Read Hear Me When the Sun Goes Down for Free Online Page B

you.”
    “I’m only holding up my end of the bargain,” I smiled back, his good spirits infectious.  “Thanks for your support, by the way.  Half the time I’m talking to these guys, it’s like they’re speaking a foreign language I can’t keep up with.”
    “Seems like you’re doin’ fine to me.  In fact, you had us all reeled in, hook line and sinker.”
    “About that… I’m sorry if I was less than honest with you.”
    “Don’t give it another thought, sweetheart,” he waved my apology away.  “Pedigrees don’t make no nevermind to me.  I admire a gal who can make herself over into what she wants to be.” 
    “Thanks, that’s nice to hear.”  I hadn’t thought it would be so easy.
    “Say, you really serious about givin’ the Order a makeover?”
    “Yep, I totally am.  It’s what I’ve been pushing for since before I came into office.  I think it’s possible to turn them into something great.”
    Mac took that in stride, his head tilting to one side.  “Might have a few ideas on that account.  We have our own loose form of justice, seems to keep the masses in check just fine.  I’d be glad to let you pick my brains over a quiet drink if you like.”
    Okay, so I knew he was flirting with me, but part of me was so desperate for support on my Order reform, I didn’t care.  I’d take whatever help I could get.  “I will definitely keep that in mind, Mac.  But not tonight.  I think I’ll end up turning in early.”
    “You bet, I understand completely.  All the better for me if you’re bright eyed and bushytailed anyhow.  Keep your head up, darlin’, I’ll catch you later.”
    “Not if I catch you first.”  Jakob’s voice slid over me as the last few stragglers filed out, leaving Rob to take a position by the door, his face impassive.  I turned to find Jakob standing very close, my elbow colliding with him in the process.  “Steady now,” he smiled, his hand resting on my hip.  “You have an admirer there.”
    At first I thought his head jerked toward Rob, but a half second later I realized he meant Macallister and I shook my head. “He admires himself first and foremost.  But he needs the legitimacy I can give him, so he’s pitched his tent in my camp for now.”
    Jakob’s lips curved into an indulgent smile.  “You’ve become a political animal.  I’m not entirely sure it suits you.”  His thumb brushed over the top of my cheek where the pale scar marred my skin.  “You look tired, petal.  Soon we will quit this place and I will return you to a smaller arena.  I could even relieve you of the burden of leadership for a time if you like.” 
    “What?  No!”  My head snapped away from his touch.  Was he talking about taking over the West?  Hadn’t he said he wasn’t interested in our politics?  “You can be in charge of other stuff and have people come kiss your feet and whatever, but the West is mine.”
    “I am not accustomed to people challenging me,” he said, his voice cold in the face of my out burst, and I felt the same dread sneak back into my stomach as when I’d stormed into his public executions.  I had to be careful of his temper, but at the same time, I couldn’t back down completely.  I couldn’t live in a world where he killed people on a whim because of me. 
    “Well , maybe it’s time to embrace change, because I’m not going to jump every time you snap your fingers.” 
    I braced myself for his temper, but instead Jakob chuckled.  “I wouldn’t want you to.  Are you truly well?”  A tinge of worry crept over his features.  “They didn’t take any liberties of an… intimate nature, did they?”
    “I’m fine.”  But I didn’t feel fine.  Not when he kept touching me, his fingers brushing over my bare arms, sifting through my hair, as though we were a couple.  Did he think we were a couple again?  “So um, I wanted to ask you, what did that mean about me being your consort?  What is that