Liars and Liaisons (Monsters & Muses, #6)

by Sav R. Miller

Maybe my coming here will be of use if it means driving a wedge between Nathaniel and his little companion. It is, after all, what he deserves for killing mine.

I told him my father—our father—was out of the country, visiting a sick aunt in Kalamata. I told him he shouldn’t come back, that they wouldn’t accept him. It’s the cruelest thing I’ve ever done, even if I did it for his own good.

When she looks at him, the stars are no longer in the sky above us. They’re in her eyes, and they burn bright for him. The love that bleeds from her pores is palpable, and it almost relieves the pinprick of guilt I feel in my gut for not letting him in, for not letting him be a part of my family.

I’m not totally sure I should do this, but I’m in no shape to deny her anything. If she asked me to drop to my knees and crawl to her, in this very second, I would.

“You tell me what I can do for fifty, and I’m gonna fucking do it, because I’m not a good guy. I’m not helping you out of the kindness of my heart, and I don’t care that you’re holding a torch for my brother. I’ll blow the flame out and leave you in complete darkness if you let me.”

“Either you’re all talk, Professor, or you don’t mind the idea of inexperience.” I bat my eyelashes, reaching for the door handle. “Is that it, sir? Would you like to teach me how to be bad for you?”

“You are…” I trail off, searching for words as music crescendos in my bloodstream, excited by her proximity. “Exquisite. They write songs about women like you.”

Maybe, if a person is capable of kindness, it doesn’t matter what color their soul is. Or if they have one at all.

“Leave now,” I say, keeping my voice purposely low so the others don’t hear. “Or I’ll shove those pills down your throat and watch your heart give out in front of everyone. Then, I’ll roofie every single guest, just so they’ll have no recollection of what happened to you.” I flick the collar of his shirt as we come face-to-face, mask-to-mask. “Just like you did to Sydney.”

I said I’d be good, and if being good is what makes that fucking sound come from her, then I’ll be the best damn boy she’s ever encountered.

“And if I catch you,” he says, stepping closer, gaze burning hot, “I keep you. Forever. Think very carefully about what you want your future to look like, Little Echo, because I’m the one with the power to make it so. Either take off your clothes and earn your next paycheck, or don’t. Run. You’ll find very quickly how dangerous I can actually be.”

“If I asked you for a million dollars right now, would you give it to me?” “In this very moment, I would give you whatever you desired.” He moves closer, reaching for one of the thin straps of my bra, and slips it down my shoulder. “I might even beg.” “Just to taste me?” “For the privilege.”

“The universe created you with me in mind,” he says in a low, thick voice. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were sent by the stars themselves. Plucked from the constellations and tossed into the path of someone needing guidance.”

“Oh God.” A pause. Then, “I don’t think he can hear you yet.”

I gave up religion long ago, but I could live the rest of my life like this, with Grayson James worshipping at my altar.

“You are a beacon of light, Little Echo. You shine in any room. I would never be able to not notice.”

“If she’s dead, burn the mansion down with me in it. I am not interested in a life without the sun.”

Forgiveness is for me. Being with him, choosing to no longer deny that parts of my soul enjoy the darkness, is the kindest gift I can grant the both of us. After all, daylight can’t exist without the night.