Page 14 of Tall, Dark & Horny

“Keep complimenting me, and I might think you’re warming up to the idea of staying longer,” he warned.

Considering everything he’d told me and the strange things I’d seen with my own eyes, I should’ve been running for the door. But as odd as this place was, I felt welcomed. At home, even. And I couldn’t deny the magnetic pull I felt toward Adan.

“You’re not exactly making it easy to walk away.”

“Good.” He settled his hand at my lower back again, and the heat of his touch seeped into my bones. “Then I’d better keep it up.”

We passed a hallway lined with mirrors that had ornate black frames. Except when I turned to look, my reflection was only a faint outline. Adan’s was completely there, standing beside me.

“Okay, what in the heck is up with that?” I whispered.

“Not all mirrors show the surface. Some reflect presence. Magic. What’s hidden inside.”

Before I could ask why I appeared at all on the reflective surface when I was just a human, the atmosphere changed. The only part of this hallway I hadn’t seen yet was a single black door ahead of us.

It was unlike any that we’d passed during the tour. Taller, narrower, and smooth as obsidian. It didn’t have any symbols etched into the hard surface. There wasn’t even a doorknob. Just a faint shimmer, like the surface itself resisted being touched.

Adan’s gait slowed. His shoulders stiffened, and the air around him pulled tighter, like a current going still before a storm. His presence didn’t dim, exactly. But it shifted. As though it was being shielded by something I couldn’t see.

I stopped walking. “What’s behind there?”

He paused before answering, “That door isn’t part of the tour.”

I blinked. “You’ve told me more about demons, supernatural wards, and shape-shifting dragons than I imagined possible. And a random door is where you draw the line?”

“There’s nothing arbitrary in my reasons for skipping this particular one.” He turned to face me, but the smile he flashed at me didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Some things aren’t ready to be seen. Not yet.”

My stomach flipped, more from curiosity than fear. “You’re being cagey.”

“Only a little.” He shrugged. “I can’t give away all my secrets right off the bat.”

Whatever was behind that door, my gut told me it was important to Adan. I studied him for a moment, my curiosity sharpening, but I ultimately decided to save my questions for later. “I suppose that would ruin your air of mystery.”

“And it would be a damn shame to lose your interest.”

I snorted and muttered, “As if that’s going to happen.”

He was smug as he guided me to a set of stone stairs that led to the public sections of the hotel. By the time we looped back toward the elevator, the energy between us had shifted. Not drastically—or even all at once. But I felt it in the brush of his hand against my back. Also in the way his gaze lingered when I glanced at him. And how neither of us spoke, as though words might shatter whatever fragile thread was drawing us closer.

My breath caught as we reached the corridor near my suite. The hush pressed in closer now, thick with anticipation. The walls still hummed with subtle magic, but it felt different now. Somehow, it seemed less like the building reacting to me and more like it was holding its breath for us. Waiting for our return.

I stopped outside the door to my room and turned to him, needing to break the spell of silence. “I feel like there’s a lot you haven’t told me yet.”

He arched a dark brow, amusement shining from his gorgeous blue eyes. “It would take far longer than one evening to fill you in on all the secrets of The Abyss.”

“What about yours?”

His lips curved. “Considering I’ve been alive for hundreds of years, that would take a while, too.”

“Hundreds…as in plural?” I whispered, trying to wrap my head around this man being more than five times my age.

“Very much plural,” he confirmed with a nod, pressing his finger beneath my chin to close my gaping mouth.

“I…I don’t even know how to respond to that.”

His eyes darkened, the blue deepening to a stormy hue that made my heart stutter. “How about you promise to stick around so I can tell you more tomorrow?”

“I guess I could do that.” I licked my lips, which suddenly felt dry. “I missed check-in for my other hotel reservation, so I’m sure they canceled it on me.”

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