

I had to force myself not to lean into his touch like a cat seeking affection. “What I’m going to do is help you get your car started so you can get to the estate and I can go change into actual clothes and try to forget the most mortifying day of my life.”

“Mortifying?” His voice dropped dangerously, sending another shiver down my spine. “Is that really how you’d describe what just happened?”

I turned back to face him, something honest breaking through my defenses like sunlight through clouds. “No,” I admitted quietly. “But it’s easier than acknowledging I just nearly kissed Adrian Carmichael while wearing nothing but his shirt in the middle of a lake after he caught me skinny-dipping.”

His expression softened, the predatory intensity giving way to something gentler that made my heart do another complicated flip. “When you put it that way, it does sound rather extraordinary.”

“My life was normal before yesterday,” I said, a reluctant smile tugging at my lips. “Boring, even.”

Adrian’s eyes sharpened at that, suddenly laser focused. “Yesterday? What happened yesterday?”

My stomach dropped like I’d just hit the first hill on a roller coaster.

Heat crawled up my neck as Jace’s face flashed in my mind—the way he’d looked at me in the bathroom yesterday, and then this morning when he’d pinned me against the wall, his lips a breath away from mine before my mother interrupted us.

“Nothing. Just… you know, things. Normal things. Estate things.”

“Estate things,” Adrian repeated, still holding my wrist, his thumb tracing gentle circles over my pulse point. “That sounds suspiciously vague for something that apparently ended your boring normal life.”

“And now?” I deflected, desperate to change the subject. “Now I’m going to have to explain to my mother why I’m soaking wet and wearing a shirt that isn’t mine. And why I’m late.”

Adrian studied me for a moment longer, then released my wrist. “Tell her you were rescuing a damsel in distress,” he suggested, his lips twitching. “It has the virtue of being partially true.”

A snort escaped me before I could stop it—an actual, honest-to-God snort. I clapped a hand over my mouth, mortified, but Adrian’s lips just curved into a genuine smile that was somehow more devastating than his practiced charm.

“Right. You’re very damsel-like,” I managed once I’d recovered. “Especially with those shoulders.”

We retrieved the gas can, which had thankfully landed on the path rather than in the water, and continued in silence.

Water squelched in my shoes with every step, making the world’s least sexy soundtrack.

The shirt clung uncomfortably to my skin.

But all I could think about was the phantom pressure of his thumb on my lip, the heat of his body beneath mine.

When we reached his car, I handed over the gas can with a mixture of relief and regret. “This should be enough to get you to the estate.”

“Thank you for the rescue.” His fingers brushed mine as he took the container, lingering a heartbeat too long. “And for the memorable introduction.”

“Please don’t mention this to anyone.” The thought of this story getting back to my mother—or worse, to Jace—made my stomach twist into a pretzel. “Especially not my mother.”

“Your naked swimming adventure is safe with me.” His smile was both reassuring and predatory, like a wolf promising not to eat you… today. “Though I can’t promise I won’t think about it. Often. In great detail.”

“You’re impossible,” I muttered, though I couldn’t help the smile tugging at my lips.

“So I’ve been told. Repeatedly.” His eyes crinkled at the corners. “By directors, producers, and now by the most beautiful young man I’ve ever seen standing in a lake.”

The compliment hit me like a physical blow, warming me from the inside out despite my wet clothes. “I should go. Mom’s waiting.”

“I’ll see you at the estate,” Adrian said.

“I help with dinner service most nights.” I backed toward the path that would lead to my car, afraid that if I stayed a moment longer, I might do something stupid. Like ask him to finish what we’d started in the lake. “And I’ll need to return your shirt.”

“Keep it,” he said immediately, his eyes flashing gold again. “It looks better on you anyway.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t keep the smile from my face. “Goodbye, Adrian.”

“Until tonight, Eli Harper,” he called after me, his voice following me all the way back to my car.

I slammed the door shut and gripped the steering wheel, staring blindly through the windshield. My heart hammered against my ribs like it was trying to escape my chest and run back to Adrian.

What. The. Actual. Hell.

I pressed my forehead against the steering wheel and let out a strangled laugh that bordered on hysteria.

This couldn’t be happening. Things like this didn’t happen to people like me.

They happened in movies. In books. Not to the adopted son of the estate staff who spent most of his life trying to blend into the background.

“Get it together, Eli,” I muttered, starting the car with shaking hands.

“So what if you nearly kissed Adrian Carmichael while wearing nothing but his shirt in a lake? So what if yesterday nude Jace Carmichael caught you in his bathroom half-naked and then this morning pinned you against a wall and almost kissed you before your mom interrupted? Totally normal week. Nothing to see here. Just your average Tuesday in the life of Eli Harper.”

I pulled onto the road, glancing in my rearview mirror. Adrian was still watching, a predatory stillness to his posture that made my stomach flip. The intensity in his gaze made me feel like prey that had temporarily escaped but was still very much being hunted.

“First Jace, now Adrian.” I laughed again, the sound slightly unhinged even to my own ears. “What’s next? Is Cole Carmichael going to show up and complete the trifecta of impossibly gorgeous celebrity cousins suddenly interested in me?”

The universe wouldn’t be that cruel. Or that generous. Depending on how you looked at it.

I drove faster than I should have, the windows down to dry my hair.

Adrian’s shirt clung to my skin, still damp from the lake.

It smelled like him—cardamom and something uniquely masculine that made my head spin slightly.

I should have been cold, but heat crawled across my skin as I replayed what had just happened.

The way his eyes had changed color when he looked at me. The feel of his hands on my waist, so careful yet possessive. The warmth of his breath against my lips.

“Stop it,” I hissed at myself. “You’re not some swooning heroine in a romance novel. You’re Eli Harper, and you have actual problems. Like explaining to your mother why you’re soaking wet and wearing Adrian Carmichael’s shirt.”

Oh God. Mom. Dinner service.

I pressed the accelerator harder, checking the time on my dashboard. I was definitely late, which meant Mom would be in full-on Spanish Inquisition mode.

By the time I pulled up to the cottage, my hair had mostly dried into a mess of platinum waves that would take forever to tame. I sprinted inside, grateful for the empty house, and made a beeline for my bedroom.

I stripped off Adrian’s shirt, reluctantly setting it aside to be washed, and jumped into the shower for the world’s fastest rinse.

Three minutes later I was dressed in clean jeans and a blue button-down that Sheena had given me for Christmas, insisting it “brought out my eyes.” Whatever that meant.

I made it to the mansion just as Duncan was starting to mutter Scottish curses under his breath, a sure sign that dinner preparations were behind schedule and someone was about to face his wooden spoon of doom.

“Where the hell have ye been, lad?” he demanded, brandishing said spoon like a medieval weapon.

“Sorry, sorry,” I gasped, out of breath from running. “Got… delayed.”

“Eliot James Harper!” My mother appeared from the butler’s pantry, hands on hips. “I’ve been calling you for the past hour! Where on earth have you been? And why is your hair wet?”

“Had to shower,” I said, trying to look innocent and failing spectacularly if her narrowed eyes were any indication. “I had a bit of an… unexpected situation.”

“Must have been quite the situation,” Madi said, emerging with a knowing smile that made me want to crawl under the nearest tablecloth. “You’re wearing your good shirt.”

I felt heat crawl up my neck. Nothing escaped Madi Carmichael’s notice. The woman had spy-level observation skills. “Just got caught in a… splash,” I managed. “Had to change.”

“Well, you’re here now,” Mom said, her tone making it clear this conversation wasn’t over. “We need to set the formal dining room.”

“I’m on it,” I said, grateful for the chance to escape the kitchen and the scrutiny of both my mother and Madi.

“And Eli?” Mom called after me. “We’ll talk about your ‘unexpected situation’ later.”

The way she said it made it clear I wasn’t off the hook. I nodded and hurried to the dining room, my mind spinning with the events of the past forty-eight hours.

Jace in the bathroom yesterday. The way he’d pinned me against the wall this morning, his lips a breath away from mine before my mother called up the stairs. And now Adrian at the lake, his hands on my waist, his lips almost touching mine before that car horn interrupted…

“What is happening to my life?” I whispered to the empty dining room, smoothing the crisp white tablecloth with trembling hands.

And more importantly, how was I going to face them both tonight?