House of Royale (Secret Keepers #4)(27)

“Stop flirting with me,” I said. “This is not what we’re doing, okay?”

His gaze flicked down to my hand, to where my fingers were almost bunching in his shirt. I yanked it back quickly, realizing what I was doing, and hurried away from him to stand with Maya and Emma. I didn’t even care that I’d have to put up with the PDA.

Emma was saying goodbye to her family. “…see you all really soon,” she said as she pulled back. “We have to go now though.”

Sara and Michael’s faces fell. “Please be careful,” Sara begged, hurrying in for one more hug. “We love you so much.”

“I love you, too.” Emma blew them a kiss, straightening. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

She sucked in a deep breath, turning to walk along the street. The rest of us hurried to follow. Emma was on a mission. I tried not to look Xander’s way, but I was far too aware of him to be able to completely ignore him. It didn’t help that I had a million questions I wanted to ask. Not just about us, but also about his world.

Deciding it was better not to get too friendly with him, lest we blur these lines we were trying to establish, I asked Maya, “How are we getting to Overworld?” The word spaceship had been floating around in the back of my mind, but it just seemed so far-fetched.

“A transporter,” she said with a soft smile. “It’s like this … ball of light that Daelighters created using their network.”

Ah, yes, they had mentioned that to me before. “The permanent transporter set up in the treaty…?” I confirmed.

“Yep,” she said.

“The lights connect our worlds,” Chase added. “So, if we hold on to a beam here, we can use it to bring us to Overworld. It takes a little while to get used to it—”

“Especially if you get lost inside of one,” Maya interrupted. “But you’ll be fine. Xander won’t let you go.”

I tripped, startled enough that I almost hit the deck. I recovered easily, but it was odd for me to be clumsy. Freaking Xander, he was impacting me in more ways than one.

“Why will Xander be helping me?” I asked, ignoring the snort from the man himself.

“You need a Daelighter to guide you through,” Maya said, her eyes sparkling as her lips half-tilted up like she was trying not to smile. She looked between Xander and me. “It’s safer if it’s one Daelighter per human. That way you have no chance of getting lost inside the transporter.”

The annoyance I was feeling must have shown on my face. She let out a laugh. “If you want to go with Chase, I’m happy to go with Xander. I can share my mate for the trip back.”

For a split second, I considered taking her up on that offer, even though I felt like an absolute fucking moron making a big deal about this. The problem, I was coming to realize, was that I hadn’t thought this “sexual relationship only” thing through. It was a great idea in theory, but Xander and I were not like most casual hookups. We were stuck together in a situation that required a lot of “helping” and “togetherness.” Which, as far as I could tell, was only going to create problems.

Maya was still waiting for my answer. I had just opened my mouth to tell her I’d go with Xander, when he reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt. “I’m more than capable of getting you there safely, Avalon.” His grip wasn’t tight, but his expression had drawn into hard lines, eyes flashing at me. “Do not doubt my ability to keep you safe.”

I resisted the urge to step into him, because there was something about the concept of “safe” that I craved. Instead, I gently shook his hand off me. “You’re right,” I said, and his eyes widened. “But be aware, I don’t generally rely on others to protect me. I’m out of my depth here with all the alien stuff, and that is the only reason I will concede to your help.”

Turning, I found that the others had kept walking, disappearing past the parked cars. Xander made no move to hurry after them; he just stood there, watching me.

He did at least look a little less angry.

Before I could ask him if we were cool now—I had agreed to his help—he stepped forward and wrapped his arm around the middle of my back. My body bent to his will, curving into Xander, pressing against his hard lines.

When his lips landed on mine, my breath whooshed out of me in a rush and I had to swallow down the moan that wanted to follow. I lost all control of myself, my lips parting so our tongues could move together.

The taste of Xander just about dropped me to my knees. He even tasted like the ocean.

It was too much. My heart was thundering in my chest. It was only his hold on my body that kept me from dissolving into a puddle at his feet. His kiss was hard … demanding … and I loved every second of it. He was taking what he wanted, and I did the same right back. Bubbles tingled in my blood, the way they did when I was swimming at top speed through the ocean.

“You taste like home,” he said as our lips parted. His eyes looked troubled, but there was no doubt he was into it. I could feel the evidence of that pressed against my body, and I actually wished we weren’t right in the middle of the street.

“Sex only,” I reminded him. He tasted like home to me as well, but we had to ignore that for now. “Otherwise it’s going to get complicated.”