Page 23 of Voyage with the Reclusive Billionaire

She cuts me off before I can go any further. “I know you’re still you, Cor. But… it is a big fucking thing to keep from someone. I know you didn’t lie to me, but… it feels like you did. It feels a little like you broke my trust.” But then Eliza sighs, shakes her head, and continues, “But, I do also know that you were willing to tell me. That you’d even tried to, twice, before I turned you down. You didn’t want to, but you were going to anyway.” She gives me a soft smile. “So maybe you’re not sorry—but I forgive you, anyway.”

Hope. Relief. Gratitude. Every emotion barrels into me all at once. “And the way you feel about me? About us? Has that changed?”

Another long moment of silence. Then Eliza says, “I want to hear more about your… species,” she says. “But no. It doesn’t change the way I feel about you.”

“Good,” I say. “Because I really fucking need this right now.”

“Need what?”

My answer comes in the form of a kiss.

Chapter eleven

Eliza

Corvan and I talk about his heritage until the rain finally lets up and we can get back to the boat. I’ve been trying to process as much as I can, but the concept is still so foreign, so strange, after spending years getting a doctorate that would have made me think it is impossible for such things to exist.

A doctorate that makes me want to draw Cor’s blood and see exactly what his DNA makeup looks like.

Perhaps some other time.

For now, there’s something much more pressing that he and I need to worry about—the people who are after his secret. He refused to believe me when I explained I didn’t care about what his identity did to my reputation until I’d finally said, “People aren’t going to care about anything but my science, Cor. They’ll always respect me for my work, even if they don’t like me as a person. That’s all that matters to me.”

All that matters besides you.

“Do you know what I think we should do?” I finally say to Corvan, as I come out of my bathroom in a fresh set of clothes.

“Please tell me you’re going to say that we should order in room service and stay in here until the boat docks in Anchorage.”

I roll my eyes at him, unable to help my smile despite it. “Hilarious, but no.”

“Seems you and I are on different pages then.”

I laugh and sit down on the bed next to him, letting him pull me against his firm body. “I didn’t mean we had to do it right now. But… I think we should just talk to her. See what she wants with you and why.”

“Who?”

“The bartender.”

“Oh—oh, Eliza. No.”

“What? Why?” I tilt my head up to look at him.

“Because it could be dangerous? Especially the we part of that—I don’t want you anywhere near her. Besides, going up to her and asking her about it is all but admitting that I’m a shifter, isn’t it? How else would I know that she’s been watching me if I weren’t?”

“She already has her suspicions,” I point out. “Hell, she might even know. At least this way we can figure out who she’s working with and what they want.”

“There’s that we again,” Corvan mutters.

“Always we now,” I say firmly. “I don’t care if you think it’s dangerous or not.”

“You can’t even walk without hurting yourself. This doesn’t seem like the sort of thing you should be getting involved in.”

“Too late, Cor. I’m already involved. Just… let me be there with you, alright? We should go talk to her. We. Unless you have a better idea.”

He stares at me for a long moment, then sighs. “Okay. We’ll go talk to her. But not until tomorrow.”

“Room service?” I guess.

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