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Aurelia

I’d been able to hunt down several photograms of Selene Krane in preparation for this job.

Not one of them had done her a lick of justice.

She was long-limbed, dressed in a pair of high-waisted sailor trousers that accentuated both the generous curve of her hips and an expanse of legs I immediately wanted wrapped around my waist.

Her white halter top exposed shoulders that were burnished a light bronze from a month outside, unencumbered by her honey golden waves that were pulled into a ponytail.

There were no saccharine ribbons gilding Selene’s hair, but a gorgeous silk scarf that fluttered in the light breeze.

Nothing she wore was ostentatious, but it all fit her perfectly.

Perhaps she had a talent for textile magics.

I hadn’t managed to find out which special way her talents had manifested.

As she spotted me, she stood, doing something utterly unexpected.

She grinned, waving at me, as though she already knew me.

As though she’d been waiting for me.

A flicker of suspicion passed through me as I neared her.

There was an avid intelligence in her eyes that surprised me.

All the probing I’d done on her suggested she was a bit dull.

Now I wondered if it was the other way around.

The people around her were boring, and she found them dull.

There was nothing to do but adapt.

I raised my hand in greeting, affecting a smile of my own.

“Hello,” I called out as I took the last of the sea stairs at a jog.

“How’s the water today?”

Selene Krane laughed, a full, throaty sound that was probably a bit too loud for polite society.

I liked it.

And I saw why the fools I’d spoken to about her were irritated by it.

She was something singular.

Something different .

When she spoke, it was the cadence and tone of film stars, very likely another tick against her with the society set.

“Oh, I haven’t been in. Too cold for me.”

Up close, her eyes were a lovely shade of green, long lashes brushing against her rosy cheeks as she smiled.

Everything about Selene was soft elegance except for those eyes and that smile.

Both were sharp as knives.

Whatever plan I’d had to win her was out the window.

My heart beat faster.

This woman was going to be a challenge, and I was more than up for it.

“Aurelia Hart,” I said, shoving my hand out at her.

“And you’re Selene Krane.”

I added the last part on instinct.

If she was as quick as I thought she might be, she’d have me out in the first hours of knowing one another.

Admitting she was known to me was strategic.

Selene smiled as she took my hand.

Her palm was silky soft, her oval nails smooth and perfectly manicured.

Her handshake was firm.

Yet another tick against her.

Delicate handshakes were the fashion for women of her status.

This was a woman who was too much for the small-minded society of the Orders.

No wonder she’d struggled to pair.

I let my fingers curl around hers, matching the strength of her grip.

Her smile widened.

“Aurelia Hart? Good to meet you. However did you come by Geyrion Wyndsal’s acquaintance?”

My heart raced now with the exhilaration of a true challenge.

How in seventeen hells did she know that ?

Better not to lie.

Not yet, anyway.

“I don’t know the man himself,” I admitted.

“His housekeeper and I are longtime friends.” More like I did a job for her, and she owed me, but what was the difference?

“She asked me to check in on the villa while I’m down from the city. There was a slight disturbance in the wards.”

Selene smiled, her eyes warming.

She didn’t believe a word I said.

How did she know I was lying?

“How generous of you. Are you here for the rest of winter?”

I nodded.

That was my plan, after all.

I was going to have to keep very close to the truth.

That much was obvious.

Selene was going to be harder to con than I first expected, which made this utterly exciting.

After all, this was to be my last con, and if I was going to spend my life with someone to meet my ambitions, better that it was a challenging woman than a boring one.

She let go of my hand, and I immediately felt its absence, something stirring low in my belly.

I wanted her.

More now that she wasn’t just the key to all I desired.

The difficulty she presented was somehow more alluring than all the stability in the world.

What in Aphora’s name was wrong with me?

As I stood there reeling, she slipped her arm through mine, those green eyes sparkling.

With the curve of her hip pressing into me, she asked, “Will you walk with me?”

I nodded, speechless for the first time in years.

It wasn’t as though I hadn’t done my due diligence, but I’d made a fatal mistake: I’d underestimated a beautiful woman.

Whatever happened next, I deserved it.

We walked towards the water, arm in arm in silence.

For what it was worth, Selene seemed peaceful, almost smug.

Meanwhile, my hands were clammy, whether from the knowledge that she had a line on me or her nearness, I could not tell.

In fact, I was so lost at sea I almost didn’t register that she was speaking.

“I won’t tell,” she said in a low, conspiratorial tone.

“The Wyndsals have been family friends for years. Geyrion Wyndsal will never notice you’ve stolen his clothes, and he operates on a kind of clockwork. It seems random where he flits off to in order to avoid society, but there’s a secret to it.” She paused, looking up at me.

“Would you like to know it?”

I was stunned deeper still into silence by those eyes.

Selene wasn’t mocking me, or smug, as I’d thought.

There was an earnestness in her eyes I could work with.

This was a woman who was rarely seen for what she was.

And she wanted to be seen, had been wounded by being rendered frivolous, useless, annoying .

Wasn’t that what I’d heard about her?

That she was “a bit irritating.” And what had it been that made her accuser so irritated?

I couldn’t remember now.

Something about how much she talked.

I’d only just met her, but I was certain I could listen to her yammer on about any old thing for centuries.

And maybe I would.

The horrible thing about it all was that it wouldn’t have to be a con.

The moment she’d come into view, I’d been sunk.

Love at first sight was something of a myth, in my opinion, but the intensity of attraction I felt for her?

The deep empathy I felt for that plea in her eyes?

Yes.

Those were truths I would go down with the ship for.

Selene Krane didn’t have to do a thing to make me want her.

There wasn’t a timeline or universe I could exist in where I wouldn’t.

She was like a black hole masquerading as the sun.

Her gravity was undeniable, her light all the more precious for being cultivated from the depths of true darkness.

Her eyes flitted away, some fragile thing cracking in them as she looked out at the sea.

She’d asked me a question, and I’d gotten so lost in her eyes that I hadn’t answered.

“Yes,” I said, quickly making amends for having left her hanging.

“Tell me.”

Her eyes slid back to me, cautious now—all the earnestness drained out.

That was not what I wanted.

I wanted that open look back.

The invitation in it was a siren’s song into her depths, and I wanted to be asked in.

“He follows the blue-footed chickadee.” Her voice was soft and husky now, that bright film-star quality gone.

“It won’t return to its nesting grounds until late fall. You’re safe at the villa.”

I nodded.

“That’s generous of you to share with me, especially given my circumstances. I’ve already taken rooms at the Palace though.”

“Oh.” She smiled.

“That is good, too. Why did you steal his clothes if you can afford the Palace?”

I sighed.

How much to tell her?

Again, the truth seemed best.

“I could afford the wardrobe or the lodging, but not both.”

A chill wind picked up.

There was a storm front moving in across the bay.

Selene shivered.

“I see. And why are you masquerading as wealthier than you actually are?”

I sighed.

Selene made me want to tell the truth.

“I want a life that is not open to me otherwise.”

Selene’s green eyes flit to meet mine.

She was a little breathless when she said, “You’re here to find a wealthy wife.”

The corner of my mouth quirked up.

Yes, only the truth would do now.

Selene had clocked me for all I was worth.

“Partially true. But not just any wife. I am here to find you .”