“Hello there, little man,” I said. “Where are you going today?”
I caught movement out the corner of my eye.
I darted back and almost lost my feet.
Kal raised his hands so as not to scare me.
“It’s only me,” he said.
I pressed a hand to my heart. It was still recovering from the ordeal up the stairs. I wasn’t sure it could take another pummeling.
I chuckled with relief and shook my head. I had a terrible feeling it was going to be a Changeling. They had a habit of suddenly creeping out of the shadows.
“You scared me,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know anyone else was up here.”
“That makes two of us.”
He’d taken his jacket and tie off and unbuttoned his shirt. His muscles were toned and tight, just the way I knew they would be. In one hand, he held another building. It had a flattop roof and a small fence around its invisible square backyard.
“You built this whole town?” I said.
“I did,” he said.
“It must have taken you a long time.”
“My whole life. I don’t work on it all the time. Only when I want to escape.”
That sounded familiar…
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m intruding—”
He stepped forward.
“No, not at all,” he said. “I didn’t mean escape from you. I meant… everyone else.”
I smiled at him. Not you. Everyone else.
“Now I sound like a hermit,” Kal said.
“No,” I said. “It’s good to have a mancave.”
He cocked his head to one side at the unfamiliar word ‘mancave.’
“I mean, somewhere you can rest and relax without stress,” I said.
He nodded.
“It’s common on your planet to have a… mancave?” he said.
“If you have space for one, yes.”
“I like it. Mancave. I chose this tower because no one ever comes up here.”
“Except annoying guests,” I said.
“You could never be annoying,” Kal said.
I was pretty sure he didn’t mean for it to sound sweet but that’s the way it came across. Sweet and sexy… A dangerous combination.
“I’m pretty sure my friends would disagree with you about me being annoying sometimes,” I said with a chuckle.
He handed me the latest model he’d made.
“Would you like to place it in the town?” he said.
Yes, I would, but I knew I wouldn’t do a good job.
“I’m not sure I should,” I said. “I was never much good at woodwork.”
“It’s no big deal,” he said. “You just need to put it over there in the corner.”
I looked from him to the model. Surely even I couldn’t mess that up?
“Okay,” I said.
He picked up a small tube of glue and came over to me. I could smell the sawdust and drying paint on him. I never thought a lord would ever need to use his hands like this.
He ran the glue around the base of the model and gave it to me. He stood beside me and helped me guide it into the right position. His arms were muscular and strong, but his touch was delicate and measured. His shirt hung open and I caught a full view of his toned physique.
I poked my tongue out in concentration. I needed to get this right…
I pressed the model into place on the outskirts of town.
“There,” I said, straightening up. “How’s that?”
His face fell.
“Terrible,” he said. “You’ve ruined it. I’m going to have to start from scratch.”
“I’m so sorry!” I said. “I told you I’m no good at woodwork! I could ruin a tree with a thumbtack if—”
He was grinning at me.
“You were joking,” I said, slapping him on the arm. “Don’t do that!”
He held up his hands, multicolored with paint.
“Sorry,” he said. “I couldn’t resist. You did great.”
I pouted and blew him a raspberry.
He was surprised by my outburst and shook his head. I wondered what he was thinking. Gosh, he was handsome.
“So, what’s this building I just installed?” I said.
“A builder’s yard,” he said. “The one in town was built last week.”
“Last week?” I said. “How do you know this is what it looks like?”
“I like to creep among the villagers when I can,” Kal said. “I never used to need a disguise before. I’m… not well-liked at the moment.”
“Because you didn’t light the beacon?” I said. “Because you didn’t send them to war to die?”
“Because I wouldn’t fight for their honor as Titans.”
He smiled but it was sad.
“Look, I can’t pretend to understand how a Titan thinks,” I said, “but given the choice between life and death, I would always choose life. No matter how much honor I had.”
“To a Titan, honor is life.”
“If you take someone’s life away, do they still have honor?”
“Yes.”
“And if they have no honor, can they still get honor later?”
His eyes moved to the side.
“Yes,” he said.
“Then it’s always better to be alive because you can do honorable things, right?”
Kal smiled and my panties melted.
“You make an interesting point,” he said.
An interesting point didn’t mean he agreed with me.
What did I expect? For him to immediately change how he thought just because I made a good point?
Change took time. Unfortunately. And I didn’t have a whole lot left.
Kal looked at me earnestly. The look made my knees shake.
“Tell me, are all human females so clever as you?” he said.
“I’m not very clever,” I said. “I’m about average.”
Or maybe even a little below average. I vowed never to show him my grade point average.
“I disagree,” Kal said, lifting my chin with his finger. “I think you are a very special woman indeed.”
Those words.
From this male.
This close.
With that body…
Gulp.
Things felt so different between us. Closer. More intimate.
Why was that?
Because I knew about one of his deepest secrets. His deceased wife.
I couldn’t imagine the pain and suffering he must have felt at losing her. I’d never lost someone that close to me before. I lost my parents and brother when I was very young but I was just a baby. Still, I thought of them from time to time. My birthdays mostly. I hoped they were happy and safe
