His dark eyes held no censure or anger. Merely...curiosity. “You have no idea, do you?”
Naomi wasn’t sure what to make of his statement. “I guess not. What are you talking about?”
“He’s never brought a woman here. You read about us yesterday, so you know how long Javan has been alive.”
She did, thanks to the book she had read that listed the birthdates of him and his brothers. Javan was over seven hundred and thirty-two years old.
“As for the items purchased for you, Javan was very specific as to what he wanted. I simply procured the items on his list.”
Naomi had no words. What did one say in a situation like this? She was taken aback, shocked, dazed, and a hundred other feelings at the news.
But she was also beyond pleased. A kernel of joy had blossomed into a field of delight. Javan had done all of it for her. Not other women, but her.
“Oh.”
Elijah smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners. “I take it by the look on your face that this pleases you?”
“Definitely.”
“Good. Javan deserves happiness. He’s waiting for you.”
Naomi followed Elijah once more. As she recalled the text she read, a frown grew. “Elijah, if a Nephilim is the only way for your kind to continue, why aren’t more of you married? Why is there a need for the Harem?”
“Because Nephilim began to trick us into taking them as ours, and then refusing to share our beds.”
She was sickened by what Elijah said. “But a mated Incubus can only have sex with his woman. Without it, he dies.”
“Precisely. However, the Nephilim still has immortality.”
Well, no wonder the Harem was set up. If she was an Incubus she certainly wouldn’t trust any Nephilim. How would she ever know if she could trust one?
“It’s why you looked into my past, isn’t it?” Naomi asked.
Elijah nodded his head of dark curls. “My job is to protect Javan as the Master of House Drohas. Many Nephilim have tried to get close to him over the years.”
“Then why let me?”
“Because of Rebecca,” Elijah said as he reached a door and put his hand on the knob. He stopped and waited for her to reach him. “She didn’t deserve her fate, and you were only seeking information on her killer.”
“Did you foresee last night?”
“I see the way Javan looks at you. You intrigued him, but you also made him want to help you. I knew eventually the two of you would end up together.”
Naomi looked down at her shoes. “Only for a night. I’m really not ready for it to end.”
Without another word, Elijah opened the door. Naomi looked up and saw Javan leaning back against his Jaguar. He wore dark slacks and a pale yellow dress shirt that was opened at the neck, showing her the bronze skin of his throat.
She had kissed that throat, felt his pulse against her tongue. In an instant, she was transported back to their night of inconceivable passion.
A night where no protection was used and they had sex more times than she could remember. Naomi was going to have to make Javan understand that she hadn’t done that in an attempt to trick him. In truth, she had been so wrapped up in their desire that rational thought had vanished.
Naomi walked toward Javan as he pushed off the car and shot a smile at her. Her knees wobbled at the sight of him. He was gorgeous, but it wasn’t just his looks. It was the way he made her feel. The way he made love to her.
Javan opened the car door for her. Only after she was getting into the backseat did she realize Elijah was driving. Javan walked around and climbed in beside her.
Naomi clasped her hands together in her lap as the car drove away from the house. So much for having some time to talk to Javan. She didn’t know how much time she had left with Javan, but it was important that he understand she hadn’t attempted to trick him.
She listened as Javan spoke of the prisoner. He was from the House Marakel, which had control of the Obsidian Throne. Politics never interested her, but whether she liked it or not, the Incubi were now part of her world. She needed to know the ins and outs of things.
“The fact Marakel won’t give up the Throne is a worry to all of us. We just learned that Canaan Romerac, who we thought had been dead for half a millennium, had actually been imprisoned the entire time. More and more secrets are coming to the surface,” Javan said with a shake of his head. “I suspect the Incubus who killed your sister wasn’t here by accident.”
Naomi whipped her head around to him, fear tightening her stomach. “You think he was after you?”
“We’re about to find out,” Elijah said as he stopped the car.
Naomi looked out the window to find they were parked in front of a warehouse at the docks. She opened the door, and before she could step out, Javan was at her side. She took his offered hand, liking the warmth that surrounded her when his fingers closed around hers.
As they walked toward the door, Naomi spotted several other men stationed around the warehouse.