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“I would, but I think in your current state, marble floors are far too risky a proposition.”
He might have a point. I wasn’t going to tell him that, but I gave up trying to escape. Both because it was a free ride back to my room and because he smelled so damn good. His usual cedar scent was laced with tobacco and bourbon, and I breathed in the primal masculinity of him, barely resisting the urge to kiss his back just to see how it would feel.
“You okay up there, princess?”
Why did he have to go and ruin things by opening his mouth? Why couldn’t he just be pretty and smell delicious?
“I am more than a piece of meat.”
It appeared I had said that out loud.
“You did indeed.”
And that. Apparently, I was narrating. Worse than that, I couldn’t seem to stop. Which was humiliating, given that I currently had my face buried in his back, trying to decide if he smelled like actual sin or some forgivable derivative.
“I’m going to kill Shaw,” Lachlan muttered again.
Considering I was spilling every filthy, carnal thought I had about him—which was clearly the ambrosia talking and not me—I was beginning to consider helping him.
He didn’t put me down until we reached his wing, where Lachlan deposited me directly onto the floor. Probably because I started beating his back again and demanding it as soon as we were through the door. My ass hit the wood with a loud thump that temporarily knocked the wind out of me, and I glared up at him.
“You wanted to be put down.” The gleam in his eyes belied the innocence he feigned.
“Since when have you done anything I wanted?” I swayed to my feet and stumbled to the bar cart, grabbing a bottle of tequila. I twisted the cap off before he stole it from me.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” I demanded.
“Because you just spent the last five minutes ranting at me that you hated me while waxing poetic about the way I smell. I think you’ve had enough to drink for tonight and, for that matter, enough of my sexy magic, too. Which is what again?”
Thankfully, there was no level of inebriation that could get me to confess what I meant by that. Mostly because despite my current condition—or perhaps because of it—sexy magic was quickly being debunked.
I shook a finger in his face instead. “This is your fault. You left me down there. What was I supposed to do?”
“Hang out with my kid brother and stay out of trouble,” he growled. “And you didn’t manage either.”
The thrill of victory shot through me. I had him. “Last week, you were the one telling me I should get into trouble.”
“No, I said you needed some trouble.”
I waved a hand in the air. “Tomato. Potato.”
“I don’t think that’s how that goes.”
God, he was beautiful when he smiled. Was it possible to have an oral fixation with someone else’s mouth? Because those lips…
I really hoped I had managed to keep those thoughts inside my head. “What I’m saying is that I did not actually get into trouble. I had too much to drink. There’s a difference. And secondly, you are a hypocrite.”
His brow shot up. “I’m a hypocrite?”
I blinked at him, knowing I was walking into a trap but powerless to stop myself from ambling on like a deer into a clearing. I was leaving myself wide open for attack. “You say I need some trouble, tell me to let loose if I want, but you lecture me when I do. You act all hurt that I don’t like you when you clearly hate me.”
His mouth tightened. “And what about you, princess? You came to me, begging me to help you, and when I did, you accused me of tricking you, kidnapping you, and lying to you. None of which I did.”
“Debatable.”
Except it wasn’t debatable, and somewhere deep down I knew it. Maybe it was the fairy wine muddling my brain, forcing me to see what I refused to acknowledge the rest of the time. Lachlan had helped me. He had offered me a bargain when, according to everyone who knew him, that was something he never did. He had fixed my air conditioning, which was a relief because it was the hottest autumn on record. He had shown up when my car was on fire, even if he hadn’t helped me put it out. He’d even covered for my ass at work, although he was technically the reason I’d been suspended in the first place. And I didn’t know why he had done any of it.