Page 22

22

Claira

T he sight before us was nearly enough to steal my breath away. “When you said you lived on the ocean, I didn’t think you actually meant on top of the ocean,” I said, taking in the moonlight casting a shimmering silver glow upon the tranquil water. Barren really lived here? I wasn’t sure how anyone could afford such a place.

In front of us, Barren shrugged. He stepped down a boardwalk leading to a row of overwater bungalows built up on stilts. “It’s a lagoon,” he said as he fished his keys from his pocket. “Ocean tides are too rough to build on.”

A lagoon? I supposed that made sense, considering how calm the water was, gently lapping up the edges of the boardwalk. An Atlantic beach would never be this placid. I looked down the pathway and across the wide oval of dwellings. Homes dotted the main boardwalk, each equipped with its own branching entranceway.

“Watch your step,” Barren warned, gesturing to the slivers of moonlight dancing over the water’s surface. It was the only thing marking where the boardwalk ended and the water began. One misstep and you’d fall straight into the ocean.

Despite the danger, I chuckled, crossing the planks with sure steps. “I have excellent night vision.”

“I know.” The confidence in Barren’s deep voice gave my stomach flutters as I passed by him. He stayed behind to watch Kai and Leander, looking ready to grab one of them if they veered too close to the edge.

As I reached the spot where the boardwalk started branching off to different homes, I slowed my steps.

“The one with the shells,” Barren called.

I noticed the rooftop adorned with spirals of seashells right away.

Even in the dark, I could tell that the details of this particular bungalow were meticulous. Polished stones and planters created a beautiful walkway that led to the door, and I had no doubt that Barren had been the one to place every rock. “It’s beautiful,” I called back to him.

A small wooden sign carved with writing in a language I didn’t know hung delicately from the door, and something about the way the symbols curved, the intricate embellishments, seemed to invite me to enter.

“What does it say?” I asked, enchanted by everything about this place. The calm water, the smell of the wood. The endless sweep of the night sky dotted with starlight above us. I wasn’t sure what to think when Barren had taken us to his car and driven us to the edge of the island, but this had exceeded my wildest expectations.

After Barren unlocked the door, he tapped the corner of the sign with his key. “No solicitors.”

“… Oh.”

“Yes, how beautiful,” Laverne said, not sounding very impressed at all. She nosed the rocks away to make room to dip her snout into the water. “I’m going for a swim.”

“Wait, Laverne! We are guests,” Kai sputtered. He reached for her, but she slipped right through his fingers, sliding into the water with barely a splash.

“I’ll come knocking when I’m done!” was the last thing she projected before disappearing altogether.

“That’s no way to treat your friends!” Kai called across the water, but she was already gone.

Well, I was okay with it. With any luck, she’d return in a better mood.

Barren was the first to enter his home, and I found my anticipation rising when he turned on the lights.

“Dang,” Kai said with a whistle.

Polished wooden floor gleamed under the gentle illumination, reflecting the cleanliness of the spacious living area. Every surface, from the countertop in the kitchenette to the glass-topped dining table next to it, sparkled with a pristine sheen.

The second I stepped inside, my focus was solely on a short beige sofa that sat in front of large windows overlooking the lagoon. “Dang is right,” I said as my eyes scanned the back wall.

Then my mouth fell open. “I don’t believe it,” I whispered with a shake of my head. An electric drum kit sat in the back corner, complete with a stool and sound equipment. “You’re actually a drummer.”

“A hobby of mine.” Barren closed the door, and his lips almost formed a smirk as he made his way to the kitchen sink. When he started soaping up his keys to wash, Kai’s exasperated voice drew me to the back of the room.

“What is this thing?” he asked airily, standing next to what seemed to be workout equipment. His hands wrapped around the handle of a pulldown machine. Moving it this way and that, his eyebrows furrowed like he was desperate to figure out how it worked.

“For training, obviously,” Leander said, tossing Kai’s duffle bag down to join him next to the machine. He bent to pick up one of the free weights and said, “ nope, ” almost immediately when he tried to lift it. “Fuck, Barren. You really use these?”

“Only when I’m home long enough.” He dried his keys with a dish towel.

I gave him an inquisitive look. “You travel a lot, then?”

Although his face was passive, Barren’s tone was dark when he answered. “More than I’d like.”

It made sense. Even taking Barren’s penchant for cleanliness into consideration, this place didn’t seem very lived in. Nor did it look like it often saw company. The couch was barely big enough to comfortably seat two, and there was only one chair present at the dinner table.

Barren sat his keys up on a tiny silver hook next to the front door before blowing out a breath. “Let me show you where to put your luggage.”

“Oh, okay.” I followed him to the second of two doors connected to the living room.

Kai picked up his duffle bag, preparing to follow as well when Barren turned back. “Just her.”

“Just her?” Annoyance flashed over Leander’s face. He crossed his arms. “Why am I not surprised?”

“I only have one bedroom,” Barren said simply, seeming unbothered by the dangerous look in Leander’s eyes.

Barren flicked on the bedroom light, revealing a carefully made bed standing as the centerpiece of the room. Crisp, white linens draped across what I guessed was a king-sized mattress, devoid of any creases or imperfections. Barren waited for me to enter before easing the door shut behind us.

“This is where you’ll be staying,” he said, his voice low enough for only me to hear.

Where I’ll be staying? I looked around the room, almost blinded by its perfection. No—there was no way. Each meticulously tucked corner and precisely aligned edge of the sheets seemed to stand out, mocking me. There was no way I could ever return this bed to Barren’s standards if I dared to touch it.

I took a step back. “No, I-I couldn’t.”

Barren’s dark eyes jumped to mine, and there was something new there. Hurt, perhaps. “No?” His shoulders suddenly didn’t seem so broad. “I see.”

His jaw worked as he turned away, a gloom seeming to settle in the air, as if my rejection of the room was a rejection of him .

Wait—no. That wasn’t what I meant at all. “It’s not that I don’t want to,” I blurted, desperate to fix this—whatever this was. “It’s just… your sheets.” I gestured to them, not sure what else to say.

“Of course,” he uttered with barely a whisper breath. Was it me, or did he sound even more offended?

With a jerky sweep of his arm, he started stripping the bed, yanking up and destroying all those perfect folds. “I will get you new sheets,” he declared, his voice hoarse. “Clean ones. Ones I haven’t touched.”

I stared at him, dazed, as he rolled everything up into a pile. He looked at the blindingly white bedsheets with a curled lip, as if they were the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen.

What had my careless words done to him? This wasn’t what I’d meant at all.

“Barren.” I came up and put my hand on his arm, stopping him before he had a chance to jerk the mattress protector off too. “Stop. Please .”

I waited to make sure I had his attention before I continued. “It isn’t that I think your bed isn’t clean. It’s that it’s…” I paused to bite my lip, wondering if he would think I was disgusting. “ Too clean. I could never keep your room looking like this if I stayed in here.”

His eyes lingered on where my fingers rested on top of his arm, making me think twice about choosing to touch him while admitting what a horrible slob I was. “That’s it?” His throat bobbed as his eyes flicked up to mine. “That’s your reason?”

I nodded, my voice feeling weak as I added, “I’m worried you’ll think I’m disgusting.”

His jaw clenched. “Never.” For a moment, he paused. “I’ll get you new sheets. Ball them up when you’re done with them. Throw them in the ocean,” he said. “I do not care how this room looks as long as you’re comfortable in it, so stay here.”

His shoulders broadened as he straightened back to full height, pulling all the sheets with him. “Stay in my bed.”

“Oh,” I squeaked out. “Okay.”

He nodded, and I watched, stunned, as he left the room, taking the old sheets with him.

He didn’t care how his room looked, as long as I was comfortable in it? Somehow, he’d said exactly what I needed to hear to feel at ease in this place. His bedroom .

“Stay in my bed.” My skin heated as his gruff words played back in my head. His bed sure looked comfortable, but where would he sleep? Where would any of them sleep? It wasn’t like there was enough room on the couch for all three of them, plus Laverne.

My eyes settled on the sizable mattress. I placed my palm on top of it, testing its firmness. It would be a tight fit, sure, but maybe…

No. No . Bad Claira. There was no way the guys would be okay with that, and the bedframe would surely break with all four of us on it.

Well, what if…

I grunted, ignoring the warmth pooling in my belly as I tore myself away from the mattress. My eyes fell on the top of Barren’s dresser, and, of course, there wasn’t a single speck of dust on it or its mirror. Then my attention was drawn to a silver chain in a glass bowl on the dresser.

Barren didn’t seem like the type to wear jewelry. I walked over and hesitantly reached out to touch it.

Though it was his room, his belongings, I couldn’t resist picking up the necklace. A delicate silver cage slid to the bottom of the chain, enclosing a small pink pearl within.

Pink? How odd.

I glanced around the room. Aside from the one necklace, there were no other personal items in sight.

“Find something you like?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin, backing up right into a wall of muscle. The heat from Barren’s stomach hit my back, and I almost dropped the necklace. “No—I mean, yes. It’s pink—err, beautiful. I was just thinking that this necklace was beautiful.”

Was I really this much of an idiot? Smooth, Claira. I might as well have come out and said, it looks like it belongs to a woman.

Barren’s hand came underneath the chain, and I let it fall into his palm. “It was given to me.”

My face flushed. “Really? That’s, uh, nice,” I said, my stomach knotting. It made sense. I hadn’t known Barren long, and what did I really know about him other than the parts of himself he’d let me see? He could have a girlfriend, for all I knew.

In fact, now that I thought about it, had I ever asked any of them if they were attached? The only one of them I that I knew was for sure single was Laverne.

So, it was given to him. But that didn’t have to mean it was from a significant other, right? Maybe someone from his family had?—

His voice was rough when he abruptly added, “By my mate.”

My stomach dropped straight out of me, and my knees? Gone. I had no knees, just jelly that was doing an extraordinarily poor job of keeping me upright. I grasped the front of the dresser, my lungs completely devoid of breath as I tried to force out, “Your mate. ”

Behind me, Barren’s chest vibrated and erupted into a full-on chuckle. I looked up at the mirror and saw a rare humor in his expression as he watched my reflection. He smiled, and my knees nearly gave out on me again. “Your face,” he said through his laugh.

My face? My hands shot to it. It was an inferno, of course.

“You were… teasing me?” I couldn’t believe it. For a second, I really thought he’d meant that his mate had given the necklace to him.

I hadn’t realized how hard I was pressing into him until his phone went off, vibrating against my back. Barren’s chuckle died away, and he dropped the necklace back into the glass. “I know it’s late,” he said, moving away from me. “But I have to leave soon.” With a glum expression, he started spreading the new sheets out over the mattress.

My heart was still racing, but thankfully my legs worked well enough to follow him over to the bed. “You’re leaving?”

“I won’t be gone too long,” he assured me, tucking down one of those crazy straight corners like some sort of fitted sheet wizard. The atmosphere seemed to shift around him when he added, “My queen… She wishes to meet with me.”

That didn’t sound good.