Page 22 of Shiny Things

“Just how nice this is.”

He kissed the top of my head.

“You know this could be our life every day.”

I sat up and gave him a stern look.

“You know that will never happen.”

“If you just let my raven meet yours then you’ll see that everything will be okay. You were made for me, Kim, and I was always meant to be yours. There will never be another.”

I sighed. “There is no way you can possibly know that.”

“Maybe it’s part of my powers.”

I elbowed him. “That’s not funny.”

“I wasn’t kidding.”

The sad thing was, I knew he was being serious. He really did believe we were meant to be together and all that shit.

And with that, reality came crashing back in on me. If I tried to argue, he would only plead his case and make me feel bad about it. It wasn’t like I was trying to hurt him. In truth, all I wanted to do was protect him. Despite what he thought, that was all this was. If I didn’t care, I would have caved and introduced our ravens a while ago because I could feel the pull towards him too.

It could just be wishful thinking. To the best of my knowledge our ravens had never crossed paths before. Maybe there was just a human draw to him, but it sure felt like something more.

“I need to use your bathroom,” I told him, forcing myself to get up.

If I didn’t get moving, I just might do something I’d regret later, or worse, something irrevocable.

“Just down the hall,” he told me.

There were three doors to choose from, but he didn’t tell me which one was the bathroom. I started with the door on the left and walked right into his bedroom.

The overbearing scent of Elias was everywhere. My mouth went dry, and I fought back a moan. Why did the mere smell of him fill me with desire?

Across the room I could see his bathroom, so I walked towards it.

He chuckled, and I turned to look back at him.

“There’s a bathroom across the hall for guests, but you chose right.”

I glared at him, understanding his insinuation. He quietly closed the door and gave me some privacy.

Elias was serious. He was an intense man by nature, often misunderstood by others. He had a bad boy image, dark and moody. But once you got past that he was funny and sweet, at least with me, and I was certain with his sister too.

Being the oldest of the Davenport children, he was often seen as defiant towards the way of his clan, obstinate with the rules and directives from the Congress, and a loner in life. But that recently seemed to be changing.

He was working for the Congress now and stepping up as a leader among our kind. I wasn’t sure why this sudden change was occurring, but it was just a stark reminder of why we couldn’t be together. He had big, important things in his future, and I was just a diner girl destined for a boring, average life.

It made me sad to think about it. I would love nothing more than to be his mate and spend a lifetime together, buthe deserved better than me. I couldn’t bring him down to my station in life. Eventually he would grow to resent me for it.

I took my time finishing up in the bathroom and then wandered back out to his bedroom to snoop around. There were large French doors leading out to the terrace. I opened them and walked outside to breathe in the fresh air.

Tears pricked my eyes.

It had been nice in the moment, but I knew I had to get back to real life before I got too comfortable here.

Checking around to ensure no one was watching—mainly that he wasn’t watching—I took off my clothes and shifted, leaving them behind. I had no doubt he would find a way to return them later. But for now, I just had to get away.

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