His lips twitched in a reluctant half smile. All she could think about was kissing the corner of his mouth, coaxing him to kiss her back. Gods, she was hopeless! A slave to her own desires. Weak.
“I own a firm that specializes in fixing problems for anyone with enough money to buy a solution,” he replied. “Mostly celebrities. And I only have one sister. Chelle is my twin, actually.”
Naya kept her attention focused on their joined hands and how his much larger one swallowed hers. A problem solver. She had a feeling that Ronan’s business dealings ventured just left of what was legal. “Do you look alike?”
“I suppose. Though since my transition there are differences that weren’t there before.”
“I’ve never seen a dhampir, either. There must not be many of them.”
“There are a few covens peppered up and down the coast,” Ronan said. “But most of them live as close to Mikhail as possible.”
“A mandate?”
Ronan chuckled. “A necessity.”
Naya was struck with a sense of rightness as she sat and talked with Ronan, exchanging bits and pieces of their lives. That rightness was also dangerous. If she let her guard down, she’d allow Ronan to wiggle his way into not only her life but also her heart. There was no room for him within the Bororo, and likewise, Paul would never, ever let her go.
“Why a necessity?” A sense of grief overtook her, weighing down Naya’s heart.
Ronan’s brow furrowed as though he felt it, too. “We’re all interconnected,” he replied. His voice twined around her and Naya angled her face up so she could look into his eyes. “We draw strength from each other.”
“Has it weakened you to be away from your coven?” What was Ronan’s family like? Did they manage him with a choke hold the way Paul did with her?
“No.” Ronan leaned in until his lips hovered over hers. Naya’s breath hitched and her heart raced in her chest. “I have you now.” He touched his mouth to hers, the barest of contact. “My mate and our tether give me strength.”
The kiss was soft. Slow. A tantalizing tease that awakened her want of him. His tongue met hers in a silky glide. She sighed into his mouth and their breaths became one. How could she possibly agree to Paul’s arranged pairing when in her heart of hearts she already knew that she belonged to the male cradling her in his arms?
Magic trickled over her skin like warm, tropical rain. Ronan’s palm cupped the back of her neck. He deepened the kiss as he eased her back, stretching her out on the couch. As he settled himself between her thighs, Naya thrust her hips up to meet the hard length of his erection concealed by his pants. Gods, she needed him naked, his bare skin on hers.
“Naya!” A palm pounded on her front door with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. “Naya, I know you’re in there!”
Luz. Shit.
Ronan pulled reluctantly away, a half smile pulling at his lips. “Your secret lair doesn’t appear to be so secret, you know.”
“Tell me about it.” Between Santi and Luz coming and going as they pleased, Naya figured it was time to move. Of course, in a town of around ten thousand people no “secret lair” was going to stay secret for long. She disentangled herself from Ronan and crossed to the front door, throwing it open. “You know, Luz—”
“Oh. My. Gods.” Luz waltzed in past her and stared at Ronan, mouth agape. “It’s true!” Luz looked at Naya with wide, excited eyes and gave her a nudge. “You do have a new pet!”
Ronan smiled with amusement, but Naya was ready to get her cousin out the door. Butterflies swirled in Naya’s stomach. If Santi hadn’t already told Luz about her houseguest, she would have heard it from Joaquin. Which meant that by now Paul and the elders knew about Ronan as well. “Luz, this isn’t a good time.” Naya’s attention wandered back to Ronan. His pupils were rimmed with silver and his gaze was hungry. Gods, he flipped her world on its axis. She couldn’t think straight when he looked at her like that.
Luz snorted. “I bet not. But my party crashing is the least of your worries.” She jerked her chin in Ronan’s direction. “Paul’s furious. He’s put a bounty on the vampire’s head. One hundred pieces of gold for his fangs.”
Ronan’s amusement dimmed as he arched a brow. “Just one hundred pieces? Surely I’m worth more than that.”
How could he be so cavalier? Icy shards of dread speared Naya’s chest. If the parasitic magic didn’t kill Ronan, then Paul would certainly get the job done. And she was powerless to stop any of it.