Page 70 of King of the Cage

A potentially fatal flaw in the plan occurred to me. “My brother will kill you if he thinks we’re interacting… never mind fake dating, spending time together, any of it.”

“Let me worry about Elio.” He gazed down at me, and the intense, possessive look in his eyes set my skin on fire. “I need you, wee one.”

Oh man, this guy was hot. He was hot as all hell, and so disarmingly charming. I didn’t know what to do with it. I couldn’t handle it, especially tonight.

“I need another drink,” I muttered.

“You’ve had enough. I’m cutting you off. You could be in shock,” Bran admonished. That’s right. He was hot as hell but bossy, too.

“You’re still drinking,” I pointed out.

“I’m three times your size,” he fired back, bringing his whiskey glass to his lips.

I grabbed his wrist before he reached his mouth and redirected it to mine. I took a long swallow from his glass and licked my lips after. My head spun from the sour, burning sensation of the whiskey.

Bran watched my lips intently. “That’s not playing fair, selkie.”

The nickname caught my attention. “Again with the selkie. You never did tell me why you callmethat?”

Bran set his glass down and took a moment to answer. “A selkie is a seal, lassie. A wild, mythical creature, too special and magical to stay on land for long. When a selkie comes ashore, she sheds her skin and appears as a bonny lass. Men covet her. They scheme to steal her skin, so she can never return to her ocean home,” he said quietly.

His deep, rumbling voice was making me sleepy. I didn’t fall asleep easily. I wasn’t the kind of person who could drift off in strange, new places. It was a level of trust I’d never experienced. But tonight, with the whiskey, full belly, and the solid, secure presence of the man next to me, sleep tugged at me.

“Why would they do that?” I wondered, my voice slurring slightly. A big hand guided my head to a firm surface. Bran’s chest. I could feel his heart beating under my ear. It should be far too personal a position for both of us, but it wasn’t.

“So they can keep her… They’d do anything to keep her.”

“That’s cruel,” I muttered, pressing my face into his shoulder. God, that scent. It did something to me on a primitive level. It seemed to quiet my monkey brain, and there was just warm silence inside.

“That’s the nature of men. Tired?”

I nodded and made a noise of affirmation.

“Then take a rest, wee one. I’ll take care of everything else.”

Everything else?My exhausted mind could barely notice the odd phrasing before the world slipped away.

I woketo a gentle rocking sensation. Bran’s smell was all around me. I was so comfortable I didn’t want to move. I was surrounded by his arms. His fingers combed through my hair.

Then the rocking stopped, and a slam sounded. Cool air hit the top of my head, and then I was lifted.

Damn it.It was probably time I admitted I was awake.

I cracked open my eyes to the oddest sight.

Candles and flower displays, and the heavy scent of incense in the air. Men stood on either side of us, and Aoife was there, too. A man with an oxygen tank sat in a wheelchair. I struggled to sit up.

“Ah, you’re awake, after all?” Bran asked. “Good.”

“What’s going on?” I wriggled fruitlessly, since there was no way to escape Bran’s grip.

“Doing what I must.”

“Well, that’s not an answer,” I muttered and craned my neck around. I spied a man standing before an altar, a huge crucifix hanging above. The sight filled me with panic.

“Let me down,” I hissed, trying to escape.

“I can’t do that,” Bran said stubbornly. “I can’t have you trying to run away.”

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