Page 80 of Untamed

I don’t even know what the fuck he did to her when she was younger, but I don’t need all the details. Any enemy of Ember’s is an enemy of mine.

I make a quick call to Rafail. When he answers, I hear the baby’s wail in the background and his wife Polina’s voice, trying to hush the baby.

“Rodion.” I can hear the underlying concern in his voice with one word. My brother’s a hard-ass, and sometimes I wonder if he’s fully human, but this is the man who gave up his entire life to raise our family.

He’d do anything for us.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah, so far. Can you rearrange the flight details so we can fly out tonight?”

Without hesitation, he answers. “Of course. How soon?”

“The sooner the better.”

“Give me a minute. You need to pack?”

“Yeah, we are doing that now.”

“We,” he repeats but doesn’t pry. “Call me in thirty.”

I hang up the phone to see Ember staring at me. “You can just… call for an airplane. Like I’d call for an Uber.” I love when she bites her lip and twirls her hair, those bright green eyes watching me as if to see what will happen next.

I shrug. “Might not be aplane.” I feel I need to clarify so she doesn’t get the wrong idea. “Might be a jet or helicopter or something.”

The subtle shift of her brows heavenward means that didn’t really help.

“So you have to get somewhere andpow.Here’s a plane. Dude, do you know what we call that in the book world?”

“Did you just call medude?” I wrinkle my nose at her, but she doesn’t respond. She steps closer to me and places both of her hands on my shoulders, standing up on her tiptoes.

“Competency porn,” she breathes out.

Not gonna lie; my voice is a little husky, and I kinda feel like a lovesick teen right now. “Did you say porn?”

Leaning in, she traces my lips with her index finger.

Well, fuck.Who knew that was hot?

I swallow, my hands framing her hips as our lips meet. The world falls away, just for a second, when we kiss. I wish I could deepen this, bend her over and kiss her until she’s panting and begging for me until she’s wet and needy, but I can’t.

We have to go.

“Competency porn,” I mutter, shaking my head. “I don’t even know what the fuck that means, but if it makes you happy, I’ll do it again. Now go. Pack your bags. And don’t forget your camera. They’ll be counting on it.”

“Whichone?” she moans, then under her breath, “Why do people always think I haveonecamera?”

“Ember,” I warn. When she starts tossing things into a bag and clearing out the shelf in her bathroom, I give the place another look around. “You need help?”

“Nope!” she says with a look of triumph. “I’m packed. Let’s go. Your place next?”

“I wish.”

I’ve been trying to get her there since the day I met her. Back to a place where we can linger in a king-sized bed, shower in a place that doesn’t look like the floor is going to cave in, and sleep where I know I’ve got top-notch security. She deserves better, and I aim to give it to her.

But today isn’t the day. I don’t have time.

“I’m fine. I’ll have what I need in New York. I live there.”

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