“That’s the point.” She inched her arm toward his, but he saw the movement, and took hold of both of her wrists. She narrowed her eyes. “I may have agreed to give you a try, but that doesn’t give you the right to manhandle me.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What if that couple came back? I’m just keeping up my role, beauty.”
The stupid, meaningless endearment was the last straw. She needed to find a way to get free of Marco’s ironclad hold on her body.
While Marco was strong, both physically and magically, he was just a man, and there was more than one way to get out of his hold without letting on that she wasn’t human.
Cam reached out her hand and tickled his side. He yelped and she slipped away. She dashed to the top of the stairs before he caught up to her with a grin on his face. “So it does exist.”
She spotted Zalika at the foot of the stairs and put on her hat, the signal that everything was okay. “What does?”
“A non-badass version of you.”
“Escape doesn’t always require violence.” When Marco didn’t reply, she looked over at him, but he was just staring at her. “What?”
“You’re full of surprises, beauty.”
Cam raised her eyebrows. “There is more to women than tits and ass, Alvarez.”
“Oh, I know that. But I’m starting to think that you’re not as harsh as people make you out to be.”
He was closer to the truth than she’d ever admit. “I’m starting to regret my decision to give you a chance.”
Marco grinned. “Oh, I’m just getting started. Wait until you see what I’m really capable of.”
While she knew deep down that she needed his help on this mission, she was going to make his tests difficult on purpose. The man was too confident by half.
Cam looked away from him and said, “I’m going to finish scouting the location. Meet us three kilometers west of the main entrance at 8 p.m.”
She didn’t wait for a reply, but started down the stairs.
“Wait, I know how to sneak in. Some of the peddlers told me about the holes in the security.”
Chichen Itza was filled with locals selling everything from carved Mayan gods to t-shirts. Since there was a chance Marco was telling the truth, she turned around and went to stand on the same stair as him. “And?”
“Your meeting spot is close to where they sneak in and out sometimes. I’ll see you there at 8 p.m.”
Marco flew down the stairs before she could ask for any more specifics.
Just in case he was wrong, Cam headed down the stairs and rejoined the tour group. She’d learned a long time ago to always have a contingency plan because you never knew when someone would betray you, as her ex-boyfriend had taught her.
Chapter Seven
Marco stood in the pouring rain and looked up at the observatory, the outline of the building barely visible in the darkness. Cam and Zalika were inside, and while Marco wanted to be there with them, the first stage of his “test” had been to keep the security cameras fogged up.
While directing a few chilled drops of rain against three security cameras every few seconds was mundane, the thin ice shield at his back kept his mind occupied. It’d been more than twenty-four hours since he’d last seen the shadow-shifter, which meant that he had to keep up his guard or risk having the shifter creep up on him undetected.
Maybe the shifter had been merely a coincidence and wasn’t after Cam or her information, but Marco didn’t count on it.
He’d warned Cam to be careful before she left, but she’d dismissed him with a wave of her hand, informing him that she wasn’t an idiot. If he hadn’t been the recipient of her tickling earlier, he wouldn’t believe she’d had it in her.
Playing the part of Cam’s lover had been a little too easy. He’d had to charm and flirt his way through the world to keep his true self hidden and protect the others who shared his secret, but as he’d pulled Cam up against his side and breathed in her earthy female scent, he’d wanted to charm her into bed for real.
He could still remember the feel of her hip under his hand, strong and toned. Even now, he wondered what it’d be like to dominate her when she was naked. He wouldn’t have to worry about being too rough with Camilla—he had a feeling she would fight it as long as possible, before handing control over to him and enjoying it.
Marco realized where his thoughts were heading, and he focused back on the cameras. Due to his reputation, he was the last person Camilla would sleep with. His reputation had never bothered him before since it had kept people from guessing the truth about his elemental powers, but right now, he was tired of living two lives.
The sooner he put distance between him and Cam, the sooner he could go back to his two-faced existence and forget about getting her naked.